chapter 3

Once Dari was outside, she took a deep breath, a sign of relief, to her, it was like she had just walked through fire.

Just when she thought her ordeal was over, she saw Michael walking out of the hotel with a beautiful lady.

Michael was dressed in a blue suit that looked like it was tailored to his skin. She had almost forgotten how good-looking he was.

she watched as his tall frame leaned over to kiss the beautiful lady, who was dressed in a ruched off-shoulder blood-red Armani gown. knee-length, with a plunging neckline. Dari could only applaud her elegance.

Dari hid in a corner not wanting to be seen by Michael and his companion. From the corner she hid, she watched as they walked towards a parked BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe the lady entered the parked car and drove away leaving Michael behind.

She was hoping Michael would enter the hotel so she can continue with her walk with some dignity, but all hopes of that happening went flying through the window.

Michael walked towards her direction instead, when he was close enough to where she was hiding he called out to her.

"You can come out now Dari, stop hiding," he said half mockingly.

Dari was filled with shame as she walked out of her hiding place.

"I was not hiding by the way, I was simply avoiding having to deal with your inflated ego ."

"You know for someone who was just hiding in shame you have a sharp tongue," he said laughing

"So tell me, Dari, what are you doing here, I'm sure you know no one who can afford a place like this."

Dari could no longer bear his mockery. "whatever I was doing here is not your business and I owe you no explanation."

She continued her walk, not waiting for any more mockery from Michael, she could hear him calling her name as she walked away from him.

Dari noticed that Taxi was not allowed around the hotel, so she walked forward away from the hotel. From there, she hailed a cab to her apartment.

Once inside her apartment Dari remembered she was supposed to give Caroline a call, she took out her phone from her purse to give her a call, she checked her phone and saw thirty missed, they were mostly from her sisters, her parents, and Caroline.

She decided to call her parents first because knowing them they would be extremely worried. when she called, her mother was the one who picked up.

" Honey, we've been worried sick. Where have you been? what happened to your phone, why were you not responding?" came her mother's voice with a million questions.

"Mom I'm sorry, I went for a job interview, and it failed, so I went to a bar to have a few drinks, I was too exhausted that I fell asleep immediately after I got home" Dari intentionally decided not to tell her Mother the whole truth, it will surely bring about more questions.

" It's alright, baby. I'm sorry about the interview, I'm sure something else will come up again." That was her father's voice from the background.

"Thanks, Dad. I have to go now, I need to call Jenny and Jess, I missed their calls too."

"It's okay, honey. I love you," replied her mother

" I love you too Mom, give Dad a kiss for me," she said as she dropped the call.

Afterwards, she called her sisters, and she repeated the same story she gave her parents.

Though her family was very close, often telling each other everything, she had since learned that if she does not want her parents aware of a situation, then it was best to keep it away from the twins.

Jenny was good at keeping secrets, but often she finds it hard to keep things from Jess, who happens to be a huge talker, the only secrets Jess seems to be able to keep are those that have to do with Jenny, even at that, it's always with a great effort.

But her elder sister Lily was a different issue, she was very overprotective of Dari, maybe because of the ten years age difference, or the fact that when Dari was an infant, she was always the one who took care of her, She and Lily share a bond, although different from the twin bond between Jess and Jenny, but special in its way.

Just when she was about to call Caroline, her call came in, and she sounded really worried.

"Where have you been, Dari? you got me worried. " Caroline sounded breathless on the phone.

"I'm sorry Caroline, but you won't believe what happened last night," Dari said and went on to tell Caroline everything that happened last night, sparing no details, when she was done Caroline was laughing so hard at the other end of the line.

"Oh my God, Dari, I think you stole a few pages from my book. I can't believe it," she said, laughing

" You better believe it, Caroline. I mean, I don't even know his name, I can only remember his face and his body, and he was fully sculpted by a genius."

Dari was laughing this time around too, she still could not believe the event of last night, all her life she has only Been with one person, and that was Michael, she has always thought that they will end up married and spend the rest of their life together, which was why she ignored most of his misbehaviours, and his selfishness, but at the end the fool was still not satisfied.

"It's good your first sex experience after Michael was amazing, even though it was with a total stranger," Caroline said.

Dari felt it was best not to tell Caroline about her encounter with Michael yet, she knew that Caroline will have nothing but insults for Michael, and she was in no mood to defend him. Caroline never liked Michael. She felt he didn't deserve Dari. She never could understand what Dari saw in him or the hold he seemed to have on Dari.

It seems Dari was never herself around him and was always trying to please him, so it was no surprise that when they broke she was very happy and relieved, though sympathetic to her best friend whose heart had been broken, she was happy that Dari could finally see Michael for the jerk he was.

To her, Dari deserved someone who will go to the ends of the earth for her, someone who will move mountains for her sake, someone to protect her from the world, because she could be naive, and sometimes, too kind and soft-hearted for her good, Caroline could only hope that she comes out of her shell enough to be seen for the amazing person that she was.

" Don't forget about the party tomorrow evening, you promised you will be there" Caroline was to attend an after-party and wanted Dari to go with her, but she knew Dari enough to know that she might try to wiggle her way out of it, and she was not going to allow her to do so.

" Oh, I almost forgot about that," Dari replied, knowing there was no way she could wiggle her way out of this one.

After the call with Caroline, she decided to do her laundry and put her apartment in order, since she was going to attend the party tomorrow, and will need to sleep in during the day, so she won't be sleep deprived at work on Monday.

It was Sunday, and after spending the day mostly sleeping in and spending time with her family, Dari was half-prepared for the party, she can never be fully prepared.

Parties are never really her thing, she does rather stay in and read a book or maybe watch a movie, but she knows she has to be at the party, or Caroline will never let her hear the end of it.

It's surprising how she and Caroline have managed to remain friends for so long, they were complete opposites, but like they say, opposites do attract, and that seems to be the case for both of them.

Caroline was the life of the party, she is the type of person that draws attention, not just with her beauty, but with her personality, wherever she goes people notice her, Their beauty was the only thing they had in common.

Although Caroline was beautiful, Dari was every bit as beautiful too, a fact she seems not to be aware of, Caroline was outgoing and wild, a complete extrovert, Dari was quiet, though easygoing, she was an introvert, and trusting of people, which tends to worry not just Caroline but her family too.

just then, she heard the sound of her doorbell. She checked her time, and it was just a few minutes past five. That must be Caroline.

She quickly grabbed her purse, she was dressed in a body-fitted red dress that exposed just the right amount of her cleavage, the dress had a tiny spaghetti strap, the length was a little past her knee, and she looked classy and seductive. Her long, full honey-coloured hair was pulled into a ponytail, which brought out her beautiful oval face, and her big blue eyeballs always seemed so captivating.

She made sure she had her phone. Since Caroline was driving, she had no use for her car, not that it matters though, since the car has lately decided to be the source of her nightmare.

Caroline was standing beside her car when she got out, she was dressed in a green bandage dress, and her red hair was styled in weaves and left to fall on her shoulders, she looked stunning.

They both looked at each other with obvious admiration, Caroline was well aware of her beauty, but she could never understand how Dari does not seem to know how beautiful she was, she was a goddess, and will always stand out in a crowd anywhere, regardless of whatever ever she wears she was captivating.

The party was already in full swing when they arrived, but all eyes were on them as soon as they stepped into the room.

Dari always felt self-conscious when people stared at her. It was a good thing she had managed to build a mask of confidence over the years. This comes in handy now and then.

Caroline, on the other hand, basks in attention. She enjoyed being in the spotlight but loves it more when she gets to share the spotlight with Dari.

She was well aware of Dari's beauty, but she never for once felt jealous, nor did that diminish her self-esteem or confidence, rather it makes her happy, and sometimes from the way she likes taking Dari everywhere, it seems she just wants to show her off, it's almost like she is announcing to the whole world, that was her best friend, Caroline was an only child, but to her Dari was the sister she never had.

Caroline, unlike Dari, enjoyed the attention they were getting. She could see the envy and jealousy in the eyes of the women and the lust and pure sexual hunger in the eyes of the men.

Dari was used to Caroline playing the matchmaker since the end of her relationship with Michael. In fact, she found it amusing and entertaining.

So she was not that surprised when Caroline introduced her to the men she knew at the party, most of them stared at her cleavage.

Her breast was a little too big for her body, she knew that, so it always made her uncomfortable when she is discussing with a man and the man seems to mostly be paying attention to her breast more than her words.

Finally, she introduced her to Justin, a movie producer, who happens to be reserved, unlike the lot she had met so far, it seems Justin, just like she would rather be anywhere else than here, she felt comfortable around him, and so they talked about each other, getting to know one another.

Dari refused alcohol, partly because she had to go to work the next day, and also because she was still feeling the effect of the alcohol from two days ago in her system.

At the end of the night, Justin asked for her number. They exchanged numbers, and Caroline dropped her off at her apartment.

Once inside her apartment, she took out her phone from her purse and saw she heard missed three calls from an unknown number, she was about to call back when a call came in from the same number.

She picked up, and she heard a familiar voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hello Dari." it was Michael on the other side of the phone.

"Michael is that you." she was surprised to hear his voice, they had stopped speaking to each other on the phone, and yesterday's encounter was the first time she had seen him in five months

"Yes Dari it's me, I have been thinking about you since yesterday, I can't get you out of my mind, I miss you so much, please Dari I want you back."