Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 31.1: 1967, Georgina

Chapter 31.1: 1967, Georgina

"You've got glitter on your cheek, sweetie. Here, I'll get it."

I watched Paulie in the mirror as I fluffed out my long blonde wig on my head with my paddle brush. He leaned over Cha Cha, wet the tip of his pinkie finger with his tongue, and dabbed away the supposed glitter mark. 

"You know," he continued, "sometimes when I'm walking around I see people who have random glitter spots on them. I always wonder where they've been."

I chuckled at this, fixing some of the curls at the bottom of my wig with my fingers. 

"No, really. One time, I was on the train and I saw this business guy reading the Wall Street Journal? He had a little piece of blue glitter shining just under his eye. I spent the whole damn ride wondering where the heck he'd been. Was it a child's birthday party? A hooker? Was he secretly a drag queen, too, and where did he work?" Paulie started applying powder to the offending spot which had held the glitter on Cha Cha's face as Cha Cha's sweet eyes were closed. 

"That's silly," I said, sucking my cheeks in and starting to apply the finishing pink blush to my cheeks just so. 

"Weirder things have happened and you know it," he said, beginning to apply lash glue to the lashes he would momentarily be attaching to Cha Cha. 

I popped my lips a few times, making pouty kissy faces to know I was completely done. 

"Did you finally finish?" Paulie asked, looking at me incredulously. "It took you as long as two drag queens to get ready. We counted with ourselves."

"Do I look pretty?" I asked, still staring at myself in the mirror and further fluffing my wig by bunching and separating with my fingers. 

"You look gorgeous, darling, simply gorgeous. Now stop fucking with that wig, its being fluffed to death. It can't get any bigger." Paulie sucked his lips in and looked to the side with a knowing smile. I started laughing into my hand. I knew what he'd been about to say. It was not the first time he'd made this joke. However, there was a child present who would ask questions about such a dirty subject.

"Aww, Cha Cha looks darling," I smiled sweetly to him, taking his hand like a proud mommy and scooping up my purse. 

"Hopefully not too darling. If he does, the bouncer won't let us in," Paulie said, looking worried.

"The bouncer's seen him perform. I bet he thinks Cha Cha is like twenty-seven. Don't worry about it. Isn't that right, Cha Cha?" I asked, mussing his wig, my long fake nails really getting in there. 

Paulie's face dropped. "No! I just got that wig all done! Georgina, how dare you!" He sucked his teeth and sat Cha Cha down again and leaned over, fixing the wig now last minute. 

Cha Cha started laughing at this, but his nerves were clearly showing through. Tonight was the night we were taking him to his first gay club that was not our own. It was just down the street from Paulie's apartment, so soon we would be dashing as fast as our heels could take us down the street. 

In a couple of minutes, Cha Cha's coffee brown and blonde wig looked perfect once more. As Paulie went into his purse to find his keys, I took Cha Cha's hand again and winked at him. He grinned at me as I led him into the hallway.

"Wow, look at all of those wreaths, huh? Which one is your favorite one, Cha Cha?" Paulie asked, swinging Cha Cha's other hand like a child's as we walked down the hallway to the elevator.

"I like yellow one," he grinned. My head turned to a wreath made of yellow wheat and checkered gold ribbon two doors down from us. My eyebrow raised.