"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.
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