Vanity House

Vanity House 1

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“Get yo fuckin face out that door and eat your motherfuckin' food.”

The hall was empty. Biggy gave me a look that made me shudder inside. I stared down at my food. Other people in the hall weren't as quiet as me. Everyone was getting up. Everyone was seeing what the raucous was outside. Biggy had his mother not too far from him with his sisters and cousins sitting at the table with us. They all knew as well as I did what was the commotion going in from outside.

I tried not to look up from the table. I tried so hard but my eyes slowly crept up towards the door from where the noise was all coming from. Someone was out there trying to make a scene.

“It's Uncle Jory...”

I felt at that moment a hand. It grabbed underneath the table and squeezed my balls. He forcefully squeezed it in his hand like a stressball and I squirmed in pain, almost brought to tears automatically. I turned to see Biggie looking at me with a look that could kill.

“I swear to God, if you don't eat your food and shut the fuck you going to end up just like yo Mama.”

Everyone at the table heard what he had said. I was sitting at the reception dinner of my mother's funeral being threatened by this man and no one had the courage to stand up to him...including me. They were all afraid of Biggie like I was. He was a big man, muscular in his early forties. His face was real rough and his body was outlined in battle scars. His knuckles were swollen probably from all the times he had hit my mother and me. It wasn't his strength that scared people though. Biggie had a way of making you really afraid of him. He had a way of making you so afraid that you shook when he walked by you.

It didn't matter what I did now though because my Uncle Jory had walked into the room. He wasn't alone. He had a boy with him. I didn't know then that I would remember this moment for the rest of my life.

“You piece of shit!” he screamed out, “You motherfucking piece of shit!”

He was talking to Biggie. He walked right up to the table. The ushers who had been trying to keep him out followed close behind and even had the nerves to put their hands on him. Jory was the only man that would talk to Biggie like that. I didn't get it to. As this man approached I could hardly recognize him. He was a skinny man with a sickly figure. He looked so fragile when he walked that I thought he would peel over and die. I was so sure that he would just give in.

The ushers were pulling him back and the man with Uncle Jory was standing up for him. He was pushing the men back. I knew for sure there would be a fight. The man with Uncle Jory was young. He was really young. Uncle Jory had been the only gay man I'd known in my family. By the way this man protected Uncle Jory I wondered if the old man had taken a young lover or something.

“Naw let him go,” Biggie said shaking his head, “What the fuck you got to say old man? Huh, what the fuck you got to say we over here in mourning.”
Biggie calm. I wondered if it was because all these people were here. The whole room had frozen. A lot of these people knew my mother. A lot of them were from her church and some that she had worked with. They all came to mourn her. All of them.

“You-you killed my sister,” Jory said.

He held out an old wrinkled finger at Biggie.

I had only seen Uncle Jory once when I was much younger. I had been so much younger. My mother had taken me to go meet him at a park. He was so handsome. He looked just like her back then. I had an immediate crush on him until I knew that was my uncle. I was young then. I wondered if he had come out of some sort of fairytale book. This was the gay life...this was the gay lifestyle that I wanted. I wanted to be handsome like Uncle Jory.

This wasn't the figure that was standing in front of me now.

“What the fuck you talking about old man?”

“You killed my sister I know you did you son of a bitch. I know you did.”

The whole room had looked at Biggie. For a minute it felt almost like someone had gotten the best of Biggie. They were judging him with those eyes and I felt at that moment that maybe Biggie had something. Had Uncle Jory finally called Biggie's card. Was he the face of justice.

“The AIDS must be eating up your brain faggot,” Biggie said standing up, “Why would I kill her. I loved her. Now get the fuck outta here...”

Even the mention of the disease had almost immediately even eliminated murder. The idea of murder was so overclouded by it. The disease was FILTHY. I could see the judgmental southern bells grabbing their clutches and covering their food. This man was disgusting to them. All of a sudden Uncle Jory was no face of justice. Uncle Jory was a sick man with a disease.
“I know your card Biggie. God knows your card Biggie,” my uncle had stated, “You are a evil man Biggie if ever I saw one. You sit here and call me and this and that. I know what you've been doing. I know what you've been doing. I warned my sister. She wouldn't listen though. She said your evil will go away one day. No Evil is born. Evil is raised. Evil is nursed. You son-of-a-bitch. You are evil and I know it. I'm taking my nephew out of here...”

Uncle Jory came at me and he grabbed me.

Biggie shook his head, “Tell him to take your hands of you boy.”

“Take your hands off me faggot,” I told Uncle Jory.

I had seen this look at that moment and I wondered if I had broken my Uncle Jory's heart. I wondered what he expected of me. I was my mother's son. My mother had been weak around this man and so had I. He controlled us. No matter how much I wanted to leave, I wasn't sure I wanted to go with this man with this disease.

“I'm going to send a car out tonight to come get you. You should be in it...”

“I'm not going to be in it.”
“You stupid boy and I swear I'd leave you now but you the spitting image of your mama. If you don't get in that car I'll send it next your on your mother's death day and the year after that, but that'll be it. I swear to you, if you don't learn by then...that'll be it. If you alive by then...”

That was two years ago. I was 20 now and grown and tonight Uncle Jory would send the car. I knew he would send the car. The car would wait out there all night. It had done so the year before this and the year before that. I would never come out.

This year was different though. Two days ago Biggie had seen me with a boy from the neighborhood. He was a gay boy who was feminine. He had a crush on me for a long time and he'd always try to have a conversation with me. He would flirt a lot touching my shoulder. I always thought it was harmless really. I didn't mind. It made me feel kind of wanted as though someone found me attractive. It didn't matter if I was attracted to him back or not. I just liked the attention. For some reason Biggie had come to that store though and he saw us.

He beat me that night to an inch of my life.

If it hadn't been for that little gay boy who had followed me home I would have been dead. The gay boy had taken to stalking me and it was lucky this day. He ended up calling the cops. They took Biggie away when he did. I knew Biggie wasn't going to last in jail though. I wasn't going to testify to anything. I wasn't even going to stick around for it.

The car was outside.

It pulled up.

It was a black truck. He sat right outside the front of my house the way he always did. I grabbed my luggage. Am I for real? Was I really leaving Biggie and this hell house for good.

“Hey...”

The boy looked back at me as I got into the seat of the car. He was olive colored boy with natural curls on the top of his head and a real soft face. He was clearly a pretty boy and I could tell. He seemed surprised when I got into the car.

“I didn't think you was going to show up man...”

“Can we go?”

I was nervous. I was nervous as hell in front of this house. I knew it was the weekend and there was no way at all that they would have let Biggie out, yet I was still worried. The haunting feeling of having him so close worried me. It scared the hell out of me.

“Sure man. Calm down aight. You safe now...”

I didn't say anything. I didn't fucking want to talk to this guy. I couldn't calm down. I had just walked out on everything that I knew. All the crap that I put up with Biggie I was finally gone. I rolled down the window in the car.

For some reason I felt entitled to the air all of a sudden. I could care less about this man sitting next to me. I didn't care if he took me anywhere. He could take me to Timbuktu. I was rid of Biggie. I was done.

I had freed myself from the curse that my mother had left me with.

“I'm Jaime.”

No need to talk. Every part of me just wanted to enjoy the moment. Every part of me just wanted to be as far away from Georgia as possible. I knew we were going south by his GPS. I looked at him studying him up and down before I answered. He was attractive. I'd give him that. I'd always been gay. Somehow though everything was misconstrued.

“My uncle didn't tell you my name?”

“Defensive huh?”

“A little. I'm AJ.”

Alex Junior. It was my Dad's name. My mother was never married to my dad. They were engaged though. That was until her old flame Biggie had gotten out of jail. My father had disappeared or so they said. I knew the truth. He had killed my father. He was obsessed with my mother and he couldn't stand any other man having her.

“You don't have to be so defensive anymore,” he stated, “You're safe.”

He kept saying that. I hadn't even understood what safe meant. It was something so strange to me. It was almost like some strange hold had gotten over me when he said that. I was puzzled.

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”
“You can let my uncle know I won't be staying for long. I just need to get on my feet. I'll find a job and everything. I'll pay him back for my stay. I don't take anything forgranted.”

“You can tell him yourself...”

He was looking at my face. I could tell how he would stare after every few seconds. It was almost like he was thinking something. He didn't say though. He just continued to stare with those eyes. I'd seen those eyes before. They were knowing eyes. These people always acted like they knew me but they didn't know anything.

“I fell...” I stated.

My jaw had been broken. I had 8 stitches in my head. My right eye was still swollen so bad I couldn't even see from it. My right arm had been dislocated and it was in a cast. It had become a struggle to do everything...even eat.

“Must have been one hell of a fall...brah...”

“It was...”

There was no sense getting in between these walls. I wouldn't let you pass. I wouldn't let any of you pass with your judgmental stares. How could you stay in a house with a man for that long? I could hear them now. How could you let him treat you like that?

Jaime didn't talk for any much longer. I guess he could see at that moment that I could push him out. I had will. I had a sharp tongue just like my mother. It's funny how it protected us against everyone except for Biggie. The fucked up thoughts in my head were probably the same as my mother's. If they knew the whole story. If my UNCLE knew the whole story would he have taken me in like this. He could never find out what really happened with my mother. No one could....

“Captiva Island?”

We had traveled for hours and Captiva Island was where we were headed. Jaime had parked the truck on the boat and we were taking the ferry over from the Florida mainland. I had never heard of it. From the look of the people on the ferry with us it must have catered to tourists. Jaime had been trying to make small conversation. It was so awkward and I just let it be honestly. Part of me didn't know what to say to him and another part of me knew it hurt every time I opened my mouth.

“My father beat me too,” Jaime stated.

It was a blank statement. I didn't know what to say.

“You call yourself a Vanity too?”

“Oh you know about us?”

“My mother mentioned it one time or another...”

She had told me about how my Uncle Jory never had kids of his own but he always had a family. Uncle Jory had a large sum of money from his make-up and accessory line. He bought a large house and took in gay kids. He legally changed his name to Jory Vanity and the kids he took in all carried that same name. They called him father. She said it was countless gays that he took over the years. Some became like true family to him while others he just took in for a short amount of them.

“Yeah, the house of Vanity. I met your father maybe 7 or 8 years ago. My father had beaten me so bad back then for being gay that I ran away. I made money on the streets prostituting. I thought your uncle was a trick but he told me to put my clothes on. He raised me up...he did it for a lot of us. So see you aren't alone.”

“Sorry to hear your story man, but the man who beat me wasn't my father.”

I had a father. My father was kind. My father was gentle and would never had hurt me. The gentle don't survive in this world long though. It's the gutsy, cruel bastards like Biggie that stay the longest. Men like Biggie didn't die because the horror they inflicted lived on. I wanted to just stop talking then. This ferry ride was too long. Why did we have to talk? Why couldn't we just stay silent.

“I know its a sore subject man. I know you may not want to be open to talking about it right now. I can understand that completely. I'm here though. If you ever want to share anything...”

I shrugged my shoulders, “You gay aren't you?”

“I'm not trying to hit on you...”

“So why are you trying to get to know me?” I asked shaking my head confused, “Like do you want sex or something? I'm confused.”

“I'll leave you alone.”

He did too. He turned away and put in his earphones that were plugged into an ipod that he had on. He reminded me of that feminine boy from the store. The gays always asked so many questions. I didn't get it. I felt bad when I watched him though. I felt like maybe I should have been nicer.

I had my chance after we went on shore and started driving again. The city was beautiful. There was a huge beach and we went up a long hill where we could see the water below. The view was stunning. I almost got lost in the coast and the waters. I had never been to a place to beautiful. I had only seen it on TV between the sports games Biggie used to watch all the time. He hogged the tv viciously. It wasn't real. The coast was amazing.

“You lived with my uncle this whole time?”

He nodded.

It was clear the boy had closed down to me. A part of me wanted to just forget it and shut down but then I figured I'd be around him. I didn't want to make it awkward. I was in a strange place in my life where I didn't know who I could trust if anyone. I just had to make sure I didn't create an enemy.

“So is it like an orphanage.”

“Ha...its far from it. We aren't all blood related. We aren't even legally related. But for the most part we are a real family. It's the only family we know. Its just his main kids left now. The six of us that he loves the most. Father Jory doesn't take in any new Vanities either ever since the accident happened.”

Father Jory? I could almost laugh at the notion that this is what this boy was calling my Uncle. My Uncle hadn't adopted him truly. He opened his doors to this guy. Why would he call him Father?

“What accident?”

“You don't want to know. Maybe someone else will tell you. I don't want to scare you off,” he stated, “We are pulling up to the Vanity Estate now.”

The Vanity Estate.

It didn't see anything but a huge gate. I looked around but could see now house. I didn't understand where the house actually was. Jaime pulled up to the gate and rolled the window down. He pressed on the telecom button and a voice came in.

“Jaime...”

“Welcome home Jaime...”

At that point he closed the window behind him.
“The house has guards?” I asked.

He laughed almost as though I had asked some sort of silly question or something. I didn't get what was so silly about it. He saw the condition of the house he'd picked me up from. My mother's house had once been beautiful but it seemed like the poison that was Biggie spread all across the house scarring it. The house was run down now. I wondered if Biggie knew my Uncle had so much money. I was sure he would have been a lot nicer to him. The only thing that made Biggie nice to a man if the man had money.

We rolled through an isle of trees on both sides. It was rather beautiful but still there was a darkness and loneliness here. It seemed heavy almost. It was as though something burdened here. I didn't know how to explain it.

“Listen, there are only four of us home now. Barka is the drag queen of the house. She's a sweet heart and you'll love her. She's the oldest probably in her thirties. She's harmless. Then there are the twins Nima and Neiman. They are polar opposites. Neiman is quiet and kind of does his own thing. We aren't really sure if he's gay. He's never been with a guy. Nima is a little dramatic lipstick lesbian. She puts on a front but she's not really as bad as the other two...”

He stopped talking then.

“The other two.”

“They are coming back tonight. Vice and roman. They may not really like you...”

“What, why? They don't even know me.”

“It's complicated.”

That was all he would say on the matter. It was the weirdest thing to have someone just say that they wouldn't like me and not explain why. It was almost like a slap in face or something.

We got to the house to see several people lined up. They all wore uniforms and stood lined up out front. It was such an eerie and yet utterly romantic view of them. Out in front of the house with them was a tall woman with heels on. I had never seen a woman so tall and as I got closer I realized that it wasn't a woman at all.

As I got out of the car all the uniformed employees took a bow. I looked over at the tall woman who had a huge smile on her face.

“Oh dear god, there you are!”

I held out my hand to shake the drag queen's hand but she pulled me in and hugged me. She pulled close in such a loving way that was so unfamiliar to me. I had never seen a drag queen before. She wasn't beautiful at all but she wasn't ugly. Her make-up was heavy. She had a long bone structure that made her seem like she could have made a handsome man. Her body was curvacious however. Everything save her face structure and her height spoke woman. In a dimmer light she could have definitely pulled it off.

“I”m AJ.”
“Of course I know who you are,” she stated and then looked back at Jaime, “Oh my god, Jaime look at his face!”

“Oh come on Barka, when the old man saved you you didn't look any better.”

“He's right...” Barka whispered but then turned to the staff, “Let me introduce you to everyone.”

She took her time naming each and every person who had lined up in front. Some of them were cooks and some of them were gardeners. Some people I had no idea what they really did. I didn't have any idea why they were all out here being introduced to me when there was work out there to be done. There was all this pomp and circumstance that made me definitely think this was a gay house.

Barka was loud. She was extremely loud. Still even when I found myself annoyed at her she would look back at me with a dazzling smile that I couldn't help to smile back at her. I realized I wasn't the only one either. She had a way of making people want to smile at her as she looked at them. It was almost like some sort of pull. I wanted to hate her so bad for being this definition of a sissy but I couldn't. All I could do was smile.

Several guys came in and took my luggage. I wasn't sure where they were taking it and a part of me wanted to see but I was interrupted by Barka flashing me dazzling smile. It caught me off guard.

“Come on in, come on in AJ,” Barka told me grabbing me by the hand and leading me up the stairs, “You see I'm the lady of the house really. That queen Vice may tell you different but if things were how they should be I'd be Mother Vanity.”

I didn't know who this Vice person was or what she was talking about and didn't care as soon as I saw the inside of the house. The house was styled exquisitely. Baroque art had lined the rooms of the halls. It looked like I had stepped into Marie Antoinette's shoes. The walls seemed to come alive with an exaggeration of décor. There was nothing minimalist about this place.

The front hall had a very conservative mansion look with two spiraling staircases that led up to a higher level. As we continued down the main hallway several other hallways branched off. I wondered where they led but Barka wasn't interested in those rooms. She was leading me to the back and talking a mile a minute that I didn't understand a word she said. Jaime trailed right behind her and I looked back at him almost wanting him to save me.

He smiled back and I wondered if he suspected me.

“Is that him?”

The voice was coming from the back room. I looked to see that we had come across a large spacious room. The room was again reminiscent of an old school French palace. The couches were beautifully shaped. On one of the couches was a girl. She was a white girl with pretty face and blonde hair. Her hair was tied up in a bun. Her had on a golden baby doll dress and kitten heels with loose jewelry. She looked like she had missed the cast of Gossip Girl or something.

She walked up to me like a lionness. Her eyes piercing through me. I felt some sort of strange haunt from her.

“Nima be nice...” Jaime warned.

“Vice is going to eat him alive,” she stated right in my face with such a snap that I thought she would rip at me right then and there.

She walked past me all of a sudden not caring to say another word. I didn't get it. She left the room without saying another word. As she left the room I regretted not saying anything to her. She had meant to make me feel victimized.

Again I heard this Vice name.

“Sorry for my twin,” a voice said.

I turned to my right to see a boy that looked just like the girl who walked out. He had blond hair as well. He was kind of skinny and looked sort of like a surfer boy or something. He had the decency to walk up to me and actually shake my hand. He didn't smile though.

“I'm Neiman,” he stated and then turned away from me, “Jaime...um, so do we have to like be home at a certain time. Is that today...or like tomorrow or what's going on.”

His mind was preoccupied. He barely took any recognition or had any warmth in meeting me. They said he was so different from Nima but to me he seemed opposite of Barka. Where Barka was all welcoming and warm, Neiman seemed cold and almost empty.

“The party is tonight at 9,” Jaime said.

Barka leaned forward and fixed Neiman's shirt, “Please don't be late sweetheart. Father Jory will be so upset if you don't show up...like last time.”

The boy nodded but it could have been anyone saying anything to him at that point. He didn't even seem like he was there in his mind.

“Cool,” he said turning back to me, “See you around.”

He left the room at that point.

“What is going on?”

Jaime answered, “A party is happening in a few hours. Your uncle is coming back from a long trip overseas with Vice. They went to Africa. I guess they spent some time on the Safari.”

“The same Vice that will probably hate me for some reason?”

Jaime and Barka looked at each other. They didn't say anything for a time. It was a little awkward. It was definitely something here that I didn't know or didn't quite understand. That much was clear here but neither of them were willing to talk.

“Jaime why don't you show AJ to his room?” Barka stated all of a sudden.

I had been completetely ignored. I felt like it too. I had seen the reaction that Nima had given me. She was basically threatening me or was she warning me. I couldn't tell the difference. Even Jaime seemed a little concerned. I shook my head trying to shake the discomfort. I was already in pain. I didn't need anything else to worry about.

Jaime took me up some back steps. The house was so confusing. It didn't make sense. As we walked up the back steps I had a feeling we were in the front part of the house again. I wasn't going to try and make sense of the large house now. Jaime opened the door to a room. It was a simple room with a queen bed in the middle of it. There was nothing really much to the room except a huge large vanity mirror on the side wall that branched to a small private bathroom. The vanity had swirls of gold floral design sprouting every which way. It engulfed the mirror completely.

“The party is at 9. There is some make-up in the vanity if you need to cover up your...ah...well...you know...”

“What if I don't want to come?”
“It'll be important to your uncle to see you. He'd been hoping you'd come for years now...”

“Last time we met I called him a faggot.”

“I'm sure he doesn't hold it against you,” Jaime stated shaking his head, “Anyway, a lot of people are here. It'll be interesting to see how they react to the newest Vanity.”
“Vanity? I'm not a Vanity. My name is Alex Eden Jr.”

He threw his hands up, “Ok, ok. I'm sorry for assuming. I just figured since he took you in like the rest of us.”

“I'm his REAL family, ok? He didn't just grab me off the streets.”

I wondered if I hit a chord with Jaime. I wanted to take it back as soon as I said it. I had a way of just saying whatever to him. I couldn't tell with him though. He just nodded and shrugged.

“I'll come get you a little later.”

I had sat in the tub and cried for a long time . I didn't want anyone to see me this weak so I made sure my tears were low. I didn't know what I was crying about. A part of me was crying because I knew what I had done. I knew the secrets I had been keeping from everyone including myself. If my uncle had found out, I'd be out on the streets and no one would want me. No one would even look at me. I had to make sure they didn't find out.

I dressed in a plain button shirt and some fitted jeans. I didn't want to stand out at this party in a good way or a bad way. I wanted to just blend in and go unnoticed. The quicker I got back on my feet the fast I'd be out of here and I didn't want to draw any attention to myself in the meantime.

It was late in the evening when the music started playing. I looked out my window and I saw cars. There were a ton of them. I didn't know why I thought this was some private party. I didn't know why I assumed it wouldn't be a big thing. It looked like it was definitely a big thing though.

“You ready?”

It was Jaime. He had come just as I had expected him too. He looked so much different from before. He had gel in his curly hair. He had on a blazer and a little skinny tie. He looked like he had just stepped out of someone's GQ magazine and I looked like regular.

“Can you still tell my eye?”

“A little bit, but you'll be fine. Everyone's tipsy downstairs anyway. I wanted to you to be a little casually late.”

I had expected the party to be a socialite type event but I may have been wrong. Sure, Jaime was dressed the part but everyone seemed to be dressed so differently. As I walked down the steps the huge dining room was crowded with all sorts of people. Some people looked like they belonged there and some people looked like they had been bumming the streets. Most of them looked as though they had something to say. It was weird to explain. Everyone looked like they had a story. In the back of the room there were a bunch of artistic looking people. They seemed highly into fashion and wore ridiculous costumes that seemed inspired by Lady Gaga. Then there were the uptowners who seemed to have so much money they didn't know what do do with it but look great. I realized this was where Nima was. I didn't see her brother and even though I didn't know him I was almost certain he'd blown off this entire thing. Nima didn't seem to be searching for him though. She didn't take any notice of me as I walked down the steps either.

“AJ!”

It was Barka. She gave me a warm hug and introduced me to several drag queens that were with her. When she introduced them she always seemed to give their house names. I didn't pay attention to any of them. The drag queens seemed to want conversation but it was one that was particularly touchy. She actually grabbed me and attempted to take me off into a more private part of the room. It wasn't long before Jaime pulled me away from her and said something that I could have sworn was, “hold on bitch” before pulling me away. I almost laughed as he handed me a drink.

“Look stay close to me ok?” he stated, “The Vanities are popular but popularity doesn't mean people like us. We have a lot of enemies...”

I wanted to ask him what he meant but I didn't get a chance. A few guys had immediately started to talk to Jaime as soon as he made his comment. It made me worry a little bit. What did he mean by enemies? How bad could people really not like the family?

At that moment was when I saw the eyes on me. I ignored them at first and made an attempt to move away, but they followed me. A set of eyes in a crowded room that were looking right through me.

It made me nervous afraid even when I saw the person the eyes were attached to. He was handsome.

He was so handsome. He had dark eyes and brown milky skin. His eyes were divine as well. I didn't understand why he was just staring right into me. He had on a v neck t-shirt that was made out of some sort of silk material. It folded across his muscles. I could see his body from here. He was perfect there in the darkness and I wondered if he knew it.

“He's beautiful isn't he?”

A guy stood next to me. I hadn't even noticed him. He wasn't familiar in the crowd. He was pretty tall and lean guy.

“God yes...”

“Everyone thinks so. He played football in college and even went professional. He ended up hurting himself and quitting the sport though. It was really a tragedy. He could have been one of the greats.”

The dark eyes were still piercing at me from across the room even with someone else sitting next to me talking to me.

“Why does he keep looking over here? I'm like going nuts,” I stated.

I was. My hands were sweating. I could imagine kissing those lips of his. He had perfect lips. They were parted a little bit as he looked at me. I stared right back and his eyes just dug through me. I wondered if that was a little smirk that I saw on his face. All I knew was that I wanted his lips. I wanted to be closer to this man. Obviously he was staring at me for a reason.

“He's interested probably. Who knows. I never saw him stare like that. No...wait I have. Only once though. You'd think all the guys would have had him by now because he's so sexy. The true sexy ones just have a few though. In his case he just had one.”

“Who?”

“Me.”

I jumped back looking at the guy and shaking his head. I had been gawking at this man's boyfriend or ex—boyfriend or husband or whatever for the past 5 minutes while talking to him.

My face blushed red.

I didn't know what to say as I looked back to see this man next to me was enjoying my nervousness.

“Relax, you aren't the first one to fall for my Roman at first sight.”

“Ro-Roman?”

“Yes. His name is Roman Vanity. As for me, I'm Vice Vanity.”

My face went red again. Embarrassment struck me like a ton of knives.