"Happy birthday, Princess." Chase walked into her room with a bouquet in his hands. Shelly's room was painted in purple and it screamed rich!
Shelly Champman yawned, stretched before lazily opened her eyes and shut it back instantly.
"Ow!" She exclaimed, "shut the blinds."
Her ever obedient boyfriend, Chase Parker, stood up and pulled the curtains down. He was now accustomed to his girlfriend's tantrums and demands.
Most times he'd stare at himself in the mirror and wonder what his 6'5ft self was doing with her but he was yet to get the answer to that question.
"Good morning, babe," he beamed happily and joined her on her princess sized bed that was covered in designers bedspread.
"You're awfully happy today." She eyed him suspiciously and cozied up in his arms.
"It's my baby's birthday," he replied, placing a kiss on her head.
"Exactly, so I'm the one who's supposed to be in a good mood," she smirked.
"Yeah." He agreed reluctantly with a small frown on his face.
Finally, Shelly stood up and stretched again—then she went to do her morning rituals which began with stripping off and checking out herself in the mirror.
"Like what you see, babe," she teased him, "I'm telling you this sweetie, you can't find another like me."
Chase stared at her flat stomach, she was 5'4ft, very beautiful and sexy. She had curves in all the right places and she wasn't even thick, she was slim. Her hourglass figure and blond hair always reminded him of a model.
He smiled at the thought of finding someone like her, no, he'd rather find someone, not like her.
Suddenly, he remembered he had exciting news to share before leaving for work. He went into the bathroom where she had proceeded to the second-order of the day—brushing and bathing.
"Baby, I've got good news."
"What's it about?" She asked without being enthusiastic, while her brush hung out of her mouth.
"I got a promotion!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, that." She rinsed her mouth and looked bored, "I told my dad to promote you."
"But why?" He asked sadly. "I told you to stop doing that. It's bad enough I'm working for your dad."
"Oh, please. We both know you worth nothing without me, so suck it up and stop acting childish." She waved him off and turned on the shower.
"Happy birthday once again," he said. "Have fun being twenty-one."
"I will."
"Your new car key is on the bed, courtesy of your dad," he said walking away. "I'm going to work."
"Bye, thank daddy for me," she said happily.
Her life was perfect.
*~*~*~*~*
"There's the birthday girl."
Shelly squealed as her two besties enveloped her in a hug. She was just stepping out of the shower and her friend's presence made her feel more festive.
"So tell me, how does it feel to be twenty-one?" Cindy, her nerd bestie asked.
Shelly rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to be your young adult project, Cindy."
"It's just a question," Cindy grumbled and rolled her big eyes.
"We both know you're writing a book on young adults," Kiara, her normal friend said between laughs.
"It's not my fault that Shelly decided to grow up first." Cindy pouted.
"You both will be twenty-one next month." Shelly laughed. "And to answer your question, I don't feel anyway."
"Let's make you feel something!" Kiara squealed. "We're going out, let's get you dressed up." Kiara flung the door to Shelly's closest open. It was a rotating closet and it was painted in white and had all the collection of shoes and bags.
The wonderful duty of your best friends was to stuff you up in a cute dress on your birthday and get you all dolled up—that was exactly what Kiara and Cindy did to Shelly as they presented their work to a full-length mirror.
"Awww, you guys are so sweet!" Shelly gushed.
She stared at her blonde hair now pulled into a tight bun, with her smokey eye and red lip gloss, the blush and powder highlighted her face. She was dressed in a beautiful lavender flora dress with black wedge sandals.
"You look perfect," Cindy complimented her.
"Duh! I'm always perfect." She sassed. "But you guys did a good job."
"Great, a compliment." Kiara laughed.
"Let's check out the car daddy got for me." She urged and ushered her friends out.
Strutting down the stairs, she entered the parking lot and saw a car wrapped in ribbons.
"Ooh, your dad went all out here." Cindy smiled.
"It's not every day your little girl turns twenty-one." She replied.
"Alright, let's tear this thing open!" Kiara exclaimed excitedly.
Shelly laughed. Kiara was always the bubbly one. "I second that."
The girls got to work, ripping away the ribbons and wrapping paper. When they finished they saw...
"Omg!" Kiara exclaimed.
"He got me the car I've been dreaming of!" Shelly gushed.
"Uhm, guys. Backtrack please, what's going on?" Cindy looked lost.
"Girl, you've got to get your nose off your books," Shelly remarked shaking her head.
"This car is a Bugatti La Voiture Noire, this baby is eighteen point seven million dollars," Kiara explained to her nerdy friend.
"You ought to know all these things," Shelly added.
"Who's ready to take this baby for a test drive?" Kiara asked excitedly, trying to contain her excitement.
"I sure am." Shelly smiled.
"Guys that thing looks fast." Cindy squeaked as they pulled her in.
Turning on the engine, Shelly drove off.
*~*~*~*~*
"So, he tells me he's got a surprise and I'm like hit me with it only to find out that it's the promotion I instigated, so I tell him, dude, I did this for you it ain't a surprise."
"Way to be a buzzkill, Shelly." Kiara grimaced.
Shelly and her friends were eating in their favorite restaurant downtown. She had just finished telling them the tale of what happened between her and her boyfriend.
"I was just being honest," Shelly admitted, trying to sound naive.
"That was way too blunt." Cindy snapped. "Besides he's told you to stop interfering in his work."
"Ooh, we're getting personal here," Kiara smirked.
"It's my boyfriend remember." Shelly snapped. "When you get yours, treat him how you want."
"I still think you shouldn't have ruined his surprise like that." Kiara chipped in.
"I just told him so he would be happy." She groaned.
"Well, you broke his heart," Cindy said quietly, downing a bottle of water.
"Say what, let's go give him a surprise visit," Shelly suggested.
"Yeah then we'll rope him into this birthday fiesta and you'll make it up to him," Kiara added.
"Perfect plan, let's go."
Chase Parker was just rounding up the draft on a new business strategy he was due to submit by tomorrow when his door opened quietly.Startled, he looked up and saw..."Shelly." He never knew her as one who made a quiet entrance. She was always loud and loved the spotlight."It's me." She smiled and stepped into his office. "I came to drag you away from here.""Uhm, I've got work to do that needs to be submitted tomorrow." He replied, thumbing through some documents."Leave it, I'll just tell daddy to give it to someone else." She snapped."Shelly!" He exclaimed."Ok, I'm sorry." She groaned. "Fine. I won't mention daddy again, but let's go have fun. It's my birthday.""No, I've had enough of you always bossing me around!" He yelled. "I want to live my life the way I want it.""Ok, darling you will." She nodded, trying to avoid drama."No, Shelly." He shook his head. "You don't understand."
Chapter ThreeShelly and Kiara took their time before getting into her car. She had composed herself before leaving and gave the most radiant smile. She wasn't about to break down in front of strangers.Getting to her car, she saw Cindy leaning on it. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face had lost its radiant smile."I didn't mean to snap at you, it's not your fault," she said quietly.Cindy stared at her surprised—she hadn't expected an apology from her, but it was Shelly, after all, she'd never apologized directly."It's fine." Cindy smiled."Alright, let's go," Kiara said, already seated on the driver's seat.Shelly sat down in the passenger's seat, handing her keys to Kiara. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to drive.Once the car pulled out of the driveway, Shelly slipped into her thoughts. She wondered why
Shelly moaned in her sleep--she hugged her pillow tightly as if she was clinging unto life itself. Grrrringgg! Grinnnngggg!!Something was shrieking like an alarm clock. Tossing and turning, she located the little devil interrupting her sleep and threw it away.The ear-splitting noise it made, had her sitting up in bed. Frowning, she rubbed her eyes and yawned before seeing a blurred shape of an alarm clock on the ground.Rubbing her eyes again, she looked around and saw nothing but blurry shapes."Uhm, guys. I didn't kill you all right so why do I feel blind?" She asked no one in particular.Swinging her legs down from the bed, her barefoot touched the cold ground and she screamed."Who the bloody hell took away my slippers and why is this floor so damn cold!"Her scream attracted people because she heard shuffling of feet and her door swung open. She was barely able to make out the blurry shap
Shelly peeled her eyes open and groaned before shutting it. She tried again, but this time a hand was shielding her eyes from the sun rays."I just had the weirdest dream ever." She yawned and looked at the owner of the hand shielding her eyes and screamed."It's not a bloody dream!" She screamed bloody murder as the woman jerked back immediately."Shelly, what is the problem?" The woman who claimed to be her mom asked."You are my problem!" She shrieked."That is no way to talk to your mother, young lady." The man named Lucas also claiming to be her father snapped."Mr. Hillary, I'll handle this ok." She heard a familiar voice and almost wept with relief when Kiara walked into the room."Kiara, I'm so happy to see you." She hugged her and the couple left the room."Ok, what's going on with you?" Kiara asked.Shelly ignored her and looked at her fascinated. She still looked th
Chapter SixShelly opened her eyes, her surroundings blur, and a massive headache tormenting her as she remembered the strange incidents happening."...not stable right now to be left alone." She heard the doctor's voice as he spoke not fully hearing all nor understanding what he said. So she listened more intently."Your daughter is going to be fine, it's just stress there's nothing to worry about," the doctor was saying, "and it's too early to start conducting any test on her."Wait! What tests are they talking about? She was perfectly fine and didn't need any doctor or hospital. She just needed to confess her feelings to Chase and get the hell out of this universe—world—whatever the fuck this is.Holding the edge of
Chapter SevenAfter years of never feeling left out. Years of always being the queen who dictates how things go, Shelly was not used to this new feeling.The feeling of rejection. It felt so odd and painful. Running towards nowhere in particular, she found herself standing in front of a cliff overlooking the sunset.For once in her entire life, she noticed something that had seemed irrelevant before. She noticed how beautiful nature was. She watched as the sun sank into the horizon displaying an orange golden color up in the sky. It was so beautiful."It's mesmerizing, isn't it?" The soft velvet voice pulled her out of her reverie.Looking beside her she saw him. The one she had been waiting for stood in all his glory beside her staring—not at her but the sunset and she was supposed to answer him but she was tongue-tied!She just stood there staring at him. He looked more handsome than she re
Chapter Eight"Can I speak to you for a sec?"Shelly was on her way out after the argument she had with Kiara and Laura. She just wanted to leave this house and go somewhere quiet, not for a soul searching even though Kiara's words still rang in her eyes every second.Stopping in her tracks she turned and faced him. "Sure." She took a seat opposite him at the dining table."Shelly, what's going on with you?" Lucas placed his big palm on the back of her hand.Shelly flinched but didn't pull away. "I don't know." Her voice was barely a whisper."I know you've got a lot going on in your life right now," he began, "but don't let it consume you and the people around you.""I don't understand what you're saying to me." Shelly frowned.Lucas furrowed his brows at her trying to get a closer look. "You're hurting your mom."Shelly felt the tears fill her eyes again. "Alright, I'll stop.""Shelly, darling I do
Chapter NineShelly would never forget that voice. Even in her dream or in this alternate world she would always remember it, and that was what stopped her dead in her tracks. She couldn't move or say anything, she just stood there frozen in time.Kiara noticed her friend's distress and was quick to come to her aid."Hello, Mr. Chapman to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Kiara smiled at him while Shelly remained quiet staring at the spitting image of her father only this time, he wasn't her dad."As charming as always, Miss Kiara." He chuckled."So customers are not supposed to be in here." Kiara pointed out."I know my dear, I took permission from the manager. I came to see Miss Shelly."This time Shelly moved but not in the right way. She jumped up and screamed. "Daddy! I know you'd come to my rescue!!" And she fell on his chest and wept for joy.You know at that moment when you feel like the ground s