The Grey Tier Read Online Free PDF Page B

he’d know I was in need of a place. And honestly, I didn’t want that.
    At the end of the week, I was at my wit’s end. Thankful I had only two more days until my day off. I was determined to take the first apartment I could find. Now that I had two steady jobs, I felt reasonably comfortable I could make it work.
    I was finishing up for the day. The store would be closing in thirty minutes, which meant I would be running from the store to Nick’s.
    A young woman approached the counter. “Hi. I need a new look. I’m tired of being called cute. What can you do for me?”
    “Well, we are getting ready to close.” I really did not want to do a makeover. I always had to be careful about touching skin. Experiencing random people’s traumas had a tendency to bring me down, so I exercised caution and did my best to use only tools to apply makeup for makeovers. I just wanted to get out of there, take care of Cass, and eat something before I set up at Nick’s.
    “I understand. But this is important. I want to look fabulous for a big party tonight.” The young woman stared at me hopefully.
    I eyed my boss who was watching from the behind the cash register and smiled. “Of course I can help.”
    Thirty minutes later, the young woman, named Brenda, looked like a movie star. Even my boss said she couldn’t have done better. I gave Brenda a smoky look around the eyes to bring out the blue in them, and a dusting of soft pink across the cheeks, with just the right peachy-pink gloss on her lips for a pouty, kissable look. What I did not know as I rushed out the door, was that Brenda’s new look would change my life and my lifestyle in less than twenty-four hours.
    Next day while behind the counter, a guy approached me (scared me half to death, too, because he was all decked out in black, with slicked back hair, dark eyes—very Godfather-esque). He cleared his throat. “Are you Evie Preston?”
    What I wanted to say was, “Who wants to know?” But I figured that wouldn’t go over too well with my manager, so instead I replied, “Yes, how can I help you?”
    He handed me a card with the name “Simone” written on it. I looked down at the card and then back up at him. “Simone?” Mafia Man nodded and replied, “Yes. I’m Dwight Jenkins, and I represent Simone. You know, Simone, the singer?”
    I took a step back, glancing around me. “Am I on one of those TV shows where y’all have hidden cameras? Do you mean the Simone?”
    “No hidden cameras, I assure you. Yes, I’m referring to the pop star, Simone.”
    My head started spinning. Had she heard me playing at Nick’s? Maybe Nick really did know people in high places, and maybe the producer guy who was coming to listen to me next week was her producer. Oh wow, would Betty LaRue be so proud, and my mama and daddy! How had I missed seeing Simone at Nick’s? She had to have been in disguise. That’s how those celebs do it when they want to go out—they go incognito.
    “You made up her sister, Brenda, yesterday,” Jenkins prompted.
    “Brenda is Simone’s sister?”
    He nodded. “Simone was so impressed at how great Brenda looked, she wanted to meet you.”
    “Okay,” I stuttered. “I have to sing tonight at this place called Nick’s. I’m off tomorrow.”
    “I don’t think you understand,” he cut in. “She’d like to meet you now .”
    “I have a job here! I can’t just leave.”
    Dwight Jenkins called my boss, Tish, over. “Miss Preston has a job interview with Simone. She’s going with me.”
    “Wait a minute,” I said. “I can’t do that.” And then his words made their way through the filters in my brain. “A job interview?”
    “Simone would like you to be her personal makeup artist. The pay will be a bit more than what you’re currently making here.” He cocked an eyebrow.
    “What? Is this for real?”
    Tish came around the counter and put her arm around me. “You have to go. Something like this is a once in lifetime opportunity.