A new day is coming. Terrence MacClife has been awake since the early morning because he has several things scheduled: from a photoshoot for a famous glossy magazine to an interview, during which he should tell much more about his minor role in a popular TV show that has been translating for many years. First of all, he is going to work on the photoshoot, for which the stylists prepared him a long time ago by picking up a simple cotton gray shirt, light blue jeans with scuffs, and white sneakers, making his thick black hair a little disheveled, and covering some skin issues that he got on his face at such a wrong time.
While the people are on the final stage of getting ready for the photoshoot at the spacious, light studio, Terrence is sitting quietly aside on the comfortable chair and distracting himself at times only when someone comes to him to ask him something or notify him of something. He has lately been less talkative and does not aim to surround himself with people immediately. He does not even care about girls, who sigh sensually with wide smiles on their faces as they watch his attractive blue eyes look at something on the screen of the phone. The man used to show off for them and never missed a chance to take a photo with a cutie, but now he does not care about it.
Now, Terrence is much more interested in a different thing – how to get attention from Raquelle Cameron. The girl, who impressed him too much and does not want to leave his mind. The girl, the first kiss with whom became probably one of the brightest moments of his life. Her behavior, which absolutely differs from the behavior of other girls, became the reason for such a strong interest in the beauty, who is not living the best times. The man does not lose hope of seducing her one beautiful day, and he is ready for anything to make her incline her head to him and call him a lord. The irresistible lord, for whom she is ready to do any crazy thing.
“Ah, Raquelle Cameron…” Terrence thinks with a slight smile, viewing closely the photos of Raquelle, which she has published on her account on one of her social networks. “Do you really think you will be running away from me forever? Do you think I will forget everything that happened between us so easily? Close my eyes to your disgusting behavior and pretend that I noticed nothing? No, cutie, I will find you! I shall find you in any place in the world! Wherever you hide.”
Terrence raised his head proudly.
“All these two weeks, I’ve never forgotten you. I’ve never stopped thinking about how to reach for one nasty bitch, who dared to do THAT to me. You will pay a high cost for deciding to declare war. Deciding to play on my nerves with the thought that you’d get away from it easily. You will not, dolly! You will not! With my opportunities, I can reach for you, even if you want to change your name and appearance and move to live somewhere on the top of the Himalayas.”
Terrence laughs evilly and glances aside, seeing that some people are trying to set up the light correctly to take photos of the model from the best sides.
“If you want to play a catch with me, it’s okay! I would be happy to run after the mouse and get eventually happy to catch it by the tail. When I press it against the wall and give it no choice. When she has to obey me and do everything I want. If she doesn’t want me to do something terrible. If she doesn’t want me to turn her life into a greater hell than the one that she is living in right now, when people are sure that Cameron is not such a sweet girl as everyone wants to think.”
Terrence leans back in the chair and spreads his legs slightly.
“I wonder how this story will eventually end? Of course, I’m a little sorry for the girl, but who knows… Maybe, she’s really not so innocent. If Cameron snapped and was bold toward me, I don’t doubt that she has her own demons. So, I wanna know about them. And who knows… Maybe, some of my familiar people would even love to tell me some interesting information that I could use for my personal goals. Which would even help me find that cutie… Who hasn’t replied to the message that I sent her on Instagram… ”
While Terrence views viewing all the photos and videos that Raquelle has ever published on her personal account on the social network, calling the memories of the moments when they were too close to each other and imagining how much pleasure he would have when caressing that young beauty. Who, to his happiness, is not shy about taking photos in underwear or even half-naked. The man sees a lot of photos like this and views them closely, noticing how gorgeous her body is, which does not have any birthmarks or scars. That’s why it’s even getting harder for him to breathe at some moment, and it’s kind of hard in his jeans. He completely understands it, but he tries to hide the tension too hard, twirling nervously in the chair, pulling the collar of his shirt, and clenching his free hand into a fist.
Terrence gets so busy viewing the photos that he does not notice how Simon Ringer working as his personal driver comes to him at some moment, having pleasure from spending time on the set, finding someone to talk to easily, and finding out some interesting news from them at times.
“M-m-m, are you viewing the half-naked photos of that cutie?” Simon smiles slyly.
“Erm, nope…” Terrence pronounces tensely and swallows up nervously. “I’m not viewing them…”
“Do you think I don’t see why you’re sitting here so tense?”
“Oh, I ain’t so obsessed with a wish to look at her!” Terrence moves his eyes aside. “There are many men, who would love to admire her naked ass. She is trying so hard for them.”
“I completely understand you, Terrence.” Simon sits next to Terrence on the second chair and claps him on the shoulder. “It’s impossible not to pay attention to that cutie.”
“Yeah, but when that cutie opens her mouth, I want to strangle her.”
“Well, if she irritates you so much, why do you want to find her? Forget her and live your life!”
“I want to make her incline her head for me. I want to make her pay for her disgusting behavior.”
“Did she hurt you so much?”
“It’s too soft to say! No girl dared to treat me like that. No girl!”
“You know, my sweetie, everything happens for the first time. Did you think girls would always behave like they’d be ready to become your slaves?”
“I am resentful!” Terrence throws gloomily. “Who does that girl think she is? Who is the fuck she?”
“Well, she thinks the same thing about you. Who are you to dare to behave like that?”
“I would be much more famous than her!”
“Maybe, you were, but now it’s a little different.”
“I will never accept it! Hear me, never! I will do my best to bring my old fame back!”
“Well… A chance that you can do this is a little higher than a chance that Raquelle will look at you differently and behave in the same way as everyone does.”
“Terrence MacClife always gets what he wants. Even if I have to spend years, I will reach for my desired award.”
“Trust me, she’s got problems now. You know which rumors are being spread exponentially.”
“I know,” Terrence throws in a low, rude voice.
“She’s thinking about how to solve this situation much more. Though, I think Raquelle can do nothing because people kind of went loose.”
“Yeah… Everyone is saying dirty things about her… The posts on her accounts are full of comments from users, who call her in all possible ways.”
“By the way, while you were getting ready for the shoot, I talked to someone. We were talking about this situation. Everybody’s shocked by what that girl actually is. Many of them were fans of hers, but they got disappointed in her after they found out about what she did.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true. That girl pretends to be an innocent angel and always smiles at everyone, she may have her own demons. Who knows, what she could do… What she doesn’t want to pay for.”
“Now nobody believes in her decency. Everyone’s showing her with mud and unfollowing Raquelle’s accounts on social networks. And Cameron is getting charged for bringing someone to a suicide attempt. She kind of got a certain girl exhausted with her hysterics. And someone told people about their school years that became hell for them because of that cutie.”
“Yeah, I noticed that she has much fewer followers now. If the rumors keep spreading, everyone will unfollow her soon.”
“Do you follow her activity?” Simon laughs shyly.
“I’m just trying to find just something that could help me. What if Cameron hints at her current location. So, I can catch her in crime and make her pay for everything. And I will do it if I find out where that bitch could hide.”
“They say they haven't seen her in public for two days. She was kind of swallowed by the ground.”
“And her latest post on Instagram was published a long time ago.”
“She’s just probably afraid to check out her account and see the dirt that she is getting showered with.”
“Yeah…” Terrence laughs evilly. “I guess she’s probably sitting somewhere in her hole and crying. Crying because her career is getting ruined… Her star is fading away slowly…”
“Are you happy with it?” Simon wonders.
“Maybe, it will teach her a lesson and teach her to be sweet and obedient. Maybe, after this scandal, she will stop being such a mean bitch and pretend to be nobody the fuck knows who.”
“Oh, Terrence, why did you get so obsessed with that girl? Yes, she rejected you. But trust me, it’s not the end of the world! You know how many times I’ve been rejected! But I found the courage to keep moving on! And I didn’t think about taking revenge on someone and taking a girl by force.”
“I don’t take anyone by force,” Terrence throws his hands up. “Raquelle never had anything against what I was doing. She was just showing off and pretending to be hard to reach. She just wanted to play on my nerves and make me wild. And I must confess that she is super talented at it.”
“So, are you gonna be running after her? Until she wanna report you to the police? Or do her best to ruin your career? Be careful, man, if you don’t stop, you will get in trouble. Sometimes you should not stand in the way of the girl and should forget her.”
“Although it’s disgusting for me to confess it, but I kind of like that girl. Yes, I understand that I will not live a quiet life with her. But that bitch gets me attracted. She’s got something attractive. Something that gets me excited.”
“That’s how…” Simon pronounces thoughtfully. “You kind of love, but you kind of hate?”
“Sort of.”
“Oh, youth, youth… Sometimes I don’t understand you at all.”
“I’m just sick of the fact that everyone gets stuck on me and gives up on me without resistance. Though, I want to run after someone. I am a man! A hunter, an earner… I’m supposed to get a girl!” Terrence glances at a certain girl, who is helping the others get ready for the shoot and smiles at him playfully when she catches the man’s look at her. “Yes, it’s very nice for me to get girls’ attention. But I’m kind of done with it. I wanna find someone, whose attention I have to deserve somehow.”
“Sorry, dear, but there will be nothing between Raquelle and you. Such a wild relationship doesn’t have a future. When passion between you is gone, being next to you may be terribly disgusting for you.”
“We will see it, Simon…”
“Forget it, Terrence, here’s my friendly advice. There will be nothing between you and that girl. She is too obsessed with her career. And she loves herself too much. Maybe, she doesn’t even need a man. Cameron is happy. And a relationship, a marriage, children… All of that is like a pain in the neck. Chains that would tie her up tightly and would not let her breathe.”
“Nothing or something, but I will not calm down until I reach my goal. Until Raquelle aggress to spend a night with me. Until she gives me the best sex in my life.”
“Huh, so, don’t you need a long relationship?”
“We will see it. Though, it’s not my main goal. Now I want one thing – to sleep with that inaccessible cutie and hear her praising me.”
“And how are you gonna reach for it, let me ask you?”
“I don’t know yet. But I’m not sitting with my hands folded. I’m looking for ways to find her as soon as possible. I'm looking for any information that could be good for me.”
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna find out her home address and go to her home.”
“At least, I will often be walking near the building where her apartment is. If I’m lucky to know where she’s living.”
“You’re acting like a possessive maniac. Like a cat that finds an interesting toy and is ready to run after it until its paws are hurt.”
“The girl should know what’s gonna happen if she stands in the way of Terrence MacClife.” Terrence raises his head proudly with a sly smile. “What’s gonna happen if she keeps running away from me and pretending to be a hard the fuck to reach girl, who is sick of everything I’m doing.”
“Okay. If you want to waste your time for what’s not going to be worth it, it’s okay.”
“I’m sure that the result is gonna make me very happy.”
“Will a couple of strong slaps in the face on both of your cheeks make you happy? And a charge for a rape attempt and a chase?”
“Calm down, Simon, it’s gonna be okay,” Terrence says confidently. “Just give me some time, and that cutie will be lying at my feet soon. Wishing to suck me enough.”
“Yeah… That girl doesn’t know who she got in touch with. She doesn’t know what’s waiting for her.”
“Exactly! If she thinks what’s happening now is hell, she’s wrong. Because it’s just the beginning. The beginning of her nightmare. She will have to regret all her actions. Pay for every single slap and every single insult toward me. Don’t doubt it, Simon. Terrence MacClife doesn’t talk to the wind. He does everything he talks about.”
Simon says nothing and just shakes his head with a sly smile on his face. While Terrence looks at what’s around him and glances at the girl, who tells him that everything is ready for the shoot. The man leaves his smartphone on the chair and comes quietly to the photograph and his assistants, who quickly tell him what they want from him. While all the young girls keep flirting with him openly and being a little confused about why the man does not rush to make them happy with his stunning smile and compliments that are so nice to hear and does not care about their attempts to pick him up and ask for a date at the café or the room of the expensive hotel.
***
During the hours-long flight on the airplane, Raquelle decides to get busy listening to music with her headphones and watching favorite movies on her big tablet. She always takes these things with her not to feel bored during a long trip and not to look at her watch to find out when she will come to the right place. And the tasty food and good drinks offered by the gentle stewardess made this time much more wonderful.
Time flies very fast on the way on an airplane even though it usually gets anyone exhausted. And after a few hours that she spent on the airplane, Raquelle finally arrives in London, the capital of her late mother’s motherland, which she loves so much as if she has lived her whole life here. The city where she would definitely move to live. After leaving the airplane, taking her baggage, and doing everything she needs to after coming to one of the large airports in London, Raquelle leaves the airport and checks the time with her watch, which lets her know it’s about five o’clock in the afternoon.
Not wasting time, she decides to catch a taxi and go to the home of her aunt Alicia, who is waiting for her niece to come and cannot wait to meet her. Carrying her bag with her stuff, the girl quickly looks around in search of a free taxi and later finds a yellow car, the driver of which is sitting in the driver’s seat placed on the right side and thinking about something. She comes to the car and quickly knocks at the window, and the driver moves his eyes to her and rolls the window down with a button.
“Hello,” Raquelle pronounces. “Could you drive me to one place?”
“No problem,” the driver with a thick, dark beard, gray eyes, and a perfectly straight nose replies with a stronger British accent. “Get in the car.”
Raquelle nods and silently wants to get in the taxi. But seeing that she has a bag, the driver quickly leaves the salon and says:
“Oh, let me put your baggage in a trunk.”
The driver takes the bag from Raquelle, opens the truck, and fixes it tightly not to let it shake during the trip. The girl sits in the backseat of the car and moves her eyes to the man when he sits in the driver’s seat after he closes the truck.
“Where do I drive you?” the driver specifies. “Call me a specific address.”
Raquelle calls the address of the building, in which an apartment for her aunt Alicia is placed.
“I got it,” the driver pronounces confidently. “We will come there at the nearest time.”
After quickly starting the motor, the driver leaves the parking lot for a taxi and slowly goes on the road, on which there are many cars, buses, trams, trucks, and other transport.
During this long way, Raquelle gets busy looking at people and buildings, by which the taxi is going. She unconsciously calls the memories of some moments from her childhood, which are still clear in her mind. And the girl promises that she will surely walk in all of these places when she gets enough sleep after a long, exhausting flight on the airplane.
A little later, Raquelle gets into a talk with the driver of the taxi, who shows initiative and starts a talk with her first. The man, who seems to be a lover of talking, tells her many interesting things about some events in the city, about his hard job, and many others. The girl supports the talk with pleasure and asks if there are special events she could attend, and he tells her everything he knows.
But some time later, the taxi driver starts to talk about what hurts Raquelle’s heart. About what happened between her and Terrence MacClife.
“By the way, have you heard that people are talking very much about the hysterics of a famous model?” the driver asks.
“Erm…” Raquelle stutters, biting her lip slightly. “Who is that model?”
“As far as I know, that girl was very rude to those, with whom she was working literally from the beginning of her career. She openly claimed she could not be compared with anybody. She was kind of a celebrity, and they were nothing. She insulted all of her colleagues for a reason and without. She felt no sorry for anyone.”
“Wow…”
“But nobody knows who decided to tell all the truth. I know it all started with an article in an American magazine. And then other sources caught a wave. Besides, we know she started another serious scandal during one of her latest shootings.”
“Erm, y-y-yeah…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “I… Heard about that girl… Not very much… But I did.”
“People say it was not the first case. Every day, more and more people show up to say that girl behaved disgustingly on any shoot and told everyone to treat her in a special way.”
“Any shoot?”
“Yes, you imagine! That model is known to at least to twenty percent of the whole world, but she acts like she is a great woman that could work on her conditions.”
Raquelle silently moves her eyes to her hands.
“They say she came from a small town and was greedy for money and fame,” the driver keeps speaking and changes the speed with a gearbox. “And after getting that, she pronounced herself a great star. But nobody has called her the one. Raquelle has done nothing to become great and make history.”
The driver scoffs quietly.
“Nobody cares if she is shooting for magazines and commercials!” the driver throws. “Nobody needs it! Only little girls buy magazines, and nobody watches commercials.”
“Erm, yeah…” Raquelle pronounces with sadness in her eyes. “You are… Right…”
“Instead of doing these stupid things, she would better go to study or work. I heard she left the university after studying there for one year. For what? To do what nobody needs!”
Raquelle tightly locks her fingers, getting tenser and tenser every new second.
“Or it would be much better if that girl got married and thought only of educating children,” the driver says confidently.
“Yeah…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “Sure…”
“She’d better do everything any woman should do. But no, she gets into something and pretends to be nobody the hell knows who!”
The taxi driver simpers quietly.
“Nobody will remember that model when she dies,” the driver assumes. “Maybe, only her close people would grieve. Of course, if she has them.”
Raquelle silently exhales, begging that the talk ends as soon as possible.
“Gosh, what does money and fame do to people?” the driver moans tiredly. “I’m imagining what kind of depression they get if their business gets worse. There have been so many cases! When an artist stops getting offers of acting, and people forget that one, it hurts them much. And then they start going crazy: drinking, smoking, taking drugs, cutting, hanging, jumping from roots and bridges…”
“You are right…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “There have been so many cases…”
“Oh, I don’t even wish to talk about it…” the driver throws gloomily. “And I hope everyone will forget that girl soon, and she will understand she has nothing to do in the show business and focus on getting married and giving birth to children.”
“Y-y-y-yeah… S-s-s-sure…”
“Oh… She is so beautiful and innocent at first sight, but everything is rotten inside her. My mother was right when she told me that you can’t appreciate what you see outside. You should appreciate what you have inside. Real beauty is hidden in your soul, not your sympathetic face.”
“Agree…”
The driver sighs with sadness in his eyes and thinks about something, while Raquelle can barely pretend that she is not excited, being afraid the man would get mad and kick her out of the car. She is praying that the taxi driver does not recognize her as Raquelle Cameron, who people have lately talked much about. To seem unfamiliar to people, she even put on dark glasses, and her hair is hidden underneath a hood of a warm, slim-fit coat. She thought it would save her, but no. At some moment, the man starts to realize more and more that she is very similar to the model, whom he hates with all his heart.
“By the way, I think you are kind of similar to that model,” the driver notices thoughtfully.
“Me?” Raquelle pronounces surprisingly, feeling that her heart starts beating much faster.
“I don’t know… When I look at you, I see some similar features. Even if I can’t clearly say it because you are wearing dark glasses.”
“Erm…”
The driver’s words make Raquelle get much more nervous and get a little white from horror. But the girl is trying to pretend that she does not understand what the talk is about.
“Oh, no, come on…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice, trying to be as true as possible. “I’m not similar to her at all!”
“But you have the same type,” the taxi driver notices thoughtfully.
“No, no… I would not like to be similar to her because she… Behaved too bad.” Raquelle swallows up nervously. “I do not understand, how she could do that… Just disgusting…”
“So, are you not her?” the driver frowns slightly.
“No, no, you are wrong. I am not Raquelle Cameron.”
“So…” The driver shrugs. “It just probably seemed to me… Sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Raquelle cracks a slight smile. Silently exhaling sharply with relief.
“Still… There are so many people, who are similar to one another.”
“Right, that’s true…”
“I have got a couple of familiar people, who are really similar to each other. But they do not know each other and are not even related. And one familiar girl of mine is amazingly similar to one quite famous actress.”
“Well, I have also got familiar people, who are similar to famous people…” Raquelle gets into the talk, moving her eyes to the window. “I have got a familiar person, who is similar to one late actor, who played many roles and took all the possible awards.”
“That’s how…”
“And one familiar of mine is using her resemblance with a famous ballerina, actively promoting her blog on the Internet, and actively posting photos and videos of her.”
“Yeah, sometimes I see news about people like them.”
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Raquelle just looks through the window and admires these places, and the driver watches the road carefully, holding the steering wheel tightly, and sometimes looking around to find out what’s on both sides of him.
“By the way, what’s your name?” the driver asks.
“Mine?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Yes.”
Raquelle does not want to call her real name and to give one more reason to think she is the slandered model. And she does not understand why the driver needs it because they will say goodbye to each other after they come to the building where her aunt Alicia’s apartment is located. So, she thinks about nothing better than calling herself by a different name. For example… Her middle name and the maiden name of her mother…
“Allison…” Raquelle pronounces a little hesitantly, quickly clears her throat, and silently braces herself. “My name is Allison… Allison Thompson.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Allison,” the driver replies gently. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Paul.”
“Nice to meet you, Paul,” Raquelle replies gently.
“By the way, Allison, you don’t look like an Englishwoman.”
“I am not an Englishwoman.”
“Are you not from London, and did you come here from another country?”
“Yes…” Raquelle swallows up nervously and exhales quietly, silently bracing herself. “I’m not from London.”
“American?” Paul specifies.
“Yes. I was actually born, and I am living in America.”
“Which city?”
“Erm…” Raquelle bites her lip slightly. “California.”
“M-m-m, sunny California.”
“Yeah…”
“So, what brought you here?”
“I came here to visit my aunt.”
“Your aunt? She is living here?”
“Yeah… And… I madly missed her. So, I decided to visit her.”
“Alright…”
Raquelle smiles shyly and glances at a car going by, while Paul changes the speed with a gearbox.
“But to be honest, I was not also born here,” Paul confesses.
“Not born here?” Raquelle wonders.
“No. I’m actually a Russian. A Russian emigrant.”
“Russian?”
“Yes, I was born in Russia. My father and mother are both Russians.”
“Where were you living?”
“I was actually born in Saint Petersburg. But when I was three, my older brother, our parents and I decided to move to London.”
“Why did you choose London?”
“My parents decided so.”
“When were you in Russia the last time?”
“Oh, a long time ago! But even if I’ve been living and working in England, I do not forget about Russia. I would like to come there much more frequently, but I do not, unfortunately, have the opportunity to buy tickets that cost too much.”
“Alright…”
“But I have already been to Saint Petersburg several times as an adult and even went to Moscow. Those trips to Russia gave me a wonderful impression. Moreover, I still have relatives living there. And the time I spent with them was always unforgotten.”
“By the way, you speak English very well. I wouldn't say it’s not your mother language.”
“Oh, I’ve known English literally since I was born. My parents started teaching me and my brother to speak this language. And thanks to them, we both fluently speak it and have no problems in talking.”
“What about Russian?”
“I have not forgotten it yet. My family and I speak only Russian.”
“As I understand, is your name not quite real?”
“I could say so,” Paul nods confidently. “My real name is Pavel. Pavel Rozov. But when talking to English people, I’ve been introducing myself as Paul Rose since childhood. The English form of this name.”
“Alright… How long have you been working as a driver of a taxi?”
“Erm, I have been working as a driver for quite a long time. But I had to do my best to get this job.”
“I get it. As far as I know, it’s quite hard to become a driver in London.”
“Right, it’s true!” Paul nods confidently, tightly squeezing the wheeling steel and closely watching the road. “Everybody, who wishes to work as a driver of a taxi has to pass a very hard exam of knowing the city. Moreover, you need to know how to find a short road if there are traffic jams on the road, or a person should go somewhere very quickly.”
“Yeah…” Raquelle moves her eyes to the window of the auto and sighs quietly. “Everything is too hard…”
“But not as hopeless as it seems,” Paul notices cheerfully.
Raquelle says nothing and just smiles shyly. After this, silence settles in the salon for about a few minutes, during which the girl checks something on her phone or looks through the window. And some time later, Paul stops the stop against a building and turns to the girl, who is thinking about something while looking at some people going to do their business.
“So, miss, we have come to the address you said,” Paul says confidently.
“Yeah?” Raquelle pronounces surprisingly. “Already?”
Raquelle quickly looks around and sees the familiar building that she needs.
“Right…” Raquelle pronounces quietly. “It’s here…”
“So, the total price is eighty pounds,” Paul says.
“Yes, sure… One minute…” Raquelle opens her purse and starts looking for a wallet in this one, and she gives the money to Paul after finding it. “Here…”
Paul takes the money, counts it, and smiles at Raquelle slightly.
“It’s great,” Paul pronounces amicably. “Without a change.”
“Good,” Raquelle nods.
“I will give you your baggage back.” Paul quickly leaves the car, opens the trunk, and takes Raquelle's bag out of the car. “Here’s your bag, Allison.”
“Thanks a lot,” Raquelle thanks with a slight smile after she leaves the car and closes the door. “Thanks for the nice talk.”
“Come on, thank you for the nice talk. It was a pleasure to talk to you.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“If you want, you can take my card and call me if you need a taxi someday.”
With these words, Paul gives Raquelle a card with his phone number, which the girl takes.
“Thank you so much, Paul,” Raquelle thanks gently.
“Wishing you to have a nice pastime in London!” Paul wishes truly.
“Thanks a lot,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile and takes her baggage placed on the asphalt by the handle. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Allison.”
After hesitating for two seconds, Raquelle slowly comes to the building where there is an apartment of her aunt Alicia, and Paul stands near the car for a few seconds and watches the leaving girl. But when she hides, he gets into his car and goes nobody knows where.
Some time later, Raquelle comes to the high building that reminds her of the one, in which she is living with Frederick in New York. Looking at the skyscraper with a slight smile on her smile, the girl starts to feel something nice that has to do with her memories of childhood.
“Here I have come,” Raquelle pronounces quietly with a wide smile. “I missed this place so much… The time I spent here when I was a child.”
Two seconds later, Raquelle goes upstairs and enters the building confidently with her head proudly raised. After she quickly looks around, she goes up to the eighth floor in an elevator, where there are a couple of middle-aged people. When she leaves the one, Raquelle passes some distance down the halls, sees the door with the number 64 on it from afar, and comes to it. Then she presses on the doorbell two times and waits for a reaction.
A few seconds later, the door is opened by a middle-height woman at the age of about forty-fifty with short, brown bob hair and gray eyes, who is wearing glasses with a black frame. She is tall but a little lower than the girl and keeps the slim waist she had somewhere at the time of her youth.
“Erm, aunt Alicia?” Raquelle pronounces a little hesitantly.
“Raquelle?” Alicia instantly recognizes her niece Alicia and smiles widely. “Raquelle! My girl!”
“Here I am!”
“Finally, you’ve come to me!”
Alicia takes Raquelle in a tight, amiable hug that the girl accepts with pleasure. And a few seconds later, they step away from each other with wide smiles on their faces.
“Gosh, we haven’t met for so long,” Raquelle notices cheerfully. “It seems like it’s been forever.”
“You’re right!” Alicia exclaims. “I can’t remember when I met you the last time.”
“Thanks for inviting me to visit you. I will have the pleasure of spending time with you.”
“Come in, my sweetheart, don’t stand on the doorstep!”
With these words, Alicia quickly steps back from the doorstep, inviting Raquelle to come into her apartment.
“Thanks!” Raquelle thanks.
While Raquelle crosses the doorstep confidently, carrying her baggage after her, Alicia quickly closes the door after the girl.
“My girl…” Alicia pronounces with a wide smile and takes Raquelle’s hands when the girl puts her bag in the corner of the hall. “How much you’ve grown up! You’re even taller than me.”
“And taller than Grandfather,” Raquelle laughs shyly.
“Knowing your parents had by far not the smallest height, it’s not amazing they got a tall daughter.”
“You’re right…”
“Gosh, how beautiful you’ve become!” Alicia looks at Raquelle from head to feet with a wide smile. “Did you learn to do makeup and different hairstyles?”
“I did,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“That’s wonderful! Makeup, hairstyles, and clothes can make any homely girl a beauty. If a girl is sympathetic anyway, she can be more gorgeous if she dresses up.”
“I know.”
“Listen, you’re getting a stronger resemblance to your mother. When she was twenty-three, she looked the way you do now.”
“I notice it, too…”
“My gosh, how fast time flies… It seems like you were a baby some time ago, but now you’ve become an adult, beautiful girl.”
“If I’m not mistaken, the last time I visited you happened when I was fifteen or sixteen,” Raquelle assumes thoughtfully.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“Gosh, it’s been so many years, but I didn’t even notice it.”
“Yeah…” Alicia smiles slightly with sadness in her eyes. “But it would be so great if you went here for the summer holidays, just like you did before. I’m missing those moments when you and I spent time together.”
“I’m missing them, too…”
“I had many toys you just adored. Something was yours, and my sis and I played something when we were kids.”
“Do you have them?”
“Yes, I do. I keep them as a memory.”
“Maybe, let’s look at them somehow? Remember the old time?”
“With pleasure, my sunshine,” Alicia smiles widely. “You and I will have time to do much. Did you come to me not for one day? Didn’t you?”
“Right. Maybe, we will even have a chance to celebrate Christmas together.”
“Oh, yeah, I already began to get ready for it, and I am buying everything. And I will start decorating my tree and my apartment soon.”
“Let’s do it together. I adore getting ready for Christmas and decorating a tree with pleasure.”
“As you wish, my happiness. As you wish.”
Raquelle says nothing for two seconds and moves her eyes down, while Alicia looks at her with admiration again.
“Oh, I can’t stop admiring you,” Alicia confesses. “Gosh, how beautiful you are!”
“Aunt…” Raquelle laughs shyly.
“It’s true, my girl. If only you knew how beautiful your mother was. M-m-m…”
“I know.”
“So many men had a crush on her. All of them said she was incredibly beautiful.”
“Yeah…”
“And your dad was very good-looking and got enough attention from women.”
“Grandpa said. And he doesn’t stop saying he was proud of him.”
“There are reasons for that.”
“But you don’t give in to my mother's beauty,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“Me?”
“Yes! You haven’t changed through the years! You’re still beautiful and keeping yourself in good shape. You don’t gain weight.”
“Oh, you do make me blush,” Alicia gets blushed.
“It’s true, Aunt. You look the way you looked a few years ago.”
“Just got lucky with genes. Your grandmother Tiffany was also always very beautiful and kept herself in good sharp.”
“I remember.”
“So, my sunshine, you got all the best from your mother and father, your aunt, and your grandparents.”
“Sure.” Alicia says nothing and just smiles shyly. “Come into the living room. Why are we standing here? Relax, feel like home…”
Raquelle, carrying her bag, follows Alicia with a slight smile and comes to the living room.
Although it’s not very large, it’s quite comfortable. Made in light shades and well lighted at any time of the day thanks to daylight and a big chandelier on the ceiling. It’s possible to sit on a soft, light brown sofa and relax by watching an interesting movie. Some pictures and flowers in vases are placed in many corners of the room and make the atmosphere much nicer, there is a beautiful view of a little part of the city from the window, and some people hurrying to do their business go somewhere under the one.
Looking around, Raquelle smiles shyly and calls the memories of the time she spent here at a young age. Nothing has changed since that moment. Maybe, some objects are not placed where they were before. Anyway, no changes have been made. No repair, no moving furniture.
“Wow…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully and leaves her bag aside. “Nothing has changed since the moment when I was here the last time.”
“Right, nothing has changed,” Alicia nods confidently. “I am not going to change anything and do the repair. I am happy with everything.”
“Okay…”
At some moment, Raquelle pays attention to the middle-sized liquid crystal TV that is working at low volume. An unknown channel is translating a show that tells about the lives of famous people and some rumors that could be an insolent lie or the clean truth. And the girl manages to hear the host of the show mentioning her name and telling about the scandal, in which she was involved against her wish.
“The scandal with the famous model, Raquelle Cameron, 23, is getting bigger. While the girl is losing her followers on her accounts on the social networks and counting the losses after many famous brands refused to collaborate with her, more and more people show up and decide to take a word. Some famous people from the show business could not stay aside and decided to comment on this situation, revealing much more shocking things about the non-adequate behavior of the model toward those, whom she worked with. Many of them tell about how they became victims of hers and had to tolerate her disgusting behavior.
Also, a user from one of the social networks published a long post, in which they told about Ms. Cameron participating in the cruel bullying toward the guys from school where she was studying. As they said, she was insulting them, humiliating them, stealing their stuff, and turning everybody against them. The girl also put them under much crueler tortures, which the Internet user, who told us about that situation, had to experience. Many people paid attention to the fact that Raquelle does not like to talk about her past and asks people not to ask her questions about school because, as she said, it’s madly unpleasant for her to remember all of that. And they assumed that the model was just going to hide such shocking things from everyone, completely understanding that everyone would turn their backs on her if the truth came to light.
It’s also rumored that Ms. Cameron almost brought a beginning model to a suicide attempt. They allegedly worked together once, and the model constantly criticized her young colleague cruelly, treating her like a doormat and almost attacked her with fists when the girl said something wrong. Although this information is not confirmed, but the model, who was literally taken from the loop, dropped multiple hints that the reason for her act was a very famous person, who she filmed in a commercial one day. The Internet users do not doubt that Raquelle Cameron became the reason why the world almost lost that wonderful girl.
At the moment, people are still waiting for an explanation from the model and are telling her to apologize to every single person, whom she has ever hurt. But Raquelle Cameron remains silent, and she stopped showing up in public after the rumors began to spread. That’s why she is being much more criticized, and many people claim to everyone that they will no longer work with her and will boycott everyone, who wishes to take photos of her for a magazine or film her in a commercial. And the user on the social networks are actively promoting posts with hashtags, in which they demand add Ms. Cameron to the so-called black list in case she wants to show up in public and try to whitewash herself, and they are not shy about what they say…”
Raquelle does not manage to watch the whole report because Alicia grabs the remote and turns off the TV to save her depressed niece from stress.
“No, no, sunshine, don’t even think about it!” Alicia jabs excitedly, caressing Raquelle’s shoulders softly. “Don’t do it, for God’s sake…”
“All these charges give me an unbearable pain,” Raquelle says in a shaking voice with half-wet eyes. “I did nothing bad to be treated like this.”
“Someday, people will understand that it’s slander. They will understand that one stinker decided to ruin your life and your career because of jealousy.”
“The one, who did all of this, will pay me a high cost for that. They will pay a high cost for all my sufferings. For the fact that everyone hates me now. For the fact that people look at me badly.”
“Raquelle…”
“I don’t think that they believe me when I say my name is not Raquelle Cameron. When they think I’m too similar to the model that they despise.”
“The most important thing is that your grandfather and I didn’t believe and will not believe in this nonsense. Whatever people say, we will always be by your side and will not let anyone hurt you.”
“I’m not sure if I’m gonna feel quiet here. While I was coming here in a taxi, the driver recognized me. Although I made him sure that he was wrong, that man hardly believed me. And how many times people will recognize me as the model! How many times I will have to lie that me is not me!”
“Trust me, sweetie, it’s gonna be over soon. You only need to wait for a while and ride out the storm. You did the right thing by deciding to come here. It would be better for you here. They wouldn’t leave you alone in New York.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Aunt…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “I don’t know…”
“Alright, sweetie, stop thinking about it. Those journalists can write anything they want. They can say any nonsense about you. If people want to have fun by talking about these rumors, it’s okay. Soon, they will understand that they were absolute idiots and start to apologize to you.”
“I’m even afraid to imagine what they will say about me tomorrow or after tomorrow. Maybe, they’ll actually want to blame me for murdering or stealing… Or someone will decide that I take some banned substances.”
“No, Raquelle, don’t think about it.” Alicia takes Raquelle in a strong hug for a few seconds and caresses her head softly. “You came to visit your aunt to forget everything and spend a good time with me, Not to keep thinking about how one stinker decided to mock you.”
“Anyway, I don’t want and can’t decide anything now. I don’t have the strength. I need some time to think about everything and decide what to do.”
“You will decide it later! Now just forget it all.” Alicia steps back from Raquelle. “Tonight, I will cook something delicious for you, and you and I will talk about something nice.”
“Thanks a lot, Auntie,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “You’ve always known how to elevate my mood.”
“Keep your head up, my girl!” Alicia raises her head proudly. “If you lower your head, everyone will be mocking you!”
“I’m doing my best.”
Raquelle looks around the whole living room for a few seconds and pays attention to the statuettes that are placed on a shelf in the living room and collecting dust.
“By the way, I’ve never noticed those statuettes,” Raquelle notices with a slight smile and comes closer to the shelf with the statuettes she got interested in.
“That are my awards for my merit in the fashion industry,” Alicia says thoughtfully, a little hesitantly.
“My gosh, sometimes I actually forgot that you were creating your own clothes somehow. That you owned your own fashion brand.”
“Right…” Alicia sighs quietly, looking at all the golden and silver statuettes with sadness in her eyes. “But I got many awards somehow… I had some kind of fame… I had money… I had everything!”
“It’s hard to believe your business got sharply worse somehow,” Raquelle says thoughtfully.
“Yeah, but everything started so well.”
“I personally really love everything you created. I remember photos and sketches you showed me somehow.”
“I don’t know, maybe, I just lacked the experience to be an owner of my own fashion business. Maybe, owning is not my element. So, I made a mistake and… I eventually got bankrupted.”
“Couldn’t anyone tell you what to do?”
“Alas, nobody could do.”
Alicia sighs heavily.
“So, I eventually had to sell my fashion brand once and forever,” Alicia adds a little hesitantly, tightly locking her fingers. “No matter how hurt it was. No matter how much I wanted to work on it.”
“I’m so sorry about what happened,” Raquelle replies softly with sadness in her eyes.
“I really loved working on designing my clothes, but alas… I wasn’t smart enough to save it…”
“I’m sure that if you had kept doing that, you would’ve become a very famous persona and introduced your collection to the most prestigious fashion shows in the world.”
“Ah, honey…” Alicia pronounces distantly, sighing hard, and shakes her head with sadness in her eyes. “There’s no meaning in talking about it. It’s too late to say something. My business is gone.”
“But it’s hurtful for you.”
“It is, but what can I do? God probably did not want me to keep doing that. I should probably do something different.”
“But you did not stop having to do with the fashion and are now reading lectures at the university.”
“Right, as I can’t create my own fashion empire, I can give my knowledge to other guys, who could do something.”
“I wish it happened.”
“Anyway, I am happy with my job. I keep these awards as a memory. Still… Despite difficulties, it was a fun time.”
Raquelle says nothing and just nods but then keeps closely looking around Alicia’s apartment. Some time later, she pays attention to some statuettes that remind her of Egypt and the pharaohs.
“Oh, what is that?” Raquelle asks, looking at every single statuette with great interest, but not finding the courage to come closer and touch them.
“What?” Alicia specifies, comes to Raquelle, and throws a look at the statuettes her niece liked so much. “Ah, that… This is my small collection of souvenirs. I bought them during every single trip abroad that I had.”
“That’s how.”
“For example, this is a statuette of Hathor, the goddess of Ancient Egypt. I bought it in a small shop when traveling to Egypt as a tourist. But I had to bargain a little because the seller called a too high price.”
“Have you been in Egypt?”
“Sure! Moreover, I adore Egypt, and I always wanted to go there. I know the history of Ancient Egypt very well and still watch shows about that country. I’m interested in examining some things that archeologists find.”
“As far as I remember, you’ve always loved traveling around the world and examining it.”
“Right, when I have a chance, I always buy a ticket somewhere abroad and have a rest for a couple of weeks. And I often bring some souvenirs from there… And the last time, I went to Egypt. I got very many interesting things. Not only the statuette of Hathor but also many interesting things.”
“I would like to go somewhere as a tourist and see what they have.”
“If you want, we can go somewhere together.” Alicia turns to Raquelle and smiles slightly, taking her niece’s hands. “I would show you a few very beautiful places, and you will find lots of things there. Maybe, we would buy something for your grandfather. You would choose what he would appreciate.”
“It would be great,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “Maybe, we would really agree to go somewhere abroad at the nearest time…”
“Wonderful then! We would solve our business and go somewhere to have a rest.”
“You’re right. Moreover, I’ve never been there as a tourist. If I went somewhere, I did it for my job. I’ve had no chance to go somewhere and examine everything carefully.”
“Oh, I would be terribly glad to spend time with you. Because you and I didn’t communicate for the last few years. But I missed you so much.”
“I missed you very much, too, Auntie.”
“I wanted to suggest you live with me a long time ago. But I had problems, and you were always busy.”
“You came up with your suggestion at the right time.”
“Just wanted to help you a little.”
“And be sure, I’m gonna stay here for a long time.”
“Stay here as long as you want, my sunshine,” Alicia smiles widely. “You will always be a welcomed visitor at my home.”
“Thanks a lot, Aunt,” Raquelle thanks shyly. “You’ve always been very nice to me.”
“Of course, my sunshine! You’re my niece! The only one I have from my family.”
“Just like you and Grandfather are.”
“I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you. I would feel very sad and lonely.”
“Yeah, but I’m sorry that you and I meet and talk so rarely.”
“I know, my sweetheart, it also makes me very sad. But you know well that I’m not so rich to go to the USA like it’s across the street. My modest salary as a teacher at the university is enough for buying food, clothes, and some other necessary things and paying for utility bills and taxes. But in order to travel around the world a lot, I need to earn much more.”
“If you expressed a wish, I would easily pay for your flight there and back. I am now allowed to do this.”
“No, Raquelle, don’t do this. I often have to borrow money from my friends and familiar people when I don’t manage to save money until salary day.”
“No, no, don’t need to give me anything. I would never dare to tell you or Grandfather to give me the money spent on something you need.”
“Thanks, sweetie, but I prefer to save money to visit you by myself. Yes, it’s not gonna happen often, but I want to pay for everything on my own. The fact that your grandfather lets me live in his apartment when I express a wish to come is enough.”
“Anyway, if you need something, you can always ask me for help. I will not refuse and will do everything I can.”
“Aw, my girl…”
With these words, Alicia caresses Raquelle’s cheek softly, while the girl smiles widely. Then the brunette moves her eyes to the souvenirs that are placed on a small shelf and carefully takes a little thing she wraps in her hands. And then an unfamiliar girl of almost the same age as Raquelle enters the living room. Small, with big blue eyes, short ash, shoulder-length hair.
“Erm, excuse me….” the girl pronounces a little hesitantly.
Raquelle and Alicia turn on the unfamiliar girl.
“Oh, have you done?” Alicia asks with a slight smile.
“Yes, I’ve done what you asked me about,” the unfamiliar girl nods.
“Wonderful!”
“Any other wishes?”
“No, you can be free.”
“Good.”
At this moment, the unfamiliar blonde stops her eyes on Raquelle and sharply changes her face. She gets much gloomier, even if she does not show it.
“Oh, no, no, sweetie, wait, don’t go!” Alicia exclaims.
“What’s wrong?” the unfamiliar girl frowns slightly.
“Come here! I want to introduce you to someone.”
The blonde silently comes to Alicia, who softly hugs her around the shoulders and moves her eyes to Raquelle.
“Raquelle…” Alicia pronounces confidently. “I want to introduce Lexi to you.”
Alicia points at the blonde standing next to her with a slight smile.
“She is the daughter of my neighbor against me,” Alicia explains. “Valeria, the mother of Lexi, and I talk almost every single day like good friends. And sometimes this girl helps me do homework and little things.”
“That’s how…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully.
“Yes. Sometimes it’s hard for me to do everything on my own. Because I’m living alone… And have nobody to help me. So, Lexi agrees to help.”
“Okay.”
“Meet each other, girls.”
“Erm, nice to meet you, Lexi,” Raquelle pronounces amicably, while the stranger looks at her a little gloomily and smiles falsely. “My name is Raquelle.”
Then Raquelle thinks for two seconds, reflecting on whether she should call her real name. But a little later, she decides that she would not pretend to be someone else because she would be recognized anyway, and Alicia might say who she really is. So, the girl exhales sharply and pronounces more confidently:
“Raquelle Cameron.”
“Same,” Lexi pronounces distantly, acting a little coldly but not going to be mean.
Lexi and Raquelle shake each other by the hand to welcome.
“My name is actually Alexis Milton,” Alexis confesses quietly. “But you can call me Lexi if you want to. My friends and family call me so…”
“Alright, Lexi, I got you,” Raquelle nods with a slight smile.
“Well, if you want, you can call me Alexis. I do not care.”
“I see…”
“So, are you a niece of Alicia?” Alexis asks, frowning slightly.
“Erm, yes, I’m her niece through the mother. My late mother was a sister of Aunt Alicia.”
“I heard much about that woman. Alicia has told me much about her.”
“By the way, how long have you known my aunt?”
“Well, I’ve been sometimes helping Alicia at home for a long time,” Alexis replies thoughtfully. “She often visits us at home.”
“Your mother befriends her?”
“I would not say they are friends, but they get on very well.”
“Great,” Raquelle says shyly.
Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, after which Alicia moves her eyes to Raquelle.
“Raquelle, don’t you want to have some rest?” Alicia suggests softly. “Take a shower, change your clothes… Sort your things out…”
“Would be great,” Raquelle says thoughtfully.
“Go to your room, then.”
“Is it still free?”
“Of course, honey,” Alicia replies with a slight smile. “Your room will always be free for you. Besides, I never touch anything there. But if you want to change something, I will not mind.”
“Thank you so much. You’re very nice to me.”
“Alexis, sweetie…” Alicia moves her eyes to Alexis with a slight smile. “Do a nice thing, help Raquelle carry her things to her room and sort them out. And then you will help me cook dinner. I want to cook something from the favorite dishes of my girl.”
“No, no, Aunt, come on…” Raquelle pronounces shyly. “Do not do…”
“What do you mean?”
“I could sort my stuff out by myself.”
“But, sweetie, you’re tired after the flight!” Alicia throws her hands up. “You were coming here for half of the day.”
“It’s okay.”
“Lexi will help you sort your things out. And I will think about what to cook for dinner for you.”
“Don’t need, Aunt,” Raquelle refuses gently, feeling Alexis is not very nice to her. “I will sort my stuff out. By the way, I didn’t take too much with me.”
“Are you sure you can do this?”
“Yes, yes, don’t worry, I shall do everything.” Raquelle moves her eyes to Alexis. “May Lexi help you with homework.”
“It’s not going to be hard to help you,” Mary-Alive pronounces without emotions.
“No, Alexis, thanks.”
“Oh, alright then,” Alicia sighs tiredly. “Go to your room and have a rest while I am cooking dinner.”
“I think I’m gonna have enough time to sort my stuff out, change my clothes and take a shower.”
“Of course, enough! Do not rush.”
“Okay, I shall go then. Excuse me…”
Raquelle takes her handle of her bag and quietly goes to the side where there is the room, in which she always lives, when she comes to visit her aunt.
Meanwhile, Alexis watches her a little gloomily, crossing her arms over her chest and definitely not looking very upset by the fact that the girl rejected her help. Alicia quickly notices that her neighbor has become too silent and thoughtful and puts her hand on Alexis’s shoulder, thinking the young girl is upset and deciding to comfort her neighbor.
“Don’t be upset, Lexi, she doesn’t wish you anything bad,” Alicia says softly. “Please, don’t worry about it.”
“I am not worried,” Alexis replies thoughtfully.
“I think Raquelle just needs to be alone for a while and have a rest after the long flight. It does actually take a lot of time and energy.”
“Yeah… Maybe…”
“Let’s work on dinner instead of bothering her. I would be very happy if you stayed with us. You would get to know my niece much better.”
When Alicia turns around with a wish to go to the kitchen, Alexis sharply moves her eyes to her and says coldly:
“Listen, Alicia, isn’t your niece the famous model, Raquelle Cameron?”
“Yes, that’s her,” Alicia nods confidently.
“Wow… Is that the model, who has been pretending to be an innocent lamb but actually insulting those she worked with for all the past years? There is nobody better than her!”
“What?” Alicia sharply turns on Alexis, being resentful of her words. “What did you say?”
“Is that not the truth?” Alexis throws her hands up. “Everyone has finally found out that the model always acted like an egoistic scumbag that got mental issues and was sure she was special.”
“It’s a lie, Lexi,” Alicia protests a little crossly. “Raquelle would never do what she was blamed for.”
“Would she not do it? Are you serious?”
“My girl was just slandered and made bad before other people.”
“But everybody has confirmed it, Alicia!” Alexis throws her hands up. “Every day, more and more people are telling about her hysterics and disgusting behavior.”
“Read fewer magazines and stop watching shows. The media just wants to get money out of scandals, but such naive people like you believe it all.”
“Cameron could not be pretending to be an angel until the end of her life. So, someone to be brave finally opened everyone’s eyes and told who she actually was.”
“Trust me, I do know my niece well. Nobody knows Raquelle better than her grandfather and me. We both raised our girl after the death of her parents and gave her the best.”
“Did that girl really think nobody would recognize her? She thought she would hide here and stay unnoticed.” Alexis simpers loudly. “Ha, I recognized her after I saw her next to you. Even if she called me a different name or tried to put on a wig, I would recognize her anyway. With any hair, with any makeup, in any clothes.”
“Lexi, please…” Alicia pronounces coldly.
“It’s okay, everyone is going to find out she ran here and try to catch her all day, all night.”
“You can think anything, but I’m begging you, don’t talk to Raquelle about it.”
“Seriously?”
“The poor girl feels bad, but if you talk about it, she will get much worse.”
“Ah, poor Raquelle!” Alexis simpers, rolling her eyes. “The poor girl was slandered by a bad person…”
“Lexi!”
“Do not worry, I am not gonna talk to that egoist!” Alexis crosses her arms over her chest. “Ha, I do not want to give that princess the honor to kiss her legs.”
“I want you to get on with her,” Alicia says confidently. “And treat her with respect.”
“I’m sorry, Alicia, but it will not happen. I will not talk to the one, who believes she is better than everyone and insults those, to whom she owes.”
“If you respect me, you will show no aggression towards her.”
“If she does not stop pretending to be an innocent lamb, I will be mad.”
“Raquelle came here not to listen to everyone judging her.”
“It’s okay, she can listen. She can think of her behavior.”
“Do not make me mad, Alexis,” Alicia demands coldly. “Of course, I love you, but I will not stand this behavior at my home.”
“Gosh, Alicia, I don’t understand you! Why did you decide to let the girl, who loves only herself, live with you? She cares only about getting compliments and hearing how everyone admires her.”
“Raquelle loves her close people! Who are worried about her and doing their best to help her.”
“Do not pity her, Alicia. She is guilty of what happened. If that girl was smarter, everything would be otherwise.”
“I repeat, you can think anything of her. But I’m begging you, be nice to her.”
“Never!”
“Raquelle is my niece, Lexi. I completely trust her and know what she can do. And I shall not let anyone hurt her for no reason. Remember, I’m ready to tear anyone for my girl.”
“Gosh, Alicia, you make me surprised,” Alexis sighs tiredly.
“You don’t have to become friends with her and support her in everything. Just do not start to talk about what happened and be nice to her.”
“Why should I do it?”
“For me, Lexi. Do this for me. If you treat me with respect, you will be nice to Raquelle.”
Alexis says nothing for a few seconds and rolls her eyes with an irritated growl, still keeping her arms over her chest and definitely holding herself down so hard.
“Alright,” Alexis breaks the silence coldly. “I shall try.”
“You will try?” Alicia pronounces with mistrust.
“I cannot guarantee that I would not contain myself with her pretense and tell her everything I think of her. About the girl, who pronounced herself a great star.”
“Try to, do, please. Or I would not control myself.”
“Alright.”
“I hope that you understood me well, and I will not have to feel ashamed for Raquelle while she is spending time with me.”
“I did get it… I got it! Do not worry.”
“Wonderful then!” Alicia glances at the watch hanging in the living room. “Now let’s go to the kitchen. You will help me with dinner. I want to make Raquelle happy with something she loves.”
“Yeah,” Alexis pronounces without emotions.
Alicia silently turns around and goes to the kitchen, while Alexis follows her quietly with her arms crossed over her chest. The young blonde does not hide that she is resentful of Raquelle’s pretense and wants to tell her everything she thinks about her and everything she allegedly did.
***
While Lexi and Alicia are doing something and getting ready for dinner, Raquelle is in her room. By this moment, she has already opened her bag and taken some things she has placed in the right places. The girl usually takes a lot of things for a trip that she can barely put even in two bags, but this time, her baggage is light enough, and she has only the most important things from home.
At some moment, Raquelle decides to take a break and sort things out later. After putting her case with a laptop on the writing table, the girl slowly looks around and examines the room where she is going to live while being at the home of her aunt Alicia. When she comes to the wide window, she admires the perfect view of the city for a few seconds. To be clear, it is a part of the city.
Raquelle thinks about New York and everything that happened to her some time ago because of Terrence MacClife, who easily washed the brains of literally the whole world. However, the girl quickly puts all the bad things aside because she wants to focus on the good things. She keeps looking around her room and every single corner, while she sometimes calls memories of her childhood.
The walls in this room are soft blue, and a light brown laminate is placed on the floor. There is a lot of light here in daylight, and a simple chandelier hanging on the ceiling lights it up at nighttime. There is a big bed near the window, and a small table is placed near it. There is an alarm, a wired phone, and a vase of artificial white roses. A big closet for clothes is placed against the bed, in which Raquelle already put some of her clothes, and there is a writing table, on which only a case from a laptop and a mobile phone of the brunette are placed. Besides, there is a little dressing table with a mirror and a little chair without a back for doing makeup and getting hair done, on which there is a small purse of Raquelle.
“This place hasn’t changed at all…” Raquelle thinks, still looking around her room with a light smile on her face. “Aunt Alicia has never touched anything here. I clearly remember it! Everything is placed in the same places where it was the last time.”
Raquelle chuckles with a slight smile on her face.
“The reason why I love her is, she does her best to help me feel like home,” Raquelle thinks. “To make me feel good… She has always been very nice to me.”
Raquelle silently looks at a small picture of an unknown author hanging on one of the walls of the room.
“I wish I got much better and came to myself just a little,” Raquelle expresses hope. “Well… Changing the location has already helped me feel a little better. I can’t complain about anything.”
At some moment, Raquelle glances at the laptop lying on the table and a battery charger for it. Because it’s very hard for her to struggle with a wish to access the Internet and find out what people say about her, the girl sits on the edge of the bed, takes it, turns it on by pressing one button, and waits for the operating system to be loaded. Then she turns on Wi-Fi, opens the browser, and quickly reads the news, among which she finds a lot of negative mentions of her name. Someone is blaming her for the school bullying. A certain model told about how Raquelle brought her to hysteria. Some men claim that they are very sorry about being in love with her. Someone, who is mad at her for being rejected and getting a refusal to go on dates, says such terrible things that make her hair stand.
“My God, it’s all gonna drive me crazy soon…” Raquelle sighs tiredly, getting horrified as she watches a lot of articles about herself. “More and more rumors are spreading every day, every hour. It seems like everyone is gonna give their opinion on this situation soon. And deprive me of any hope of restoring my reputation and renewing my modeling career.”
After getting sick of reading the articles on the news sources, Raquelle decides to check out her accounts on social networks quickly. And when she opens one of them, she immediately sees that the news feed and the mentions are full of heartless insults toward her. She is hated. She is cursed. She is not wanted to see anywhere. She is wanted to die. For everything she has allegedly done. For what she is getting blamed for without wishing to prove it. And people are so excited and mad that nobody can even think about it. They are actively promoting hashtags that everyone can use to express their hate and support their wish to show the worst side of the girl.
“These terrible things are said by the one, whom I’ve never met before,” Raquelle notices thoughtfully. “I don’t know anyone of those, who tell everyone about my hysterics and attempts to bring someone to the boiling point.”
Raquelle sighs tiredly.
“And the most offensive thing is that everyone says it secretly to me. Nobody finds the courage to contact me, meet me somewhere, and say all of it to me personally. Everyone’s cowardly. Because they understand that it’s an insolent lie. The lie, which they will have to apologize, not me. Everybody, who tells about my alleged hysterics, can’t prove their words.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously with rounded eyes when she sees a photo of hers, in which someone made her face super ugly, and a lot of offensive comments and nicknames that sound much ruder than those she got at school.
“I’m madly afraid to call Serena to talk about this situation. What if she believed in all of that and wanted to stop collaborating with me. Yes, she doesn’t give any comments to the mass media, but that doesn’t mean anything. What if she does nothing to stop this bullying. Not to let all the brads cancel the contract with me or pretend that they’ve never offered a collaboration with them. Who knows, how many contracts I’ve lost so far… And how many brands are ready to announce the end of our work…”
After reading some negative comments about herself and not finding anything that would give her hope that there is at least someone, who did not believe in this nonsense, Raquelle closes the laptop lid, puts it aside, and runs her hands over her hair.
“Oh, MacClife… Oh, fucking scoundrel… You will pay me for all of it… I shall get you out of the ground and make you deny everything and apologize to me in public. Otherwise, I will do my best for you to lose hope of any success in your acting career once and forever. I will be using the game gun that you used against me. I will spread terrible rumors about you anonymously. Something that will make all the girls claim to the public that you are an asshole. The asshole, who doesn’t know how to act like a real man. Wait for a while… I will come to myself a little, think about everything well, and start chasing you. I will go to take revenge on you for slandering me and ruining my dignity. I will not leave it unnoticed!”
Breathing a little heavily from tension in her whole body, Raquelle clenches her hands tightly into fists and moves her eyes to the window. No matter how much the girl wants to forget everything, the girl understands that it’s literally going to be an impossible mission. Because literally everything reminds her of what she experienced because of those, who recently shared a wide smile full of admiration with her, kissed her hands, and told her a lot of compliments.
And at some moment, the girl thinks about the report that she just watched on a TV. She thinks about how it was mentioned how she allegedly brought a certain model to the wish to kill herself. Yes, it’s an insolent lie that was thought up by a hater, who is dreaming of showering her with the mud. But this is what makes Raquelle think about one thing that still makes her feel terribly ashamed. The case, about which nobody knows yet. But which everyone can learn about at any time if someone decides to tell the whole world about it.
***
Summer of 2011.
“Here you are, Cameron!”
A tall girl enters a spacious dressing room that is well-lighted with halogen lamps on the ceiling. Raquelle spends her time here alone when she sees the one to be of the same age as her. The one with long, blonde hair that is twisted in big curls, shrunk cheeks, a light tan on her skin, and a little bitchy face. She is wearing a white terrycloth robe and soft slippers of the same color. When she sees Raquelle, the girl starts looking at her with true evil, as if she is her biggest enemy. While Cameron glances at her a little hesitantly, putting her mobile phone aside after checking on something with interest all this time.
“Camilla?” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly and tucks nervously a strand of perfectly done hair behind her ear. “What are you doing here?”
“We’ve gotta talk,” Camilla replies coldly, closing the door of the dressing room. “And you will not avoid it.”
“Erm. Y-yeah… Sure…” Raquelle stands up hesitantly from the sofa and puts her mobile phone on the table with a lot of cosmetics on it. “Speak. I’m listening to you.”
“You cannot imagine how happy I was when I found out that you and I would work on the same show together. Because I finally got a chance to tell you everything I thought about you.”
“You’ve got no reason to be jealous of me, Camilla. You are rich and successful. You are loved not less than me.”
“The case is not only about it. I had hated you to death before and considered you my greatest opponent. But I got one very important reason to curse you.”
“Please, let’s not fight. We’re gonna walk on the runway soon.”
“I will do my best for you, bitch, not to be able to show up there. For you to get ashamed and let the organizers down. Trust me, they do not like those, who give them a lot of problems. Those, who may be the reason for having a show disrupted.”
“Why do you hate me so much?” Raquelle wonders, grabbing the belt on her slim waist, with which her white terrycloth robe is tied up. “Why do you mock me every time we have to work together?”
“Don’t pretend to be an innocent lamb, Raquelle,” Camilla throws rudely, crossing her arms over her chest. “You have overplayed a holy gal.”
“Camilla…”
“I still don’t understand why everyone started the fuck to love you so much. Why you become fucking popular so fast.” Camilla looks at Raquelle from head to foot with contempt. “There is nothing special about you! You are just a country girl, who went to the large city for money and fame.”
“What’s wrong with me coming here from a small city?”
“You should’ve stayed in Kingston, or where you were born! Why did you the fuck come to New York?”
“Did you come here to make my mood worse again? To remind me again about how jealous you are of me?”
“After what happened some time ago, I started to hate you much more.”
“What did I do? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t pretend to be an idiot, Cameron!” Camilla exclaims. “While you manage to fool with others and make them believe you’re an angel, it will not work on me.”
“Stop picking on me all the time and saying bad things about me! You have been standing in my way since I started to work in the modeling business.”
“Because you, bitch, steal everything from me! Job, fans, fame, money… I had had everything before people learned about you. Because of you, I am no longer as popular as I was before.”
“You didn’t become less popular. You still have a lot of fans and enough offers of work.”
“Not truth! I have much fewer offers! Because the organizers and chef editors choose you between you and me. They do not care about me anymore!”
“Sorry, Camilla, but it should’ve happened someday. You couldn’t be at the top of the world all your life. You’ve passed the peck. New people come to replace you.”
“I hate you, Raquelle Cameron!” Camilla hisses through her teeth, threatening Raquelle with a finger. “I hate you! You’ve ruined my whole life! YOU STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME!”
“Quiet, quiet, why would you shout like this?”
“DON’T DARE TO SHUT ME UP!”
“Camilla, for God’s sake, don’t start scandals here.”
“I was fucking silent about you stealing my fans from me and getting two or three times fewer offers of work for a long time. I decided to do nothing to you. I thought your star would not shine for too long. That your time of fame would be fame, and I would shine brightly again.”
“It’s not my fault,” Raquelle protests. “I get offers of work and agree to do it.”
“But some time ago, you crossed all the lines. You woke up an animal inside me after what happened.”
“What did I the fuck do?” Raquelle explodes. “Why are you picking on me? Go where you want and leave me alone before I make you regret it and strangle you with my own hands!”
“Remember, Cameron, I am not afraid of you!” Camilla says with her head proudly raised. “Because you are a pathetic kid, who pretended to be a fucking queen. And I am not just a supermodel. I am also the daughter of the most famous man in this country.”
“Yes, yes, I know your father is working in the government of the city.”
“Exactly! He’s got great power. It’s super easy for him to destroy the reputation of any worthless kid and ruin her life. Do his best for her to be afraid just to move her eyes up.”
“What would you do to me?” Raquelle asks quietly. “And would you actually do something to me?”
“We will!” Camilla shouts. “Because my younger brother died because of your fucking fault!”
“What brother?”
“The one you, bitch, rejected! Who was deeply in love with you. But whom you fucked off shamelessly.”
“Wait…” Raquelle frowns slightly and thinks for two seconds, trying to understand what Camilla is talking about. “Who are you talking about? I don’t understand you! Who is your brother? Who was in love with me?”
“I MEAN FRED, FUCKING BAG OF BONES! MY LITTLE FREDDY, WHOM WE RECENTLY BURIED!”
“Fred…”
Raquelle needs a few seconds to understand who Fred is. And when she does it, the girl gasps quietly and moves her widely open eyes to Camilla burning from anger and breathing heavily.
“Wait, Fred…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully. “Fred… Did he… Did he die? Is he your brother?”
“So, don’t you know it?” Camilla rolls her eyes. “Don’t know what happened to Fred Pettigrew!”
“Nope. What happened to him?”
“He hung himself! Killed himself! He made a loop and did everything quietly in his room. While my parents and I guessed nothing and did our business.”
“No…” Raquelle shakes her head, starting to breathe a little heavily. “I can’t believe it… It can’t be the truth…”
“We thought so when we found him dead. When we realized that Freddy was kind of too silent. Mom went to his room and called Dad when she couldn’t open the door that my brother locked. I was at their home as a visitor and ran to them after they shouted and begged him to open the door.”
“My God, Camilla…”
“The servants and guards ran because of our shouts. The men easily broke the door, and well ran into the room shortly. And we saw my dead brother!” Camilla sniffs quietly, while tears roll down her face slowly. “His body was shaking on the self-made loop! He was blue and cold! And there was a stool near him! I guess I don’t have to tell you why he needed it.”
Raquelle says nothing and swallows up nervously, feeling how her heart starts squeezing painfully as she has to watch the crying Camilla and remember some moments that are connected with the man named Fred.
“We all tried to wake him up, but it was too late. Fred died! He killed himself! Mom and I screamed at the top of our lungs and were close to hysteria! Dad barely held tears down! As well as the servants who loved him very much and raised him since he was born! Yes, the guards thought of calling an ambulance, but they just confirmed the death and took his body to a morgue.”
“I can’t believe it…” Raquelle pronounces in a shaking voice and puts her hand on her heart. “Fred is dead… He was so young… We were of the same age… I am eighteen, and he was…”
“Exactly! Young! A whole life lied in front of him! But it was over! It was over because of you!”
“But… What do I have to do with it? Fred suffered from a deep depression for a long time. And drugs that the psychiatrist prescribed didn’t help him.”
“You do have to do with it! Because I found a note on the writing table. The short note, which Fred had written before his death. And he clearly said the one, who was guilty of his death, was you, Raquelle Cameron.”
“You’re lying… Fred couldn’t do that!”
“BUT HE DID IT!” Camila shouts in a heartbreaking way. “HE DID IT!”
“When I told him I didn’t love him, he said he understood everything and wasn’t gonna insist on anything. He said he couldn’t make me love him by force.”
“The note said Fred decided to die because he couldn’t live without you. He couldn’t live, knowing that his feelings for you were not mutual. That you rejected them shamelessly when he told you about his sympathy and asked you to date him. And his family didn't manage to make him feel better, no matter how hard we tried.”
“Yes, I rejected him! Because I didn’t love him! Because I couldn’t lie to Fred and play love with him. Even for pity. Even regardless of his mental issues.”
“BITCH!” Camilla gives Raquelle a very strong slap in the face, after which the girl grabs her cheek. “WHORE! WHY ARE YOU THE FUCK LIVING IN THIS WORLD?”
“Camilla, please…” Raquelle begs in despair, looking at Camilla with wet eyes.
“KILLER! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! WHOM I LOVED WITH ALL MY HEART! Yes, we had a four-age difference, but he was my best friend and my protector. Yes, even if I was an older sister, he always protected me. He acted like he was older. Freddy was always ready to stand by me. BUT NOW HE IS GONE! I STAYED ALL ALONE!”
“I… I’m really very sorry… I’m sorry about the death of your brother…”
Raquelle tries to come to Camilla and caress her shoulder or hug her with a wish to comfort her a little, but the girl steps back sharply when she says:
“Don’t come to me, asshole!”
“I swear, I never wanted it!” Raquelle exclaims in despair. “I didn’t think everything would go so far.”
“I hate you, Raquelle Cameron… I hate you… You are my punishment. WHAT DID I DO IF I GOT AN OPPONENT LIKE YOU? WHO STOLE MY JOB AND FANS AND KILLED MY BROTHER!”
“Camilla, for God’s sake…”
“I will never forgive you for that. Hear me, NEVER! I swear, I shall do my best to destroy you. Everything to ruin your career once and forever.”
“If I can help you with something, let me know it.”
“WE DO NOT NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP!” Camilla roars, choking from anger. “WE DO NOT NEED ANYTHING FROM THE KILLER!”
“Camilla…”
“Stop acting innocent, bitch! You have never been the one! I made sure about it when I lost my brother. I made sure that you didn’t care about people. You love NOBODY but yourself!”
“It’s a lie!” Raquelle protests. “You are slandering me!”
“Yeah? Would you dare to say your career is not important to you? That you are not obsessed with it and are not ready to sell your own mother to keep shaking your ass in front of the camera and hear everyone showering you with compliments, which you do not deserve?”
“I am not the one!”
“I bit you through instantly. I quickly understood that you were a little, arrogant bitch, who felt the taste of fame and thought that everyone owed her. YOU GOT EVERYTHING WITHOUT PROBLEMS AND STARTED TO EARN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! WHILE I HAD WORKED FOR SEVERAL YEARS FOR PENNIES AND SHOT FOR CATALOGS BEFORE MY TALENT WAS FINALLY APPRECIATED!”
“I didn’t get everything easily. I had worked a lot before I got famous and got the love of my fans.”
“Who did you the fuck sleep with? WHO YOU SUCKED FOR FAME? WHO IS PROMOTING YOU SO HARD? WHY DO THEY IMPOSE A WORTHLESS WHORE TO EVERYONE? THE ONE, WHO LOOKS HIDEOUS WITHOUT MAKEUP!”
“Camilla, I’m begging you…”
“I will destroy you, Raquelle Cameron,” Camilla says loudly. “I swear, I will not let you keep getting showered with love and fame. You will pay a lot for the death of my brother. My parents and I will not leave it unnoticed.”
“If you want, I can pay you moral damage. Tell me how much you want, so I can give you everything.”
“Do you seriously think you can make amends with money? Do you think it will bring our beloved Freddy back?”
“No, but…”
“Do you think you can buy everything in this life? You can agree with everyone. You think your sugar daddies will agree with everyone, so you can keep showing your face everywhere.”
“Just tell me what you want from me. What can I do for your family and you?”
“It would be perfect if you actually died. So, the karma finds you. So, you pay for the death of Fred. But alright, I will agree just to ruin your career and destroy your perfect reputation.”
“Don’t tell me you want to make me ashamed of the whole world.”
“No, Camilla, please, don’t do this,” Raquelle begs with tears in her eyes. “Don’t do this…”
“So, Cameron, are you scared? Are you afraid to lose the opportunity to make yourself sure that you, a worthless, pathetic, homely girl, are actually worth something?”
“My modeling career is very important to me. I can’t lose everything. I can’t, you know. I have worked too much to get something.”
“Here’s your real side,” Camilla smirks evilly and looks at Raquelle with contempt from head to foot. “You only care about your precious ass. Your own well-being. AND YOU DO NOT CARE THAT THE MAN DIED BECAUSE OF YOU RECENTLY!”
“No, that’s not the truth! I do care!”
“My God, couldn’t my brother find someone else to fall in love with? There are so many beautiful girls around! I can’t remember how many ladies I introduced to him! All of them deserved to be with Fred. But fuck, he got a crush on YOU! A selfish egoist, who eventually killed him!”
“So, do you think I should have lied to Fred? That he wouldn’t have gotten worse if he had understood that I never loved him?”
“You don’t know what love is! Because you don't love anyone! You only love yourself. Even though you are pretending to be holy in public. You tell them some snotty stories, smile at everyone, and pay attention to all your fans.”
“Don’t make me a monster. I am not what you think I am.”
“You are not a monster, you are worse. You are a killer! The killer of my sibling! The robber, who stole everything from me! YOU, LITTLE BITCH, RUINED MY WHOLE LIFE!”
“Listen, I completely understand your feelings. I know what it’s like to lose a close person. I overcame the death of my parents when I was a kid. It was like the end of the world to me.”
“Close your mouth, liar!” Camilla shouts and slaps Raquelle in the face with tears in her eyes. “You will tell these stories to someone else. You will not fool me!”
“I’m not lying to you!”
“Watch out, little scumbag. From this minute on, you can forget about a quiet life forever. Because I will not let you pretend that nothing happened. I will not let you keep fooling the people and pretending to be an innocent angel.”
“No, please…”
“I will let everyone know about that case! My parents and I will tell the journalists what you did to poor Fred. So, everyone can finally open their eyes and see what bitch they chose as their idol.”
“For God’s sake, Camilla, don’t do this!” Raquelle begs in despair. “Please, no… I don’t want it…”
“You will regret deciding to fight with me. Fighting with Camilla Pettigrew herself. Daring to rob her. AND KILL HER BROTHER!”
“I didn’t want him to die…” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “I didn’t want him to die because of me. I am really very sorry.”
“You only care about your reputation. About the opportunity to hear the compliments from all the idiots, who pronounce you their queen.”
“Camilla, please…”
“I wish everyone turned their backs on you to the fuck!” Camilla throws furiously and pushes Raquelle off rudely. “I wish you didn’t have anyone, who would love to support you. I wish everyone saw that you are a nasty bitch. I WISH YOU GOT OLD ALL ALONE!”
“I’m not so bad!”
“You will not show up on that fucking runway. You will not… I will not let it happen! I WILL NOT! THERE COULD BE ONLY ONE STAR! AND I WILL BE THE ONE!”
Camilla looks around quickly and stops her eyes on the table, on which there are lots of hairbrushes, cosmetics, and other hair stuff. Not thinking too much, the girl runs to it, grabs silver scissors, and attacks Raquelle with a wish to get them into her, making the girl shout with widely open eyes and automatically grab the thing that ends up two centimeters away from her chest.
“Camilla, no, don’t do this!” Raquelle begs, getting sharply white from horror. “Stop!”
“I will kill you, nasty whore,” Camilla hisses through her teeth, making Raquelle terribly horrified with her burning look. “I will take revenge on you for the death of my brother. YOU WILL BE ROTTING IN THE GROUND!”
“You’re crazy!”
“I became the one because of you! If not for you, my life would’ve been much better, and my brother would’ve been alive. BUT YOU MESSED UP EVERYTHING!”
“Help me!” Raquelle begs loudly. “Help me, someone! Please!”
“Oh, yeah, everyone is rushing to leave their business and run to help you.”
Camilla tries to get the scissors into Raquelle much harder, while the girl applies a lot of efforts to push the hands of her opponent off herself.
“Don’t move, kid!” Camilla throws rudely.
“You’re crazy! Throw the scissors off!”
“I will get you anyway. Your luck can’t last forever.”
“CAMILLA!”
Raquelle turns her face sharply aside with a loud shout when the edge of the scissors ends up one itch away from her cheek and almost hurts it.
“You should not fight against the daughter of the most honorable official in the country,” Camilla says with an irritated growl, not giving up on trying to wound Raquelle, despite the attempts of the brunette to resist so hard.
“And you are so proud of it!” Raquelle laughs evilly.
“Yes, I am proud! I am proud that my dad has a great power and can ruin the life of anyone, who doesn’t please his family.”
“You say I sleep with someone for fame? Ha, as if you are holy! Nobody paid for your fame, and you achieved everything on your own!”
“Unlike someone!”
“Shut up, Pettigrew!”
“You close your mouth, kid!”
Raquelle and Camilla try to pull the scissors on themselves for a few seconds, grabbing them tightly and literally killing each other with an icy look, with an irritated growl. But at some moment, both of them fall on the sofa and grab each other tightly by the hair, being so mad that they forget about the scissors that are now lying on the floor. The girls share slaps generously, scratch each other’s faces with long nails, and give painful hits on the whole body, using the moment while nobody can hear them and break them up.
“Whore!” Camilla roars and smashes her fist against Raquelle’s face. “Killer! Talentless kid!”
“Oh, no, bitch…” Raquelle hisses through her teeth, looking at Camilla with bloodshot eyes. “I will not let you beat me like this. I WILL NOT LET YOU!”
Raquelle gives Camilla a strong slap and, grabbing her by the hair, pulls her sharply from one side to another, while the girl shouts loudly and tries to hit her with her legs.
“I shall take this fucking crown off you,” Camilla says and hits Raquelle on the head with a bunch of magazines that she finds not far from herself.
“We will see it!” Raquelle exclaims.
“Tomorrow, the whole world will know who you really are. They will know that you deprived an innocent person of life. Who, for your information, could be very successful at tennis and become the first racket in the world someday. BUT IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! NEVER!”
“Don’t dare to open your mouth! Or you will regret it!”
“Don’t dare to threaten me, kid!” Camilla hits Raquelle shamelessly against the floor and squeezes her jaw strongly. “REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO, ASSHOLE!”
“I’ve always tried to be nice to you. Tried to make you like me. But you declined my friendship immediately.”
“I don’t need a friend like you! I don’t need a friend, who ruined my whole life and took everything I had!”
“Well, you know, I don’t need it, either. If you decided to declare war for me, we will be at war.”
“Whatever you do, I will get victory. You will be eating the ground, bitch! AND STANDING ON YOUR KNEES IN FRONT OF FREDDY’S GRAVE AND ASKING HIM FOR FORGIVENESS!”
Camilla and Raquelle start a hand-in-hand fight and fall to the floor, aiming to give each other as much pain as possible. The girls do not care that literally nothing is left of their hair, which was perfectly done by the professional stylists especially for the fashion show. They do not care that they have bruises on their whole bodies. That their muscles start to hurt a little. Both of them are blinded by the anger and cannot hold down their wish to kick their opponent and take revenge on her for everything she has done.
“With a look like yours, you will not be able to walk on the runway,” Camilla laughs evilly. “With a lot of bruises and disheveled hair.”
“As if you’re a queen of beauty!” Raquelle snaps.
“I shall bring my fame back! I WILL! Even if I have to do this through blood. Even if I have to SEND YOU TO ANOTHER WORLD!”
Camilla gives a hit right in the stomach of Raquelle, who doubles over with a face squeezed in pain and a loud shout. Then she grabs the scissors and, sitting above her dark-haired opponent, tries to get the edge of them through her chest. But she immediately runs into resistance from the girl, who tries to raise the hand with the gun above her and move it off as far as possible.
“You’re a fucking alive rat…” Camilla throws coldly. “WHY CAN’T I THE FUCK DO ANYTHING TO YOU?”
“I will never give up…” Raquelle pronounces with a heavy breath. “I will not let you… Never…”
“You will not do away with me. Especially after Fred’s death. I will never forgive you for that. I will never forgive you for my mom’s hysteria and my dad’s tears at his funeral. NEVER! YOU ARE A KILLER! A KILLER!”
“I DID NOT KILL HIM!”
Raquelle smashes her knee against Camilla’s stomach. That’s why the blonde shouts and falls to the floor, letting the scissors go and moaning painfully in pain. After this, the girl, using the moment and overcoming the pain in her whole body, gets up on her feet shortly and runs out of the dressing room in hope of finding a place where she can hide or people, who can save her from the furious opponent.
“STOP, BITCH!” Camilla shouts. “I HAVE NOT DEALT WITH YOU! STOP, ASSHOLE!”
Growling irritably, Camilla barely gets up on her feet, grabs the scissors and leaves the room with a strong wish to find Raquelle and wound her. She immediately sees her opponent running down the end of the long hall and starts chasing her, managing to catch her for a short enough time. By this moment, they end up in the narrow hall with long stairs, on which people should be very careful since it’s too slippery and glossy. Raquelle completely understands it and wants to get down with no rush. But at this moment, Camilla catches her, grabs her painfully by the hair, pulls her on herself, and puts the scissors against the throat of her opponent. That’s why the young brunette gets sharply white and starts breathing heavily enough with widely open eyes.
“Don’t dare to run away from me, kid!” Camilla throws rudely and pulls Raquelle by the hair much stronger. “DO NOT DARE!”
“I’m not afraid of you!” Raquelle replies with anger. “No matter who your father or mother is!”
Raquelle smashes her foot strongly against Camilla’s knee, gets out of her grip easily enough, and pulls her from one side to another by the hair for some time, also giving her strong hits on her whole body. All this time, they are very close to the stairs, which they can fall off at any time. However, the girls do not care about it at all because they are obsessed with a wish to harm each other.
“Killer!” Camilla roars and hits her foot against Raquelle’s stomach. “Cad! Your place is in prison, or actually a GRAVE!”
“Said by the cad!” Raquelle snaps and smashes her fist against Camilla’s face.
“Nasty whore! The whore, who STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME!”
“I AM NOT A WHORE!”
“ONLY A WHORE CAN BECOME SO POPULAR FOR SUCH A LITTLE TIME!”
“Think what you want. I don’t care about what you think of me.”
“I will never believe that you don’t care.” Camilla twists Raquelle’s arms sharply behind her back and presses her head tightly to the wall. “You will die if nobody praises you.”
“I would see what you would do if you didn’t have such a powerful daddy,” Raquelle says in a low voice with a heavy breath.
“I have him. I have a mom. But you are an orphan. The orphan, who was raised by a pathetic grandfather.”
“Don’t dare to say these things about my grandfather!”
“I say what I think about!”
“Ar-r-r, how much you irritate me, bitch! YOU IRRITATE ME!”
After the hit with a foot against the stomach, Raquelle manages to get out of Camilla’s grip, slap her in the face multiple times, and grab her hair tightly, not paying attention to the deafening shouts of her opponent.
“IDIOT, LET ME GO!” Camilla shouts. “YOU’RE GONNA PULL ALL MY HAIR OUT!”
“It’s okay, you will stick it again!” Raquelle grins evilly. “You have hair extensions. Because you have very little of your natural hair. You only have a couple of tiny hair.”
“YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING NOW!”
While Raquelle and Camilla keep fighting cruelly, some girls and women go not far from them. At first, they are busy with some papers that they are holding in their hands, but then they pay attention to the girls’ shouts and see two popular models grabbing each other tightly. These people say something quickly, run to them shortly, and try to break them up.
“Girls, stop it now!” the woman in a severe suit with glasses orders. “Calm down!”
“She attacked me first!” Camilla shouts when Raquelle pulls her strongly by the hair.
“It’s a lie, I did nothing!” Raquelle protests.
“Let me go, crazy lady!”
“Girls, enough!” another woman in a severe suit cries, trying to pull the furious Raquelle away from Camilla crying theatrically along with the others.
“She threatened me with scissors! She threatened to kill me!”
“What?” Camilla resents. “Are you crazy? I did not touch you at all! You attacked me!”
“Stop pretending to be a victim!”
“Who actually let this crazy gal in here! Kick her out before she kills someone!”
“Ha, am I crazy?” Raquelle smirks evilly.
“Someone told the journalists about your hysterics on the set one day. They said you suffered from mental issues. And now I see that it’s the truth.”
“STOP INSULTING ME!”
“So, Cameron, is it unpleasant to hear the truth? The truth about you being a little whore with a lot of mental issues!”
“Shut up, bitch!”
“You should better get therapy at a mental hospital instead of walking on the runway. What was your grandpa thinking of when he let you work in this business? Didn’t he guess that you had mental issues? Or did that old man prefer to ignore it and pretend that everything was okay?”
Getting literally red from anger, Raquelle clenches her hand into a fist tightly and gives a strong fit on the jaw of Camilla, who falls to the floor shortly. Who has to fight off her opponent, who raises herself above her and starts to beat her shamelessly, not thinking about the consequences that these actions may lead to. The organizers of the show try to break the girls up in any way, but their efforts are absolutely worthless. Then some of them decide to go to seek the help of tough men, who would do this thing super easily. By the way, some people run here by this moment. They were accompanying the models, who were getting ready to walk on the runway. All of them are overwhelmed by what’s happening. Overwhelmed by the way Raquelle gets enraged before their eyes and shamelessly beats Camilla, who tries to protect herself from her somehow.
“HELP!” Camilla shouts in despair. “PLEASE, HELP ME! SHE WANTS TO KILL ME! SHE WANTS TO KILL ME AS WELL AS SHE KILLED MY BROTHER!”
“CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, BITCH!” Raquelle roars and hits Camilla strongly against the floor with her head, while some models try to pull her away.
“GIRLS, CALL AN AMBULANCE!” Camilla shouts. “A-A-A-A! I AM AFRAID OF HER! SHE ATTACKS PEOPLE FOR NOTHING!”
“My God, will someone break them up or not?” the woman with glasses resents.
“Raquelle, leave her!” the young girl wearing a terrycloth white robe, trying to grab Raquelle under her arms. “Raquelle! Calm down!”
“Leave me!” Raquelle throws rudely. “I’m done with this bitch! SHE HAS BEEN MOCKING ME FOR AGES! I HAVE TOLERATED TOO MUCH! BUT NOW, MY PATIENCE IS OVER! THIS SCUMBAG WILL PAY ME FOR EVERYTHING SHE HAS DONE!”
Sharing slaps and giving each other hits on the whole body, Raquelle and Camilla get up at some moment and keep fighting hand in hand. Some women and girls try to break them up, and others cannot miss a chance to take a couple of photos on their mobile phones and record a video that could destroy the brilliant reputation of Raquelle and show the worst side of hers. A little later, some men run here and manage to pull the girls on different sides for some time, even if both of them are resisting so hard.
“She is sick!” Camilla exclaims with tears in her eyes, shaking strongly from fear, while one of the men is holding her tightly. “This hysterical lady wanted to kill me! She threatened to strangle me and bury me!”
“If you don’t shut up, IT WILL HAPPEN!” Raquelle threatens furiously, trying to get out of the grip of the other man. “I SWEAR, I SHALL KILL YOU!”
“Raquelle, c’mon?” one of the models pronounces surprisingly with widely open eyes. “What bit you?”
“Cameron has always been the one,” Camilla says. “She was just hiding it so hard. And now you see everything clearly. You see that she is a psycho, egoistic idiot, who used the chance to be pronounced a fucking goddess.”
“SHUT UP, PETTIGREW!” Raquelle roars.
“If you two do not calm down now, we will have to suspend you from the show,” the woman in a severe suit says confidently.
“Suspend her!” Camilla demands. “She attacked me first!”
“No, you better deal with her!” Raquelle attacks. “She went to my dressing room and started to blame me for something and threaten me with scissors!”
“YOU KILLED MY YOUNGER BROTHER!”
“INSOLENT LIE! I KILLED NOBODY!”
“KILLER! KILLER! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU, BITCH, DIED! I WISH YOU SUFFERED UNTIL THE END OF YOUR LIFE! I WISH YOUR CAREER WAS RUINED TO THE FUCK!”
A magical power lets Raquelle manages to get out of the stylist, who is holding her tightly. The girl runs to Camilla with an irritated growl and attacks her with fists, while the blonde does not get confused and starts to answer her back. The men try to pull them away from each other again, but the girls always get out and attack their opponent again. At some moment, Camilla glances at the long stairs and, grabbing Raquelle tightly by the hair, brings her to them by force with a wish to push the young brunette and kill her or harm her a lot. But she starts resisting too hard and tries to turn her opponent to the stairs, being obsessed with anger that clouds her mind at all.
The men unsuccessfully try to break them up and take them on different sides for some time, and the women are seriously thinking about calling the police, so both girls are taken to the station. So, they do not disrupt the show that is about to start. Every minute, more and more people run here to find out who is shouting so loudly. All of them are deeply overwhelmed by the behavior of Raquelle, who seemed such a sweet and shy girl without any demons, but who is now literally ready to kill Camilla. Who is also burning from a strong anger and fighting off her so hard. Raquelle even grabs the scissors from the floor and tries to get them into the arm of Camilla, who avoids it magically by taking this thing from her and throwing it as far as possible.
And at some moment, Raquelle gets a few slaps in the face from Camilla and shouts in pain when the blonde pulls her by the hair strongly. The dark-haired girl applies a lot of efforts to push the opponent off, who is very close to the edge of the stairs and understands that she is about to fall if she does not find a way to get out of this situation. But after a few seconds of the cruel fight, Raquelle pushes Camilla off herself as strongly as she can. The blonde cannot keep her balance and gets dragged down, no matter how hard she waves her hands. And in the end, she starts falling down the long stairs with a loud shout, while the others can do nothing to help her.
At this moment, Raquelle kind of wakes up from a certain spell. Shaking sharply and standing in the same place like a column, she closes her mouth with her hands and has her eyes full of a horror widely open while watching Camilla falling down and feeling like a pain gets throughout her body and gets stronger after every single hit against a stair. During the fall, the blonde also hits her head strongly against the wall and feels like everything gets deeply black before her eyes, and all the sounds turn off. And two or three seconds later, the model’s body ends up on the floor and gets absolutely soft. Camilla is lying motionlessly and making no sound, and a thin flow of blood gets out her mouth slowly.
While Raquelle getting sharply white looks closely at Camilla with tears in her eyes and feels that she starts choking from a lack of air, one man and one woman get down the stairs quickly and come to the unconscious girl to check on her condition.
“Camilla…” Raquelle pronounces in a shaking voice, putting her hand on her heart, which is beating like crazy. “C-camilla…”
“She is unconscious and all in blood!” the man exclaims and brings his face close to Camilla’s face to check on her breathing. “And she is barely breathing!”
“Her pulse is very weak!” the girl-model announces, putting two fingers on the neck of Camilla. “She should break something. She must be brought to the hospital shortly!”
Some people also run to the unconscious Camilla and try to give her first aid, others think about calling an ambulance and calling someone to help, and someone is praying that the girl feels alright. And Raquelle is just starting to realize what she did. Understand what may happen to her after she has tried to kill the daughter of a famous official in the country. Moreover, she cannot avoid it because there are too many witnesses to it. Many of them even got photos and videos that would surely confirm her fault for what happened.
“My God, no…” Raquelle pronounces quietly with a shake in her whole body. “No… I wish she survived… Please, God… Don’t let her die… Please…”
“She pushed her!” one of the models exclaims, pointing at Raquelle. “She wanted to kill Camilla!”
“Yes, yes, Raquelle has always been jealous of her!” the other model agrees. “She is jealous that Camilla is much more popular and beautiful than her.”
“I will not be surprised if her words about the murder of her brother are true,” the third model says confidently. “This girl is ready to step on others to get what she wants.”
“Yeah, she is a pathetic kid, but she is pretending to be a queen. She thinks everyone owes her.”
“And how innocent and fluffy she has been pretending all this time!”
“Her rotten side has finally been revealed. I am very happy that so many people became witnesses to her hysterics.”
“My gosh, poor Cami…” one of the models shakes her head. “Poor girl…”
“Her father and mother will not leave it unnoticed. They will destroy this gal. The path to the show business will be closed for Cameron after trying to kill Cami.”
“I didn’t want it!” Raquelle shouts in despair with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t wanna push her! It happened accidentally!”
“Oh, yeah, we saw how accidentally it was,” one of the models says in a low voice. “You did it on purpose!”
“Not truth! I wasn’t gonna kill her!”
“A little bitch,” another model throws with contempt. “You just started to work as a model, but you started to work on getting rid of everybody, who you did not like. Everyone, who did not praise her.”
“Girls, please, trust me!” Raquelle begs and sniffs quietly. “I didn’t wanna harm Camilla!”
“We saw everything, Cameron. We saw you attacking her first and beating the poor girl shamelessly. We saw your crazy face when you were threatening her with scissors. She is all in bruises and blood.”
“And she also hit her head!” the other model adds. “And she probably broke something.”
“No, she threatened me with scissors!” Raquelle excuses herself loudly. “Camilla wanted to kill me! She blamed me for what I didn’t do! Her charges are false! I didn’t kill her brother! I did not!”
“You will say it somewhere in the police station, where you will be taken at the nearest time. You will tell them how you planned to get rid of your greatest opponent.”
“I didn’t wanna harm her! I swear, I didn’t want it! I didn’t push her!”
“Ah, you did not push her, as it turned out!”
“She stumbled and fell. I didn’t do anything!”
“Shut up, bitch! We saw everything well! We saw how you pushed Cami as strongly as you could.”
“No, it’s a lie! I didn’t push her!”
“Enough, Cameron! Nobody will believe you! Your image of the innocent angel has been ruined forever. Now, everyone will know you as an insolent, selfish bitch, who you actually are.”
“You’re unfair to me.”
“SHUT UP, BITCH!”
“Hey, girls, calm down!” one of the women in a severe suit orders.
“You have nothing to do here!” the other woman jabs. “Go to get ready for the show! It is going to start soon, but you are walking here.”
“Deal with this psycho, please,” one of the models says. “Before she harms someone else.”
“We will deal with it. Go to get ready. Go, go! Guys, take them away.”
“Remember, if this pathetic model is allowed to participate in the show, I will not go to walk. And I will refuse to work if someone dares to invite Cameron.”
After agreeing with it and saying almost the same thing, all the models turn around slowly and leave along with those, whom they came with some time ago. While Raquelle starts crying bitterly and shaking, embracing herself with both arms. At this moment, she is not so worried about Camilla, who has a lot of people around her. She is now much more worried about her own reputation. About what is going to happen to her after the whole world and the parents of the victim know about this accident. She understands that her career will surely be over after this. All the efforts may be worthless. Because of Camilla. Because of her charges with the death of her brother. Because of the cruel falling from the stairs.
“My career can’t be over like this…” Raquelle shakes her head and makes a loud sob. “No… It can’t be…”
“Your behavior is really disgusting, Ms. Cameron,” the woman in a severe suit and with glasses scolds. “You have disappointed us too much.”
“I swear I didn’t want to harm Camilla,” Raquelle excuses herself with despair. “It happened accidentally. I did not push her. She fell by herself.”
“We believe it did not happen accidentally. Knowing all the charges of this girl toward you.”
“It’s all a lie! Camilla doesn’t just love me. She is jealous of me. Because I became much more popular than her. That girl wants to ruin my career. Ruin my reputation.”
“You will explain it to someone else. Her father, for example.”
“Please, trust me…”
“The organizers of the show will now have a conservation and discuss your suspension from the show.”
“What?” Raquelle opens her eyes widely, feeling that her heart misses a beat.
“This behavior is disgusting! We have always had and will always have a very friendly atmosphere. And if you cannot hold yourself down and attack innocent people with fists, we will have to say goodbye to you.”
“Please, don’t do this! Let me walk on the runway! Please, do not suspend me!”
“We will also contact the police, so they take you to the station to question you, and we will talk about it with your management team. They should do something to your attacks of aggression. Which, according to the rumors, you often have.”
“No, it’s a lie!” Raquelle protests determinedly. “I’m not so bad! And I’m not aggressive! It’s all the slander of the journalists! Slander of my haters!”
“Save these tales for someone else. You have already shown us what you really are. And as you can see, there are many witnesses that can confirm everything.”
“Please, for God’s sake, pity me…”
“You pushed yourself into the corner, young lady. You showed the worst side of yours. And if you really have mental issues, I highly recommend that you go to a doctor and get psychotherapy. And talk about all your problems with an experienced psychologist. Because these things usually happen for a reason.”
“You are unfair to me…”
“Watch her, please,” the woman orders harshly. “If she tries to run away from here or attacks someone else, you can call the police. The decision on the admission of Raquelle Cameron to the walk on the runway will be made in the nearest time after all the necessary consultations. And after we get the information about the condition of Camilla Pettigrew.”
Several women in severe suits turn around and go further and further down the long hall, while Raquelle keeps crying bitterly, moving her eyes to the unconscious Camilla at some moment.
“Shameless!” one of the girls, who stayed here, says. “The gal went out of her mind!”
“And how hard she is showing pity!” the other girl exclaims. “How bitterly she is crying!”
“She is crying because she is in trouble. After she dared to attack Camilla, she can say goodbye to her modeling career. Her parents will turn this kid to dust.”
“It’s clear that she cares about poor Camilla much less. She only cares about herself! About the fact that she may lose the status of the innocent angel, who is loved and praised by everyone.”
“That’s right! Cameron doesn’t even rush to help her. She doesn't care about the poor girl!”
“I’ve never liked this kid. She is a worthless, ugly, and worthless asshole, who is acting like a selfish bitch.”
“Yeah, she learned to assert herself at the others very well.”
“It’s okay, now, after the attack on Camilla, nothing will help her. The whole world will know it soon. And Cameron will not be able to excuse herself and get away from it thanks to the statements from her managers.”
“Aha, if her managers will not refuse to work with this princess.”
“Someday, she will have to run away from here. Run away from the shame that she will have to feel.”
“I can’t wait!”
All this time, Raquelle can clearly hear the talk of the two girls and starts to cry much more bitterly with a feeling that she terribly lacks air, still not finding the courage to go down and check on Camilla’s condition. And at some moment, breathing heavily enough, looking around nervously, and seeing everybody looking at her with contempt and hate, the girl understands that she cannot stay here anymore. She feels like a little, unprotected girl, against whom literally the whole world turned. Not thinking too much, Raquelle gives a start sharply and runs down the hell as she keeps her mouth closed with a shaking hand, which is lightly dirtied with black mascara that is running down her face slowly.
“Hey, folks, she is running away!” one of the girls exclaims loudly pointing at Raquelle running away.
“Don’t let her leave this place!” the woman in a severe suit orders while being next to the unconscious Camilla.
“Follow her!” the woman exclaims, who is also next to the suffered girl.
“Call the police!” a certain girl demands. “So, they get her arrested immediately. Or they should better send her to the mental hospital for forced therapy!”
While some people stay with Camilla and make sure that she does not get worse before the arrival of the ambulance, others rush to catch Raquelle, who is not actually going to run away. The girl just reaches for the dressing room that was prepared specially for her, locks herself in it, and just keeps crying bitterly. Getting horrified by what’s going to happen to her when the whole world knows about the accident with Camilla. And not paying attention to those, who are knocking at the door so hard and telling her to open it now and stop hiding like a mean, cowardly girl.
***
“I was madly lucky that we managed to solve that problem,” Raquelle thinks. “I was lucky that people didn’t learn about it. If someone had told them about it, and Camilla’s family hadn’t decided to give up, I would’ve had serious problems. Moreover, she got such serious traumas that she couldn’t return to the modeling business. She had to retire. And there’s only my fault for that. I really, literally ruined her life. Because of me, her brother killed himself, and she became half-disabled.”
Raquelle sighs heavily and embraces herself with both arms.
“Yes, Camilla and I didn’t get along from the beginning and were always rivals. But I didn’t wish her anything bad. I never said anything bad about her. Though, she managed to make me fucking enraged. Because I was sick of tolerating her attitude toward me. I should’ve shown her where she belonged. I should’ve let my anger get out of me.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“My gosh, what if all these rumors are her work? What if she decided to take revenge on me several years later and make her threat of ruining my career come true? What if Camilla forgot nothing and is determined to destroy me? Maybe, MacClife doesn’t really have to do with it. Maybe, I should really make claims to Camilla. Or did her parents do it? Or one of those, who saw everything and knew what happened? Moreover, everybody started to hate me instantly. Everybody literally wished me to die. They were literally happy when the police came and took me to the station. To question me and impose a monetary penalty.”
Raquelle runs her hands from the top of her head to the back of her head, sighing tiredly.
“My gosh, someone may show up someday and tell everyone that I was guilty of all the traumas of Camilla. That I literally brought her brother to death. And if it’s proved with photos and videos, I will be in trouble. I will be able to do nothing with it. I will not be able to pretend that it wasn’t me. I will have to pay for my sins. The sins of my past, which I would like to forget about so badly. But I can’t. I haven’t been able to do this for ages. I will never be able to.”
Raquelle sits on the bed tiredly and doubles.
“Fuck, why did everything happen now? When things got much better! When I started to get a lot of offers of work! Everything had been alright, and then a certain asshole showed up and decided to ruin everything I worked for all day and all night. They should just give some real proof of my hysterics. They just need to get one word from a witness, who knew and saw everything. One step away from the falling to the edge. One step away from losing everything. From having to forget about the love of my fans and hopes for everyone’s admiration.”
Raquelle falls to the bed like a stone and sets her half-wet eyes to the ceiling, being afraid that luck will not be by her side this time and that people will learn about her dark past and think that she is not as sweet and innocent as she has been pretending all this time. When she got her first fans, who started to give her a lot of compliments, she was afraid of losing it all. Her grandfather Frederick and aunt Alicia were the only people, who gave her good words. They were the only people, who considered her beautiful and talented. The others people did not think so and put the girl under humiliations that left a bright memory for her whole life. And now, when Raquelle has grown up, become a real beauty, and started to get compliments from people around her, she is still terribly insecure. She needs to keep playing the role of a confident cutie by getting confirmation of it again and again.
Raquelle is terribly afraid that everybody will come back to what she had to deal with originally after everybody learns about her behavior, which has not always been perfect. And every time someone near her says something bad about her, she calls back the memories of the little, terrified girl with two careless pigtails in old, ripped clothes, who could not understand why she was hated so much. And ask herself whether she has really gotten victory over the side that she started to deny furiously and reject at some moment with a wish to change her whole life and forget about the past that is still giving her a strong pain.
***
Raquelle spent time in her room and was sorting her things out until the late evening. She managed to take a shower and even take a little nap after a long flight on the airplane. And now the girl decides to go to the kitchen to find out what about the dinner. Moreover, she feels an incredible smell that makes her stomach grumble so hard.
Alicia and Alexis are still spending time together and cooking food for today’s dinner. And after seeing her niece come to the kitchen, the woman invites Raquelle to sit at a table, and the girl agrees to do with pleasure and quietly waits for her aunt to do everything. She is trying to ignore bad enough looks of Alexis, who keeps her promise but definitely holds herself down not to let her emotions go.
Watching Alicia doing something on the kitchen furniture, Raquelle unconsciously asks herself why the woman has seemed to be a little tense from the beginning. Not as relaxed as she used to see her. It seems like she wants to say something, but she is kind of afraid to do it. Nevertheless, despite her curiosity, the girl decides not to tell her relative about her suspects right now and to choose a better moment to talk to her about it.
“I wonder, does my aunt look weird, or does it seem to me?” Raquelle thinks, closely watching what Alicia is doing. “It seems like she is kind of tense. Excited and worried about something… It seems like something really happened to her… I can’t remember when Aunt Alicia was like this the last time. She always seemed relaxed and even funny and positive. But now I don’t see the lightness she had before.”
Raquelle sighs silently, shaking her head.
“Okay, I won’t ask her about it so openly now,” Raquelle thinks. “I will better wait for some time. Don’t wanna annoy her with my questions and torture her. I will be pretending that I see nothing and watching her carefully. Maybe, it seemed to be, and I dreamed it up due to strong tiredness. I dunno. I’m going to be silent and just watching what’s gonna happen.”
Raquelle glances at Alexis, who is doing something while standing in front of the kitchen furniture.
“And Alexis is kind of suspect,” Raquelle frowns slightly. “That girl seems to be sweet and innocent, but I better be careful with her. She definitely knows who I am and told Aunt that she was unpleased. That lady might surely become the one to wash my brains and make me feel much worse. And I wouldn't forget what MacClife did to me and what he keeps doing…”
Raquelle shakes her head.
“Damn, that’s called I came to have a rest and come to myself…” Raquelle thinks. “I can’t calm down even here. Maybe, I should have run away somewhere in the woods, so nobody could find me? Should’ve found an abandoned house and come to myself there? Hidden from everyone, who wishes to look into my eyes and shower me with mud. Oh, God… Give me strength… Give me strength to take it all.”
Raquelle falls into her thoughts so deeply that she does not notice Alicia coming to her at some moment and calling her several times.
“Raque-elle?” Alicia pronounces loudly, waving her hand in front of Raquelle’s face. “Answer me! You got buy with dreaming?”
“Huh, what?” Raquelle slightly shakes in surprise.
“I’m calling you for the third time, but you don’t answer.”
“Sorry, Aunt…”
Raquelle tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear with a shy smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear…” Raquelle adds.
“Are you alright?” Raquelle shows anxiety. “You are kind of too quiet.”
“Yes, Aunt, I’m fine! I just got busy with thinking. Dreaming…”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes, don’t worry.”
“Then stop dreaming and come back to us,” Alicia says confidently with a slight smile. “Lexi and I cooked an amazing dinner.”
“Really?”
“One of your favorite dishes. I’m sure you’re gonna love it.”
“I’m gonna surely love it,” Raquelle says with her head proudly raised. “Because I know how well you’ve always cooked.”
“Thanks, honey.”
Raquelle says nothing and just smiles shyly.
“Lexi, sit at the table,” Alicia says softly. “I shall serve you.”
“Maybe, I go home?” Alexis asks thoughtfully. “You do not need me anymore.”
“Don’t you want to talk to Raquelle a little and get to know her a little better?”
“Erm…” Alexis bites her lip slightly. “I just don’t want… To leave my mother alone.”
“Your mother knows you’re at my home,” Alicia notices confidently.
“No, Alicia, thanks, but I will better go home.”
“I thought you’d love to talk to Raquelle and get to know her better.”
“Next time.”
“C’mon, Lexi, don’t be shy. Have dinner with us. My niece and I would be very happy if you joined us.” Alicia moves her eyes to Raquelle. “Right, honey?”
“Erm, yeah…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly, biting her lip slightly. “Right.”
“C’mon, Lexi, sit at the table. Don’t be shy.”
Alexis sighs quietly and sits at the table in front of Raquelle, barely holding down not to tell the girl everything she thinks of her and wishing to find a way to leave and not to have to stay with the one she despises.
“Now…” Alicia pronounces thoughtfully. “One minute…”
A few seconds later, Alicia puts a little bit of what she cooked on plates and places them in front of Alexis and Raquelle.
“We are going to have Wellington beef for dinner,” Alicia says solemnly.
“Oh, I love it!” Raquelle exclaims with a wide smile. “I was dreaming of visiting you and eating your Wellington beef.”
“That’s why I cooked it.”
Meanwhile, Alicia places the third plate on the table and sits next to Alexis.
“So, girls, Bon appétit!” Alicia says with a slight smile.
“Thanks, same to you,” Raquelle thanks amicably.
Silence settles in the air for some time, during which Alicia, Raquelle, and Alexis taste what they see on their plates, holding forks and knives.
“M-m-m, that’s delicious!” Raquelle exclaims with a wide smile, enjoying the taste of one of her favorite dishes. “I’m delighted!”
“Eat, sweetie, eat,” Alicia pronounces softly. “Eat as much as possible.”
“I always say you’re just an amazing cooker.”
“You make me blush.”
“But that’s the truth, Aunt. Whatever you cook, you can do this incredible.”
“Thanks a lot, dear.”
“Amazing…” Raquelle eats a little bit of what she has on her plate with a slight smile. “I’m delighted!”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Alicia smiles shyly. “I did my best for you.”
“You know, probably, your dishes are one of the reasons why I adore being at your home.”
“It’s always a pleasure to me to cook something special for you.”
“For these delicious things, I could forget about any diet. It’s hard to stop when you see a plate with this food.”
“C’mon, my sunshine, what kind of diet when you have such a good body!” Alicia waves her hand.
“I should keep myself in good sharp.”
“If you lose some weight, you will look like a skeleton.”
“Not at all!”
“You actually should gain two or three pounds to look much better.”
“No, Aunt, don’t need it.”
“Remember, sweetie, men don’t like skeletons. They love girls with beautiful curves.”
“Aunt Alicia…”
“Yes, yes, Raquelle, they don’t. So, don’t even dare to torture yourself with diets.”
“You know well that I don’t keep any kind of diet.”
“Wonderful then! If you want to meet a man, you don’t have to be a dead fish.”
“Gosh, Auntie, just don’t drop a hint at anything.”
“What am I hinting at?”
“It’s my time to get married and give birth to children.”
“Of course, it’s time! It’s been time for a few years!”
“Auntie Alicia, please…”
“My gosh, do you still have nobody?”
“Nope, nobody.”
“But why, sweetie?” Alicia wonders and eats a little bit from her plate.
“I don’t like anyone yet.”
“I thought you dated someone for a long time. I thought you would make me happy with the news about getting married and thinking of becoming a mom.”
“Someday, it will happen. But I can’t make you happy now.”
“Gosh, girl, you’re already twenty-three, but you are not still married and without children. What’s your problem?”
“Please, let’s not talk about it,” Raquelle says tiredly.
“Why don't we have to talk about it? C’mon, Raquelle! That’s wrong! You must become a married woman and give birth to a child!”
“Grandpa Frederick does say I should get married almost every day and matches me with any man I know.”
“He’s right, sweetie. Absolutely right.”
“Aunt…”
“It’s time to put your career to second place and think of your personal happiness. At your age, girls get married and give birth to babies, but you’ve never dated anyone yet.”
“But there is nobody I like.”
“You must find a husband, Raquelle,” Alicia insists confidently. “You must have done that a few years ago.”
“But…”
“I am serious, sweetie. You should not delay it. Because when you get old, nobody will get married to you. All good men will marry other girls. And you will not be able to give birth to a baby.”
“I don’t want to get married and give birth to babies now.”
“What do you mean you don't want?”
“I don’t. It’s not the main goal in my life.”
“Raquelle…”
“I ain’t ready to be a married woman. Not ready to say goodbye to my freedom. Not ready to put my career to second place.”
“Gosh, how can you say these things?” Alicia wonders, rounding her eyes. “How could a young, beautiful girl have no wish to live with a husband and give birth to his children?”
“Aunt Alicia…” Raquelle sighs tiredly.
“When your mother was twenty-three, she was married and educating you. She was doing homework and taking care of her husband. But you don’t even want to go on a date with a man.”
“I don’t like anyone from those that want to date me.”
“Is it so hard just to go on a date with a man?”
“I don’t wanna go on a date with someone I don’t like.”
“Look, Raquelle, if you keep rejecting all the men, you will surely miss a moment and become an old maid.”
“Don’t dramatize, Aunt…”
“I am serious, my dear niece! Somehow, you missed a moment when you didn’t get married at the age of eighteen-nineteen. You left the university and got obsessed with your modeling career. But your grandfather and I were sure you would meet someone during the university years and call yourself a mother and a wife after getting a diploma.”
“Please, let’s not talk about it.”
“You aren’t listening to me and your grandfather, but later, you will be crying your eyes out and suffering from loneliness. Feeling sorry about not listening to the older people and rejecting boys that liked you.”
“Gosh, I’m only twenty-three! But you and Grandfather are worried as if I’m gonna turn forty.”
“Life is too short! Time is going too fast! You wouldn’t notice how you would turn thirty. The further, the faster time goes. Youth goes very fast.”
“You’re too obsessed with an idea to marry me and make me give birth to a child.”
“Because we don’t want you to stay alone. You know how it’s bad when nobody needs you, and you have nobody by your side. What are you gonna do when your grandfather dies someday, and I’m getting ready to go to another world? Who will take care of you when you’re old?”
“No, Aunt, don’t say that.”
“Look, Raquelle, if you don’t get married in the next two or three years, Mr. Cameron and I will definitely think of taking care of your happiness.”
“What?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“I’m sure that we will have a familiar person, who would have single sons. So, we would introduce you to someone, you would go on dates and make us happy with the news about your wedding one beautiful day.”
“My God, when a talk is about my personal life, I can stop arguing with you and my grandfather.”
“I have warned you, sweetie. Either you stop rejecting guys and start to go on dates with them, or your grandfather and I do everything and look for a husband for you. And arrange a wedding for you. No matter if you agree or not.”
“Do you want to make me unhappy?”
“Vice versa! We wish you happiness!”
“How could I be happy if I lived with someone I didn't love?”
“But some people do. As they say, you would grow to love.”
“No, Aunt Alicia!” Raquelle sharply cuts off. “I will not let you marry me against my wish.”
“Anyway, I’ve warned you. Either you look for a husband, or you get married to the one Mr. Cameron and I find a decent person.”
Raquelle says nothing and just growls quietly with rolled eyes, getting more sick of the pressure her family puts her under because she is still not married and without children.
“Okay, sweetie, let’s talk about something else,” Alicia says quietly, says nothing for two seconds, and eats a little bit from her plate. “You better tell me about your life.”
“You know everything well,” Raquelle shrugs.
“And how is Mr. Cameron doing there?”
“Grandpa’s fine,” Raquelle replies with a slight smile. “Living, working, not sitting in the same place…”
“I haven’t met him for ages. When we talk, we talk only on the phone.”
“Grandpa often thinks of you and says he would be very happy if you came to visit us.”
“Oh, no, I can’t do this now. I’ve got some problems with money and can’t buy a ticket and go to New York.”
“Don’t they give you a salary?”
“They do, but I spend the money for life. My last trip to Egypt was too expensive. I spent almost everything I saved on the trip abroad. Besides, I should also pay off the debt to my familiar, who lent me money.”
“Oh… I see…”
“But don’t worry, I shall fix it somehow. It’s enough for life, and I’m paying my debt little by little. And when I pay everything, I shall start saving money for a new trip abroad.”
“Anyway, Grandfather and I could help you pay for the trip to New York.”
“Thanks, sweetie, but I’m not planning to go to the USA now.”
“I got it…”
Raquelle eats a little bit from what she has on her plate.
“What about you?” Alicia asks. “Holding on?”
“Yup, I’m trying…” Raquelle nods. “I’m trying to think of good things… Yes, of course, it’s very hard, but still…”
At this moment, Raquelle moves a short look at Alexis and sharply moves it aside with a sense of awkwardness. The blonde herself looks at the girl with true contempt all this time, silently resenting that she is trying to pretend that nothing happened so hard.
“You’re doing this right,” Alicia approves with a slight smile. “Don’t think of something bad and wait for something bad to happen to you very soon.”
“But it’s very hard,” Raquelle confesses thoughtfully.
“I get it, my sweetheart. But alas, it’s life. Not everything may be perfect about it.”
“I know, Aunt.”
Before this moment, Alexis was keeping silent and not stopping to look at Raquelle with contempt in her eyes. But now she decides to break her silence and starts snapping, forgetting about promising Alicia to be gentle towards the girl some time ago.
“Yes, Alicia, you are absolutely right,” Alexis says coldly.
Alicia sharply moves her eyes to Alexis.
“But it’s actually impossible to clear off the shame you would get somehow,” Alexis says confidently.
“Lexi!” Alicia cuts off, being mad at Alexis for not keeping her promise.
“And never make people forget what you did somehow.”
“Shut up now!” Alicia claps Alexis on the hand. “I did tell you to be silent!”
“Excuse me, Alicia, but I am sick of this,” Alexis says coldly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Sick of watching someone that tries to look like an innocent angel and forget what people will never forget.”
At this moment, a smile sharply disappears from Raquelle’s face, and she rounds her eyes and inclines her head, being confused enough.
“Stop making me ashamed!” Alicia demands irritably. “Think of what you’re saying!”
“No, am I not right?” Alexis throws her hands up, rounding her eyes. “Am I not right?”
“Keep your opinion with you!”
“Even if this young lady pretends she doesn’t care about what happened to her, I will never believe it. Never believe this girl, who pretends to be an innocent lamb and a strong girl. Even after she was brought to clear water.”
“Lexi, close your mouth, please!” Alicia hisses, clenching her hand into a fist tightly.
“I thought she would reflect on it and be quieter. But no. This girl is pretending that the scandal did not happen to her.”
“Did you hear what I told you?”
“Listen, Alicia, I understand that you are actually ashamed of your niece deep inside. But I am personally not going to pretend that everything is alright.”
“Alexis!”
“Not going! And I shall tell this liar everything I think of her!”
“Do not make me mad!”
“I will not be silent!” Alexis moves her eyes at Raquelle getting a little white. “Why did you get yourself ashamed, Raquelle Cameron? You were such an innocent angel, who, as the legend said, was kind and had a gold heart and a clean soul. But you actually went on shootings and showered people with mud. You said you were better than everyone! Compared yourself literally with Gods!”
“Lexi!” Alicia pronounces, feeling awkward for Raquelle, who has to listen to this.
“What did those people, who were working with you for so many years and made you a star, do to you? Where is your thank? Where? Or do you think you are better than those people and think a celebrity does not have to thank someone?” Alexis smirks evilly. “Ha, without all those people, you would be now walking somewhere outside and begging. You would be wearing ripped clothes and eating only buckwheat and pasta. No delicious food and good things!”
“Jesus Christ, wash her mind, please…” Alicia begs quietly, putting her hand on her forehead.
“So, you must fall at the feet of those people for making you a star.”
“Can you shut up? Don’t you see that my niece does not like to hear all of this?”
“It’s alright, she can listen! She can hear what she actually is.”
“Alexis!”
“But I do not understand why people love this lady. Why girls imitate her, and why men want to marry her. Is this girl a witch? Did she use a spell for those people?”
At this moment, Raquelle swallows up nervously, inclining her head slightly.
“So, Raquelle, ashamed?” Alexis laughs evilly. “Ashamed of what you did?”
“Do you understand what I am telling you?” Alicia resents getting much angrier because of what Alexis says.
“Someone was probably right when saying someone paid for your fame well.”
“Lexi!”
“How much money did you pay if it’s not a secret? Maybe, I also talk to your sugar daddy? Ask him to give me a job! I would at least help my mother and earn good money! She needs it so badly.”
“Watch your mouth!”
“Yes, yes, I know you are paying not money you have never had but your body. Your young, beautiful body that a forty-year-old man fucks. I see no other explanation for your eternal fame.”
Because of these words, Raquelle barely holds tears down and swallows up nervously, getting a little white from the scare and definitely wishing to be swallowed by the ground.
“Stop, Alexis!” Alicia claps on the table sharply with her hand. “You are crossing all the lines!”
“I just told the truth,” Alexis throws her hands up.
“Close your mouth now!”
“I am not going to tolerate the one to think all the people surrounding her owe her,” Alexis says confidently. “The one to give a damn about those she is working with and owing to because of her loud name.”
“Behave better while you are at my home.”
“Gosh, if someone really wanted, she would become a simple working woman at once. And people would no longer remember her as a famous model that was loved by so many people.”
Alicia barely contains herself not to do anything to Alexis, who makes her angrier and angrier and makes her feel shame for Raquelle. Who gets very nervous because of the memories of everything about Terrence MacClife, who spread the false rumors.
“I…” Raquelle stutters strongly. “I… Erm…”
“Raquelle, sweetie…” Alicia pronounces softly, taking Raquelle’s hands. “I’m begging you, don’t listen to her.”
“You know… I will probably… To go to my room…”
“My girl…”
“Thanks for the delicious dinner, but I wanna go to my room.”
“No, sweetie, stay. Eat your dinner. You ate so little.”
“I ate well enough and no longer feel hungry. And I will eat the other part tomorrow.”
“Raquelle…”
“Excuse me, Aunt Alicia, but I will go to my room. Moreover, I’m very tired and barely slept before dinner.”
“But…” Alicia pronounces, being confused.
“I am tired.”
Raquelle drinks the rest of her fresh juice and gets up from the table slowly.
“Excuse me…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice, being tense enough.
“Sweetie, wait, please…” Alicia begs with pity in her eyes. “Raquelle… Let’s talk. Raquelle! Don’t go! Sweetheart, wait!”
However, Raquelle does not react and goes quickly to her room, while Alicia looks at her with sadness in her eyes. Then the woman moves her eyes to Alexis, who did a thing that made her very mad and made her literally hate the girl.
“Did you go insane?” Alicia resents. “How did you dare to say these things to her? At my home!”
“What did I say?” Alexis wonders without emotions in her eyes. “It was just the clean truth. And I let her know what she actually is.”
“I did ask you to be gentle with her in a good way. What did you do, stupid girl?”
“I am sorry!”
“You want to make me mad? You do this on purpose?”
“Not at all!” Alexis pronounces with no regret. “I just told the truth!”
“Alexis!”
“I am madly mad that she is trying to pretend that nothing happened. She is actually a good, innocent girl.”
“Raquelle has never insulted anyone,” Alicia raises her voice. “She always treats those she worked and works with well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You do believe all those magazines and newspapers that want to earn money in all ways. And people, who are out of the mind.”
“Ah, did your niece insult nobody and never pronounce herself a God?”
“My niece has always loved her close people and said good things about those she worked with.”
“Come on! She loved her haters, as well?”
“She ignored those, who said bad things about her.”
“Ignored?” Alexis wonders, rounding her eyes and smirks evilly. “It’s clear! That girl ran away to her room to cry because of her unlucky life. She is worried the words of those people might ruin her career.”
“Raquelle is just very upset because she is getting showered with mud for nothing. One horrible man did everything for people to believe them, not my niece – an absolutely innocent girl, who was doing her business and hurt nobody. She was never involved in any sort of scandals.”
“It’s clear that she is worried about her ass! That freaking careerist is terribly afraid of losing her job so much and having to work twenty hours per day. Because she understands that she would no longer get so much money and be so famous. She knows if she works as a cashier or a cleaning person, any kind of sex with a rich sugar daddy will not make her famous.”
“Raquelle is not a prostitute to sleep with everyone.”
“Oh, c’mon! We do know how girls get into the music business. So, your niece did it through a bed. As they say, you have to pay for everything.”
“Shut up, Lexi!” Alicia demands rudely. “Do not make me enraged!”
“You say it’s her time to get married. Why does she need it? She does feel good!” Alexis puts her hands on her hips. “She jumps from one bed to another and shoots for commercials and photoshoots. Her career was good, and her fame was paid a few years ahead.”
“Do not dare to insult my niece!” Alicia throws coldly.
“Don’t insist, Alicia. Cameron doesn’t need it all. Do you know why? Because by becoming a married woman, her husband might limit that girl in everything and make her stay home to serve him. Well, why she the hell needs it! There are such perspectives, but you talk about a wedding and children!”
“That’s what you think!”
“Are you so sure your niece dreams of getting married and giving birth to many babies?”
“Any girl wants to have a good husband and many children.”
“No, Alicia, not any girl. That girl is worried about her modeling career much more than a search for her husband and the fact that she should give birth to at least one baby. She is happy to please powerful people.”
Alicia sharply gets up from the table and looks at Alexis with evil in her eyes.
“Listen to me, Alexis…” Alicia starts speaking coldly. “I am done! I am no longer going to take this behavior and let you behave like this at my home.”
“Keep protecting Raquelle, keep doing,” Alexis smirks evilly with her arms crossed over her chest.
“I see you do not understand good words and keep being headstrong.”
“I will do! You wanted me to befriend that girl, but it will not happen. Such a nasty cad like your niece will never be my friend. Never!”
“Fine!” Alicia pronounces confidently. “If it’s so, I will be much crueler. Until you realize your mistake and apologize to Raquelle, I do not want you to visit me at home and help me.”
“What?”
“From now on, I do not wish to hear and see you after what you told my relative.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
“I am! Do not dare to come back here again.”
“Are you ready to do this for a girl?”
“I will keep communicating with your mother,” Alicia says coldly. “What you did will not change our relationship. But remember, Valeria will know what you did. Maybe, your mother would teach you something and make you realize some things.”
“Bloody hell…” Alexis simpers quietly.
“I do not want to see you until you realize your mistake and apologize to the innocent girl. I do not need your help anymore. If I need something, I have Raquelle. She would do anything for me.”
Alexis silently moves her gloomy eyes aside.
“So, now, I am asking you to leave my apartment,” Alicia demands confidently. “Keep insulting my niece and believing she did what she was blamed for. And I shall be doing my best for her to feel good here. So, she has a good time here.”
“You are crazy…” Alexis shakes her head.
“Go, Alexis!” Alicia points at the door, letting Alexis know she should leave the apartment. “Come back when you want to apologize to Raquelle.”
“Alright, Alicia, I shall leave your apartment,” Alexis throws coldly. “But remember, I am not going to apologize to that girl because I am not guilty of her. May Cameron apologize to the whole world for being a brainless doll, who forgot who made a loud name for her.”
“Leave, I said!”
“Stay happy!” Alexis gets up sharply from the table. “Don’t get exhausted while taking care of that queen, who pronounced herself a star. And do not regret your decision when she does the same thing to you that she did to others.”
Alexis turns around sharply and quickly leaves the apartment, slamming the door loudly, while Alicia watches the young girl with a gloomy look and shakes her head with a quiet sigh. After what happened, her mood gets much worse, and she is a little shocked by the behavior of the one, who never acted like this. The woman always knew her young neighbor as a very gentle girl, who was so gentle and sweet. But she is much more ashamed in front of Raquelle, who got through not the best time while Alexis was insulting her.
“Oh, God…” Alicia sighs tiredly. “It’s all too hard… Too hard…”
A few seconds later, Alicia, not thinking much, confidently goes to the room of her niece to talk to her about what happened. But when she comes to the door, the woman notices it’s locked.
“Raquelle…” Alicia pronounces softly and quietly knocks at the door. “Raquelle! Can we talk?”
“I’ve already gone to sleep, Aunt,” Raquelle lies through the door in a shaking voice.
“Please, sweetie, open the door. I wanna talk to you.”
“No, let’s talk tomorrow.”
“For God’s sake…”
“I didn’t get enough sleep, and I want to fall asleep earlier. Have a rest after a long flight.”
“Raquelle, please, don’t get mad at Lexi,” Alicia begs with pity in her eyes through the door. “She never acted like this before.”
“It’s okay, Auntie, I’m not angry at her.”
“I don’t know what happened to her. That girl was always very sweet and was never rude. At least, to me.”
“I believe you.”
“I tried to talk to her and make her say nothing about this terrible story. But she didn’t keep her promise.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Raquelle says a little hesitantly, actually being upset and depressed after Alexis’s words.
“Listen, honey, I’m really very sorry about what happened. I’m ashamed of Lexi and her words.”
“Don’t be, Aunt. It’s okay.”
“Raquelle, please…”
“Leave me alone. I wanna have a rest.”
“For God’s sake, open the door,” Alicia begs with pity in her eyes. “I wanna talk to you!”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have the strength.”
“My heart hurts when you feel bad.”
“Nothing bad happened.”
“My girl…”
“I promise I shall wake up and talk to you about it tomorrow,” Raquelle promises quietly. “Now I would like to sleep.”
“But you ate almost nothing!”
“No, I ate enough.”
“Raquelle…”
“Please, Auntie, give me a chance to have some rest. I completely understand you’re worried about me. But believe me, there is no meaning to do.”
“Oh…” Alicia thinks for a few seconds and decides not to insist on what she wants. “Okay, honey. We will talk about it tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Raquelle replies quietly.
“I think you… Really better sleep after a long trip.”
“It’s okay, Auntie,” Raquelle says as confidently as possible. “Really… Do your business and think of nothing.”
“Okay, I shall believe you.”
“Thanks again for the delicious dinner. I really loved it.”
“Okay. Good night then.”
“Thanks. Same to you.”
Alicia stands near the door for some time, thinking about something with sadness in her eyes. And then she slowly turns around and leaves, deciding not to bother Raquelle until tomorrow and to give her a chance to calm down and have a rest after a long flight on the airplane. She goes to the kitchen and starts taking and washing the dishes after dinner, which has ended, saying softly, not very well.
Doing all of this, the woman cannot get rid of the sense of shame for her niece because of what Alexis did. Even if Alicia understands that her neighbor should be ashamed and ask her relative for forgiveness for being mean to her. Anyway, she promises to do her best to take care of Raquelle and her mental health and help her come to herself after what happened.
And because it’s not a very late time, Alicia decides to go to her room after washing the dishes and watch TV before she goes to sleep. But even watching shows does not help her get off the thoughts about how her neighbor behaved toward her niece, who got so upset by that, refused to leave her room, talked to her aunt not too much, and ate almost nothing during the dinner.
***
Meanwhile, Raquelle is sitting in her room and barely holding her tears down. She makes absolutely sure that she is not going to feel quiet here, and everyone will remind her of the scandal, which will definitely impact her reputation badly and will make her hide from people and be afraid to go in public until the end of her life. In this case, she will hardly make her grandfather Frederick and her aunt Alicia happy with the news about getting a boyfriend, because nobody will even wish to talk to the girl, who allegedly behaved so disgustingly toward people, who were so nice to her and did so much to her.
“As I thought, that girl will not let me live here quietly,” Raquelle thinks, lying on her bed and looking at the ceiling with dead eyes. “And because she is a neighbor of Aunt, who comes to visit her and helps her do something, I will have to run into her often. I will often have to hear all those terrible things that everyone is talking about on TV, the Internet, and magazines. And be very careful if I wanna walk somewhere. Pick up time when there are not so many people outside.”
Raquelle sighs tiredly with closed eyes.
“What if my aunt is right that I just need to wait for a while. It will not last forever. Any scandal always gets forgotten after people talk about everything. They will talk a little and will forget about me. They’ll find a new victim… If that idiot, MacClife will not give people a reason to talk about me again and again. And I don’t know when he will calm down. When he gets sick of playing this game with me. However, I wanna believe that he will not have ideas for rumors someday. Anyway, I will not leave it unnoticed. I will not forget about the offense silently. I will not listen to my grandfather, who always tells me not to pay attention to someone, who insults you. I should do it! If I don’t show where the person belongs, they will think that nothing will happen to them. And they will keep mocking me, getting pleasure from it. Once, I didn’t find the courage to kick Ashley’s ass, and she tortured me for the years that we studied at school. But this time, I will do a different thing. Terrence can do whatever he wants, but he will not shut me up. He will not shut me up…”
At some moment, Raquelle has to stop being busy with her thoughts because she gets a notification on her mobile phone. She understands it thanks to the quiet sound and a slight vibration.
“Oh, God, who’s there?” Raquelle moans tiredly. “Is there someone to be so brave for deciding to tell me everything personally?”
Raquelle sits up slowly, reaches for her phone, unblocks it, and runs her eyes over the text of the notification, which notifies her about the new message on her email from the unknown sender.
“Oh, here you are…” Raquelle throws gloomily. “When I thought about him, he decided to send me a letter… So, let’s see what that idiot wrote…”
Raquelle opens the text of the new letter, which is really from the anonymous, whom she knows about, and which seems a little shorter this time than all the letters that she received before:
“Hi, Raquelle!
You can’t even imagine how much pleasure I get from reading all the latest news about you. I really like watching what’s happening. I like watching some famous people find the courage to tell everyone about all your demons. Which I didn't know anything about, just saying. Really. I didn’t think you were such a spoiled bitch. All these confessions make me really shocked. But I must confess that it’s even good for me. Those people are helping me drown you. They’re helping me turn your life into hell and make you afraid to even show up outside. Everything is doing much better than I planned. I will surely contact those people, and thank them generously for the help that I value endlessly. Who knows, maybe, they will even want to tell me some interesting information that I can use for my own benefit.
Yes, there are not so many brave people, but trust me, there will be more and more of them every day. Soon, everyone will know who Raquelle Cameron is in real life. However, all this truth will be mixed with a little lie, which everyone will believe for sure. No matter what good people say about you, nobody will believe it. And your attempts to excuse yourself and apologize will seem like a wish to be good. However, as I see, you don’t rush to say something and show up in public. M-m-m… Nobody has seen you for several days. The baby hid… You wanted to play seek and hide…
I don’t know where you are hiding now, but trust me, New York is not excited! Everyone’s looking for you! Everyone wants your explanations! And everyone is so disappointed that you don’t want to make them happy. You don’t want to give people a reason to turn their backs on you and deprive you of any chance to build your career as if nothing happened. So, alright, then, keep doing the same thing. I don’t mind it. But it will not help you. At all. Vice versa, you will make your situation much worse. And I am not going to stop. I will be adding fuel to the fire and watching you burn slowly in it without any chance to be rescued.”
“Okay, so, the war is continuing…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “Okay, I wasn’t the one to start it all… Keep sending me the letters. I will save every single letter and show all of them to you if you, asshole, dare to say that you didn’t do that. You will not avoid the punishment. If I have to, I will sue you. We will talk in the court.”
Raquelle turns off her smartphone, puts it on the table near the bed, and puts her head on the pillow, being afraid to imagine what may happen because of Terrence’s attempts to shower her with mud but being determined to make her offender pay for all her suffering and insults, which she has to hear from her friends and familiar people and those, who she does not know at all.
***
A new day. It’s twelve o’clock in the morning. Today is gloomy and quite cold outside. Despite the bad weather, Raquelle decided to walk in the city where she was many years ago the last time and call the memories of old times she spent here when coming to visit her aunt. Being a half British girl and a half American girl, the girl understands the slang of the inhabitants and does not get confused when she hears someone talking to her with a clear British accent. The girl heard this speech in childhood from her late mother Elizabeth and her aunt Alicia, and she knows all the rules very well.
Alexis did not come back to Alicia’s apartment when Raquelle left. The girl still feels upset after what happened at yesterday’s dinner, which did not end too well. She is worried the young neighbor of her aunt could easily make her time in London real hell and do something bad many times. However, the brunette was ready that at least someone would love to remind her of what happened some time ago.
Nevertheless, Raquelle decides to think about it less and just enjoy walking in the city, slowly going where her eyes look and watching other people going somewhere or getting busy with their business. She is also very happy that meeting the paparazzi is such a very frequent thing in London as it is in New York. Thanks to this, the girl can quietly walk outside and pass by people, who do not care about her. Luckily, she was worried for nothing, and her close people were right, Vice versa, everyone silently goes by her as if she is an ordinary habitant of the city that goes somewhere to do her business all alone. However, it does not always happen…
At some moment, Raquelle comes to the traffic light, near which there are already a lot of people. The red light is turned on for pedestrians, who are impatiently waiting for the sign to cross the road, and the green light is turned on for cars, buses, and other transport, which are going straightly and following all the rules of the road. The girl thinks about something and looks at some signs, posters with advertisements and middle-sized buildings where there are some public authorities that give habitants some important services. But later, two young girls stand next to her and, getting her horrified, start talking about what hurts her heart so much and does not let her relax.
“Yes, she hasn’t shown up,” the girl with dark red hair says. “That mode hasn’t shown up in public for several days, and she refuses to comment on the scandal.”
“She probably got ashamed, and that’s why she is hiding in her hole!” the other girl with blonde hair exclaims. “She hopes that everyone will forget her and love her as if nothing happened.”
“She just has nothing to say to excuse herself! She completely understands that someone has finally decided to reveal her and tell everyone what a bitch she actually is.”
“Aha! Do you remember how hard she was pretending to be an angel? How hard she was pretending to be holy!”
“Yeah, she was showing all of her thirty-two teeth! Her jaw hurt because of how hard she was trying to make everyone blinded by her smile.”
“God, I don’t understand who actually decided to promote that gal? That Raquelle has nothing special! If she removed her makeup, you would see that an ordinary, non-memorable girl is hidden under it.”
“It’s clear that she worked her as well, if she was even pronounced one of the sexiest women in the world.”
“You know, friend, I know girls, who are much sexier than that hysterical lady. The hysterical lady, who has driven so many good and innocent girls crazy.”
“Yeah, she started it in her childhood when she put her schoolmates under bullying.”
“I’m sorry that she was revealed many years later. In the worst case, she wouldn’t have been able to start her career and get famous in the beginning.”
“It’s clear how much she terrified her victims! Just like a man, who rapes a girl and threatens literally to kill her if she dared to say something to someone. So, Cameron will probably do the same thing to those people.”
“I am sorry that we sometimes choose the wrong idols. When I was Raquelle’s fan, I thought she was a sweet and decent girl, but she was just pretending to be the one.”
“She should’ve become an actress, not a model. Not everyone could show love for fans and respect for those, who surround them, so skillfully.”
“Oh, I’m begging you! I saw the episodes, in which she had a minor role. She is an absolutely talentless, empty shell! No emotions, no talent… I don’t actually want to feel sorry for her. All of her characters are the same as she.”
“Now I doubt that she was true during her live translations when answering some questions.”
“Of course, she wasn’t! Cameron just said what her managers wrote on a piece of paper.”
“And she ignored bad questions and only paid attention to the ones, which praised her like a goddess.”
“That’s right! That’s right! She was kind of getting pleasure from these comments.”
“Raquelle is absolutely false! I don’t believe any of her words! I don’t believe that she is really as confident as she says in all of her interviews.”
“Yeah, I also think she is lying in this case. It’s clear that she feels terribly uncomfortable.”
“But now it’s clear why she is behaving like this. Raquelle has always been an insecure girl with a lot of complexes, but she denied it so hard. She’s been trying to assert herself at the expense of others. She thought that she would feel much better if she humiliated and insulted others.”
“Agree, the problem is in her head.”
“What do you want, darling? She doesn’t have a mother or a father! She is an orphan! What could she learn from the old grandfather, who probably has a lot of illness! He hardly educated her seriously. I am sure that he closed his eyes to his granddaughter's tricks.”
“Because nobody beat her on the ass with a belt and paid attention to her, she grew up into an egoist. A thankless pig that thought that she would get something if she stepped on others.”
“And the most offensive thing is that it’s too late to fix something. Raquelle has grown up and become a persona. Trying to make her a good girl doesn’t make sense. She will remain a nasty bitch.”
“And I hope that she will learn some lessons from this situation.”
“No, sweetie, Cameron will understand nothing. You will see, she will show up soon, shed a couple of tears for the camera to make people believe in her trueness, apologize to people untruly, and keep doing what she is doing. Life will not teach her anything. Never.”
“But that girl does not rush to show up.”
“It’s okay, she will have to do this. She will have to turn on the talentless actress mode and explain everything.”
“Someone like her will be lonely and unhappy all the life. Raquelle will never get married and give birth to children. It will be great if she gets a shabby cat and lives the rest of her life with it.”
“Oh, she doesn’t need it so much! Cameron is obsessed with herself much more. She doesn’t need any men!”
“Maybe, it’s even good. I wouldn’t like a good man to run into that egoist and fall in love with her.”
“Now everyone knows well how many hearts of the men she has broken. Raquelle rejects everyone, who has ever confessed their sympathy for her.”
“Anyway, they have a wonderful chance to take revenge on that girl and tell the whole world who she actually is.”
“And some of them have already used it. Some men were deeply hurt by the fact that she rejected them. And they caught the wave with pleasure.”
“I imagine how shocked Cameron is now when reading articles about herself on the Internet and checking out her social networks. There are so many dirty things there that she couldn’t see them in her dreams.”
“It’s okay, she should read them. She must be aware of everything.”
“You’re right. May she enjoy it.”
After laughing evilly, the girls look around and pay attention to Raquelle standing next to them, hearing this whole talk, barely holing her tears down, and asking herself how much she will have to overcome this terrible torture, while her face is turned aside.
“Hey, don’t you think that this girl is very similar to Raquelle?” the blonde addresses her friend in a whisper.
“The one, who is standing next to us?” the red-haired girl specifies. “With dark glasses?”
“Yes. Look, she is kind of similar.”
“I don’t know… Not sure… She doesn’t look similar…”
“But notice that she is the same anorexic girl as Cameron.”
“No, friend, it’s not Raquelle. This one has a puffy face. Without makeup. And her hair is hidden under an ugly hat. Our model would hardly put on something like this. She wants only the best and the most beautiful things.”
“I don’t know, but she’s very similar.”
“If you want, you can ask her.”
“C’mon, I’d feel embarrassed! I’d feel embarrassed if we were wrong!”
“Oh, c’mon! Any girl, who is more or less similar to that model one hundred percent hears these questions from people, who think she is Raquelle Cameron.”
“You are wrong…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly in a low voice, deciding to meddle in the talk of the girls.
“Excuse me?” the red-haired girl frowns slightly, moving her eyes to Raquelle.
“I am not the one, who you think I am. I am not Raquelle Cameron.”
“Oh, we are really sorry…” the blonde says hesitantly. “But you really reminded us of that model a lot.”
“Nope, you are wrong. I am not similar to her at all.” Raquelle swallows up nervously. “And… I don’t want to be… Similar to that… Selfish egoist.”
“Yeah, I think we are wrong… Forgive us, for God’s sake.”
“It’s alright. I get it.”
“And do not pay attention to what we’re talking about,” the red-haired girl says thoughtfully. “It’s our personal things…”
“Talk about what you want. It’s your right.”
“We are really sorry…”
“It’s alright.”
Raquelle moves her eyes to the traffic light, which changes its light to green, saving her from the threat that the girls will guess that she is lying to them and is actually the model, who they are talking about so excitedly.
“I think it’s green…” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “Sorry, I have to go…”
Raquelle quickly starts crossing the road alongside the other pedestrians, who do not waste time and rush to go on the other side and go to do their business. The friends look at each other questioningly and keep talking about something, making themselves sure that they are really wrong and did not recognize Raquelle as the one, whom they were talking about with such strong hate while standing next to her.
Although this talk makes the girl very upset, she finds the strength to forget it and continue to enjoy the walk in London, completely understanding that she cannot think about the same things all the time. So, Raquelle exhales sharply with close eyes and, raising her head proudly, keeps slowly examining every single corner of the mother city of her late mother, most of which are associated with incredibly warm memories.
“Ah, gosh, how much I love London…” Raquelle thinks with a slight smile. “This place means so much to me… I feel like home. I feel some kind of connection. Attraction. Which would let me live in New York or London.”
Raquelle glances aside.
“I still clearly remember the days when I was a baby and often was here,” Raquelle calls the memories. “I was playing with some toys at Aunt’s home all day long. She often took me to museums, theaters, shops… Attended some attractions in the city. Aunt told me very much about life in England and taught me to speak British English. It all happened like yesterday. Aunt and I were walking on these streets, talking about something and feeling so happy like it was yesterday.”
Raquelle sighs quietly and throws a look at a building she saw in childhood and memorized well, thinking it has not changed for so many years. And actually, she sees many places that have not changed since she was a child. However, there are those that were destroyed a long time ago. Instead of them, they built something different.
“Ah, it was the best time in my life,” Raquelle thinks. “There was no reason to worry about something… I just spent time with Auntie and discovered something new every day. I had no time to worry… I forgot how they humiliated me at school. I forgot the pain I had because of my parents’ death. I felt very good. So easy. So funny.”
Raquelle silently sighs because of her own thoughts.
“My gosh, if I could come back to that time when I thought there was no evil in the world…” Raquelle thinks with sadness in her eyes. “Kindness and justice rule the one. When being bullied by my schoolmates was my worst tragedy. When my biggest fear was speaking to those, who were laughing at me. At least, the care and love of my aunt and grandfather made that time less horrible. Thanks to them, I managed to get through all of that and keep moving on.”
Raquelle walks in some parks and shops for a long time for a long enough time, trying to enjoy every single moment and getting pleasure from a slow walk in the places where she was in childhood. She gets pleasure from these simple things. Due to her work, the girl, unfortunately, had not much time to walk in the city quietly, go to shops and see what other people do and how they live. She always rushed somewhere and went from one place to another for a few shootings, which were scheduled per day.
***
Some time later, Raquelle decides to come back to Alicia’s home. The taxi drives the girl quickly to the place where Alicia’s apartment is located. After paying for the trip, the girl quickly enters the building, goes up to the right floor, and comes to the apartment of her aunt. She easily opens the door with a key, which the woman already gave her, and closes it after she enters the apartment. Then she takes off her outer clothes and shoes, leaves them all where they should be, and goes to the living room.
Raquelle is surprised that she does not find Alicia. The girl quickly checks the kitchen and does not see her aunt there. She assumes the woman decided to go somewhere, even if she does not see any note or something like that. However, Raquelle does not have any anxiety about the fact that Alicia is gone. After making herself sure that she would be back soon, the girl decides to go to her room.
But at some moment, she notices Alexis suddenly leaving one of the rooms. It’s the one Raquelle did not actually expect to see here. The young blonde is quietly watering the flowers placed on the windowsill with a little watering can, acting as if nothing happened, and singing quietly a song under her nose. The brunette gets a little confused and thinks about what to do for a few seconds, saying hello to Alexis and pretending that nothing happened yesterday or just passing by and saying nothing. She prefers the second variant. However, she does not have to do this because the blonde notices the girl, who just came back, and says something to her suspiciously gently:
“Oh, good afternoon, Ms. Cameron…”
“Erm, good afternoon…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly. “Alexis…”
“Are you back?”
“Yeah… I am…”
“Alright… Erm…” Alexis throws a look at the flowers and a little watering can in her hands. “I… I’m watering the plants…”
“I see,” Raquelle nods.
“Just… Alicia just loves them very much and asks me to watch them when she has no time.”
“Alright…”
“She loves having flowers, but she’s got so much to do that she doesn’t have time to do it. She had very many flowers, but somehow she stopped taking care of them, and she doesn’t give them enough attention. That’s why many of them died.”
“That’s how…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully, getting suspicious because Alexis is too amiable and a little hesitant but remaining quiet and showing no aggression.
“So… Alicia asked me to water the other flowers every day. She doesn’t want them to die, too.”
“I get it…”
Raquelle says nothing for two seconds, still looking at Alexis with a suspect and being truly surprised by the behavior of the young girl, who told her many bad things yesterday.
“My Aunt is working at the university,” Raquelle adds hesitantly. “She goes there almost every day.”
“Right,” Alexis nods. “And when it’s time for exams, she is always back home very late.”
“I know…” Raquelle nods hesitantly, trying not to make Alexis mad and to be as gentle with her as possible. “By the way, haven’t you seen my aunt? Did she go somewhere or stay home?”
“No, Alicia is in her room,” Alexis replies hesitantly.
“Her room?”
“Yeah. Sorting her books out. Probably, looking for something.”
“Wow… I did not think of checking her room.”
“Did you probably go to the city?”
“Erm, yeah, I wanted to walk in the city a little.” Raquelle cracks a slight smile. “But then it started to snow. So, I had to catch a taxi and go home. Because I had no umbrella with me.”
“It seems like it was supposed to be snowy today…” Alexis says thoughtfully.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Honestly, I didn’t check the weather.”
“Alright.” Alexis glances aside. “I hope you like being here?”
“Very much,” Raquelle nods confidently. “I adore London and walk in it with pleasure.”
“Really?”
“Yeah… When I was a kid, Aunt Alicia showed me the city with pleasure and often took me to a museum or a theatre.”
“As far as I understand, are you half British and half American?”
“Right, I’ve got British decent thanks to my mother, Aunt Alicia’s younger sister… And my father was an American.”
“I’m sorry those people are gone.”
“I would also love them to be alive… But it’s impossible, sadly.”
“Alicia often calls memories of her sister and her brother-in-law.”
“I still can’t take the fact that my parents are dead. They died when I was a kid.”
“I get it…”
Alexis nods with sadness in her eyes, while Raquelle looks around hesitantly, feeling some kind of awkwardness.
“Erm, okay, I…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully. “I shall go. I will not bother you. Do what you should do, and I will go to my aunt’s room.”
Raquelle turns around and wants to leave, but Alexis stops her after she watches her with sadness in her eyes for two seconds.
“Ms. Cameron, wait, please,” Alexis pronounces quietly, slowly coming closer to Raquelle.
“What’s wrong?” Raquelle asks quietly, turning on Alexis.
“Erm, I…”
Alexis folds her hands in front of her, sometimes moving her eyes down and looking a little tense.
“Ms. Cameron, I would like to…” Alexis says with sadness in her eyes. “To apologize to you for what happened yesterday.”
“Huh?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.
“Forgive me, please.” Alexis inclines her head slightly, sometimes looking at Raquelle shamelessly. “I knew I was behaving badly and told you many bad things. But I would love to make amends to you and let you know I’m really very sorry.”
“It’s alright, Alexis,” Raquelle says quietly, being surprised by these words. “I’m not mad at you.”
“It’s true, Ms. Cameron. I am really ashamed of what I did to you.”
“Don’t think about it. I am not a banknote to be loved by everyone. Everyone can say anything they want about me. It’s quite fine… There will always be those, who disagrees with everyone’s opinion. There will be those, who would go against them.”
“Aren’t you really mad?”
“No, I am not,” Raquelle smiles shyly.
“Ms. Cameron…”
“Let’s just forget what happened and consider it just a misunderstanding.”
“So easily?” Alexis hesitantly moves her eyes to Raquelle. “Do you really agree?”
“Of course, I do,” Raquelle pronounces confidently.
“Oh, thank you so much, Ms. Cameron…” Alexis smiles slightly. “Thanks…”
“Let’s not think of the fact that our first meeting was not very good to start it over again.”
“You made me feel great relief.”
“Glad you got better.”
“I promise I will no longer say a bad word about you. Not just for Alicia. Because it would be great if we got on well.”
“I wish we got on well.”
“Thanks, Ms. Cameron, you’re very nice to me.”
“Call me just Raquelle,” Raquelle says softly.
“Just Raquelle?”
“Yes. Honestly, I don’t actually like words like ‘Ms.,’ ‘Mr.’, and ‘Mr.’ I don’t like when I’m addressed ‘Ms. Cameron.’ It’s too… Official…”
“Alright, as you wish. Then you can also call me just Lexi.”
“Alright, Lexi.”
“Probably, it would be much better. Because you and I have almost the same age.”
“Same age?”
“Well, yeah…” Alexis smiles shyly. “At the moment, I’m twenty-two…”
“Twenty-two?”
“Yup. My birthday was in October. On the 15th.”
“That’s how… And I’m twenty-three, if you didn’t know.”
“Of course, I know. You’re by far not an unknown person.”
“Yeah…” Raquelle cracks a smile. “Well… So what? Do you agree to start everything again?”
With these words, Raquelle gives her hand to Alexis, who smiles slightly and nods confidently.
“Agree!” Alexis exclaims with her head proudly raised. “Without a doubt!”
Alexis shakes Raquelle shyly by the hand given to her and smiles wider and wider with a sense of great relief. Later, the girls break their handshake say nothing for a few seconds, and glance at different sides.
“Okay, I’ll go to my aunt,” Raquelle says thoughtfully. “But if you need something, you can ask me.”
“Alright, thanks,” Alexis nods.
Raquelle turns around with a slight smile and quietly goes to Alicia’s room, thinking about something. After coming up to the door, the girl quietly knocks at it with a fist and opens it slowly. She sees the woman looking for something among many of her books lying on the bed or the floor.
“Aunt, are you here?” Raquelle asks shyly.
“Raquelle?” Alicia pronounces amazingly, sharply moving her eyes to the door and rounding her eyes.
“Can I come in? Or are you busy?”
“No, no…”
Alicia puts a book she is holding on the bed and turns on Raquelle.
“Come in, sweetie!” Alicia allows softly, looking a little tense and even kind of scared. “Don’t be shy.”
“You’ve got a very cute room,” Raquelle notices, coming into the room and closing the door. “But it’s small.”
“I don’t need a large one. The important thing is that the room is lighted up. My vision has lately gotten worse in the past few years.”
“I noticed… You didn’t wear glasses before.”
“Yeah, but I can barely see up close. I could easily read and see anything from afar. But when I, for example, need to check the works of my students, I don’t do it without glasses.”
“I got it…”
“By the way, what about the city?” Alicia asks, starting to examine her books again.
“Wonderful,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “Of course, something changed after my last visit, but everything is almost the same.”
“Did you call the memories of you and me walking literally in the whole city?”
“It was an amazing time…”
“Right…”
“Of course, I would’ve walked longer, but then heavy snow started outside. I walked a little, but then I got kind of cold and decided to come back here.”
“That’s right!” Alicia exclaims. “If only you didn’t get ill! And lie in a bed with a fever and pain in your throat. Moreover, your clothes are kind of light, though, it’s not summer outside. ”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Anyway, you can always walk later.”
“Sure. I’m gonna have a lot of time to walk in my favorite places. And if you have time and a wish, we could go somewhere together.”
“Sure, my happiness. You and I will surely go somewhere.”
“Great!” Raquelle smiles slightly.
“When I have a free day, we will go somewhere together.”
“Okay, I will be waiting.”
“By the way, if you want to eat something, there is enough delicious food in a refrigerator.” Alicia distracts from examining her books. “You can take anything you want or cook something. Everything is for you.”
“Thanks a lot, but I want to eat nothing now,” Raquelle refuses amicably with a slight smile.
“Okay, as you wish. But if you want something, don’t be shy.”
“Thanks.” Alicia starts sorting out her books of different lengths in dark-colored covers again. “By the way, have you seen Lexi?”
“Erm, yeah, I did,” Raquelle shrugs. “She’s watering the plants in the living room.”
“Great.”
“She said you asked her to watch them.”
“It’s true. I don’t have time to watch them. But I don’t wanna throw them off. Moreover, some flowers have already died because I didn’t take care of them at all.”
“Yeah, I heard.” Raquelle thinks about something for two seconds. “By the way, what’s that girl doing here? You kicked her out and told her not to come back here anymore.”
“I let her in after I made her promise that she would apologize to you,” Alicia replies confidently.
“And Lexi just apologized to me for yesterday’s dinner.”
“Apologized?”
“Yes. She was amazingly nice and never insulted me after she saw me. I thought that girl would attack me, but her behavior got me, honestly, surprised.” Raquelle chuckles with her mouth closed with her hand. “Don’t you know what happened to her last night? Why did she decide to change her mind and become so amicable to me? Did some powers change her mind like this?”
“No, honey,” Alicia laughs amicably, shaking her head. “The case is not about magic.”
“But what?”
“I really kicked Lexi out of here and said she would come back to my apartment only in case she realized her mistake and apologized to you.”
“Well, she did it.”
“Yeah, but yesterday, that girl got me very upset. I asked Lexi to be gentle to you in a good way, but she did not keep her promise.”
“It’s okay.”
“I am really sorry for what happened. I was really ashamed of my neighbor.”
“It’s okay, Aunt Alicia, don’t think about it.”
“But I’m very glad she did follow my conditions and did not lie to me.”
“By the way, when did she come here?”
“Erm…” Alicia falls into silence for two seconds and then smiles shyly. “Lexi came here after you left somewhere. I first thought it was you. But after I opened the door, I saw her.”
“That’s how?” Raquelle pronounces amazingly.
“I didn’t believe her at first and told her to leave, but that girl was headstrong.”
“Weren’t you afraid she could lie?”
“I thought Lexi was truly sorry. So, after thinking a little, I decided to give her a chance. At least, I didn’t want to make my relationship with Valeria, her mother, worse. I could say I forgave her just for her.”
“Maybe, her mother changed her mind?”
“I don’t know. At least, I told Valeria nothing. I wanted to do it a little later and ask her to talk to her daughter, who was too insolent yesterday. But Lexi came earlier. At her wish.”
***
The same day earlier.
“What do you need, Alexis?” Alicia asks gloomily when she hears a doorbell and opens the door.
Alicia looks not too happy with the visit of her young neighbor, Alexis, who behaved not very well at the dinner with her and Raquelle, who came to visit her aunt yesterday. Because of the behavior of this young blonde, the dinner that was supposed to be quiet was eventually over not in the way she wanted. After she insulted her niece, the woman kicked her neighbor out of the apartment and claimed she did not wish to speak to her.
She thought Alexis would never come to apologize. But she did it – she is standing on the doorstep of Alicia’s apartment, looking at her with pity in her eyes and nervously shifting her weight from one leg to another. Looking very tense and being kind of afraid that her apologies would not be accepted.
“I did say that I did not wish to see you after what happened,” Alicia adds coldly.
“Please, Alicia, forgive me for what happened yesterday at the dinner,” Alexis begs with pity in her eyes, folding her hands in front of her. “I’m really very sorry that it all happened.”
“If you think I will easily forget what a bad thing you did to my niece and did not do what I asked you about, you are wrong. I will not close my eyes to that.”
“Don’t be mad at me…”
“You hear what I said?”
“I did it not on purpose, I swear.”
“I don’t care.”
“I’m very sorry that it all happened.”
“Go, Alexis, I do not wish to talk to you and am not going to believe any word of you.”
When Alicia wants to close the door, Alexis does not let her do it, tightly grabbing the door handle.
“Please, forgive me…” Alexis begs with pity in her eyes.
“I said I did not want to talk to you,” Alicia recalls coldly.
“Listen, I know I did a bad thing. And I realized my fault. Your niece just came to visit you, but I made her mood worse and made her cry on the same day. I did my best to make her impression of being in London for the first day worse.”
“You do believe the bullshit that has been written by a sick stinker. Who wants to humiliate my girl and make her life worse.”
“No, I…”
“I don’t care if you believe – it’s your business. You can think of anything you want. But you did not hold yourself down and behaved just disgustingly. Not only did you remind her of what happened, but you also insulted her.”
“I know…”
Alexis slowly comes into the apartment of Alicia, who shakes her head, without permission.
“I should not have said that…” Alexis pronounces much quieter.
“Remember, Alexis, my Raquelle is not a slut that sleeps with men for money and fame,” Alicia says confidently, raising her index finger. “Our family raised her as a good girl, who would never sell her body for anything. Who would never lie in a bed with a man for money and a career. She would lie in a bed only with her future husband.”
“Yeah, I crossed the line, I agree…” Alexis confesses with pity in her eyes.
“How did you actually care to say that? With me, her own aunt!”
“Forgive me, Alicia. I swear I don’t consider Raquelle a slut, who is provided by some sugar daddies. I… I don’t know what I was thinking of when daring to say the fame of that girl was paid by a powerful man.”
“You know, sometimes you need to think much before you do something.”
Alicia locks the hall door and crosses her arms over her chest.
“You took a bad example from your friend Jacqueline,” Alicia says gloomily. “Who also has got a long tongue and doesn’t think when saying something.”
“Please, Alicia, forgive me,” Alexis begs, looking at Alicia with wet eyes.
“If you really thought and then did, everything would be otherwise.”
“I promise it will never happen again. And I shall no longer show disrespect for Raquelle.”
“How do I know you’re saying it truly now?” Alicia crosses her arms over her chest.
“I am telling the truth.”
“Did you do it at the plea of your mother, who didn’t want to make my relationship with her worse because of your stupid thing?”
“No, no, I swear, Mother doesn’t know what happened yesterday,” Alexis jabs excitedly. “And I don’t want her to know. If you tell my mother that, she will swear at me.”
“You know, it would be great if Valeria explained something to you.”
“No, please, no!”
“If your mother knew not only that but also some other disgusting acts of you, she would punish you and teach you good manners.”
“I’m begging you, say nothing to her!” Alexis begs with pity in her eyes, shaking her head. “Don’t tell my mother about yesterday’s dinner and all my bad acts.”
“I don’t care about your other acts. Even if I don’t approve of what you do because of your spoiled friend’s influence. But I’m not going to close my eyes to what’s done against my niece.”
“I did tell you I wanted to apologize for what happened!”
“Remember, Alexis, I am ready to tear anyone for my girl. Anyone. I shall not let anyone insult or hurt her somehow. Especially, now, when people are against her because of a nasty person. I don’t know what they want from her, but I will not stand it and never turn my back on my niece.”
“Yes, I still believe there might be some part of the truth about this story. But I promise, if you forgive me and are not mad at me, I will show respect for Raquelle and try to talk to her well. At least, for you.”
“Why did you decide to change your mind and come to me to ask for forgiveness?” Alicia frowns slightly, putting her hands on her hips. “Huh, girl? Are you so afraid of your mother that you are ready to do what’s unpleasant for you?”
“Do you think I’m lying to you?” Alexis asks in a little shaking voice.
“Maybe, you are!”
“I swear, Alicia, it’s true. I’m truly regretting what I said to this girl. And I understand I should’ve held myself down.”
“I don’t believe you,” Alicia says confidently, shaking her head. “You don’t feel sorry.”
“No, I’m really very sorry…”
“Alexis…”
“I swear I’m ready to do anything to prove I’m really ashamed of my act. I didn’t sleep all night and was thinking of what happened. And I eventually realized I wasn’t right.”
“Are you ready to apologize to Raquelle, who you insulted yesterday?”
Alicia slightly raises her head up, looking at Alexis gloomily, while the blonde looks very sad and looks at her neighbor with sadness in her eyes.
“Huh, Lexi?” Alicia pronounces. “Don’t you want to come to my niece and apologize for the insults she heard?”
“Sure, Alicia!” Alexis exclaims excitedly. “I have come here to apologize to you and her.”
“I would like to believe you.”
“Please, tell her I want to talk to her or take me to her room. I really want peace and am not going to fight with anyone.”
“Raquelle is not home now. She had left some time before you came.”
“That’s how… Sorry…” Alexis moves her sad look down and sniffs quietly, nervously fingering over. “I thought I would meet her here and apologize. Erm…”
Alexis swallows up nervously.
“Alright…” Alexis pronounces hesitantly. “If she is not at home, I shall come to talk to her later.”
Alexis sighs heavily and moves her guilty look to Alicia.
“So, I will go then…” Alexis says quietly. “I will come here after lunch. Maybe she will come back by this time. I told you everything I wanted… And I hope you will forgive me…”
When Alexis wants to turn around and leave the apartment, Alicia softly takes her by the shoulder.
“Wait…” Alicia pronounces quietly.
Alexis moves her little scared look on Alicia.
“I’m forgiving you,” Alicia says confidently. “But the first and last time.”
“Really?” Alexis rounds her eyes. “Are you forgiving me?”
“I do not want to hear you insulting my niece anymore.”
“Sure, sure! I will not do it! It will not happen again, Alicia!”
“Remember, if you say something bad about Raquelle again, you can expect no forgiveness of mine.”
“No, no, I will not do that anymore!” Alexis shakes her head sharply.
“And you will personally apologize to Raquelle for what you did.”
“I promise I will immediately apologize to Raquelle when she comes back to your home. And do my best to make my relationship with her better. Maybe, she would really turn out to be a wonderful girl… Not the one that the media makes her.”
“I hope you understood me well and would not hurt my niece with my pretense.”
“I shall not, I swear…”
Alicia gets softer to Alexis and stops looking at her with hatred and coldness in her eyes. Vice versa, she smiles shyly, making the tense enough girl relax a little, and softly caresses her neighbor’s shoulders.
“Come to me, Lexi…” Alicia pronounces softly.
With these words, Alicia takes Alexis in her amicable hug that the girl accepts with a wide smile on her face, feeling great relief and finally relaxing a little.
“Thanks, Alicia…” Alexis thanks amicably. “Thank you so much…”
“Apologize to Raquelle at once when she’s back,” Alicia insists confidently. “Or I shall doubt the trueness of your words. And I will never believe you.”
“I will surely do.”
Alexis and Alicia step away from each other and just smile silently for two seconds.
“Oh, okay, forget it,” Alicia waves her hand.
“Hey, where did she go?” Alexis asks.
“Walk in the city.”
“Okay… When is she back?”
“I don’t know…” Alicia scratches the back of her head. “But you can wait for her here if you want.”
“Erm, yeah, I think I will be waiting for her…” Alexis agrees hesitantly. “Besides, I heard that snow is supposed to start somewhere by lunch… Maybe, your nice wouldn’t love to walk in this weather and come back home…”
“I warned her, but she thinks nothing will happen.”
“Anyway, I shall stay here and wait for her return.”
“Good.” Alicia glances aside for a second. “Yeah, you could do something while I’m working on my business.”
“Yes, of course,” Alicia shrugs. “What should I do?”
“Sweep the floor in the apartment.”
“No problem.”
“I will give you what you need.”
Alicia hugs Alexis around the shoulders and goes somewhere with her, deciding to make the girl busy with some work so she waits for Raquelle’s return and keeps her promise by apologizing to her niece.
***
“Well, in order not to let her get out, I decided to give her some homework and make her stay here longer,” Alicia confesses. “Sweep the floor, wipe dust, water the flowers… I easily found a way to make her busy.”
“Okay…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully.
“And I’m very glad she did what she promised.”
“I’m also very glad the conflict has been solved. No matter what, that’s good everything was over well. I don’t wanna fight with anyone. I came here not to that.”
“Don’t worry, sunshine, if Lexi insults you again, I shall not surely communicate with her and will tell her mother everything I think of her daughter,” Alicia promises confidently.
“I wouldn’t like you to fight with her because of me.”
“You know I would tear anyone for you.”
“I know, but I don’t want you to have problems.”
“I think Lexi will no longer wish to start an open conflict. She would be afraid of me. She would be afraid I would tell her mother everything, and she would start a scandal.”
“She can?”
“Yes, Valeria is harsh enough and keeps her daughter under hard control.”
“Okay…”
“Besides, Lexi has a friend, who is, let’s be honest, doesn’t impact her very well. And her mother doesn’t like it much.”
“Is that girl bad?”
“She is spoiled. Egoistic. Capricious enough.”
“Do you know her?”
“I’ve met her several times and said hello to her. Asked her how she’s doing.”
“Okay…”
Raquelle says nothing for two seconds and starts to look at a bunch of books Alicia is still examining.
“Oh, Auntie, how do you have so many books?” Raquelle asks.
“Many of them are too old,” Alicia confesses.
“Do you have time to read books? You say you don’t actually have time.”
“Actually, most of the books are cookbooks. And I only have a few books from the worldwide classic to read.”
“That’s how?”
“I’ve tried to read something from the modern literature, but I liked nothing.”
“But I love many books written by modern authors.”
“No, I’m not a fan of what people write now. I love what’s checked by the time much more.”
“Okay…” Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds. “What are you looking for now?”
“I, erm…” Alicia stutters strongly. “I forgot… A recipe… A recipe for a cake… I decided to find it to call memories…”
“A recipe for a cake?”
“Yes,” Alicia puts on something like a smile. “I wanted to cook something for you. I thought you would love it. But I haven’t cooked the cake in such a long time that I forgot all the ingredients and proportions. So, I need to call memories.”
“Why don’t find you find it on the Internet?”
“No… There are secrets that helped me make it much better.”
“You thought it up and forgot it?” Raquelle laughs shyly.
“When you don’t do something for ages, you forget it a little. So, I can’t remember how to cook that dish.”
“Anyway, I’m sure I would love what you would like to cook. You know well that I love everything cooked by you.”
“I don’t doubt,” Alicia smiles shyly. “You would surely love it. I just need to remember how to cook it…”
Alicia keeps examining all the books lying around her whole room.
“Oh, where’s that notebook?” Alicia moans tiredly. “I’ve checked everything but found nothing. It’s supposed to have a piece of paper with the recipe.”
Alicia keeps digging through a bunch of books in search of the one she needs, looking kind of excited and saying something under her breath. Raquelle watches her little tense aunt for a few seconds and starts to make more sure that there is a reason why the woman is worried.
“Excuse me, Aunt, are you alright?” Raquelle asks hesitantly.
“Yes, it’s alright,” Alicia smiles slightly.
“Are you sure?”
“Sure! Why are you asking?”
“I think you look kind of… Tense and… Excited.”
“Oh, no, my sunshine!” Alicia waves her hand. “It seemed to you. I’m not excited!”
“Maybe, something bothers you?” Raquelle bends her arms at the elbows and tightly locks her fingers. “Could I help you with something?”
“No, Raquelle, nothing makes me worried,” Alicia protests, moves her eyes off a bunch of books, and shakes her head.
“You just tell me what you need, and I will do anything. You know well that you can always count on me.”
“I know, sweetie, but you have nothing to worry about.”
“But why do you look so tense?”
“It seemed to you. I do not look tense.”
“Are you sure about it?”
“Sure,” Alicia pronounces a little hesitantly.
“Don’t you wanna make me upset?”
“Honey, why do you think something happened to me? It seems to you.”
“Honestly, I noticed you looked tired enough yesterday.”
“I just had a very hard week. I got exhausted at work because I was working non-stop. You should know that working with many students sucks everything out of you.”
“I worry about you.”
“Don’t do it, my sunshine. Luckily, I’m gonna have a few free days when I have a good rest and come to myself morally and psychically.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m alright.”
Raquelle says nothing and sighs heavily, not believing Alicia’s words and thinking this woman could have some problems that make her worried. But the girl decides not to make her speak by force and to save this talk for a better time.
“So, if you’re really okay…” Raquelle says quietly.
“Don’t worry, my darling,” Alicia says softly, putting on a smile. “Don't think of bad things.”
“But I’m always ready to help you.”
“Better relax and have a rest. You came here for that. Not to get another problem after running from one.”
“I know, Aunt Alicia,” Raquelle pronounces softly. “But I want you to know you can always count on me. In any situation, no matter how hard it is.”
“I know, my girl.”
“If something bothers you, feel free to tell me that. I promise I would do my best to help you or try to advise you on something. Support you at least with words.”
“Thanks a lot, Raquelle…” Alicia takes Raquelle in an amicable hug with a slight smile. “I do know you’re a very kind girl and never refuse to help others.”
“You aren’t a stranger to me,” Raquelle notices confidently. “You’re my aunt. Who I truly love with all my heart.”
“I love you, too, my sunshine. And you know it well.”
“Of course, I know.”
Raquelle and Alicia step away from each other, and the woman caresses her niece’s cheek. At some moment, the girl throws a look at a bunch of books with a slight smile on her face.
“Maybe, I help you move off all these books after you finish examining them?” Raquelle suggests. “There are so many of them, and together, we’d do it much faster!”
“Well, if it’s not hard for you, I will not refuse help,” Alicia replies with a slight smile.
“Then tell me where to put them.”
“Put those lying on the bed on that shelf.”
With these words, Alicia points at a big bunch of books lying on her bed and a high bookshelf placed near the window.
“Okay, will do now…” Raquelle nods confidently and goes to the bunch and does what Alicia asked her about.
“Alright, it seems like there’s not the book I need…” Alicia sighs tiredly. “Well, I shall try to find it in a different place… It must be somewhere…”
Raquelle and Alicia start putting all the books on the shelves they were placed on before. They do it for a few minutes, talking about everything and calling the memories from the girl’s childhood or the woman’s youth that make them smile or laugh.
Raquelle starts to think more and more about why Alicia is acting so strangely and looking tense enough. The case is definitely not about the fact that she has worked too much almost every day. The case is about something different that the woman does not want to tell her niece about, who is sure the reason for her aunt’s anxiety may be serious enough. At least, a bad feeling lets her know that Alicia is hiding something that Raquelle should not know.
***
It’s about ten or eleven hours in the evening. Raquelle is sitting in her room, where she placed everything she wanted yesterday. The girl is holding one of her favorite books in her hands and reading it with great pleasure while lying on the bed and turning on a nightlight that is placed on the table near the one. Line after line – she does not notice how she quickly reaches the end of one of the chapters. And she decides to stop reading, leaving a bookmark in it, and putting it on the table.
Raquelle sits up and throws a look at the window covered with a curtain. She starts to think of Alicia again. About her suspicious behavior. The girl is almost one hundred percent sure there is something that the woman hides from her. Either because of the wish not to get her niece busy with her problems or because of the thought she should not know it…
“Aunt Alicia doesn’t definitely wanna tell me something,” Raquelle thinks, sitting on the bed with her legs bent under herself. “She’s acting very strangely. She’s kind of been excited since yesterday. Yes, Aunt smiles and laughs, but… Her eyes… They are scared. As if she’s afraid of something.”
Raquelle shakes her head.
“I should find out what’s happening to her,” Raquelle thinks. “Even if her problems have to do only with her, I can at least support Aunt with words. However, I can’t even imagine what she’s afraid of so much. Why is she so scared and tense? Does she have serious problems?”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“It could explain the fact that she ignores answering my questions that definitely makes her nervous,” Raquelle thinks. “If everything was really alright, Aunt Alicia would be calm. But I don’t believe her. She is lying to me. As if there’s something she doesn’t wanna make known to me.”
Raquelle throws a glance at one of the walls in her room and sighs quietly.
“But what could happen to her if she’s so scared and kind of afraid of something or someone?” Raquelle wonders, stroking her chin. “I don’t think Aunt would be worried about problems at work so much. She would hardly look like someone threatened her. So, I can exclude problems with her work. The reason is something different… But what?”
Raquelle tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Did she stand in someone’s way?” Raquelle asks herself. “And someone didn’t like it? Someone decided to make her life bad! Just like MacClife didn’t like me and got mad at me because I rejected him. So, he did his best to ruin my career. Why couldn’t someone dislike my aunt? It’s quite possible. There is nobody that is loved by everyone!”
Raquelle slowly lies down with a quiet sigh and runs her hand through her hair.
“Yeah, it seems like I’m gonna forget about a rest for a while…” Raquelle thinks. “Because I should wreck my brains at the reason of the strange behavior of Aunt Alicia. I can’t be quiet when I know something’s happening to my close person. She definitely has some problems. I’m more than sure something happened some time ago. It’s hard to say what… But I’ve gotta find it out… And support her. If I can do nothing.”
Raquelle thinks about Alicia and the reasons for her strange behavior for some time. And then she hears her aunt’s excited voice, who is saying something loudly. The girl stops reflecting and closely listens to what she can hear not far from her.
“What’s that?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “Is that Aunt Alicia?”
Raquelle closely listens to the voice of Alicia, who seems to be excited by something, judging her shaking, loud voice.
“Is she talking to someone?” Raquelle wonders. “At this time? And she’s almost shouting!”
A few seconds later, Raquelle gets up sharply from the bed, comes to the closed door of her room, and listens to what she hears much better.
“I wonder who could call her at such a late time?” Raquelle asks herself. “And why is Aunt Alicia so excited?”
Unfortunately, Raquelle cannot clearly hear everything Alicia says from here, but she can figure out some words and phrases that make her much more sure that the woman really has something to hide.
“Leave me alone… I don’t need to do anything to you… How long are you going to mock me? It’s been so many years, but you can’t calm down yet… Stop… I am done with this… Let me live a quiet life…”
Raquelle stands in front of the door for a few seconds, listens to every single word from Alicia, and assumes the woman might have serious problems.
“God…” Raquelle pronounces quietly. “Who is she talking to? What do they need from her? What should Aunt do?”
Raquelle shakes her head, closing her mouth with her hand.
“Does she really have such serious problems?” Raquelle wonders. “Whose way did she stand in? A long time ago, definitely… As Aunt said, it’s been many years… So, it’s all not happening for the first day. Not the first day…”
A few seconds later, Alicia loudly shouts something bad and ends the talk with someone. After this, Raquelle no longer hears her voice and understands that the woman goes to her room, judging by the loud steps she hears in the living room.
“The case is serious…” Raquelle assumes, leaning on the door with her back. “Very bad… Aunt Alicia definitely has some problems. So, that’s why she is so excited and looking like she’s afraid of something or someone.”
Raquelle sighs tiredly.
“So, I’ve gotta immediately find out what kind of story she got involved in,” Raquelle says confidently. “And I will surely do. Early or late. I should find out all the truth. What if I can help her somehow? For example, money! What if someone wants her money? I could give it to her!!”
Raquelle glances aside.
“It seems like I really ran away from one problem to another,” Raquelle assumes. “And now I’m gonna think not about MacClife but my aunt. About the fact that she might have serious problems. Maybe, they are even dangerous to her life. I can’t exclude it. I can assume anything.”
Raquelle starts to understand that she is going to find out everything and get answers to many questions that she has. However, she promises to do her best to make Alicia sure to tell her everything she is trying to hide so hard and offer her help that the woman may need like never before. And the thought of the fact that she is also going to deal with Terrence’s attempts to slander her and ruin her modeling career makes the girl much more upset. She does not know how to do it, but she promises herself to solve everything: she will punish her offender and find out what kind of trouble her own auntie got into.
Raquelle starts walking slowly in the whole room, reflecting on what she can do in this situation to come back to a quiet life and do her business as soon as possible. But later, she hears how she gets a notification on her mobile phone. The girl understands it thanks to the quiet sound that tells her she almost forgot to turn on the silent mode on her smartphone. After sighing tiredly, Raquelle comes to the table, on which it is lying, takes her phone, and starts examining the information that she sees on the big touch screen. She sees a text notification that tells her a certain user from Instagram sent her a request to start messaging her.
“Oh, gosh, it seems like it’s another message from someone, who keeps believing in this bullshit,” Raquelle sighs tiredly.
After running her eyes quickly over the list of chats, Raquelle sees many requests from unfamiliar people and messages from those, whom she has ever contacted. In order not to get upset, she decides to delete everything she can delete, not even thinking about reading what someone decided to write for her. The girl deletes all the chats so hard, barely seeing which terrible words they use to insult her. Raquelle gets so busy with this thing that she does not notice how she gets rid of almost half of the chats. But she stops sharply when she sees one request among many others. From the account, which, according to the signature, belongs to Terrence MacClife. It’s clear thanks to the username, @TerrenceMacClife, and the profile picture of the man posing confidently against the light background and wearing a half-open white shirt.
“Oh, shit, this penguin is here!” Raquelle growls irritably. “He’s reached my accounts!”
For curiosity, Raquelle opens the chat with Terrence and reads his message that he sent her some time ago:
“Hello, bitch! I see you're still naively hoping that you will hide from me. No, you can’t do this! You will not run away from me forever! I shall find you wherever you are. Until you are mine, I will not calm down, remember this. Now I have to play by your rules, but I swear, when I find you, we will have to exchange our roles. You will become a mouse, and I will become a cat. I will have a lot of fun… So, don’t forget about me. I am looking forward to the moment when I finally sleep with you and make you obey me and give me compliments. My dick is ready to get into you and do everything for you to get an incredible pleasure.”
After reading the message from start to end and feeling how everything inside her is burning, Raquelle opens her mouth slightly.
“Damn, this scumbag showed up in my life out of the blue!” Raquelle throws gloomily. “I lived so well without him, but now he is kidding me. He wanna ruin my career and dreams of spreading my legs! Ha, that rooster has become too insolent!”
Raquelle growls quietly with rolled eyes.
“It seems like he’s fucked all the girls. There is nobody, whom he hasn’t fucked yet. There’s nobody, who would suck him. That’s why he is annoying me. Thinking that I will please that bastard and say how handsome he is.”
Raquelle swallows up nervously.
“No, bastard, don’t wait! You made me irritated then, but after the beginning of the scandal with slander, even looking at your fucking face is disgusting to me. And trust me, I will not leave it unnoticed. You will pay me a high cost for that. You will suffer as much as I am suffering now, when hearing everyone say dirty things about me and believing the lie that you came up with.”
After thinking a little, Raquelle types the message quickly and sends it to Terrence’s account:
“And I’m looking forward to the moment when there will not be a girl, who will just love to look at you. When you have to lock yourself in a dressing room, caress your fucking dick, and bring yourself to such a desired orgasm. And you can forget about me once and forever. As well as I forgot you after that fucking photoshoot that I see in my worst nightmares. I don’t need such a rude, non-educated, nasty, and mean bastard, who is much worse than anyone I know. I curse you, MacClife! I hate you with all my heart!”
When she presses the send a message, Raquelle blocks Terrence’s account for a few seconds, so he is not able to send her anything and is not able to view her posts and comment them somehow.
“That’s it!” Raquelle smirks evilly. “Your place is on the black list! I should’ve blocked you a long time ago. To never see your face in my feed.”
Raquelle turns off her phone, puts it on the table near the bed, and runs her hands over her face.
“Wow, how mad he got because of my refusal… He is so wild because of anger! Because of the thought that someone dared to reject the creature that nobody needs.” Raquelle raises her head proudly, gets up from the bed, and starts walking slowly through the whole room. “It’s okay, asshole, you will pay me for that. You will regret daring just to look at me. And if I hear something about dates, sex, and other bullshit again, I swear I will hit a brick against your face. If no girl has found the courage to kick your ass, I will do it with pleasure. I don’t care about all your threats. Do what you want, but I will get what I want early or late…”
Raquelle walks around the whole room, sits on the bed, just looks through the window, and watches what’s happening on the dark street that is lighted with the lamps for some time. And then she moves her eyes to the watch, sees that it’s more than half past eleven, and decides to go to sleep and get energy. To try to decide what to do tomorrow, and probably try to ask Alicia who called her at such a late time. The girl puts on her recently washed clothes for sleep, turns off the light, lies in her bed, covers herself with a blanket, and strikes a comfortable pose, having hope that the situation will be solved early or late, and she will find answers to all the questions she has and find out the truth about the one, who makes Alicia look so excited.
206Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErH4vVyL9q
