MR. C'S HEART

FAY

Putting on fake smiles for my boyfriend's grandmother was more complicated than I thought it would be.

Her wrinkled but still beautiful face squeezing up in delight, had guilt digging into the pit of my stomach as she gushed out. "You both look so cute together."

Melissa, Elroy's grand mother, looked like she was on top of the world, the pride and happiness shinning in her eyes was a huge contrast to what I actually felt.

"I never thought I'd see this day, but deep down I knew you both would make it work. You look perfect together." She smiled.

"We do, don't we?" Elroy's voice was so bright and cheerful as his arms tightened around my waist, bringing my body closer to his.

I didn't like the way his body felt warm next to mine, and the way I was too aware of his hand at the curve of my waist. My red dress pressed against his fitted suit and red tie. Melissa was also dressed in a beautiful red dress, and so were all the women at the event.

The big event hall was filled with high-class sophisticated people, celebrities, ranging from A-list actors to the most talented musicians and world class models like myself, all gathered together to celebrate-what was it again? I didn't know. It might have been a birthday or a fashion event, I wouldn't have known because my boyfriend only informed me about it a few hours ago, and told me to find a red pretty dress.

"I'm so glad you settled your differences; you have no idea how relieved your aunty was when she heard about your reunion with Fay." Melissa smiled at Elroy.

"Oh Melissa, as I told you and like I always will tell you, Elroy and I are madly in love; we might fight, and have the whole mini break up thing like last time, but we'll never separate for anything in the world. Right El?" I asked smiling up at a grinning Elroy.

"Definitely. I love you." He said, caressing my cheeks with his long pretty fingers.

"And I love you too." I responded, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh my god. I feel like the happiest person in the world-I'm so happy, Elroy, Fay, you both make me so happy. I was so scared, the last thing I was expecting was to see you both coming through those doors together." Melissa said, eyes glistening.

It was the last thing I was expecting too. I hadn't seen him in three days after our argument at the Chesterfield mansion, the one that landed her in the hospital.

"Grand ma, you're always going to be happy. Fay and I will never make you sad again, I promise." Elroy assured her.

"Oh, I'm sorry my parents couldn't make it; I know I said they would be here, you know how they are with their vacations." I apologized on behalf of my parents, seeing as my boyfriend had told me on the ride here that he'd told his grandma that I told him my parents might be available for the event, just to get her to smile.

"It's okay! All that matters is that you're here." Melissa smiled.

I returned the smile politely.

"Grans, Fay, and I have to get going. Remember I told you about the Museum date?" Elroy said.

I looked up at him with an innocent frown. Museum date?

Another lie probably...

"Oh yes-I'll cover for you, don't worry." Melissa smiled.

Soon enough, we made our way to Elroy's car, and he politely opened the door for me. I smiled at him; getting into the car, I placed my purse on my lap, closing my eyes and counting to three as Elroy closed the door and walked to the driver's side.

Immediately he came in and shut the door; his facade faded, a hard frown creeping its way to his brows, and so did mine after I opened my eyes.

"Don't you ever," he said, without looking at me, his voice stony and venomous. "Ever in your life, or the next to come; kiss me."

The grip on my purse tightened. "Trust me. It'll never happen again," I said, without looking at him, and staring straight ahead.

"Good."

"Good."

FAY

IT WAS DIFFICULT TO see my reflection in the mirror across from me. It was also hard to tell how many hands were busy working on my body to make sure I looked exactly the way I was supposed to look for the first half of the shoot. I had four more looks to get into, so I didn't bother about the whole frenzy movements all around me.

There was a hairstylist on my hair, making the final touches to the straight strands, there was a make-up artist rushing underneath the hairstylist in order to get to my face where he applied the last layer of powder, there was a designer trying to make sure the crystal buttons on the collar of the shirt I wore was in the appropriate angle, there was the footwear fixer buckling up the new heels I was supposed to be modeling at exactly...

"Fay, you're on in five minutes." A familiar face and voice popped into my dressing room.

"Thanks, Cam, I'll be right out." I told him, feeling the tiredness descend on me.

I was about to do it again, put up a smile for the camera, as always. Not that I minded; I had come too far to mind it or even complain about it, and there was no one I could complain to. I was used to this life, used to pretending that I was at my happiest in front of the camera, used to being okay with looking pretty all the time and eating things that helped maintain my body figure.

My mother would say it was worth it because that was the only way to keep the fame and money going. Ever since I was sixteen, it had been her dream to make me a big star, she always told me that my pretty face would take me places.

Then again, I wouldn't lie and say that I didn't completely enjoy the attention I got from the fame, the pictures, the parties, the expensive life style; it was all an addictive high that I sure as hell wasn't going to get enough of. Honestly, if anyone looked close enough, they would see that my life was a complicated mess. A bittersweet complicated mess.

As if to remind me of the bitter aspect, my phone began vibrating again. Elroy's name flashing on the screen, just like it had been doing since I walked into YDI. I'd lost count of the number of times he had called, and I knew he would probably not get the message that I was not going to pick up until I was done working.

Sighing, I ignored it for the hundredth time.

"He's probably missing you so much." said the make-up artist.

"Yeah." I answered with a well-practiced smile. "He's just bugging me on purpose. He does that."

"It's cute." Said the footwear guy.

"He's the best." I responded with that same smile, watching the phone ring until it cut off, going back to my lock screen before the light dimmed. He would be furious.

It was times like these that I remember the first time we actually talked. It was a blind date Elroy's grandmother organized, turns out she was a close friend of my mom and they both thought it would be good to you know-set us up.

It didn't work out because I ended up blessings his face with the remaining content of my red wine. We hated and still hate each other. It was what you would call a-a okay, I'll put it like this. Hate at first sight.

And that was three years ago.

So apparently, Three years and painfully counting, Elroy and I were still the most attractive couple to ever grace the world of glamour, fashion and celebrities. My career went to the peak after the announcement about our relationship was made, I had an influx of endorsement deals, new followers on my social media, and a massive house we bought together in Fisher Island, Miami.

The response we got from the media about our relationship was more than what we expected. It broke the internet, and we were all anyone could talk about. When our shoot photos came out weeks later, we broke the internet again, because this only confirmed the gossip about our relationship.

After that, it was all a blur from that point. We went for shoots, interviews, and all sorts of events together, and when we finally moved in together, the media began counting the days until Elroy Chesterfield whipped out a ring.

There was that one time I thought we could actually do this, I thought I could actually like him and we could make something out of this nothing we found ourselves. I was willing to try, but Elroy? He wasn't even having it. God his ego, and rudeness would be the death of him one day, and I was sure of it. We argued almost all the time, and he was always the one to start it.

His infuriating devilishly handsome face was one I'd gotten used to over the years, and I was quite sure I saw him more than I did my mother. Half the time we were together without the public's eye, he was either picking a fight with me or ignoring the hell out of my presence.

His ego was one of the major things I hated about him. He was rich, rude and his hobby was to ignore people. Yeah, he loved doing that.

I could as well say that about all the Chesterfield boys. Except Damien. He was still friendly with everyone, tries to reunite the bond between the triplets.

The media called them the three devilish packages. Elroy, Cade and Damien. Triplets who looked nothing alike. I would say the only thing alike about them was their infamous coffee brown hair, and their skin tone that seemed to seduce any camera on sight. They were the definition of the three devilish sins to the public, but to people who knew them personally, they were all opposites of each other, and barely communicated with themselves.

Their half-sister, Rhea, was no better. She was nice to have around, and we had this brother's girlfriend kind of friendship going on too, but we rarely saw each other.

Damien did try to bring the family together from time to time, probably for the sake of their grandmother, Melissa, who had been their sole guardian since they lost both their parents in a car accident when they were only 14. That was according to what the media said. Their parents ran five successful companies whose main headquarters were in Miami where they all currently resided.

Elroy ran Sparks, which was amongst the top three designer brand in the fashion industry. Damien was in charge of Gold, a jewelry brand. Cade ran, Di-glamorous and Emerald Arts, the footwear and artistry companies, while Rhea managed, Halo, the beauty brand.

All five companies were amongst the top ten fashion industries in the world, popular for their uniqueness and understanding to style and glamour. The Chesterfield four were stalked by the media like every other celebrity out there, the three boys had millions of female fans from around the world, you'd think they starred in a sensational movie.

They were all inspirations to themselves and the world. The four chesterfield beauties went to functions, participated in worldwide charity events, they even organized so many of these events themselves, created in house companies with mini branches all over the world.

I'd met all of them in person, and it didn't take me too long to figure out each of their intriguing personalities.

In Elroy's case; anger issues, he never took things easily. He was impulsive with his words and half of the time, ended up saying something that could either kill your dreams or make you want to kill him in his sleep. He flared up at the slightest thing that annoyed him, and yes-he craved pleasure in ignoring people. If you had a problem, or you just needed someone to confide in and you know, do the whole heart to heart talk with, Elroy was probably not your guy.

What I do admire about them though, was the love they had for their grandmother. She was one of the kindest women I'd ever met.

"Fay, you're up." Cameroon rushed in again.

I got to my feet gently, allowing the make-up artist finish whatever powder patting he was applying. My eyes raked down my body in the full-length mirror. The beautiful emerald skirt I wore over the white long-sleeved crop top with crystal buttons, had a long tearing from my ankle straight to my upper thigh, exposing a lot of skin. It was one of Yvonne Derees' new designs.

I knew Elroy was aware of my shoot with them, hence the heated argument we had the night before, and his persistent phone calls.

Knowing I still had four more looks to get done, I hurried to the shoot set with people still fluttering around me.

_______

I parked my Aston Martin amongst Elroy's cars. I yawned, got out from the car and walked out of the garage.

My feet were shaking beneath me, reminding me that I had bruises from the amount of heels I wore today during and after the shoots.

Walking into the house, I greeted a few workers here and there as I made my way to our room, hoping to God that the Grinch of a man wasn't back yet.

Ever since we convinced Melissa that we were totally okay with each other and in love, we moved in together to make our point clear. We promised Melissa we would try to make our relationship work. Ever since she fell sick because of a fight Elroy and I had, we got an earful from the other siblings, telling us to get our shit together.

I was ready to reason with them but Elroy wasn't having it. It was almost like he hated me to the core. There were sometimes I would try to make things work for real but he would always say something to hurt me or make me want to scream and yell my heart out at him.

We were just going round an endless circle.

Pushing the door to our room, I walked in only to find Elroy standing in the balcony with a glass that contained wine in his hand, he didn't seem to notice me come In cause his back was to me.

Shutting the door gently, I took off my furry jacket and unbuckled my heels, placing my bare feet on the ground.

Oh that feels good.

I couldn't wait to get out of my tight dress so I decided to get the awaited argument done and over with.

My bare feet made no sound as I padded my way to the balcony, feeling the chill breeze hit my skin.

Why is it always so cold out here?

Elroy was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow.

Without thinking much of the consequence, I wrapped my arms around him from behind, feeling the cold chill breeze seep out of my body as warmth graced my skin.

His body stiffened immediately and just as fast, he turned and pushed me away from him, I almost lost my balance but I held on to a chair behind me to keep me from falling.

His eyes were filled with what I knew so well as irritation.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

ELROY

Today wasn't a good day.

I was pissed beyond the word pissed. Never have I been ignored to the extent of breaking my phone into bits and pieces, my assistant got me a new one right after I destroyed the one I got just last week.

What gave Fay Handerson the right to ignore my calls? What gave her the right to disobey me! Despite my warnings, she took the contract Yvonne Deere's industry offered her, despite my warnings.

She knew how well I hated disobedience, but all she loved doing was to make my life miserable. It was almost like God put her in my path to ruin my life and taint my sanity.

That woman was driving me crazy! The last time I'd gotten this angry at her, our Grandma landed in the hospital. Fay and I argued and threw things at each other, I guess someone had called grandma to come in and separate the fight but she came in the middle, she got hurt and I almost got eaten by my siblings.

The only reason why I was tolerating Fay was because of my grandma, otherwise, I would have sent her packing a long fucking time ago.

I took another sip of my strawberry flavored wine, standing in my balcony and drinking up the view of Miami. It always seemed to calm me.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Still looking at the view, my hand slid into my pocket to retrieve it. Damien's name flashed on my screen.

What does he want now?

Hesitantly, I picked it up. "What?" I asked.

"This is getting old Elroy, you need to start answering the phone with more welcoming words like Hello, hey, even your name would suffice." Damien said.

"Okay. I see you have nothing important to say. Bye." I said, pressing the end button.

Immediately, my phone vibrated again. Still Damien. After like five rings, I picked it up again. "What?" I asked, sharper this time.

I heard him sigh from the other end which only made me smirk.

"I just wanted to check up on you, see how you're doing and stuff... Since you and Cade decided to cut yourselves off of the Chesterfield family, I needed to make sure the both of you were alright."

"I'm good." I simply said. "Can I end the call now? You're bothering me."

"I'm organizing a brunch next week, I want you and Fay to be there."

"Um- sorry I didn't catch the last part." I lied.

"Come on Roy, I know you heard me, you're just pretending." Damien said, sounding really tired.

"Look, I don't think we'd be available, call Cade, he might want to come."

"He is coming, Rhea has agreed to fly back from Las Vegas just to attend, why are you being so stubborn?"

"I'll be busy." I said. "I'm not trying to be stubborn or anything."

"We're all busy, idiot. Grandma's coming, Fay's parents too. Come on."

I groaned. "Fine. I'll talk to Fay about it. And I'll check my schedule. Bye."

He sighed. "I'll call you-"

I ended the call not waiting for him to complete his sentence.

Taking another sip of my wine, I sled my new phone into my pocket, determined to not answer any more calls for today.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my family, but sometimes they could be annoying, and nosy. I wonder why Damien would want to invite Fay's parents? I never liked those women, they were too pushy and weird, always trying to touch me any chance they get.

Fay had two mom's, although Catherine was her real mom, but when her dad decided to bail on them, Catherine decided to bail on anything male, so she got married to Sandra, her wife.

Fay wasn't comfortable with them either, I was pretty sure she'd freak out when she finds out about the brunch-

I stilled immediately, my thoughts erased from my brain when I felt a cold hand hug me from behind, the alluring smell of red roses and something relaxing filled my nostrils.

Fay!

Immediately, I turned and pushed her harshly away from me.

She stumbled a little, holding a chair behind her to stop herself from falling.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I spat out angrily, dropping the wine glass on the table.

She gulped, her hazel eyes widened in shock.

She should have known better, me and body contact- not good friends. Ever since I was a kid, I avoided it, I never allowed anyone touch me without permission. I just didn't like it. At all.

Unintentionally, my eyes raked down her, dare I say, perfect body. She was a model after all, she did so much to keep herself in shape, sometimes I couldn't help but pity her.

She was wearing a short red gown, her long straight legs were on full display, her feet were also bare. My brows furrowed when I saw the red marks here and there on her feet but I didn't say anything about it, my eyes moved back up to her eyes.

She sighed. "I was just trying to be a good girlfriend. I'm trying to put more efforts into this relationship, since you don't even bother to try."

Ignore that statement Elroy. Move to the matter at hand now.

"Why didn't you pick up your calls today?" I asked, dropping the glass of wine on the table, when she didn't answer, my jaw clenched in anger. "I believe I'm talking to you." I stated.

"I know," she shrugged. "I just choose not to answer, since it's okay for you to do it, why can't I?" She asked innocently.

"Listen Fay, I'm not in the mood to play stupid with you. Answer the fucking question." I seethed. "Why didn't you answer your phone."

"Cause I didn't want to? I was working."

"Working? For the same industry that has been trying to kick their way into the top since forever? For the same industry I specifically asked you not to work for?"

"You have no right Elroy," she gritted, getting pissed too. "No right, to tell me who to work for and who not to work for! I'm a model, I saw a very good contract and I took it. It is my freaking job."

"And I'm your boyfriend, you should listen to every damn thing I say."

"Why? You have the guts to call yourself a boyfriend? Really? That's rich." She muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, shoving both of my hands into my pocket, an act I always pulled whenever I was trying to contain my anger.

She only shrugged.

"Cancel the contract." I said.

She look stunned. "I will do no such thing Elroy."

"Yes you will. If you don't, I'll make you."

"Oh, let's see... What are you gonna do? Cancel my contract with Sparks? Cause your baby brain can't help the fact that your model girlfriend prefers a competing company to yours?"

"Sparks is way better than any other clothing brand out there okay? I won't have you talk rubbish about my company."

"Did I say anything wrong about Sparks? Come on Elroy, if you're looking for who to lash your anger on tonight, I'm not the girl. I'm tired and sleepy. Good night." She said.

"You wanna play like that? Fine... I'll be sure to present this pressing matter to your moms next week at a brunch Damien organized, turns out I might not be able to convince you into quitting but I know who will."

Her eyes widened as anger mixed with fear danced through them. "Damien organized a brunch?"

"Yes." I said.

"My p-parents are coming?"

"Hm." I replied with a hum.

She looked lost for words.

"Tongue tied?"

"This is low, even for you." She said. "Just because you can't make me quit, doesn't mean you can involve my parents in any of this."

"Oh, can't I now? Maybe this brunch wasn't a bad thing after all." I smirked, picking up my glass of wine. "Night. Girlfriend." I said before exiting the balcony.

I'd do anything to make her cancel her contract with Yvonne Deere's Industry, after all, I was only doing her a favor.

She'd get to stop wearing those horrifying heels, she'd stop having bruises on her feet, not that I care about it. I just don't want my grandma thinking I had something to do with them.

Plus, I'd get to pull Yvonne Deere's Industry down the list of the top clothing industries

A win for me.