Chapter 18: Flirting with dangerThe following week, as I was leaving the country club, the night crowd began to trickle in. One thing I had noticed was the the day members were usually older, like 35 and above while the night crowd were young folks around seventeen to thirty years old; around my age.Among the newcomers was Bernita. The moment I caught sight of her, I instinctively attempted to blend into the background, hoping to avoid detection. I hoped she would not see me but it was too late."Jessica, Jessica, isn’t that you?" she called out, her voice cutting through the chatter of the arriving guests.Caught off guard, I turned around to face her, trying to maintain a composed facade. I froze for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse to escape. "Oh, hi, Bernita," I greeted, mustering a forced smile. She began to introduce me to her friends. “Everyone, meet Jessica. Her father does real estate, I think. Jessica, meet Tasha, Yara, Darla and Stephanie.”"Nice to meet you al
Chapter 19: Living two different lives.Living a double life was proving to be more challenging than I ever imagined. By day, I played the role of a humble waitress, serving tables alongside my best friend, Rachel. But as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, I shed my apron and slipped into the world of the elite, rubbing shoulders with the wealthy and privileged. During the day, I was Jessica Raye, the hardworking waitress, but by nightfall, I transformed into someone entirely different—a sophisticated socialite, mingling effortlessly with the upper crust. It was a charade, a masquerade of sorts, and I was the master of disguise.But, I felt so guilty and uncertain. Was I deceiving others, or was I deceiving myself? With each passing day, the line between reality and fiction blurred further, and I found myself questioning my own motives. Yet, I couldn't deny the thrill of living on the edge. It was exhilarating, intoxicating even. "You're just living your best life," I'd whisper
Chapter twenty: A surprising date with danger.Do you remember that a big company, Xeto Technologies stole my app, BrainBoost and made a dumb counterfeit? If you were paying attention, you would remember. Well, since then, we have reorganized and made a proper plan to get justice. Our first course of action was awareness. We wanted to make sure everyone knew that the Albert Einstein Competition was a complete scam.On Wednesdays, we would carry placards and cardboard with slogans written on them like: “Return what you stole!”, “Pay us our money!”, “Down with Capitalism!”Sometimes, we would even march around in front of the building.All our efforts were turning out to be in vain. At first, news channel were coming to capture footage and interview us. But they suddenly stopped. I guess they got tired of us or maybe someone important paid them off. I’ll never understand why. We were slowly becoming a mere nuisance. Xeto Technologies had stationed very muscular security guards at the ga
Chapter twenty one: An intoxicated nightWe kept talking about several things until the sun casted a golden hue over the landscape. As the sky painted itself in hues of orange and pink, we fell into a comfortable silence. As the final remnants of daylight disappeared from the sky, Scott turned to me with a smile plastered on his face. “We should do this again," he suggested. "Another date, perhaps?"Feeling a surge of spontaneity, I couldn't resist the urge to suggest something bold. "Why wait?" I proposed eagerly. "Let's seize the moment and head to a party right now. A friend of mine is throwing one tonight."Without hesitation, we gathered our belongings and set off into the night. When we arrived at the party, I said to Scott, “I’m gonna go find my best friend, Rachel. Just wait for me here.”I left to find Rachel amidst a sea of people.“Ahhhhhhh!!! You came!” Rachel screamed excitedly when she caught sight of me. With a delighted squeal, she enveloped me in a tight embrace, and
Chapter twenty two: The end of a love that never startedMany weeks after that night, Rachel would not stop disturbing me. “Won’t you tell me about your mystery man?” She asked over and over again. Her persistence was like a pesky mosquito buzzing in my ear, relentless and kinda irritating. No matter how many times I swatted her inquiries away, she kept coming back for more. I felt my patience wearing thinner than a strand of spaghetti. But I understood that she was just a caring best friend, always concerned about me."It's not that big of a deal," I repeated, hoping to deflect her curiosity like a pro. But Rachel was like a detective on a mission, refusing to let go of her interrogation tactics."But you sounded so excited last night. You seem different now," she prodded, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.I sighed.“Who is he and what did he do to you? If he broke your heart, he’ll have me to deal with," Rachel declared, her protective instincts kicking into high gear.I waved her of
Chapter twenty three: David versus Goliath.I continued walking, but he hurried after me. He raised his hand, and I instinctively flinched, thinking he was going to hit me again.“I was not going to hit you. I wanted to swat a mosquito that kept hovering around,” Scott explained."I'm not sure whether or not I believe him," I thought to myself, eyeing him cautiously. His hand was still raised against me.Out of nowhere, a hand held back Scott’s. "What the hell is going on here?" The deep voice demanded. I felt another airy rush of deja vu. It reminded of when David defended me from Penelope. And here he was, defending me once more from another bully.I stepped forward, trying to regain composure. “David, I can handle this. You don’t have to fight my battles for me.”He flashed me a quick genuine smile. “I know you can handle yourself. Just let me help you this one time.”“Hey, hey, who do you think you are? Mind you business, man!” Scott barked. His body tensed in a hint of aggressio
Chapter twenty four: Bernita Drama The next day, I was just about to clock out of work when Bernita stormed in with indescribable fury. Her outfit was a clash of colors straight out of a fashion disaster, with hues of blue, pink, and red fighting for attention. Her hair was a tangled mess; strands were flying in all directions. Streaks of black mascara were dripping down her cheeks. Her makeup was totally smudged. Because I had distanced myself from my double life, I had been avoiding Bernita and hadn’t even seen her in weeks. I was tempted to run away but I just couldn’t in good conscience leave her in such a terrible condition. Could I turn a blind eye to her obvious distress?I hesitated for a moment because I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with any Bernita Drama. With a resigned sigh, I approached her cautiously. "Bernita, what's wrong? You look like you've been through a hurricane," I said, trying to mask my reluctance with concern.She shot me a venomous glare before unlea
Chapter twenty five: Walking on hot coals On getting home, I fell face flat on my bed and screamed into my pillow. I was so conflicted because I felt guilty. Sure, Bernita wasn't exactly my closest friend, more like an acquaintance, but that didn't make what happened any less complicated. I mean, was it really against the girl code to have feelings for a boy who was previously in a relationship with a girl you know? And our meeting at the park – was it truly just a friendly rendezvous, not a date? Or was I trying to convince myself that I wasn't crossing any lines?There, I fell asleep, still wearing my clothes and shoes. I woke up the next morning to the ringing of a call blaring from my phone. My ringtone was my favorite song in the entire world. “I’m walking on sunshine, ooohhh. And don’t it feel good!!”"Walking on sunshine? More like screaming on burning hot coals," I grumbled groggily. I was not a morning person.“Who in their right mind calls at 7 am on a Saturday?" I said