Facade

Chapter 17

Since Cheri was away handling her business, Naia decided to pull her phone from out the purse to see if the last text she got was from Lenny or someone else. She swiped over to the texts section of her phone to look at her messages. And like she figured it was another message from Lenny.

This time instead of nude photos, he actually said something. Though she wasn't complaining about the nude photos at all. His message read: "Thinking of you heavily..."

The message was short, but it still managed to make her smile. She really hated she had it so bad for him. And seeing as she had a crush on him since forever, that only amplified her feelings for him. For a second, she thought about leaving him on seen, but she couldn't do that. Naia began typing her message out to him and pressed send.

"Nudes AND cute messages? Interesting." The message read.

In less than two minutes, he texted back:
"I'm in between recording now, so I had to let you know I'm thinking of you. And I'm hoping you're not still mad at me about...y'know."

"I am a tad bit upset, but not as upset as I was last week. ....................... I miss you...."

"All those dots. You act like it's a bad thing."

"It is."

Naia was about to send another text when Cheri returned to the table crying hysterically. Instinctly, Naia laid her phone on the table and looked at Cheri with concern.

"What's wrong?! What happened?!" She asked frantically.

"My sister... she's been in a terrible car accident and my parents saying it's really bad!" She exclaimed with tears running down her face.

Naia stood there in horror. What could she possibly say in a situation like that.

"I have to go. I'm sorry."

"No, no. Go! I understand completely. Please keep me updated." Naia pulled Cheri into a comforting embrace.

Everyone in the restaurant was staring at the both of them as Cheri cried in complete shock at the news of her sister. Naia pulled away from the hug and urged for Cheri to go be with her family at the hospital. She contemplated going with Cheri for support, but she felt it was her place and it was a family matter. Though they had been friends since they were 13 years old, it didn't mean they were immediate family like that, unfortunately.

Cheri left the restaurant and the people continued to stare. Annoyed by the staring, Naia decided to give them a piece of her mind.

"What? You all have never seen anyone cry before? Go on, go back to eating your food!" She shouted.

"Here's your orders, ma'am." The waiter chimed as she grabbed her purse and phone.

Naia just looked at him with an unamused expression on her face. "Really?" She reached into the side zipper on her purse and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill.

"Dinner is cancelled. Keep the change." She put the money in his hand and walked out of the restaurant.