Allegra.
Spinning to show off my latest outfit on the catwalk, I felt so alive. My hair flowed down my back, and I felt like I was on top of the world. My heart pounded, and my smile was simply radiant. Cheers rang out from either end of the catwalk as I set yet another trend.
When the show was over, I t with my boss, who couldn’t stop showering with praise. “You’re KILLING it, Allegra,” he said, his voice dripping with awe. I nodded in agreent, beaming at him.
“Thank you for giving this chance. I’m glad you didn’t end up regretting it given so of the restrictions that co with ,” I said, still cursing the fact that I was banned from the United States. It made many things inconvenient, but here I was, happy anyway.
“Are you kidding?” he said with a laugh. “No regrets, none whatsoever! You’re a star, Allegra, I can’t emphasize that enough. Top of the line, of a perfect stock, you have so much enthusiasm you bring to the catwalk that it radiates from you.”
We exchanged a hug, and I prepared to leave for the day. I had to refrain from skipping, because I was in such a good mood. At ho, I would see Layla, a princess who was more than perfect. Speaking of no regrets, that applied to being with her again.
There had always been a worry in the back of my mind that, once again, sothing would go wrong. She was constantly apologetic, though, and soon, my worries evaporated. Now I had to lecture her that it had happened and was done. We could move on.
On the way ho, I put on so rock music, bobbing my head to it and wearing a huge smile. Everything was wonderful. This ti, I had a feeling deep down I wouldn’t be knocked off my pedestal, at least when it ca to Layla.
I pulled into the garage and found my designated parking spot. Then, I made my way to the front door, looking through my keys and opening it. When I entered, I was greeted with a happy ‘ow’ and couldn’t help but widen my grin.
We had rescued a cat from a local organization. His fur was pitch black, and his eyes were amber. I nad him Onyx, because the shine of his fur reminded of such gemstones. I bent down and pet him, saying softly, “Hey there, kitty kitty. Hungry?”
The cat owed at as if understanding my question, causing to chuckle. I made my way to the kitchen and began pouring him so food. From the other room, I heard the television going. As I began to make so noise, however, it got turned off.
Bounding into the room was the gorgeous Layla, who wrapped her arms around . “Allegra!” she said, her voice dripping with adoration. “How was work?” She stared at expectantly, and I knew what she wanted.
I smiled at her, bending my head down to place my lips against hers. She lted in my arms, her entire body relaxing and a grunt of joy emitting from her as we exchanged a deep kiss. Sparks of ecstasy rushed through my body at the tender mont we had.
Breaking the kiss to take a breath and reply, I said, “It went wonderfully. I bedazzled the audience, as usual. Got several gorgeous pictures taken. They’re getting better at those. I’m on the top of my ga and couldn’t be happier, Layla.”
She smiled at , cupping my cheek and whispering, “That’s wonderful. I’m sorry I couldn’t co this ti.” Layla usually tried to co to all of my runway shows, but she’d had an appointnt this ti and couldn’t make it. She gave another hug before bending down to pet Onyx and give him so attention, too. The cat had been brushing against our legs, demanding it, after all!
I let Layla play with Onyx for a mont before sweeping her into my arms and carrying her into the living room. She chuckled during this, relaxing in my arms and enjoying the fact that I was carrying her like a princess, no doubt.
We got there, and I asked, “How’s the job search been?” Thankfully, she’d dropped the live-in nanny career. I wanted to spend ti with her and see her more, so I was glad we saw eye-to-eye on that.
“It’s been going. I may take care of so kids a few houses over. It wouldn’t be overnight or anything, don’t worry, and just five days after school, from about 3:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I’d have weekends off, all of which I could spend with you.”
I smiled at her, giving her a nod. “That sounds perfect. Besides, I think we know the breadwinner of this household,” I laughed, giving her a wink. She blushed, but we both knew I was now making it big with my modeling career again. We didn’t need a bigger space, admittedly.
Layla and I had discussed whether we should put our focus on moving anywhere more extravagant, and both ca to the conclusion that we were happy in this fairly large apartnt. We didn’t need a house, and the neighbors were very nice.
I was content with settling here, as was she. We settled in to watch a movie together, this one a family one. Sothing she enjoyed imnsely, and I found a lot of fun in as well. I had a soft spot for fantasy, after all, and many elents of that were in these movies.
Eventually, I got up from the couch and asked, “What do you want for lunch? I can make sothing delicious for us.” Layla bead at and went silent in thought for a mont, her eyes gleaming.
“Your spinach tarts with a side of salad sounds nice,” she said. I saluted her, stealing one last tender kiss before making my way to the kitchen and setting up the ingredients. I put a kettle on the stove for us to share so tea, as well.
Humming as I prepared the ingredients, I set up things perfectly for lunch. Soon, the sll of food in the oven filled the area, causing my stomach to rumble and my mouth to water. Layla’s suggestion was, as expected, simply perfect.
While I waited for the food to cook, I looked over to see my phone lighting up. I was getting a call, sothing I missed initially. I walked over to the counter and grabbed it, tapping through it to see who it could be.
It was Neal.
I swallowed hard, recalling I had yet to tell him anything about Layla and I making up. At this point, Layla and I had been together for a few weeks, and all was well. He would definitely not take well to this news. He would find out soon, too, given he lived in the area.
Mustering up the courage, I finally dialed his number, placing the phone against my ear and waiting for him to answer. I would hold my ground when faced with him on the subject of Layla. For now, I didn’t want to bring that up and stress over it.
“Hello?” Neal said. The tone of his voice was off, as though he was deep in so lancholy thought. My stomach twisted at that tone. I knew when heavy things were on my brother’s mind, he wasn’t the best at hiding as much from .
“Hey. You called? Is everything alright?” I asked, hoping sothing else didn’t co up similar to the mob situation.
“Yes, everything’s fine. Just called to check in, but also to ntion I heard about Becca’s wedding. I wanted to visit her one last ti,” he said, causing to furrow my brow and let out a sigh.
“I’m surprised at you, Neal. I thought you were over her. She’s settling in now. Has a new kid on the way. Word from the grapevine is I may get a wedding invite myself. I’m still in contact with Becca and would need to send her my address, though,” I said.
We’d made ands, for the most part, and there were no hard feelings between us. Neutral, really, with the potential to rekindle a true friendship. Of course, that may change when she learned about being with Layla, but I didn’t want to think about that right now.
“I am over her,” my brother said, causing to raise a skeptical brow on my end. I clutched the phone more tightly, trying to detect a lie in his tone. He and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye, and I could tell this situation might blossom into exactly that.
“Right,” I muttered, letting out another sigh. “I hope you’re not pulling my leg on this, Neal. You know she’s done playing your gas,” I scolded. I was too. Sure, I’d not gotten over Layla myself, but my situation was a bit different.
Layla wasn’t taken. She made a mistake, which we’ve since worked through. We can be happy together and see to all of our dreams. My brother had a tendency to latch on and not let go when he should let things lie.
“I’m not,” Neal said. “I want to visit as a friend. As I said, I heard about the wedding. I’m not sure if I’d be invited, but I wanted to wish her well,” he added. This didn’t abolish my skepticism by any ans, and rather, caused to grumble a bit.
“Then why would it be one last ti if you’d visit as a friend?” I asked, my tone shifting to an annoyed one. “You don’t have to stop seeing her if you’re truly visiting as a friend. Otherwise, ‘for one last ti’ would an you’re seeing her while wanting her. For one last ti.”
I could see through the fog sotis, especially if it was his fog. The hesitance on the other end of the line caused to give a low groan. He couldn’t be serious. This was unhealthy for him, and I really hoped his spiel about moving on had been true.
“Just trust ,” Neal muttered. “I’m not going to do anything ridiculous or think we’d actually get together, especially at a wedding. I said ‘one last ti’ because I doubt she will want to keep in contact with after I pestered her.”
“I thought your phone call with her went well. The one where she told you to no longer fret about Tally, because you weren’t the one who killed her,” I said, recalling his description of the call. It’d been after Becca had offed Allison. Good riddance to that b*tch if you asked .
Becca was made of more fragile stuff than I was, however, so I wasn’t surprised it had impacted her more deeply. What I was surprised to hear was Neal consoling her and admitting he thought he’d killed Tally. I was glad he gave that call and that she’d answered.
He could be at peace, supposedly. But here he was, calling to tell this. I was none too thrilled. “It did,” he said, hesitating. “But that doesn’t change things. Just because the phone call went well doesn’t an she won’t be wary of . One last visit as a friend, then.”
“Not a fan of how weird you sound,” I snapped at him, but then sighed. “Fine, though. Don’t do anything stupid.” I hung up, agitated at this behavior and unable to help myself.
I ant it. He better not do anything stupid.
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