Busted
1552 Words
The evening glow spilled through the windows, casting the apartment in warm gold, as she got out of the car.
Lola’s car was already in the driveway, she was already back from the hospital.
When she stepped fully inside, she found Lola standing in the kitchen still dressed in her scrubs, light blue uniform, slightly wrinkled from a long shift. She was leaning against the counter with her mug of coffee like someone who was using up her last energy. Lola lifted her head, eyebrows rising.
“Well, well, well.” She took a slow sip. “Look, who just stepped in looking like a whole meal.”
Sienna tried not to smile too hard. “Hi to you too.” She took off her coat and hung it behind the door.
Lola lowered the cup, eyes narrowing playfully. “Where are you coming from, all dressed and glowing like you're going to a concert?”
Sienna forced a smile that did little to hide her tension. “I was at my mom’s. Hospital.”
“Your mom?” Lola blinked. “Wait, today?”
“Yeah. She wasn’t feeling too well in the morning, so I went to see her.”
Lola softened instantly. “Oh damn… how is she?”
“She’s feeling better now,” Sienna lied smoothly. “Doctors said it was nothing serious.”
Lola breathed out. “Good. I’m happy to hear that. And you? How’s your day been?”
Sienna shrugged, walking slowly toward the living room. “Long and exhausting.”
“Girl, same,” Lola said, following her. “The hospital was a battlefield today. I swear if one more patient asked me to fix their Wi-Fi I would have strapped myself to an IV drip and rolled away.”
Sienna laughed because Lola always had a way of making everything lighter. They talked a little about Lola’s shift and the usual chaos at the hospital, delirious patients, cranky nurses, and doctors with God complexes.
But Lola’s eyes drifted over Sienna again the hair, the makeup, the outfit, the faint scent of expensive cologne lingering on her skin.
“Okay,” Lola said suddenly. “Pause.”
Sienna blinked. “What?”
“You’re telling me you got all glammed up like this just to go visit your sick mother in the hospital?”
She was busted.
Sienna swallowed. “Well…”
Lola crossed her arms, leaning against the armrest of the couch. “You didn’t go out with Julian?”
Sienna coughed hard. Too hard. “What? No, absolutely not.”
“Mhmm.” Lola’s expression said, you’re lying but go on.
Sienna’s phone buzzed on the table, but she ignored it.
Lola took her coffee back to the counter. “So where did you go?”
Silence.
Then Sienna exhaled.
“I was with Johnny.”
Lola spun around so fast she almost sloshed coffee onto the floor.
“Johnny?” she shouted. “Johnny as in he married billionaire Johnny? ‘I complain about my wife every day’ Johnny? THAT Johnny?”
“Yes, that Johnny.” Sienna rolled her eyes. Lola was doing too much.
Lola set the mug down dramatically. “Girl, you have to be messing with me.”
“I’m not.”
Lola pinched the bridge of her nose like she needed divine intervention. “Sienna… come on now. You cannot start something with that man. Especially not when you have a whole contract binding you to Julian.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh don’t even give me that.” Lola placed her hands on her hips. “You told me earlier that Julian offered you your dream life. Cards, cars, cash, apartment, everything. That man practically rolled out a billionaire red carpet for you.”
“It’s temporary,” Sienna whispered.
“That temporary could change your whole damn life!” Lola snapped. “And you’re about to throw it away because of what? A man who talks non stop about his toxic wife and does nothing to leave her? A man who only pays you for s*x and your time?”
Sienna looked away.
Lola lowered her voice. “Girl… I’m not saying don’t have a heart. I’m saying be smart. Johnny is a storm with legs. He’s unstable, emotional, and going through marital issues. Do you want to be caught in that?”
Sienna sighed deeply, dropping onto the couch. “He’s my friend, Lola. You know that.”
“And I know you.” Lola pointed a finger at her. “You get attached. You want to fix everybody. You want to save men who didn’t even ask for CPR.”
“That’s not fair.”
“It is fair,” Lola said softly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. And I don’t want Julian to drag you by your wig when he finds out you’re juggling billionaires.”
Sienna burst into laughter. “Stop! It’s not that deep!”
“It is that deep,” Lola insisted. “Julian is… possessive. He drafted a whole f*****g contract with over a hundred pages, just to get you the submit to him.”
“He doesn’t own me,” Sienna said sharply.
“You’re right,” Lola said. “But he thinks he does, especially since money is involved.”
Sienna opened her mouth to respond when her phone buzzed again.
This time, Lola leaned over to check the screen.
“Oh?” she said, voice rising. “Julian’s calling you?”
Sienna didn’t answer.
A second later it buzzed again.
Lola stared at her in horror. “You’re declining his calls?”
“So?”
“So?!” Lola’s eyes widened. “Can you please not ruin this one good thing for your sake?”
Sienna ignored the buzzing phone. Instead, she picked it up and opened her messages. A notification at the top caught her eye.
Johnny
Are you okay?
Woke up and didn’t see you. I was hoping to talk before you left.
Would you be free this weekend? Maybe we can grab a bite.
Sienna froze.
Johnny had never asked to see her outside the suite. Never.
Lola peered over her shoulder. “Oh my goodness, he wants to see you publicly?”
“He didn’t say publicly.”
“Are you listening to yourself?”
Sienna didn’t reply. She typed a quick response.
I’m fine. I didn’t want to wake you. Let me check my schedule for the weekend.
She clicked send, before she'll change her mind. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen and head into her bedroom, Julian’s call came in again.
This time Sienna answered.
“What?” she said flatly.
“What?” Julian’s voice exploded through the speaker. “That’s how you answer my call?”
She rolled her eyes. “Julian, I’m busy.”
“You turned off your phone when I was calling,” he barked. “Don’t play stupid.”
“Don’t talk to me like that,” she shot back.
“Sienna, don’t forget who you’re speaking to.”
“Oh, I’m speaking to the man who thinks he owns the world?”
“You signed the contract.”
“I haven't signed anything,” she snapped. “I agreed verbally, not legally. Until my signature is on that document, you don’t speak to me like I’m your property.”
Julian went silent.
Lola watched with her hand over her mouth, eyes huge.
“Sienna,” Julian said slowly. “Do not test me.”
“You’re not my man,” she said, voice calm but firm. “You don’t get to demand where I am, who I’m with, or why I didn’t take your call.”
“You are under contract with me.”
“I told you already, I am still reading the document. I won’t be rushed.”
“I need that contract signed today.”
“Well,” she said sweetly, “you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
“Sienna I really don't want to…”
“Goodnight, Julian.” She interrupted him.
And she hung up.
Lola stared at her for three whole seconds.
“Girl… you have guts.” Lola clapped loudly. “Pure titanium! What?! You talked to him like you’re the CEO of his company.”
Sienna smirked. “He needed to be reminded that not every girl would take any bullshit from his annoying ass.”
“He needed therapy and a nap because you just terminated his ego.”
They both burst into laughter.
Lola plopped down beside her. “Do you realize he’s going to show up tomorrow with fire and brimstone, right?”
“I’ll handle him,” Sienna said confidently. “I’m not his underling.”
“Well,” Lola muttered, sipping her reheated coffee, “this is week twelve of the Sienna Show and I’m eating it like popcorn.”
Sienna nudged her shoulder. “Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
For the first time that day, Sienna felt her body relax. The tension eased. The confusion softened.
She knew she was pushing Julian to the edge, but she had no idea how hard he'd push back. She'll just brace herself for the worst.
- Writer
