Some say getting out of The Friend Zone is hard. Well, try getting out of The Sister Zone.
Vanessa Hayes-Wong has been best friends with Oliver Morrison for five years, one month, and fourteen days. Just as she starts to realize her feelings for him...
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When Sophia told me she knew someone who could definitely get me out of The Sister Zone, I was ecstatic. But when she told me he lives in one of the most luxurious neighborhoods in LA, I became suspicious that he was a swindler.
After all, Sophia tends to hang out with shady people.
"Are you sure we can trust this so-called Love Guru, cous?" I glance at the beautiful brunette in the passenger seat.
"Abso-freaking-lutely," Sophia answers. "He's the best of the best of the best. I mean, he's like the Coco Chanel of dating. He invented The Cyclops of Love, you know?"
I snort out a laugh. "You mean The Encyclopedia of Love?"
Mac, who sits with her legs curled to fit into the tiny back seat of my car, breaks into a fit of giggles.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sophia mumbles. "Bottom line is, if anyone can help you get out of The Sister Zone, it's him."
While I'm starting to wonder how Sophia got her business degree—hell, I don't know how she even got her high school diploma when she mixes up encyclopedia with Cyclops—my suspicion is slowly traded with hope.
The Encyclopedia of Love, a self-help book dedicated to lovelorn singles, has topped the bestseller lists all around the world. Although I've never been interested in reading a guidebook written by someone who calls themselves Cupid—and now, apparently, The Love Guru too—a review on Cosmo says it's one of the most enlightening books of all time.
If this guy is the author of that book, then maybe he can help me escape this hell.
Right. Stay positive, Vanessa. Stay positive.
Yet as Sally—my baby-blue Porsche 911—moves along the quiet street, the sight of the upscale houses around us plants a seed of doubt in my mind. "So what's his price?"
"Don't worry," Sophia answers, lowering her eyes back to the map displayed on her phone. "He's not a pervert."
"That's not what I meant. Judging by this neighborhood he lives in, he must be charging a fortune, right?"
"He used to. But now he's just doing this for fun."
Ah, boredom. Every rich man's problem, huh? Somehow, I get the impression this guy is a trust-fund baby who never has to work a single day in his life and only knows how to have fun.
"Just remember, don't call him The Love Guru," Sophia warns. "And don't tell him I still save his number under that name."
"Why?"
"It's because of that awful movie five years ago. You know, that supposed rom-com that turned out to be a total unfunny disaster. There's this character that goes by the name The Love Guru, but he's just a downright asshole. What was the movie called again? Avatar?"
