The Job, Mary-Kate Olsen

Chapter Nine

I knocked at Valentina's door. It was Saturday night and I going to have dinner with her and some of her friends. I was still a bit confused about what had happened between Mary-Kate and me this afternoon so having dinner with her would be the perfect way to change my mind. I didn't know her friends though, besides what she had told me about them. She had met them a few months ago at a concert. I think it was Taylor Swift. She was queuing the whole day so she could be in the front row. I guess that inevitably, after spending a whole day queuing next to people, you end up bonding somehow. She opened the door.

"Finally!" She rolled her eyes.

"What? I'm not late?"

"Yeah yeah, come in. They're all here!" She grabbed my forearm and led me to the living room. When we arrived in her living room, they were all sitting around the table.

"This is Ana" She introduced me, a smile on her smile.

"We know Valentina, you've been telling us about her already." One of her friends said and I chuckled. She introduced me to all of them and I joined them at the table.

As I took my seat at the table, I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Valentina's friends seemed friendly, but the whole situation with Mary-Kate was still lingering in my mind. I greeted everyone with a polite smile and exchanged a few pleasantries.

The atmosphere was lively, with laughter and chatter filling the room. Valentina had prepared a delicious spread of food for the dinner. I started to relax as I engaged in conversation with the group.

I looked at every one of her friends, staying silent for a while. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, not an ounce of concern was showing on their face.

"So Ana," one of the girls, whose name I couldn't remember, looked at me. "Are you dating anyone?" I instantly snapped out of my trance at her question. My eyes widened and my cheeks flushed as I felt all eyes on me. I looked at Valentina and noticed her smirking.

I realized it was time for me to talk and answer the question, so I looked back at the girl. I cleared my throat. "Mh, no" I said, giving her a small polite smile. I reversed the question, hoping the attention would drift to someone else. Thankfully, it worked and she started talking about her own dating life with her boyfriend.

We were done with the main course and Valentina proposed a dessert to everyone. She announced that she was going to fetch dessert from the kitchen, but I told her I'd take care of it. I needed to take a small break from all the chatter and drunken girls. So, I got up and walked to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and took the bakery cake in my hands. I knew it was from a bakery and not handmade because Valentina could never have made that cake. Every time we bake together, I'm always the one getting my hands dirty while she just stands and looks.

"Ana!" Valentina called from the living room.

"Yes, I'm coming!" I said and grabbed the cake as I started leaving for the living room.

"You just got a phone call Ana" Valentina said. I saw that Valentina was smiling and that she had my phone in her hand.

"What? Did you see who it was?" I asked as I placed the cake in the middle of the table. She paused and looked at me, grinning.

"It was Mary-Kate" She tilted her head playfully. "And now, she's buzzing your phone" She smiled as she showed me the screen, notifications popping. "Ana, is there anything you haven't told me, yet?" Valentina asked playfully and I scoffed.

"What- Give me that." I swiftly took the phone from her hand and looked at the texts. Mary-Kate had messaged me several times telling me to call her back as soon as possible. As I pondered a few seconds about how I was going to deal with this now, the same girl who had asked me about my dating life asked Valentina who was Mary-Kate. I promptly raised my head to look at them.