The Only Exception:ETERNALLY

29. His ex

Leone's pov

It had taken me a good 1 and a half hours  to get there and I mentally thanked god there wasn't any traffic though it was already getting dark. I marched through the doors of the photostudio hurriedly. Most of the crew members were gone and the set was cleared up so I assumed the shoot and editing had ended . It was just some of the directors left including savannah who upon noticing me plastered that flirty smile on her face as she waltzed towards me .
"Hie savannah," I managed a smile as I looked past her figure for signs of Syd.
"Hie there,"she replied in a sweet tone , too sweet.
Maybe she hadn't gotten the hint of me ghosting her after we hooked up two months ago.
Yeah she was stunning, very, but as I mentioned before what went down that night , I just wanted to get off . Nothing serious. Have a good time and never meet again , that's always the plan .But I wouldn't want to be rude and tell the older to back off since bumping into her wasn't part of my agenda. Regardless, out of respect , I went along with small talk.
"How are things going for you?" I asked her as I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my slacks .
"Splendid actually,"she grinned ,"upgraded to a manager and life's pretty peaceful I guess,"she replied,"how about you? How are things turning out?"
"Very busy actually,"I responded vaguely trying to get to the point,"um have you by any chance seen Syd?" I went on to ask
"Yes she was just in the dressing room with her boyfriend"I heard her mention with a spark of curiosity vividly laced in her tone .
She wanted to know something
"He's not her boyfriend,"I said out of impulse,"at least not anymore "
"Oh I see” she nodded slowly, tapping her manicured nails against her forearm,"why are you looking for her anyways?"
"She called me to come pick her up ,"I simply answered .
"You know she's supposed to have security with her right?" She insisted,"it's part of the rules "
"Yeah I know ,"I answered,"she's just not in the best mood right now . That and she genuinely doesn't like a group of unknowns following her around"
"It's just protocol "Savannah shrugged,"I'm her manager . My job is to keep her safe and that's what I intend to do "she spoke in a softer , more reasonable manner.
She was being fair honestly. It was protocol here and every other agency .
"I understand,"I said with a small smile,"but just for today I need to take her home myself. She's not in the best mood and I'm her friend .I also wanna keep her safe . Trust me in this . I promise I'll get her to agree on security escort,"I offered my best smile
Savannah rolled her eyes,biting her lower lip ."fine," she huffed loudly,"just avoid the paparazzi at all cost. I don't want to be behind any made up TMZ scandals"

Works every time

"You won't . Promise,"I guaranteed as I dashed past her, towards the dressing room.
Once I got there , I took a few shaky breaths and gently knocked on the door,"cupcake,"I called out cautiously,"may I come in?"
After hearing a faint 'yeah' resounding from behind the closed door I opened the door and peeped inside .
"Hie,"I tried to sound cheery as I slowly shuffled to where she sat by the couch. Her face was flushed and cheeks tear - stained .

What did he say to her?

"Hie,"she sniffled as she stood from where she was,"you didn't have to come here Leone . I could've managed,"she held out here arms silently asking for a hug which I gladly gave . I could feel her figure slightly trembling and my heart ached at the sight of her puffy eyes.
"I told you that I wanted to come,"I insisted," I couldn't just leave you like this "I cupped her cheeks,"I said I'd take you home so that's what I'm going to do"I offered a smile which she faintly returned.
"Now let's get you home , it's already dark outside"I told her and she simply nodded .
I slid my hand and interweaved it with hers  before stepping out of the dressing room , headed for my car.
•••••
  I discreetly watched Syd as she stared out of the window . She hadn't said a word since we'd gotten in the car and it worried me greatly. She'd usually be all smiles, teasing me nonstop but right now she was hurting ,again , because of my friend ,again.
I cleared my throat to break the silence,"so,"I licked my lips nervously as I looked straight ahead ,"are you okay?"
I heard her sigh loudly and took a quick glance at her,"you wanna talk about it or .?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable by being invasive . If she wasn't up for talking about it then I'd respect that too.
"I don't even know how I feel at this moment,"she said softly,"I don't know whether it's a curse or I'm just genuinely bad at love,"she scoffed bitterly,"or maybe....maybe I'm the problem in all of this"she blinked her tears away.
"No you're not"I immediately answered,"you're never the problem"I tried to reassure her.
She fiddled with her fingers as she bit down her lip to stop herself from crying again .
"You know,"she breathed out ,"after Luca just disappeared I felt my whole life crumble before me eyes,"her voice cracked a bit as she spoke,"he was my literal everything . He was my first love after all .I had become so dependent on him such that when he left I didn't know how life would go on from there. Tried picking up the pieces by myself, that surely didn't work,"she forced a laugh.