Pretty Lies

Chapter 13

It took a substantial amount of effort to get out of my car and to the top floor of the building. It felt like I was about to faint at any moment when I finally reached my room and threw myself across the bed.

To say I am exhausted is an understatement. I feel half-dead. 

Savannah appears inside my room some minutes later, "thought I heard someone come in," she says, sitting on my bed before falling backwards, "Looks like you had quite a day."

I groan in response, "When are you leaving again?" 

My face was buried in my pillow and my words came out muffled. But I found myself wishing they didn't come out at all. Her body tensed against mine and I jolted up to face her. She was in a black leather dress, her curly hair constrained by gel in two round buns atop her head and her face beat flawlessly. 

"The shooting is scheduled to finish next week, but you know...the crew is staying at a hotel and my room is booked," she barely avoided choking on the words as she lay there with her palms flat on her stomach, "I can leave-"

I removed them, holding them in mine as I pulled her up to sit,  "Savannah, that is not what I meant." I clarify, pulling her into a hug, "You have no idea how I love having you here, you're my only friend."

I released her from my grip and she looked at the ceiling, blinking a few times, "You're being serious?" 

My forehead pulsed with an incoming headache, despite that I barely nodded my head, "You don't believe me?" 

She laughed and it triggered a laugh from me too, worsening my headache but it was worth the tension relief. "Do you blame me? Look at the car you drive, look at where you live," she exaggerates, spreading her arms around, "look at you!! Being your friend feels like a dream."

I merely laugh and shake my head. Savannah and I met at a coffee shop when I first visited New York for a mission. I met her in a coffee shop. The server was being mean to her and I stood up for her. I usually don't struggle with making friends but I struggle with keeping them due to my secretive nature. Savannah and I drank our coffees together that day and exchanged numbers. That was the start of our friendship. 

It's the first time she's staying with me, hence why she's just now becoming aware of my lifestyle. We very rarely meet up as our friendship is online-based. 

She became a professional model a few years ago and is in Manhattan for a shoot. I offered that she stayed with me, but after what I just said, how I said it, she has a right to want to leave. 

"I'm glad you enjoy our friendship, I do too. It's fun being around you, Sav," I smile gently at her. "I asked when are you leaving because since you got here I've been so busy, or tired," I roll my eyes, "that I barely got to spend time with you and I desperately wanted you to enjoy your stay."

She shares a look of pity before hugging me, "I am enjoying my stay Zuri, I haven't lived like this in months," she tells me, "The agency has been working me like a dog! And It feels like I haven't done anything exciting in years."

It was my turn to share a look of pity. She got up from the bed and stood before me, leaving me to admire her stunning figure. Savannah was slim with a small waist, round hips and glowing melanin skin. She was beautiful with dark upturned eyes, a nose that was perfectly straight and plump lips.

I've been admiring Savannah since the day I met her. Every girl loves having a pretty friend. 

"By the way, I'm so so sorry for the other night, putting you and Vaughn through that."

"We weren't complaining hun, it happens," I say, waving her off. Unable to take on the stress of that conversation.

She paced across the room, "And the man that was standing there was the sexiest man I've ever encountered and I made a complete ass of myself."

I squint my eyes, she's embarrassed? Imagine me? He saw me grinding on and kissing Vaughn for christ's sake, he must have had some impression of me from that night and I know it isn't good. Especially after I told him Vaughn was not my boyfriend. 

Something ticked me off in his office today, and it was precisely that Makai expected the side of me he saw last night to be automatically accessible to him once he backed me against a door and whispered something in my ear. I refuse to be degraded by a man like that, despite what I do.

"He's my boss. Makai Huxley," I say, after I notice that Sav stopped talking and it was my turn to say something.

Savannah practically leapt out of her skin, "That was Makai Huxley? And he is your boss!?" she screamed, "Not only did I embarrass myself, I embarrassed you too?" 

She placed a hand over her forehead and paced dramatically, stopping to ask me questions every few minutes which I had no energy to respond to. 

Starting to feel the exhaustion at its full force, I lay down curling up against my pillows as Savannah went through an internal crisis which she voiced aloud.

She does that an awful lot. People probably think she's unstable and they might be right. Despite her yelling, I somehow drifted to sleep. 

At least my last surviving friendship didn't end today. I have something to be proud of.