Chapter 5 New girl
Liyana’s POV
“Jesus, lower your volume—” I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.“WHAT did you just say?!”
“No girl! You need to lower your stupidity!” Rhea snapped. “Repeat that. Slowly. Because I refuse to believe my best friend is this dumb.”
I blinked. “Wow!Very helpful!So supportive of you.”
“You have a hot uncle you're gonna live with—” she started.
“He’s not—”
“—who you literally had a childhood crush on—”
“I was seven, that doesn’t count!”
“—and you just inherited a fortune—”
“Okay, yes, that part is still processing—”
“—and your problem is what exactly?!”
I stopped pacing.
“Did you just—are you serious right now?”
“Dead serious,” she said. “You’re telling me you have to stay in a luxury penthouse, with a rich, hot, mysterious man for five years, and you’re complaining?”
My mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
“What happened to you?” I demanded. “Where is the Rhea who hates every guy I even look at?He is at least twenty years older than I am,Rhea! He's a fucking old man!” Who was I kidding! Nothing about this man was old…chiselled body, sexy stubble… fuck!
“Is he hot or not?” She shot back immediately.
I stared at the wall,then up at the ceiling.
“You can call him hot, like he has abs, got the looks,” I reminded her.
“Oooo! This one sounds expensive,” she said without missing a beat. “Focus, Liyana.”
“I am focusing!” I snapped. “On the part where I’m basically being held hostage for five years!”
“Oh my God,” she groaned. “Rich people problems. Google it ,my love.You are hopeless!” And she hung up. Just like that. Rhea just hung up on me! Because of Uncle Mat?!
I dragged a hand down my face. “You are unbelievable,woman.”
Just then my phone lit up with a text notification from her.
“No, you are unbelievable,” she fired back. “Do you have any idea how many people would kill to be in your position right now?”
Fuck! My bitch could read minds. She knew me too fucking well!
“Listen to me,” Popped the next text. “Don’t do anything stupid. Stay there.” I frowned. The texts kept coming. “I mean it,” she continued. “Don’t argue with him. Don’t run off. Don’t try to be rebellious for once in your life.”
I didn't like that idea even a single bit!
“I’ll come to you, okay? First term break is in a week. I’ll fly over. Kabir too if needed.”
A week?! Hhhmmm. That surely didn't feel like a very long time.
“You promise?” I quickly texted back.
“Obviously,” she scoffed with an emoticon. “Who else is going to stop you from making terrible life decisions?”
I huffed out a small laugh.Then furiously texted back.“Fair.”
“Good. Now behave,” she added. “And maybe… don’t insult the guy who controls your entire life right now?”
“Noted,” I muttered.
“Call me if anything weird happens.”
I snorted, then typed, “Define weird.”
“Things you do basically!” A precarious pause.I swear I was feeling pretty murderous by this time.What was wrong with this girl?! Then she did what she does best…brought me to tears with her words.“Sis,I know you are going through a lot,but you are not alone.Alright?” She took a couple more extra seconds,then texted back. “On second thought, just call me anyway.Whenever you need me.”
The thread went dead after I sent a very short and precise ‘OK’ in capitals. I stared at my phone for a second.Then—“Traitor,” I muttered, tossing it onto the bed.
The mattress dipped as I fell back onto it, arms spread out, staring up at the ceiling.It was too soft. I even bounced slightly.
“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “This is fine. I can do this.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.Just for a second.Just to breathe.
But then I heard a knob turning, a door handle clicking. My eyes snapped open.
The sound came from inside the room.Not the door outside. It was the bathroom door.
I froze.Then sat up, pushing myself up slowly.
The door opened.And a woman walked out.Wrapped in a towel.Hair damp.Skin flushed.
And—I blinked. “…oh.” There were innumerable bite marks, hickeys, all over her shoulder, arms, inner thighs…Very fresh.
My brain completely stopped functioning.It definitely looked like she had survived a zombie attack, not a love making session with a human being.
The woman froze too when she noticed me.
And I—Well.I was still sitting there, staring at her like my brain had just blue-screened.
“…ummm,” I said again, because apparently that was the only word left in my vocabulary.
She blinked.
Then—surprisingly—she smiled.A small, sheepish smile.Like she was the one caught doing something wrong.
“Uh—hi?” I tried, still very much not okay.
She said something.Too fast.Definitely not English.
I frowned. “I’m sorry—what?”
She tried again, gesturing lightly with her hand, speaking in the same language.
Russian?! Perhaps.I had no clue.
“Yeah, no,” I shook my head. “I don’t—uh—no idea what you’re saying.”
She paused.
Thought for a second.
“New?” she said with much difficulty,carefully,voice thick with an accent. “You… new?”
I blinked.
“Oh! Yes—yes, I’m new,” I nodded quickly. “Very new. Extremely new. Just arrived in this… chaos.”
She smiled wider at that, like she understood enough.
Then she pointed at me again. “New,” she repeated, nodding approvingly.
“Yeah,” I said, still confused. “That’s me. New girl. Who are you?”
She said something again.
I stared at her.
She stared back.
“…cool,” I said weakly. “We are having a great conversation.”
She laughed softly—at least, I think it was a laugh—and then suddenly stepped closer, hands extended.“Wait—what are you—” Before I could finish, she grabbed my hands. “Hey—!”
She said something again, more animated this time, tugging me gently towards the door.
“Okay—okay—hold on,” I stumbled to my feet, half-dragged along. “Where are we going? Why are we going? Should I be concerned?” She didn’t answer,nodding all the way and smiling too.
And kept pulling me along.
