Mr. I Don't Smile

07. different perspective

07. different perspective

Theo

On the second ring, she picked up.

"Theo! I feel like I haven't talked to you in ages. It took you long enough to call me. How have you been?" The exuberant voice of Natasha came through the phone.

"Fine."

She sighed. "What happened?"

My voice involuntarily raised at her words. "What do you mean what happened? I just told you I was fine."

"And? You know I can tell when you're lying. Plus, you had to call me for a reason."

I scoffed. "Do I need a reason to want to talk to my friend?"

"Yes."

"Not true, but I guess you're right. I'm not fine." I waited to see what she would say.

"I knew it. I'm never wrong. So tell me what happened."

"Do you remember the girl I told you about? My exchange host?"

"Which one? The toxic bitch or her closed off sister?"

"The closed off sister. Her name is Ciera."

"Ah, yes. I recall you telling me about her. So something happened that has to do with her?"

"I may have messed up our . . ." What was I supposed to call our relationship? A friendship? With the way we interacted I wasn't sure we were even friends. "I messed it up with her," I decided.

"Theo." Her voice sounded like she was getting ready to scold a child. "What did you do? I don't understand how you're so bad at making companions. You really should've just taken my advice."

"Doing some grand gesture? I want her to be my friend, not my girlfriend. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I wanted her to trust and open up to me since she's so closed off."

She gave off a non-humorous laugh. "That's sweet coming from you."

My eyes narrowed. "Shut up and let me finish. Ciera always starts to talk to me but then she shuts down. But afterward, she asked me about my life in France and I didn't tell her."

"Why? What's the big deal? Everyone knows who you are."

"In France. I'm in California. They probably don't pay attention to French media. Or read our magazines."

"So are you going to tell her?"

"Do I have to?"

"No. But I'd rather not have my friends keep a part of their life secret to me."

"It's just," I sighed, "I like not being treated differently. It feels great to not be noticed everywhere. Anyway, the problem is, when Ciera asked, I kind of exploded on her."

"You're completely screwed. I don't care if you don't want to tell anyone who you are. They're your secrets. But don't yell at her for asking when she's trying to get to know you. It makes you look like a jerk. So you better go apologize."

"Thanks. You always know what to say, Natasha."

"I know," she said, and I could practically visualize her flipping her hair. "I'm the best."

I rolled my eyes. "When will I see you again?"

"Well, I'm not sure if it's finalized yet but I overheard my dad on the phone the other day. He's thinking about expanding the business. You're one of our biggest marketing pieces so he decided that we should come to Venice Beach. If this deal goes through you could expect to see me in a few weeks."