Chapter 2

        "What did you just do?!" The second guy queried Keira in perplexity after she'd snatched her palm from Andre's face.

She quivered timorously, taking a step away from Andre.

What have you done, Keira? Her frightened conscience reprimanded her.

How could you have allowed your emotions to get ahead of your rationality? It was just a minor stain, but all thanks to your exaggeration, you've gotten yourself into trouble with whoever this guy is.

An enraged Andre, surged towards her, raising his hand to retaliate, but his friend grabbed hold of him before he got close enough to touch her.

"Andre, please calm down." His friend begged him earnestly,

"She's just a little girl and has no idea who you're." His friend pleaded, throwing Keira a demeaning glance.

Fury emanated from every single pore on Andre's body as he glared at Keira. The sight of her caused his blood to boil with irritation and resentment.

How dare she raise her filthy hands to slap him?

No one has ever done that, not even his father; Tony Kings has ever raised his hand to hit him.

Who the fuck does she think she's?

I'm so gonna deal with her, she'll regret ever messing with me. He vowed to himself, glaring daggers at her.

"Bro, you've got to calm down." Xander, his best friend, cajoled him and he sighed exasperatingly, pulling himself from Xander's grip.

"Get out of here, girlie!" Xander scolded Keira and she was startled,

"Now!" He commanded her in a monosyllabic tone and she scurried off immediately before he changed his mind.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, sparing them not another glance.

     Around six pm later that day, Keira was packaging the order of some group of students who'd come to take their orders, when her colleague, Mary walked up to her and tapped her shoulder.

Frightened, she turned instinctively and sighed with relief, when she saw who it was.

"God! Mary, it's you."

"Yeah, who were you expecting?" Mary questioned surreptitiously and she faked a smile,

"No one." She lied.

"Well, you have got a guest."

Keira was perturbed and surprised.

She has never had anyone come to look for her at her workplace before, who might that be?

Or have those guys traced her to her workplace?

Her entire body was paralyzed with fear at the thought of that.

"A..guest.." She stuttered and Mary nodded,

"Yeah, she's on table fourteen."

She heaved a deep sigh of relief within herself.

A lady; at least it isn't them.

"Let me help you with those." Mary offered, reaching to take away the brown paper bag from the still-astounded Keira.

"Go on, I'll cover up for you if Joe comes out." She urged Keira, pushing her away ever lightly.

"Thanks, Mary." Keira mouthed in appreciation, sauntering out of the counter shutters, into the cafe parlor.

Just when she arrived at table fourteen, which was near the fake window, she saw Elvira twirling her fork around the cake she was served.

Yeah right.

"Elvira, what are you doing here?" She queried the girl, taking the seat next to hers. Elvira, upon the sound of the familiar voice, raised her head from the vanilla cake to the owner of the voice and her lips formed a slant smile of recognition.

"Keira, you're here." There was a tinge of glee in her voice and it surprised Keira.

"Yeah, and you're here too. What are you doing here?" She asked almost tersely,

"I mean, I never expected you to find me where I work." She corrected herself almost immediately, so Elvira doesn't take it the wrong way.

"Can you sit down for a few minutes? I want to talk to you." Elvira beckoned her. Keira already guessed secondhand what she wanted to talk to her about and she already has her stock reply waiting to be aired out, no matter how disappointed Elvira would feel. 

However, she waited for her to speak up first, before giving her her stock reply.

"It's about the frat party Shakira had invited us to."

I knew it was because of that! Keira almost snapped, but she decided to put a lid on her temper.

"I can't go alone with them." Elvira inveighed and Keira was prompted to ask,

"Why?"

"Well, because I don't trust them not to leave me at the very first chance they get."

"Then, don't go." Keira pointed out to her, exhausted from treading on the same topic again.

"You don't have to go with them. You could stay back at home and enjoy the rest of your evening reading like you always do." She added,

"Tell them you aren't interested in partying with them again. It's as simple as that."

Elvira let out a weary sigh, licking off the cream she had on her index finger. She picked up her fork afterward and dug it into the cake,

"I just feel like I need to get outside and explore the real world." She explained to Keira, who was absentmindedly counting the time Elvira was taking.

"I never did that living with my parents. It was either home or school. Since my parents were politicians, I'd be on my best behavior at all times and you know what that means." She complained remorsefully,

"I'd have to live under their shadow for too long, I forgot what it felt like being my person."

"Well, I'm sorry about that, but my stock answer is still no," Keira stated,

"I still have about two to three hours till my shift is over and I'm not trading my salary for anything."

Elvira's crestfallen countenance switched to a mischievous one, upon Keira's statement.

"What if I pay you a hundred bucks, to cover up for the rest of your shift?" 

Keira's eyes widened at the girl's generous offer, then it occurred to her, a hundred bucks equates to nothing for rich kids like her.

"I still can't..."

"Two hundred bucks." Elvira offered still, baring her pleading gaze into Keira's.

"I'll pay you two hundred bucks, just come with us."

Keira stared at the girl in bewilderment.

Was going out so important to her, she would pay a whole two hundred bucks to have her accompany her?

Two hundred bucks were her payment for two days, that's when she's working extra hours, plus the tips; aside from that, there's no way she's making two hundred bucks in a day.

"I need to talk to my boss first and if he agrees, then we have got a deal," Keira explained to the girl, who nodded gleefully.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." She said to her and got up from the seat, walking towards the counter.

 Luckily for her, the restaurant manager, Joe, was in a pleasant mood, he didn't ask many questions, when she lied about having an emergency she had to attend to, in their dormitory.

The man paid her for the hours she has worked and asked his son to cover up for her. Keira was grateful and said a little prayer of forgiveness, within herself as she left the man's office.

She joined Elvira at the table and both ladies left the cafeteria together.

    

      When they arrived at their suite, Kimberly was impatiently waiting for them in the general living area.

"What took you so long?" She queried Elvira, and immediately she stepped inside, sparing Keira not even a single glance.

"I'd like to go get my wing woman." 

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes impassively,

"Get dressed, we leave in twenty minutes." She commanded in a dismissive tone and just as they both started towards their respective bedrooms, she added,

"And for God's sake, please dress nicely. The last thing I want is anyone tagging along with me, dressed like my late great-grandmother."

Keira nervously went ahead of Elvira and she disappeared into her room, shutting the door behind her.

She wished she could just go into Elvira's room and tell her she changed her mind about going on with their deal, but she can't.

She already agreed to join them, and there's no going back on their deal.

A couple of minutes later, Keira was trying on the last dress she'd brought out for herself when the knock came on the door.

She was disheartened, as none of the dresses in her closet seemed good enough to go out with.

"Who's there?" She inquired of whoever was outside the door, a tinge of irritation and despair in her voice.

"It's me." She recognized the voice to be Elvira's and she hurried to the door, unlocking the bolt.

Elvira was surprised to see Keira isn't dressed yet and their driver was already downstairs waiting for them.

"Come on Keira." She cried, pushing herself into the room and pushing the door close behind her,

"Do not blame me." Keira rose to defend herself, sauntering towards her bed.

"It isn't like I was invited in the first place." She grumbled, dousing her weight on her bed.

"But I invited you to be my wing woman." Elvira pointed out to her, taking a seat beside her,

"Kimberly's friends are already here and in no time, they'll call us to join them. You can't go, dressed like this." She

Keira suspired with exhaustion and pessimism, pulling herself up from the bed and walking toward her sideboard.

"Maybe I shouldn't have accepted your offer. I've got nothing to wear and the last thing I need tonight is anyone reminding me how mediocre I'm."

Her statement dragged her down memory lane of what transpired between her and those two guys, earlier that evening.

She still hasn't been able to come to terms with the fact, she'd slapped that Andre guy.

What'd possessed her to even raise her hand on him? She never felt so much rage and anger for anyone before.

Her earnest prayer is she doesn't ever meet him again or he sets his eye on her again, if not, she's doomed.

Eventually, they settled for a beige dress with varicolored flowery designs around the hem and intricate hand-sewn designs on the bodice.

"This looks good," Elvira commented on the dress, just after she wore it.

"Thank you." Keira mouthed in appreciation, her flustered face shying away from Elvira's appealing gaze.

When was the last time someone commented nicely on her outfit, without making a mockery of their quality?

She could barely recall a time anyone was being genuinely nice to her, because there was none, all thanks to her family being destitute.

A loud knock on the door interrupted her reverie and she traveled back to reality in a millisecond, watching Elvira saunter to open it.

It was Kimberly and she was undoubted, pissed.

"What the hell is taking you so long?" She queried impatiently, her gaze on Keira.

"I'm sorry…."

"Whatever. Let's go already." She hissed and turned, leaving Keira and Elvira to decide whether or not they were tagging along with her.

Keira stepped out of the room with Elvira to join Kimberly in the living room, when the manly voice hollered behind them,

"Kim, I think there's a slight malfunction in the washroom down here!"

Both ladies veered around, frightened at the unfamiliarity of the voice. Keira's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the voice's owner.

One of her newest rivals.

Can her day get any better?