Proxy

Seventeen

Two weeks later...

My dresses were all sprawled across my room. I couldn't choose exactly what to wear!

This is why I need Savannah right here, right now but I wouldn't want to exhaust her for such a silly dilemma.

Blue, red, yellow or silver. What should I wear?

I picked up a black sleek dress that was cut right above my knees. I donned it on and twirled myself around the life-size mirror.

I looked too... formal. Nope, this isn't it.

Next was a red tube top and a black skirt reaching a couple of inches above my knee.

The door of my apartment was opened after I hear a light clicking of heels coming inside and a few shuffles from lots of paper. A whiff of perfume ser me off to run to my TV room and Savannah was sitting on the couch furiously flipping on some magazine.

"What are you doing here?!" I asked with shock, starring at her head. Her hair was dyed into platinum blonde and she was dressed to kill.

"Well, cancer isn't a fashionable statement up to now so..."

"Shut-up, Sav. You should've been resting. Are you okay?" I was panicking but she just held up a finger to her lips.

"Now let's get you set up."

Moments later, I was strutting the room like I was one of those models that I normally see on TV. She dressed me up in a tight silver dress with the lowest neckline possible and a black wedge complimented by my hair which was put up in a messy bun.

"Rawr, girl!" She laughed.

"Shut-up, Sav. You look awesome as well." She looks like an angel in her simple white dress and silver heels to match up our height.

I looked like the devil to her angel look. After posting up our selfies, the doorbell rang and in came Troy and Clay.

"Holy heaven and hell!" Troy exclaimed. "Man, can I keep 'em?" He joked.

"No, you may not." Clay replied, snickering in remark. He offered an arm to Savannah while I was left with Troy.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Savannah's gaze lingering at our direction before she faced the door. As if studying the person beside me.

Troy.

"Please bear with me, milady." He said as he bowed down to me gently. I slapped his back in a playful manner and we all descended the building, rode a car and crashed the party.

Just kidding.

The party was unlike any other party I've seen in ages. Remember how little people were invited by business people in soap operas?

Well, try about 300 people milling around the place, plus the waitresses and waiters keeping the place running. It was big, I'm telling you.

Troy and me were stuck on some plush sofa and were sipping our drink while Savannah was introduced by Clay to his colleagues.

Sometimes, I even wonder what would Clay do if he finds out that his wife (in paper) has cancer and only has a year left to live.  I didn't notice that a tear already fell into my eye until Troy offered me his handkerchief.

"I didn't know you liked Clay." He said in a serious tone. Where was the happy-go-lucky Troy that I came to know. I followed his stare and saw that he was looking at Savannah and I finally put it all in place.

"Oh, my gosh. Do you like her?" I wiped off the tears and refilled my drink.

"I think so. Days passed and I couldn't seem to take my mind off of her. Like she's someone important that I had to protect. Everything I had in you, Hare... it quickly faded the moment I got to know her."

My breath lodged into my throat but I quickly swallowed all the air when Savannah came walking towards us beside Clay, smiling. He liked me???

"Hey you." She greeted.

Savannah sat beside me and a couple of girls tried to join in but upon noticing the matching rings that Savannah and Clay got, they quickly disappeared.

By the end of the night, Troy ended up drunk and it was Clay who's gonna have a handful in dropping him by at his place.

I asked Savannah to stay by my place since her the place where she stays was half an hour away. "I've got shirts that would fit you, anyway. Come on, it's a girl's night."

"Okay."

When he dropped us off to my apartment building, Savannah complained about a bugging headache and she went inside my room to sleep telling me to make a cup of coffee for Clay as a way of thanking him.

"You know how to make your coffee right?" I said to him.

"But I'm the birthday boy, you should just serve me until midnight." He made a whining sound.

"You're lucky you've still got an hour." I laughed, my bare feet padding onto the kitchen.

I've got loads of questions I've been wanting to ask him. And now that we're alone, maybe I should ask him everything straight up. I don't like it when the people I care about keep secrets from me.

But it's hilarious to even think of me, keeping a secret away from Clay.

Maybe we'd each try to tell our own truths.

Yeah.

When I got back inside, Clay was sitting on the couch and scanning on Netflix with his shoes on the floor like a King.

"Savannah came and turned this on for me." He said it like I just got him something to feel guilty about.

The cup rang on the saucer as I make my way to him, laughing.

"I've got a question for you." I propped myself at the other end of the couch. He slid closer to me but still without touching me.

"What is it?"

I placed the cup on the center table and took a deep breathe.

"I know you're on a year-long contract with Savannah." I said.

"You knew? I never even bothered to tell Troy... Savannah." His face became stoic. Uh-oh. I just ruined the mood.

There was a long eerie silence with only the zombies moaning and people screaming in the show of the Walking Dead.

"Do you wanna know my reason?" He finally said from out of the blue.

I nodded.

"I knew she had cancer even if she refuses to tell me." He whispered. I didn't notice that our faces were only inches apart when he said that.

I immediately pulled away, securing my knees using my arms, curling myself into a ball.

"You knew about it?" It was more of a statement than an a question and I nodded to him in agreement.

"I understood why she won't tell you. Maybe that's the reason why she still works day and night. She has this big mansion to keep running and it badly needed some major renovations. There's also a lot of people living there depending on her."

"I didn't know. I thought... that she just wanted a companion to spend the remaining time of her life with. What she needed was support." He said.

"And to think that Troy likes her." I said to myself. His head shot up. He heard me.

"I've always get that feeling that he does. But the bast*rd won't come on to my wife. He's more of a best friend than a cheat."

"But I do know that Savannah likes him." I said.

"I have a plan." He grinned evily as he leaned closer to me, our arms touching, and he spent the night talking about what to do with the drunk idiot and the other one on the next room.