"Why isn't everyone looking at me?" was the first thing Zoe said as she looked around. Everyone was busy talking, no one noticing her. It was strange indeed. Never in the history that I've go out with Zoe, the whole room was calm and not paying attention to her. When Zoe enters a building, a party, or a bar, everyone is staring at her. Women that were envious of her beauty and men that were jealous of me.
"Zoe!" I heard Kat's voice.
I cringed, that witch. Even her voice was so high pitched and ugly.
"Kat!" Zoe squealed in turn.
"You brought him." Kat said contemptuous.
"Good evening to you too Kat." I said with the fakest smile ever. She ignored me and turned her attention back to Zoe.
"Oh my god Zoe, you're gorgeous but I have to tell you this." Kat whispered something in Zoe's ear and Zoe's eyes turned wide of shock.
"No,no, no! This is a dress I brought from Dubai, how the hell can she have this?"
Kat shrugged. "Maybe she has someone in Dubai?"
"Flynn, we need to go home now!" Zoe whined as she tugged on my suit.
"What?!" I asked open-eyed. "I will not go home after I have waited one hour for you, let me drink my martini first."
"You don't know!" Zoe cried out and stomped with her foot. "Bella has the same dress as me!" she pointed towards one of the couches. I followed her finger and my eyes felt on three girls. Kendall, Gigi and Bella. She was right; Bella wore the exact same dress she was wearing.
"It's not the end of the world, you look hotter in it."
"Ugh!" she growled. "You're a man, you don't understand. This is a disaster! Oh my god!" Zoe started hyperventilating.
"Calm down Zoe! Let me make a toast on my new lip stick and then you can go home." Kat whispered as she stroke Zoe's back gently.
"This is a nightmare! And why isn't anyone noticing me? Am I invisible? Oh my god!"
Zoe was a drama queen and she was good in it too.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's another girl who stole the spotlight, even from me."
And Kat was a terrible best friend, because instead of soothing Zoe, she made Zoe hyperventilate more.
"W-w-what?!" Zoe stuttered. "Who's that?"
Kat looked over at the bar. "The copywriter of Ximena Vasilios...What was her name again? Janine or Jessica or something?"
I looked at the bar and there sat the most beautiful woman, I've ever saw. Zoe has nothing on her. The mysterious woman that clearly works for my sister was sitting and chatting with someone really familiar.
The familiar person stared at me and it was.... Rodrigo?
Then she turned around and our eyes met.
It was her!
……….
Jill Malik P.O.V
Flynn wore a white silk shirt with a navy blue coat and tie. However, he got better the more I look at him. His long fingers ran through his champagne blonde hair which shifted back into place once his hand had gone past. He had prominent cheekbones, a well-defined chin, nose, and his eyelashes were so thick, that it should be illegal. His deep blue eyes and pale skin made him look devilishly handsome.
"Can I please have all of you gathered here in the middle with your drinks?" Kat voice boomed in the small golden room as people started to walk towards her.
"Are you coming?" Rodrigo asked.
I nodded. I stood up, straightened my dress, and grabbed my drink. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw it was Rodrigo's. He flashed me a dazzling smile as we walked to the middle of the room.
"Hey man!" I heard Flynn's strong voice.
"Whatsup?" Rodrigo gave Flynn a fist bump. "I didn't know you would be here, I thought you hated her."
Flynn let out a heavy sigh. "It's because of Zoe."
"Ah Zoe, well, look who I've met here. The gorgeous Jill Malik." Rodrigo said, and smiled at me.
Flynn looked at me intently, eyeing me from head to toe. "Ah, do I know you?" he asked raising his eyebrows up at me.
I rolled my eyes at him; of course he will not remember me. I'm not his type after all. "Ximena's copywriter slash friend."
"Ah." he said, "The feisty one huh?"
I looked confused at him. "Excuse you? I would not call myself feisty."
"Feistiness confirmed, bytheway nice to meet you tonight, I need to go back to my date."
"Flynn, what...Oh it's you and---"
A beautiful woman in a pretty red gown was glaring angrily at me. "How could you take the spotlight from Kat's own party and...And from me too?"
I batted my eyelashes at her and looked at Rodrigo and Flynn. Rodrigo just shrugged and continued to drink his Martini. Flynn on the other hand looked worried.
"Zoe, please don't make a scene." he hissed as he nudged the woman.
"Oh I'm not, it’s just.... You, what's your name again? Janett? Jący?"
"Jill" I corrected her.
"Whatever Jill, you look hideous. The dress is not even pretty on you."
I could hear the venom in her voice. I knew that what she just said was out of jealousy and I wondered why? I don’t even know this woman!
"Honey, you're just jealous." I said confidently and turned my attention back to Kat who was now standing on the table.
"May I have your attention please?" Kat tapped with her long acrylic nails on her glass. The room immediately went silent.
"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be here with all of you on the occasion of the official launching ceremony of the KVD Liquid lipstick line. I would first like to thank my copywriter for coming up with the name, my PR manager for the amazing promotions, my party planner for hosting such a magnificent launch party, and everyone who had contributed to make this launch possible. Together with my team we have been working hard on these liquid lipsticks and we can't wait for our audience to see it. So---" Kat held her glass in the air. "With this being said I would like to toast on the official launch of KVD liquid lipsticks."
Everyone raised their glasses in the air.
"Oh and before I forget, before all the ladies leave tonight, come and grab your personalized lipstick kit at me."
Kat got off the table and walk towards us. "I see you guys have met." she said smiling, motioning at me and Zoe.
I looked at Zoe who was clinging on Flynn as if her life depends on it, looking furiously at me. That's when I noticed the style of her dress. It looked really familiar. Then I remembered, Bella wore the same exact dress.
"This is a nightmare! First Bella wore the same dress as mine and then this...this thing is taking my spotlight!" Zoe sobbed dramatically.
Next to me, Rodrigo sighed heavily. "Can you stop being a drama queen?"
Zoe shot him a deadly glare. "What do you know about humiliation Macallister?"
"That it can get worse."
"Ugh, this is the worse it can get! Ughh...Flynn let's go." she tucked on Flynn's hand, dragging him away.
"I didn't have my martini yet." he protested.
"There's plenty of Martini's at the Peninsula." she huffed angrily.
Rodrigo shook his head in despair. "She's such a...a..."
"Handful?" I ask, since he has trouble finding his words.
"Hell no, I was about to say bitch."
I laughed. "That's really not how a gentleman speaks."
"Well, she's not a lady either."
"Is she one of Flynn's uhmm..."
"Bedroom buddies?" Rodrigo asked, "Yep, she's one of his regulars."
I can't believe that Flynn is so...reckless.
"I know what you're thinking." Rodrigo said, looking intently at me. "He was not always like this; someone obviously made him like that."
"Who?" I asked curious. He laughed softly. "We all have secrets Jill, I bet you have too."
That was true. Secrets.
Oh stop it!
"Don't think too much." Rodrigo snapped me out of my thoughts. "You will get wrinkles before you're fifty."
I shook my head and laughed. "You're really entertaining, Rodrigo."
"I'm glad I could entertain you." he looked at his watch and a bunch of curse words left his mouth.
"Fuck!" he cursed and then looked up at me. “I need to go, my sister is waiting for me."
"Well, it was nice to meet you." I said, smiling.
He smiled back, "It was a pleasure to meet you too."He gave me a hug and left. After he had left I checked the time on my phone and decided it's time for me to leave too. I made a quick call to Baxter as I walked to the main entrance."Jill! Wait up!" I heard someone yell behind me. I put my phone back in my clutch and turned around. Kat was running towards me with a little box in her hand."Hey, are you leaving?" she asked, a little bit out of breath."Yes, it's getting late." I replied, eyeing the beautiful box she had in her hand."Well." she said, "This is for Ximena." She handed me the beautiful golden box."Well, thank you, I will give it to her tomorrow." I said.She smiled. "Thanks for being here; I hope to see you again.""Likewise." I gave her a hug and walked away.I walked outside and waited for Baxter to come pick me up. "It will take a while." he had said in the phone, "There's so much traffic.""Dammit!" I cursed when there was still no sight of Baxter after ten minute
"Are you done checking me out?" he asked amused, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips."Are you done being cocky?" I retorted.He chuckled and said: "Always have answers ready for everything huh?""What can I say? Now, let's talk about what we actually came here for."He looked down at his coffee mug and started to talk. "Last night I invited Pamela, the redhead, for a one night stand. She wore her red corset that her boyfriend bought for her and I accidentally tore it apart. Needless to say I had to buy her a new one. She persisted that I needed to go with her to buy it or she would cause a scene in my company. And that's the last thing that I want, I don't want all my employees to know that their boss is going around tearing girl's corsets apart. So I decided to go with her."He looked up at me, waiting for my response."That still didn't answer my question.""What was your question again?" he asked again. I rolled my eyes at him. Does he suffer from memory loss or something?
"I'll pick you up at eight in the morning."I nodded. "Sounds good."I threw a quick glance at Flynn who was half asleep half-awake in the chair before I headed out. During my presentation I'd done that too, throwing quick glances at him. Even when he had a hangover his eyes shined so impossibly blue like there was a sky trapped behind his pupils...........It was a beautiful day in New York City. I was planning to go on a little shopping spree today, but Ethan, one of my closest friends from university, texted me a while ago asking if I was able to join him for lunch. Of course I replied with a yes, since I haven't seen him in a while. He went back to Germany after graduation, because of an internship he got.I drove to the address Ethan had texted me and I ended up at this place called Margon. I had never eaten here before. I grabbed a small mirror out of my bag and fixed my makeup and hair before getting out of the car.Margon, was a small restaurant, far from where I'm used to ea
"I told her." Ximena chimed in. "And you know what she told me? She can eat anything she wants and still have that figure."Ellie stared at me agape. "You're kidding me.""Nope." Ximena answered."Damn girl, I'm low-key jealous!""You should be" We all turned around to look at Flynn."Excuse me?" I said confused, I'm pretty sure I haven't heard him right."I said she should be jealous of your body. It's perfect." he repeated nonchalantly.If my heart could jump out of my chest, it would happen right now. Did the Flynn Vasilios just compliment me? I was frozen in spot, trying to process his compliment. Ximena was the first one who said something."Do I smell love in the air?"This time I turned my head at Ximena and glared at her. Really? From all the things she could've said, that's what she came up with?Flynn coughed at the question of Ximena and turned his head to his right. "Martini, Rodrigo?" he asked instead, looking at his best friend.Rodrigo nodded. "Yeah, yeah Martini."And
I nodded my head. "Yes totally, it's beautiful up here.""It is." he agreed. We talked for a while, but then he had to proceed to walk towards a table behind me to greet more people.I decided to get something to drink at the bar, but halfway I got stopped by the trio that walked out of the elevator.Flynn, Rodrigo, and Ellie."Jill!" Ellie squealed as she ran up to me. The pink lace dress she was wearing hugged all her curves in the right places. No doubt that she will steal the spotlight from Ximena tonight.She hugged me tightly and when she released me I saw Rodrigo and Flynn behind her watching us with an amused expression plastered on their face."Hello Rodrigo." I hugged him and he chuckled. Rodrigo is cute, I have to admit. That boy has the looks, but since the first time I'd met him it was clear that he didn't see me as more than a friend."Nice to meet you again pretty lady." He replied chuckling.I released myself out of his hug and saw Flynn silently glaring at him. I rais
The reason of the break up? He said that he couldn't do long distance. I got a scholarship to study in the USA and he got one to study in Switzerland. He didn't even want to try.The most painful thing about the breakup? I wasted four years of my life on some loser, who not only broke up with me, but also had a secret relationship with a girl in Switzerland.During spring break of senior year he went to visit a college in Switzerland. When he came back, I knew that something was wrong because he became distant, but I didn't really care about it. It was senior year after all.On graduation day I saw an unfamiliar girl sitting with his parents. I assumed it was his cousin or family friend I haven't met yet. When his parents came to congratulate me, I felt that Mateo was getting uncomfortable next to me. He was shifting from his left feet to his right."What babe?" I asked as he was fidgeting nervously with his cap. "N-nothing." he stuttered.When the unfamiliar girl next to his parents
Jill Malik P.O.V"Did you already come up with a name for my eyeshadow palette?" Ximena asked as I took a seat across her in her office. She looked like she didn't have a good night sleep in days.I shook my head as I took a sip of my coffee. It was dark, bitter, and hot. It totally matches my soul. "I'm stuck between Wildest Dream and Dangerous love.""Those are actually really good. I like wildest dream.""You do? I like that one too." I said relieved. I was actually happy that she likes the name, because I was running out of time, patience, and names. "How's wedding planning going."She sighed, as she propped her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hand. "It's going great, there's just so much to do in such a short time.""I bet there is. The engagement party two weeks ago was so well planned; I don't think Blake will disappoint you on your wedding day."She nodded, but I could see emptiness in her eyes. "Yeah, he comes home late every night. I barely see him."So that's
"Yep, they were together in college, but broke up.""Oh. Makes sense, that guy was completely lost without her.""You know him?""Yes, a couple of months ago I met him at the billionaire club meeting and he was constantly talking about this girl named Reina.""Well, he did try to get back to her in college but she ignored him. I never really liked him, but I guess he's changed now.""Oh yeah he changed big time. Your friend has him wrapped around her finger."I laughed at that. We kept talking for a while, when I started to get tired. My eyes started to get heavy and Flynn noticed that."Here." he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I didn't have the energy to resist him anymore and I just let it be. It felt better like this."Sleep a little." he whispered before I closed my eyes and darkness consumed me...........I fluttered my eyelashes open and saw that I wasn't in a plane anymore. In fact I was now in a car."Well hello there sleeping beauty.
Because I knew this meant taking another step for Clint and me.A step I felt we’d both been ready for.“You want to rehearse?”I peeked over at Michael. “What?”He snickered. “Rehearse. You know, what you’re going to say to him tonight.”I shrugged. “Nah. I’m good. I usually wing it with stuff like this.”“You’re going to wing it when it comes to telling Clint how you feel for the very first time>”“I mean, I usually wing it with my English speeches and I do just fine with those.”He paused. “You didn’t plan out that speech you gave last year?”I shook my head. “Nope.”“That massive speech you gave on 1984 sort of applying today.”“Are you not hearing me right? Clean out your ears, Michael.”He chuckled. “Holy shit, you’re amazing. You know that?”I smiled. “And I hope that’s one of Clint’s many reactions tonight.”“If it isn’t, I’ll kick his ass for you.”“Michael!”“What? Come on, Rae. I see how happy he makes you. I see how much this boy means to you. And if he doesn't love you o
And I decided she would be. If she knew what was happening right now, she’d be proud. Possibly screaming at me like Cecilia currently was. But she’d be proud after the fact.Not today, Dad. You’re done with this shit today.The only thing I processed was the smell of alcohol. The only thing I felt was my father’s storm unleashing against me. He held so much anger within him. He had such fury in his fists. The only thing I saw were his angry eyes coming at me as I shoved him in his chest, listening as Cecilia screamed in the background.“Stop it! I’m calling the police if you don’t cut it out right now!”Her voice faded away. Fell into the background as I moved and ducked my father. Whatever this storm brewed from, I wasn’t going to be my father’s punching bag any longer. If he wanted a fight, a fight is what he’d get. And I’d make sure to repay him for every fist that ever connected with my face. I’d repay him for every bruise he ever wrung around my neck. I’d repay him for every knee
I felt myself blush. “Okay, yes. We are officially together. So, yeah. We’re going to prom together.”“You still don’t sound too sure of that. Is everything going okay with his recuperation?”I shrugged. “I mean, he’s always struggling with his dad. Which I’m sure is affecting his recuperation efforts. But he’s okay. Far as I can tell.”“I’d like to get his dad in a room for a few minutes.”I scoffed. “Wouldn't we all.”“So, how are the two of you? You know, now that he’s on the mend?”I felt myself blush deeper. “I guess we’re good.”“You guess, huh?”“You’re a dick, you know that?”He chuckled. “Maybe a bit. Can I ask you something, though?”“Of course. I mean, you have to spit it out soon because I only have one more minute, but—”“Do you love him?”The question didn’t catch me as off-guard as I figured it would. In fact, it was easy to answer. I bit down onto the inside of my cheek as I turned to face Michael. And with a nod of my head, I answered his question.“Yeah. I really thi
I stopped for one last breather a couple of blocks away from my house. I watched it looming in the distance, sparkling underneath the harshness of the sun. Sweat dripped down my back as I sighed. I watched the off-colored white glisten against the deep red shutters of the house. During the entirety of my childhood, I remembered that house in three distinct ways. Three different sets of colors that all popped more than the houses around it. Maybe it was the fresh coats of paint put on it every year that kept the house lively. Maybe it was the fact that it was the biggest house on the block. Or, maybe, it was the fact that we had the only house with a wrap-around porch as well as a wrought iron front gate that was barely utilized.Either way, it stood out.I picked up the pace. I went from standing still to walking. To speed walking. To jogging. I burst into a sprint, pumping air through my lungs and feeling them expand into my back. I felt the last pangs from my ribcage fall free, rele
“What? I mean, seriously. Come on. Your dad can’t actually think any of this was your fault. They almost killed you. They were drunk, from what I could gather from that night. They should be rotting away in jail. Or juvie. Or something.”I shrugged. “My father pretty much showed his ass in that office. Said things like I needed to be focusing on school instead of chasing down four guys I’d provoked.”Aly’s jaw dropped open. “What!?”“He also said I’d been a problem child my whole life. Essentially tried to paint me as some bad boy trying to get the one-up on someone before they got the one-up on me. He told the lawyer that he didn’t see those boys pressing assault charges on me when I started the fight. So why should I press attempted murder charges on them simply because they were seeking out revenge like most young boys do?”Mike’s face turned red. “Is it always like this with your father?”I sighed. “I mean, let’s just say I’ve talked a big game in the past with bruises I’ve come t
I snickered. “Which is apparently not very good. I know something’s wrong. Do you want to talk about it?”Clint dropped his bag. “Just—that shit with the lawyer yesterday.”I nodded. “What happened?”He leaned against the brick wall of the school. “Dad’s back in town.”“Oh, no.”“Oh, yeah. I told Cecilia time and time again not to tell Dad about the fucking lawyer. And of course, she didn’t listen. She’s awesome, but she never fucking listens. It’s like she thinks Dad’s actually gonna be this decent-as-fuck person one of these days. Then she gets shocked and hurt and scared when he loses his shit. She’s been married to him for four years! The fuck is she thinking!?”I placed my hands against his chest. “Deep breaths. Come on, take them with me. There we go.”I walked Clint through some even breathing. He was shaking against my hands, and I needed him to settle down. That explained everything. With his father back in town, shit always popped off. I smoothed my hands over his torso, try
I paused. “I’m not sure if that makes me feel any better.”Cecilia butted in. “You have to do something, Clint. They really did a number on you. Even if you simply sue them for the hospital bills or something—”Dad snickered. “Yeah. Pay me back some of that money.”“Howard!”I rolled my eyes. “Please excuse him.”“Did you just excuse me for someone else?”I looked over at my father. “I did. Because you’re acting absolutely insane right now and I’m tired of it.”His eyes lit up with fire as he stood up from his chair. His eyes panned toward the lawyer as he buttoned his suit coat. Cecilia got up quickly and followed him out of the room, trying to talk some sense into him. And as the door closed behind them, I cleared my throat.“I’m really sorry for that.”Omar shook his head. “Not your fault, Mr. Clarke.”I sighed. “So, if I wanted to press charges, what would we do?”“We’d gather evidence and serve each of their families with a formal subpoena. The boys are being held right now, so t
“Uh huh.”“Then, Clint drove off and they followed him. Pursued him, right?”I nodded. “Yep.”“And even though Clint tried shaking them, they kept following him. Until they ran him off the road.”I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”“In my eyes? The only thing Clint has accountability for is getting their focus off you. That was his fault, and it had good intentions. Good motives. Everything else was spurred on by those boys. From pulling up to you guys in the first place to chasing him down, no matter what. To me? The charge should be attempted murder.”And after a brief pause, I nodded.“You make a very good point about that.”Allison scoffed. “There’s no point about it. Drunk or not, those boys knew what they were doing. If they had enough sense to keep in control of that car long enough to be able to ram Clint over the edge of that bridge, then they had enough sense to choose not to.”I grinned. “You sure you don’t want to be a lawyer or something?”She giggled. “Nah. I’m just really good at
But all she did was shrug.“You guys ready to go?”I nodded at Cecilia’s question, then felt her ease us out of the driveway. I wanted to press the questions. I wanted to pull out of her what was wrong. But I didn’t want to do it in front of my stepmother. Rae wasn’t okay, though. And I had a feeling it had something to do with last night.I watched as Rae gazed out the window. She watched the world pass us by as she sank heavier and heavier into the leather seats of the car. She didn’t speak. Not one fucking word. And I desperately wanted to ask her what the hell happened after I left last night. I called Cecilia to come get me around midnight, and D.J. was still there. Her mother and D.J. had still been downstairs, going back and forth at one another. It was like they never stopped. She’d say one thing and he’d clap back. He’d say something wrong and she’d chew him out for it. It made me sick, leaving Rae in that kind of environment last night. I almost had a mind to ask Cecilia if