Chapter 4 - Layla Prime

Layla POV

It’s finally the weekend, and I can’t wait but to relax. I am wearing my most comfortable yoga pants with an oversized t-shirt that hits me almost on my knees. I am lazily lying down on the couch watching tv when Jo comes out of her room with tears in her eyes.

“That bastard,” she curses, sitting on the end of the couch, moving my feet and resting them on her legs. I raise an eyebrow, looking at her, and she takes a deep breath, cleaning her tears with the back of her sleeve.

“We’re going out,” she says, and I can’t help but laugh out loud. She must be on drugs or something. There’s no way in hell I am going out tonight. She looks at me, and it seems like she is reading my mind.

“Come on, Layla, I need this,” she says, and I sit up on the couch, moving my knees against my chest and hugging my legs as I look at her.

“And why is that?” I ask, and she bites her lower lip, looking at me. I keep looking at her, waiting for the bomb to drop. And fuck me, and it does drop.

“I caught Leo cheating on me,” she says, and I go wide-eyed, and I even stop breathing. I can’t believe he would do such a thing.

“Are you sure?” I ask, and she nods her head. They had plans for today. I knew he would propose to her, so the fact she saw him cheating sent me spiraling into my past. I close my eyes for a few moments, trying to push away the memory of finding Edward in bed with my sister. It was the worst day of my life, but that made me move out of the house I shared with her and to New York.

“I saw the messages. He is messaging a girl named Lauren”, she says, and I bite my tongue so I don’t say anything stupid. Shit. Lauren is the girl organizing the proposal party. He hired an event planner to get everything ready, so he wouldn’t have to worry about it.

“I think you might be overreacting. What did Leo say?” I ask, and she shrugs. I look at her, and she looks at me through her lashes.

“I haven’t really asked him,” she says, and I look at her wide-eyed and with my mouth open. What the hell is wrong with her?

“So, you think your boyfriend is cheating on you, and by the way, I think that is completely insane. The guy only has eyes for you, and you don’t even confront him? Ask him what is going on and who is the girl he is talking to?” I let out, and she stands up, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Are you taking his side?” she asks, and I shake my head, getting up after her.

“I am Switzerland,” I say, grabbing my phone and looking at the time. It’s past nine at night, and I am so ready to go to sleep.

“Yeah, we’re going out, we’re going clubbing, and I am going to meet someone richer and cuter than him, and I am going to shive his face all over the new guy,” she says, and I can’t help but roll my eyes and watch as she walks back into her room. Quickly I call Leo.

He answers almost straight away, “I don’t know what you know, but Jo thinks you’re cheating on her,” I blurt it out, looking at the empty corridor to make sure she is not listening to the conversation.

“She what now? I am not”, he says, and I roll my eyes. I know he is not. I just needed to make sure he knew this was happening.

“I know, she is taking me out, she is going all out on a revenge night out, she wants to get some guy,” I let out, and he laughs.

“Fuck my life sideways,” he says.

“How about a masquerade party? Do you think she will go for it? My boss is throwing it, and I will meet you both there. It’s a sinner’s party”, he tells me, and I can’t believe I am going to something like this.

“Fucking great,” I let out, and I could hear Leo laughing on the other side.

“Come on. You guys can get the masks at the entrance. I’ll leave your names at the door, and no phones will be allowed inside,” he tells me, and I agree. I need to go tell her about the party that somehow I was invited to.

I walk down the corridor and knock on her door, and when she opens it, she is completely naked. “Geez,” I let out, turning around as I don’t really want to see her completely naked. She is so confident about her body, and it makes me realize I am not about mine.

“What’s up? You need a dress?” she asks, and I shake my head.

“Can you cover yourself?” I ask, and she laughs before she closes the door. When she returns, she has a towel wrapped around her body, and she smiles at me.

“Okay, so I got invited to this party tonight, and I managed to get both our names on the list,” I say, and she looks at me with a smile on her lips. “It’s a sinner’s party and masquerade,” I let out, and she clapped her hands as she jumped up and down.

“I know exactly what I will be wearing,” she says, and I can’t help but smile at her excitement. I walk down the corridor towards my room, and I start grabbing all my dresses and shoving them on the bed. I look at each of them and decide to wear the red one. If it is a sinner’s party, red is the sexiest color I can think of. I decide to have a shower and curl my hair. My platinum hair falls down my back as my blue eyes shine in the mirror with the excessive amount of black eyeliner and mascara.

I put my red lipstick on, and when I am done, I can see all my tattoos decorating my arms and legs. The colors complement the dress, and I smile when I hear Jo knocking on the door before she opens it.

“Wow, you look sexy as fuck,” she says, and I smile.

“Why don’t we wear wigs tonight?” she asks as she passes me a black one and puts on a bright pink one. I laugh and put it on. I look at my image in the mirror, and I don’t even recognize myself. It’s been years since I had my hair a different color than platinum.

“Where are we getting the masks?” she asks, and I tell her that they will have some there that we can use. She is so excited that she opens a bottle of wine before our Uber arrives to take us to the most exclusive and sinner party in New York City.