Episode 2

Episode 2: A FRENEMY

I sneaked out of the bathroom, and no one saw me leaving. I came back to my bedroom when I received a phone call from my best friend, Lola. She calls whenever she wants something, or better yet, wants someone to accompany her to a party.

I wasn't able to pick up her phone call on time; however, she sent me a message, and immediately the call disconnected.

Like I said, she wanted me to follow her to a friend's party. I might be her best friend, but she has so many friends that I began to question myself and what I might be to her. You can't have too many friends," she would always say to me whenever I questioned her about it.

That same evening, when I wore my knee-length gown with an opening at the back, I met Mom preparing the table for dinner with two of the maids at home.

"Nina, are you going somewhere?". 

She asked me after she took a glance at my outfit. I wasn't too sexy, nor did I dress too shabby.

"I am going to a party! Lola had invited me." I disclosed to her my whereabouts and even gave out the address at which the party would be held; they didn't ask for it; I only felt it might come in handy in case something bad strikes.

Christopher came into the room and met me, dressed to leave.

"Okay! Where are you going?" He goes to one of the chairs and sits down.

"A party? My little girl is growing up." Mom said it with a proud voice. Christopher gave his mom a pleasing smile and then turned back to me.

"Do you want a ride?" He offered to take me to the party. I have my car, but I don't think it would be necessary.

"Nah! I'll drive," I said, politely declining.

He felt a bit hurt by that; however, he grinned and then turned back to Mom.

Mom led me to go to the key holder to pick up the keys to my car. I was gifted a new car last year for my twenty-fifth birthday. 

The GPS took me to where the party was holding. I called Lola while I was in the car, and she picked me up, telling me to find her at the bar inside.

I came down and went into the party. It was held at a huge mansion, and I almost didn't feel like something was wrong when I passed by two girls kissing. The lesbians weren't the problem, and the huge status of a man behind them gave me the ike. Should I have come to the party? What if it was a gay party?

I met up with Lola at the bar.

"Hey! You called?". I sat down on the empty chair next to her, and I asked.

"Oh! Good evening, Nina, how are you?". She unhurriedly moved her head, holding a glass of champagne in her hand.

"What's up? Why did you call me to leave home?". I frowned at her, folding my hands together. 

"Nothing much; I needed someone to keep me company.". She brought her chair close and said, "And you're my best friend in the whole world.". She went further and attempted to embrace me.

I blocked her hand.

"Hey! Don't you tease me?". I asserted.

"Tease? No, my friend, I want you to have fun," she said, bringing her mouth to my ear. "Perhaps, will Christopher not tell you?". She whispered such tease-full words to my ears, and all of a sudden I started to giggle.

Among everyone who knows about my relationship with my foster brother, Lola is fully aware of the kind of relationship I share with him. We aren't doing anything abominable; I don't even share the same blood as him, so what is the possibility that our parents might understand and accept me as not just their daughter but also their daughter-in-law?

A man approached our table. He bought Lola a bottle of champagne. He did that not because he was feeling generous; he wanted to speak with Lola. I knew that after I had the win, I should fill up my empty glass.

I took my glass and had to be somewhere else, away from becoming the third wheel and stopping my best friend from finding herself a man.

Christopher called me after I left the bar and had gotten to a place quiet enough to answer.

He wanted to know if I was having fun, and honestly, I wasn't. Lola, who was now being accompanied by a young man, didn't think she would need me anymore.

I made the man I love assume I was having fun without him. Even though he got a chance to be together, we cannot be seen by anyone around; our parents are well known, and this will break their hearts.

After the call, I came back to the party. Lola, who I had left to speak with the man, wasn't sitting at the bar anymore; she must've left with him. 

I went outside and stopped by a cab home; the time was half past ten in the evening, and my curfew didn't start after eleven. I have at least an hour to return home.

"Let's go," I said to the cab driver. After I shut the door with one hand, I used the other hand to carry my purse, my phone, and a few coins inside.

The driver obeyed and drove off from the party.

The roads were empty, and there weren't many pedestrians outside, aside from the ones who tended to have night jobs. My phone rang, and I reluctantly picked it up and saw that Christopher was calling me.

I was about to pick up the phone when the cab I was in got hit, and immediately I had to jump my head up to see what had happened.

"What happened?" I asked the driver. I looked past his huge head blocking the car window, and there was a man in front.

A man stepped out of the car that had hit my cab, walked around, opened the car door, and, without any warning, took the driver out and gave him a dirty slap on the face.

Immediately, seeing that, I came down. I was about to say something rude, but only then did my eyes wander off, and I spotted Drake sitting so comfortably in the back seat of the car.

I should have known; no one else asks like an animal aside from him.

I went over to his car and knocked on his window.

Drake took his damn time lowering the window.

"Nina! What a pleasure to see you!". He faked his smile; I know that because it was evident on his face.

"You're happy to see me? Can you please ask your driver not to kill the cab driver?" 

I turned around, and the driver of the cab was still beating up the cab driver.

Drake went over, pulled his driver away, and sent him back to the car.

The cab driver was so bewildered that he stared without altering a single word.

"So? Can I see you?". 

Drake asked, With what just happened, does he expect me to come over to see him?

"Have you lost your mind? And please tell me, Where are you going on such a dark evening?". 

I looked at the time body showing on my wristwatch and then faced him to hear his response.

"Nina! I came back from an important meeting." He comes closer, his eyes glaring so seriously back at me. "What about you? Where are you coming from, and why are you alone? You're never alone."

He said it in a suspicious tone and lifted his eyebrows at me.

What is he trying to say? Does he perhaps feel like something is going on between Christopher and me, or am I being paranoid? ..

While I thought of what to say, the devil himself, Christopher, called me on the phone. In the presence of the boy whom he had humiliated last year on my behalf. I was the reason; obviously, that night, Drake was so humiliated that he promised to take revenge on Christopher. I wonder what he might want to do to him.

I was safely transported back home. With what happened to the cab driver's car, I felt guilty, so I took out some cash from my purse and offered it to him. It was going to help him repair his car and also take care of himself at the hospital.