golden;

nine;

awkward encounter

x

I avoided Nicole all morning. I had woken up earlier than her anyway, which means that by the time I was ready to leave she had just woken up.

"Morning Brie, Dani." Nikki said as she walked into the kitchen. I looked up at her as she rummaged through the cupboards. I cocked my eyebrow before having the last piece of my toast.

I took my plate and washed it up before placing it in the open dishwasher. I glanced over at Nikki who was pouring some orange juice into her cup. I huffed before walking out the kitchen, and up the stairs.

Once in my room I threw on my bomber jacket and called an Über. The app said it would take around 10 minutes for the driver to get to my house, so I have some time to kill.

I didn't want to go downstairs to talk to Nikki, so I layed on my bed and played around with some Snapchat filters. Some time later, and I heard a horn outside the house.

I threw my phone in my bag and dashed downstairs. As I reached the bottom, I bumped into Nikki.

"Dani!" She exclaimed, almost sounding relieved. "I need to talk to you."

"Later, ok? I have added photoshoot and the Über is outside." I said hurriedly. I walked quickly outside, and got into the car.

x

The photoshoot went smoothly, thank god. We did have to travel to a few places for the pictures, but the workers were nice for the journeys there.

"Thanks for your work today, Dani." The photographer, Kai Jenkins, said as he shook my hand.

"It was great working with you." I smiled as I grabbed my bag and exited the studio. I had already seen the pictures, and they looked great. I also had to do an interview, all about my fitness and my gym routine.

I walked down the dimly lit corridor, passing other studios. I could hear the shutter of the camera as I walked past each one.

I left the building and called an Über to pick me up. It started to rain slightly, so I stood under the shelter and leant against a post.

I scrolled through my Twitter feed, minding my own business, when I heard a familiar voice next to me.

"Hey Dani; I've been meaning to talk to you."

I looked up to find Colby standing a few feet away from me.

"Oh, hi Colby; I didn't expect you to be here." I said, putting my phone away.

"Yeah, this was a bit of a short notice thing but I managed to get here in time." He came and stood next to me; almost too close.

"So, how have you been?" I asked, trying to get rid of the awkward tension between us.

"Great, on cloud nine in fact. The past couple of days I've been thinking, a lot. About my career, about my future-about you."

I looked up at him to find his brown orbs staring back. I frowned, confused. What does he mean, about me?

"I don't understand what your talking about." Was all I managed to say, when in actual fact I wanted to ask him so many questions.

He laughed. "I don't mean to sound creepy or pervish or whatever. What I mean to say is- I like you. I didn't know what to do, so I called Nikki, and she told me some interesting things."

I began to back up a little bit. Once he said those words, about talking to Nicole, his eyes turned darker. I don't know what she said, but Colby was not happy about it.

"When you took me up to your room and let me stay there for the night, I genuinely thought you had feelings for me. That's why I talked about my ex-girlfriend to you; I thought I could trust you. And I still can, but when it comes to my feelings, you don't give a fuck."

I didn't know how to respond. I've known Colby for a long time, and I've never seen him look so angry and sad before.

We stood in silence for what felt like forever. God, I wish this Über would hurry up; I'm getting soaked standing here in the rain.

"Look, I don't know what Nicole told you-"

"You like Fergal. You led me to believe that you actually liked me. You manipulated me, humiliated me. I've never felt this way about any girl I've met before, and to find out that you like Fergal? After all of the things that has happened between us?"

I've never wanted to slap my sister so much before. Why isn't the the thought processing in her head that I don't like Fergal? And what makes her think thank she can go behind my back and tell lies?

"I don't like Fergal, for fuck sake!" I shouted. I sat down on the steps and put my head in my hands. I didn't know what else to do to make Nicole believe me, I've confronted in her in what I thought is the nicest way possible, but she STILL has nerve to lie behind my back. What kind of a sister is she?

The Über pulled up, and honked its horn. I stood up and looked at Colby.

"I don't like Fergal, please don't believe what Nicole has said." Was all I could say before I got into the car and drove away.