Chapter 5 APPARENTLY, I'M HIS GIRLFRIEND

DENOVA'S POV

"You did what?" Cameron screeched, causing my eardrums to vibrate in an unholy manner. Her eyes were wide as saucers making her look somewhat comical.

"I quit," I responded nonchalantly which added to her distress. She looked like she was about to pass out, like all those noble women of old who required smelling salts at all junctures of their lives.

"Why on earth did you do that? I thought you said he was going to let you off the hook if you replaced his driver for the duration of his hospital stay? What were you thinking!?"

"Jeez, I don't know Cameron, maybe that it's better to be alive and in thousands of dollars of debt than to be killed over not being a very good courier service employee."

I didn't like being sarcastic with Cameron, but I was so mad at Rhys for attempting to kill me and her incessant badgering didn't help at all.

"What?"

We were at the coffee shop, Sip 'n' Go, where we held most of meetings like this one, sitting directly opposite each other at our favorite booth. We never really buy anything though, as the coffee there was expensive as hell (the cheapest coffee cost $15), the cake prices were so ridiculous, it shouldn't be considered legal, but the ambience and overall vibe of the café was nice and we loved it.

Cameron kept exclaiming loudly, which drew attention to us. We weren't really allowed to be sitting there if we weren't planning on buying anything so we had to stay low and undetected by any of the employees. Cameron, was however making that feat almost impossible.

"Will you keep it down, Cammie? Are you trying to get us kicked out?"

Luckily for us, none of the baristas were looking in our direction.

"He tried to kill you?" This time, she said it in a whisper which was just ridiculous to me.

"Yes. With a flower vase. Just because I didn't pick up some chick from the airport."

The ridiculousness of the entire situation still jabbed at me. I can't believe I almost died twice today!

"Was she his girlfriend?"

I shook my head in response. "Some model he needed for his brand. Can you believe he's the CEO of Bentorhys-Ciaga? I had absolutely no idea and I've been working for him for almost a week now! I called him R-E-E-S-E. Didn't know it was actually R-H-Y-S."

If there was liquid in Cameron's mouth, it would have been dripping disgustingly all over the table by now. Her jaw was so far down, I thought it was going to eventually detach from her face.

"Your boss is the CEO of Bentorhys-Ciaga, as in he's Christian Bentorhys-Ciaga?"

I nodded. "Yes. Why? What's wrong?" I asked when a dark cloud settled over her face. She was visibly trembling, and I feared that I may actually need to get her smelling salts.

"You really can't remember who he is?"

She said it like he and I have actually had some kind of encounter before. Come to think of it, Rhys did say I looked familiar and that we've met before. Could it possibly be true?

"Why? Who is he?" I was getting anxious because her facial expression didn't exhibit any form of a peaceful and tranquil encounter that could have possibly transpired between Rhys and I.

"Remember two years ago in high school when you were arrested for keying a Bentley?"

I gulped.

No, please universe, no. This can't be happening right now.

"Well, the owner of that Bentley is your boss, Christian. He sent you to jail and kept you there for two days! How could you not remember him?"

My blood turned cold and I felt faint. Now, I needed the smelling salts.

"No. That can't be..."

I tried to deny it but I finally remembered it too.

My boyfriend back in high school asked me to accompany him somewhere. He said he needed me for emotional support. I didn't know he was going to key someone's personalized Bentley and then abandon me when shit hit the fan. I spent two days in a holding cell because of RD. Damn him! Safe to say we broke up after that, but it still sucks. He didn't even say goodbye or give me a proper reason before ghosting me. And the owner of that car just so happened to be Christian Bentorhys-Ciaga...

"He let you off the hook back then and now you keyed his Rolls Royce..."

"And I almost cracked open his skull too, with my metal ball."

Cameron looked just about ready to pass out from the sheer horror of it.

"Denova please tell me that last statement you made was just a figure of speech."

"Right before I quit, I threw my metal ball at him. I was so pissed at him for trying to end my life with a vase and saying afterwards that he didn't care what happened to me, so I put my shotput lessons to use and gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"Why can't you just quit without doing something drastic like every other normal person? Do you know the severity of your actions? He could actually sue you and send you to jail for property damage and attempted murder!" she whisper-yelled. "You can try to counter the latter charge, pegging it as self defense or claiming that he tried to kill you first, but you and I both know it's a losing game for you."

"Cameron, I can't go to jail. I haven't even started my career yet. And to think that it was a good sign of fruition since I met Kyndall Nixon today."

My fingers were grabbing at my hair from both sides of my head and Cameron stretched her arms across the table and yanked them away forcefully, making me pull out some strands.

"That hurt!"

She ignored me and probed: "You met the Kyndall Nixon today? How? When? Where?"

At this point I was no longer as excited about meeting her as I was earlier. "She's the reason I couldn't pick up Rhys' model from the airport. She, or rather her driver, nearly ran me over at the intersection when I was grabbing coffee from The Good Place."

"Oh my God! You met Kyndall Nixon today and you almost died twice! At this rate you might actually peak before you turn 20."

It's safe to same that my best friend was ridiculous and she often sputtered nonsense when she was under duress.

"At the rate I'm going I might not make it to 20. Rhys might have me killed before then. What am I going to do Cammie? I don't have a job, I've probably been blacklisted in the modeling society, and my current ex-boss will most definitely sue me for an attempt on his life. Is it too late to drive to New York and jump off the Manhattan bridge?" She grabbed my hand and patted it gently.

"How about I buy you a latte with extra foam from this sorry excuse for capitalism instead, huh?"

I pouted and made my eyes look teary. "But it's expensive."

"You may not be able to drink something like this for a while. May as well just let you enjoy life while you can."

She stood up and started heading towards the counter, while I sneered and cursed her a little before following suit.

"Welcome to Sip 'n' Go, how many I be of service to you today?"

I froze at the sound of his familiar voice. I knew it so well that even if I became deaf, I'd recognize it in a crowd of screaming people.

Slowly, reluctantly, with my heart beating a mile a minute, I lifted my head and came face to face with the gorgeous brown eyes of my first love.

Russell Dillon.

A gasp escaped my lips even though I tried to contain my surprise. It has been over two years since I last saw him, but somehow he still managed to have the same effect on me that he did back when we were dating. I thought by now I'd be over him, but I guess I was wrong.

He was staring at me, his handsome face crumpled into a look of disbelief, slowly melting into joy, before finally settling for a look of remorse and regret. I hated that look. It meant that he acknowledges that what he did to me was wrong and that he hurt me and I didn't want that. I wanted him to forever remain a bad guy in my memory.

He opened his mouth so speak but then closed it back when no words came out. I could feel the worried eyes of Cameron on me and I squeezed her hand to reassure her that I was fine even though I felt like I had been punched in the gut.

Without waiting any further for words to come out of either of their mouths, I turned around on my heels and headed for the exit. They were calling out to me, urging me to "slow down" or "wait up" but I didn't listen. I tried my best to block out the sound of their voices, but when that didn't work, I started to run. My destination was unknown to me, but I didn't care as long as it was away from him.

Suddenly, I crashed into something really hard that halted my running and almost gave me whiplash. It was only after I didn't fall thanks to the strong arms that were wrapped around my waist did I realize I had hit a person.

Rhys' eyes were calmer and softer than when we met earlier. His smile was warm and welcoming and I feared that I had a concussion due to the impact of our collision. His brows drew in concern and he lifted his hand to push aside stray strands that threatened to hinder my vision.

"Are you okay?" he asked, genuine concern dripping from his all so marvelous voice. I was convinced he wasn't real.

Then, all of a sudden, his face turned cold and bitter, and I almost lost consciousness from how scared I was by his sudden change in countenance, but, I noticed his eyes were set on someone else and it calmed me down a bit.

Rhys set me up straight and pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arm around me protectively. I was highly confounded by the gesture, but even more so by the irate glare Kyndall Nixon was sending my way.

She was looking at Rhys and I with a subtle kind of rage I only saw in quiet people like Cameron, when they were trying so hard to hide their displeasure. But I knew that behind that subtle rage was a troubled and pissed off heart that couldn't stay calm until vengeance was delivered.

Before Kyndall or I could say anything, Rhys spoke up, shocking every single one of us there to the core:

"This is my girlfriend Denova. Are you happy now?"