All chapters are not pre-written so sorry for all the long wait!
Chapter 7 || I Suppose I'll Die Tomorrow Then
"You're hunting for Colton Hanks?" Andy shrieked into the phone as I picked up her call. I held the phone away from my ear until she was done screaming.
I finally placed the phone beside my ear again after silence was heard on the other line. "Yeah, why?"
"Oh, I don't know? You could've told me? I could've gone with you?"
"Do you really want me to answer those questions?" I asked her, unsure.
She ignored me. "Like, he's the hottest guy on Earth."
I looked over to Colton who was panting. His face was sweaty and quite pale whereas his once stylishly-gelled hair was matted across his forehead. "He sure doesn't seem like that now." I pointed out.
Partially my fault, and I take full responsibility.
Colton caught me looking at him and purposely exaggerated his fatigue as he placed one hand on his hips and the other at the railing at the side of the steps, pretending that he was having a hard time catching his breath.
Andy continued with her rant. "I could've had the chance to meet him. We could've been like those people in the movies and then we'll have babies and.." she finally realised what I just said. "Wait, are you seeing him now?" she demanded.
"Pfft.. What do you mean?" I feigned innocence. "Me? Dating him?"
"You know what I mean."
"What?" I pretended.
"Arianna Havana Winters." she said firmly.
"Andy? Andy? I can't here you!"
"Don't you dare hang up on me!"
"I really can't hear you!" I shouted.
"Arianna..."
"What? You have Herpes?" By now people started throwing me weird glances.
"Arianna Winters...."
"I told you not to sleep around!" I grinned. "I'll talk to you when I get back, okay? We'll get through this together! I'm sure we will!" I faked a sniff.
"ARIANNA! I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR BOOBS OUT-"
"Love you too! Bye!" I shouted and cut the call.
Phew! That was tiring.
Colton appeared beside me, looking completely beaten up as if he just swam across the Atlantic Ocean trying not to get bitten by the sharks. "How.. do.. you.. even..." he panted and held up a hand as if he was asking for some time for him to recover.
"How.. do.. you... not..." I copied him while trying my best not to burst out laughing.
He glared at me and removed his sunglasses. I tried to point out his sunglasses and the fact that we were still in public but it was too late.
"Is that Colton Hanks?" a girl started screeching.
I looked back and saw this group of girls gathering and pointing towards us. I fumbled for Colton's hand, gripped it as hard as I could and pulled him down all the way to the bottom of the steps.
"Wha-" Colton barely had time to process what was happening before he was pulled after me.
The person who made the great discovery that going down is easier than going up should be a saint. We were nearing the bottom, and I was still trying to pull Colton's hand down until he was at the same pace as me and the huge mob of girls were still chasing after us.
And someone chose that perfect time to call.
I pulled out my phone and saw that the caller was Andy. I cursed and pocketed the phone again, with it now vibrating non-stop in that small stuffy, hole.
We finally reached the bottom and instantly ran into an open taxi. I pushed Colton in and got in before shutting the door behind me. "Move."
The poor taxi driver barely had time to have a last puff at his cigarette before dumping it onto the street. At first, he was driving so slow, I knew that he was deliberately trying to go as slow as possible so that the meter rings up to a higher total.
I groaned in frustration and asked Colton for some money. He looked at me cluelessly but rummaged through his pocket and shoved a 100 ringgit bill into my hand. I, in turn, shoved it into the taxi driver's face and told him to step on it all the way back to my house.
He choked and snatched the money away from me before you can even say 'pie'. The running mob of girls who seemed to be gaining on us earlier slowly disappeared one by one as the taxi driver sped all the way.
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He reached my house at about 10 minutes later, with Colton still trying to catch his breath. The taxi driver eagerly shoved us out of the car, told us to have a good day in Bahasa Malaysia and drove off, leaving a cloud of smoke along with him.
"We... climbed.. up.. for... nothing." Colton panted.
I smiled. "Come on. Let's have some lemonade. That's our morning session all taken care off!" I hooked my arm into his and walked him to the kitchen.
"That's only the morning session?" he cried out in dismay.
"Yeah." I said as I pulled out a pitcher of lemonade that was sitting in the fridge. "There's more to come."
I looked at Colton's face and laughed. "Don't worry. We won't go anywhere far and public this time. Wouldn't want your cover to be blown."
He sighed in relief and took the glass of lemonade from me which I was handing to him with an encouraging smile. "Thank God!"
I chuckled and poured myself another glass. "Where's your girlfriend? Shouldn't she be worried about you or something?" I looked at him and took a sip.
"Who?"
"Er... Lindsey Vegan?" I asked, seeing if the name rings a bell but his face remained blank. "You know, the Latino pop diva that you were rumoured to be dating with? The one who's 12 years older than you?" I pressed on.
"Oh. That one." he nodded in recognition. "That's just a publicity stunt. You know, to get people talking about me? It's fake. I've never met her my whole life. I'm not even sure who is she."
The way he said it, it was as if it was a normal thing when the truth was, it was far from that. The thought itself sounded absolutely foreign to me although to those who were in the showbiz like Colton, they should be used to these kind of stuff. But I wouldn't know.
"So you guys just do this for no reason?" I asked.
A small part of me felt guilty that I'm prying and asking all these questions for my own use and that I'm practically lying to Colton from the very moment that I didn't tell him about Maria but a humongous part of me genuinely wanted to know.
I'll tell him about the job soon.
"Well, not exactly, for no reason. It's a publicity stunt. Like I said. To gain people's attention so that they still remember me." he took a tentative sip while looking at me.
"Wow." I said, astonished to how the entertainment business works.
"I know."
The morning session, however, happened to be the day one, considering that God decided to pee all over the whole of KL. And so, while thunder was booming and lightning was flashing outside the old mansion, Colton and I stayed cooped up in blankets in front of the rarely-used fireplace. I gave a peek behind the curtains at the greying sky when it almost stopped raining but then lightning flashed and I winced at the loud boom of the thunder that followed. I gave up and decided to lounge with Colton instead.
"You know," I said, as I took a sip from the glass of hot chocolate that I made. "What with your music, tours and all going on, how do you study? Do you get home-schooled?"
"Technically, it's not even called home-schooling when it's not done at home." he chuckled. I rolled my eyes and he continued. "I have private tutors, I suppose."
I raised one unconvincing eyebrow at the 'I suppose' but didn't comment on that. "Don't your parents get worried you can't cope with your studies?"
I swear, Colton's face got even darker than the sky outside the window. He hesitated before answering. "My foster parents care, I suppose."
Foster parents?
My ears and eyes were on full alert at his answer and I could barely contain myself from squeezing out every single piece of information out of him. And it wasn't for the assignment, but rather because of my own curiosity.
But, thinking through it, I decided that gaining his trust first would be the ideal decision. If I do have information, it's up to me on whether I would give it to Maria or not.
"What about you?" Colton asked, startling me from my deep thought.
"Huh?"
"Aren't you supposed to be in college?" he asked me.
"I don't have the money." I admitted. "That's why I'm working first."
"You know, one measly job won't even pay for your tuition fees, let alone to last you through college and uni." he pointed out.
Alright, this is the perfect opportunity to tell him that you work for Maria. Come on, Ari. Tell him.
"I.... I.. I don't know." I looked away from him because I couldn't bear the intense gaze he was giving me, not when his green eyes felt like he was searching my soul. "I'll work something out." I told him.
My inner voice was cursing at me with profanities that would make a sailor blush.
You do know that he'll find out soon, right?
I know.
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Is it weird that I feel bad? I placed my phone beside the computer and transferred the single photo I had of Colton. It was a blurry shot, which was taken while I was talking to Andy right before we were chased by the huge mob of girls.
How I did it? I don't even know.
But then again, that's the wonders of a smartphone, courtesy of Natasha who decided that I should own one of those at my age.
The tiniest of guilt was eating away at my poor heart as I successfully sent the picture to Maria, hoping that it was up to par.
Meet me at my office immediately.
I stared at the text. It was 10 at night. She expected me to go to the office at such a late hour?
Please.
I sighed. I have such a weak heart.
My phone rang and I picked it up, half-expecting it to be Maria urging me to hurry up. "Hello?"
"ARIANNA!" Andy shrieked into the phone.
I covered my ears and asked her meekly, "Yes?"
"Don't you dare 'yes' me."
I was about to point out that I did, in fact, 'yes' her but I knew that it was only going to be a waste of saliva and breath.
"Why did you hang up on me?" she demanded.
"I.. er.. I.. Maria wants to see me. I've got to go. Sorry." I apologised.
She began protesting and throwing threats about how she would kill me tomorrow and that I'll never live to see another day but I cut the call and ran out to see Maria.
I suppose I'll die tomorrow then.
...
I know! I feel bad too! But it had to be done on Ari's part! Anyway, I am aware that nothing romantic has occurred between the two yet, but be patient. Cause it will come. It's just the matter of whether it's going to be soon or many chapters away...
(My lips are sealed).
Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! (And a little bit more about Colton's past [sort of])
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Have a great week!
Lots of love,
jinwen2509 xoxo ♥