"You're finally home!"
The moment I stepped foot in the mansion I got immediately attacked by my mom. She swung her arms around me as she squeezed the living daylight out of my small figure. Her familiar scent immediately made me feel at home.
"Mom." I hugged her back as I softly tried to push her away from me so I could finally catch my breath. "How have you been?"
She loosened me out of her grip and gave me a warm smile. "I'm doing very well. You look so different from the last time I saw you. When was it again?"
I bit my bottom lip as I tried to avert my gaze from her. It has been a long time since I last came here. "Last christmas?"
"It has been that long?!" Mom shrieked, her eyes widening at me. "You haven't been in New York since last christmas? That explains why you have change so much. I haven't realized that so much time had pass by."
"Yeah, I didn't either. I'm so consumed with work and such."
"What's all this--," My dad came out of the kitchen wearing a blue apron. I had a hard time keeping a straight face, because he wore the apron conversely. "Amari. Finally you have found the map that lead you home." He placed his hands on either of his sides and cocked his head at me.
"I'm sorry. I was too busy with the company. I don't even have time for myself." I told him in all honesty.
"I can see that." Dad eyed me up and down and gave me a disapproving look. "You gained weight, but don't worry I still love you."
I stared at him with my mouth hanging wide open as I heard Angelica snicker behind me. I forgot that she was also here with me. I was about to say something when I heard footsteps coming out of the living room.
"That's why she seldom comes to visit New York." Milan's voice echoed through the foyer as he walked over towards me. "You all are roasting her."
"Roasting?" Mom asked confused as she stared at Milan. "We are not cooking her."
Angelica bursted out laughing. "Oh my god, this is hilarious." Angelica snorted as she placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from snorting like seal.
Milan patted mom's back and kissed her on her forehead. "What I meant with roasting was mocking, mom."
He then looked up at me and send me a dazzling smile. The one I always saw on tv whenever he scored a goal. "Hey lil sis."
"Hey Millie Billie. Where is Yas?" I walked over towards Milan and gave him a hug. His torso was bare so when he hugged me back I was pressed hard against his abs. The abs so many girls from all around the world were drooling over.
"She went out to get groceries. She will be back soon." He told me as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Wow, you look so different since the last time I saw you."
"Shut up." I playfully slapped his chest. I couldn't say the same about him, because I saw him everywhere. On all social media, sport stores, and magazines. He was the star of football. The king.
When I went out to buy sport shoes at Nike, I saw his picture inside the store. I don't know how long I had stared at it before the store manager, a friend of mine, walked over towards me asking if I knew the soccer player on the picture. I couldn't help, but answer proudly: "That's my brother."
"It's true. Right dad?" Milan snapped me out of my thoughts as he spoke up again. I watch his eyes that were now fixed on dad who still couldn't believe I was standing in front of him. "You look more mature." Milan said as he turned his attention back at me.
"You're still my little girl." Dad said as he ruffled my hair, a small smile playing on his lips. "Have you thought about what I told you last christmas?"
"Daaaaddd!" I groaned out embarrassed as I looked at Milan for help. Instead he just shrugged his shoulders and mouthed 'I do not interfere.'
"I'm just saying." Dad threw his hands up in surrender. "I still think being a nun has it advantages." he added. "You know how much I love you and I don't want you ever to get hurt--,"
If you only knew.
"Dad, no I-- what is that smell?" I looked behind dad and Milan and saw smoke coming out of the kitchen. "Oh my god! Mom, your kitchen is on fire!"
Dad immediately turned around and his eyes widened. "Pudding, the chicken!"
"No, that dress is so--,"
"Perfect!" Angelica screamed as she walked out of the closet with a red sparkly dress in her hands. "It is perfect for the ball."
"I would say revealing, slutty, and totally not classy." I sat on my bed as I stared at the pile of dresses in front of me. "I still do not want to go."
"Oh come on!" Angelica threw the dress at me and I caught it right in time before it hit my face. "Go put it on! This is the only dress in which you will have a chance to get laid tonight."
"I do not want to have sex tonight!" I whisper-yelled at her. "Haven't you heard my dad? He still wants me to become a nun. And since I have practically zero experience in sex and relationships I may even consider becoming one."
Angelica's mouth fell wide open as she stared at me in disbelief. "I don't have anything against nuns, but I do not want my best friend to become one! I want to share my bomb dick experience with you too and vice versa."
"The only dick you get is from Alex."
"Yes and I don't think I will ever get tired of it." She replied in a matter of fact tone. "You will know exactly what I mean when you will find the right man."
"Yeah right. As if he exist." I muttered staring down at the beautiful dress in my hands. Still too revealing, but beautiful nonetheless.
"He exists okay." Angelica throw her hands up in despair. "You just need to go out to find him. He will not break into your house."
I let out a huff as I stripped out of my clothes to put on the red dress Angelica suggested. I was about to slip the dress on when Angelica let out a long disapproving sound. I looked tiredly up at her wondering what the hell was wrong again.
"Oh no, no! You are not wearing granny pants to the ball." she said as she pointed at my underwear. Blue and white with a bow in the front. I wouldn't call this granny pants, they were rather cute.
"No one is going to see it!" I protested as I looked down at my underwear. "Besides it's cute."
"It does not matter. With the dress you are going to slip on, there's a seventy percent chance that you will get some dick tonight. And no one wants cute, they want fierce, fire, and naughty."
"I'm not going to lose my virginity at some stupid masquerade ball!" I hissed as I opened my pink luggage and pull out the red panty I bought from our last shopping spree. "But fine, I will change if that's what will make you stop looking like a volcano that is about to explode."
"Thank you for finally listening to me! The expert!"
I rolled my eyes at her, but couldn't stop myself to smile a little. Despite how much Angelica annoys me, I still love her endlessly.
After I slipped on the dress and panty I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked so different then when I'm in my business clothes. The dress hugged my body perfectly in all the right places. Something that my business clothes doesn't do.
"Wow, you look smoking hot!" Angelica squealed behind me as she spun me around to face her. "Look at you, just wow."
"The dress is still too revealing." I mumbled as I looked down at the amount of cleavage that was on display. I don't even want to talk about the fact that my back is entirely bare.
But still, like Angelica said. The dress was perfect.
"It's perfect! You will steal everyone's breath away at the ball." Angelica gave me an approving smile. "Okay, now lets do your hair and makeup."
After an hour of tugging, brushing, and styling my hair Angelica put the curling iron down. "Voilà, look at those pretty curls."
I stared at myself in the mirror and I could not ignore the fact that Angelica did a wonderful job. Longs spiral curls were flowing on my shoulders and on the left side of my head there was a single side braid.
"It's so beautiful." I gushed as I turned my head left to right to see myself from all the different angles.
"Thank you. Now for the final touch..." Angelica opened the bottom drawer of the vanity table and pulled out a ruby red sequined mask covered with feathers and embroidery. "It will not be a masquerade ball without a mask."
Candles in all shapes and sizes. Dangling in the entire venue were twinkling lights and in swoops from the ceiling. Drapes of silk-covered up household items and the tables were sprinkled in sequins and glitter. Glasses were filled with feathers and beads and the color scheme of this ball was gold and red.Everything screamed mystery and secrecy. The people around me were all dressed in beautiful designer gowns or suits and exquisite masks. I didn't expect anything less since this was the billionaire boys club. Only the elites who were a member of this club were allowed to exclusive parties like these. And everyone wanted to outshine the other. "There you are!" A high-pitched voice said behind me, making my heart jump a little. I turned around to see my brother next to a beautiful blonde-haired beauty whose face was covered in a black and gold glitter mask. "Yasmin!" I greeted the blonde in front of me. She placed two kisses on both my cheeks and clasped her hands together as she
"So wait...let me get this straight. You met this handsome man, you had a conversation with him, he called you beautiful, but you don't know his name?" Angelica asked for the hundredth time this morning. She placed her breakfast tray on the table next to my bed and turned around to face me."Yes, that's what I have been saying for the past ten minutes!" I let out a loud sigh as I closed the door of my walk-in closet which was pretty much empty except for the very few clothes and shoes I left behind from the last time I had visited this place.I really did miss this room though. It was the most beautiful and luxurious room with rick purple tapestries on every surface, a perfectly polished marble floor, and lots and lots of gold leaf. There was also a lot of furniture from different parts of the world. Dad always wanted for me to have the best."Why--how can you forget to ask his name? How is he going to find you? Did he even recognize you?!" Angelica continued asking, staring at me dej
I grumbled impatiently as I tapped with my Valentino heels on the concrete floor in the hallway. Students were heading towards their classes, bumping and shoving each other along the way. I looked at my watch and a scowl appeared on my face. Where the hell is he?I have seen all my friends early in the morning. They had all wished me a happy birthday and I made sure to remind them about the party tonight at my house. The hallway was slowly becoming deserted with only a few students here and there running to their classes.Zane was the last one who entered through the big door, walking leisurely as if he wasn't already late. A big smile appeared on his face as he saw me leaning against his locker. "Happy sweet sixteen, sugarplum."He swung his hand over my shoulder and placed a kiss on my cheek. "Cute. New shoes?""Yes, a gift from Milan. Why are you late? You know that Mrs. Nguyen doesn't like tardiness." I said, giving him a scowl."Pff, I know." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "
"I promise you, Zane is not going to be there. I overheard Yasmin saying that Milan and Zane are going to Pennsylvania."I narrow my eyes at Angelica and tried to detect if she was making it up or telling the truth. "You aren't making something up just so I accompany you to brunch right?"It has been three days since I saw Zane for the last time outside the restaurant. I had promised myself that I would keep my distance from him. I would only make conversation with him when it was highly necessary. But if my friends keep inviting me to places where I know he will be present, it would be impossible to keep this promise. Angelica bit her bottom lip as she avoided eye contact with me. I knew it. After a minute of silence she spoke up again; "Well I didn't exactly heard that they are going to Pennsylvania. But I heard snippets that they would not be there during brunch."I sighed deeply and stood up from my bed. "I don't see why my brother would go out of town as it's his wedding soon
"I can't believe you accepted the invitation." I groaned out annoyed as I snatch the red envelope out of her hands. "I promised myself I would keep my distance from him.""Why would you make such a promise to yourself?" Angelica asked quietly as she fiddled with my bedsheets. "You're hurting yourself.""If I could live without him for five years, I can do it for the rest of my life," I told her confidently."No, you can't. Because if you could you would have already been engaged to Thomas Griffen." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone.Thomas Griffen was a friend of mine in my last year of college. We always hung out and studied together.Everyone labeled us as the 'power couple.'Most people even went as far as saying that we had this chemistry between us that was so hard to find nowadays.He had asked me to become his official girlfriend on graduation day.Any girl would have said yes to that.He would make the perfect boyfriend, fiancee, and husband. He was a smart guy with good man
"You got kicked out of school today?!" Angelica yelled out above the music. "How?""Let's go to my room! I'll show you!" I grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs, away from the dancing crowd in the living room.My birthday party was in full swing. All my friends and family were invited and they were all having a good time downstairs. Ariana Grande was performing, but I have already seen her twice in concert."I got kicked out because Zane bought Snickers for my birthday!" I explained as we were walking through the long corridor. My room was at the end of the hallway."Snickers?!" Angelica asked confused. She pulled her long glittery dress up a bit so she could walk faster and match my pace. "You got kicked out because Zane brought chocolate for you?""No silly!" I laughed and opend the door to my room. I pointed at the small fluffy puppy on the bed. "Meet Snickers Vasilios. My son and your nephew."Angelica's eyes widened. "Oh my god!" She squealed as she ran towards the sleeping p
"Who's that boy?"Dad looked at me from the rearview mirror as I ate my leftover lunch in the backseat of his Bentley."That's Zane." My brother snickered from the passenger seat. "Zane Shaw. Amari's boyfriend."I let out a loud gasp as I dropped my lunch tray on the seat. "He is not! Daddddd, Millie said boyfriend!""Milan! Don't tease your sister." Dad said as he glared at Milan. "How long have you known him, baby girl?""Who?" I asked, distracted by the lollipop I just found in my backpack. Mom must have put it in there when I wasn't looking this morning. She's so sweet. "Do you want a cherry lollipop, Millie?""Lollipop is disgusting." Milan turned around and stuck his tongue out at me. "It has little worms and---,""Daaaaddd, Millie is being mean.""Milan, leave your sister alone." Dad let out a loud sigh as he honked impatiently at the car in front of us. "Babygirl how long have you known Zane?""One...two...three...four...Four days. He said I am his best friend.""Mmhh." My dad
Hey Amari, can we talk?Seen 7:00 AMI know you saw my message and missed calls. Please call me back?Seen 7:10 AMI will explain everything to you. I promise.Seen 7:30 AMAmari?Seen 8:00 AM"Earth to Amari!"Angelica threw a pillow at me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I felt my phone buzz in my hand, but I didn't bother to look at it since I already knew who it was.I rolled my eyes at Angelica before throwing the pillow back at her. "What?""Is something bothering you?" She asked, looking at me worried. "You were awfully quiet during the apartment tour."Two days ago we arrived from Italy. Zane had tried to apologize numerous times, but I had managed to cut him off right in time or simply walk away from where he was standing. His apology was either so bad I wanted to vomit or I just wasn't in the mood to listen."I'm alright," I mumbled quietly as I fidget with the hem of my summer dress."No, you're not. You're not even impressed by my apartment."Yesterday Angelica moved out o