His Rotten Apple

45 ~ Captured Feelings

Snap. Snap. Flash. Snap.

    In her entire life and career, Zailey had never worn so many articles of clothing. A wave of anxiety coursed through her body as she felt the scrutiny of every standing soul on the rooftop.

    "Looking good, Zai! Just a couple more minutes!" Elizabeth yelled from the side.

    Jacque added. "Think about all the barbecue waiting for you right here!"

    "Are you two friends of hers?" Marcus asked.

    "Nope. We're her slaves," Elizabeth said.

    "Lizzie, stop scaring the kid!" Jacque scolded her. "How old are you, sweetie?"

    "I'm 28..." Marcus said.

    "Well shit," Jacque said.

    "Excuse Jacque, she's sort of... A work in progress," Elizabeth said.

    "You two are pretty young to be managers, too," he said. "Are you trying to gain experience?"

    "Yeah. We both found we were pretty good at intimidating people, so we figured it'd be the perfect job," Elizabeth said.

    "And plus, we know Zai's style the best... So we're doubling as her crew."

    "That's double the pay," Elizabeth said.

    "Impressive," Marcus folded his arms.

    Zailey plopped on the rooftop benches with Jacque and Elizabeth. Before she could get a breath in, a group of Reverie employees asked for a picture along with the reason for Gavin's absence.

    "Miss him yet?" Elizabeth asked.

    "How could I when he's brought up every 3 seconds," Zailey chugged her water bottle.

"It's been a while since you two did anything apart. Of course people are bound to ask."

"After 5 years, I would've guessed people would be tired of seeing us together."

"If anything, you two are in demand now more than ever." Jacque said. "I don't blame them, you'd make beautiful babies."

Zailey shook, "Please, let's not manifest that... I've yet to use the degree I earned last year. Motherhood is at the bottom of my priorities right now."

"Don't worry, Zai, when it happens, they'd have two cool godmothers," Jacque nudged Elizabeth.

"And I suppose that one over there's gonna be a godfather?" Elizabeth gestured to the stern-faced man in a suit talking to the photographer.

Jacque chuckled. "You know, five year ago we would've referred to him as the father-"

"Jacque!" Zailey cut her off.

"I'm guessing you still aren't on good terms with Connor?" Elizabeth said.

"Mr. Davis hasn't acknowledged me for the past two weeks," Zailey said. "I'd like to think it's better that way."

"Just because he's a fiiine millionaire daddy now," Jacque glared at him. "He thinks he can forget his roots? Zai, you built that man."

"Jacque!" Zailey and Elizabeth yelled in unison.

"I'm joking! I'm just saying, the least he can do is say hi," Jacque said.

"Hi Jacque," Connor said from behind her.

She gritted her teeth, "H-Hey! Connor, what are you doing here?"