Two
1398 Words
~Atlas
“You sleep with different guys all the time,” I say the words with an amount of calmness that doesn’t match the palpitation in my chest.
Freya stares at me for a couple maddening seconds before she starts laughing.
“What’s funny?” I ask, frustration seeping into my voice.
“Nothing,” she says, swiping away nonexistent tears, “You’ve convinced me. We are done!”
She’s on her feet before I can process her words. I grab her wrist as she walks past me, pulling her back.
“What’s your problem?” I ask.
“My problem is that you don’t see how you’re wrong.”
I am beside myself with confusion. “How?”
She snatches her hand away from my grip and massages her forehead. “I hook up with other guys but I have never been with anyone without your consent. I would never sleep with someone you don’t like. That’s where you are at fault. I had no idea that you were seeing someone else and you don’t know how humiliating it was to find out from your secretary.”
“Freya—”
“I’m not done yet!” she says, holding out her left hand. “As if the insult wasn’t enough, I walked in to find you with that hijo de puta even though you know how much I hate her.” Her teeth are clenched tightly. “And I don’t how many other people you’ve slept with behind my—”
“Freya!” The intensity of my voice shocks me but it manages to stun her into silence. “I haven’t slept with anyone without your knowledge and nothing happened between me and Asher.”
She folds her hands across her chest and rolls her eyes. “I know what I saw!”
“You saw what we wanted you to see,” I say, using my fingers to gently tilt her face in my direction. She’s close enough for me to see the freckles scattered on her nose and across her cheeks. “I just wanted to make you jealous.”
The corner of her left brow twitches up slightly. “Why would I be jealous?”
Now it’s my turn to raise my brows. “Because you love me?”
Her eyes narrow a bit and she presses her lips together before flicking my forehead.
“Ouch!” I glare at her as I rub my forehead.
“I wanted our relationship to be like this, what makes you think I would get jealous if I saw you with another woman?”
My heart sinks at her words. Her lips suddenly pull into a frown and I move the muscles that make me smile to compensate for whatever expression I gave off that caused the change in her demeanour.
“Are you okay?” she asks, raising her hand to touch my face.
I catch it before it reaches and intertwine her fingers with mine. “I’m fine.”
I let go of her hand and try to smoothen the crease between her brows. “I was just wondering . . .” My fingers trail down the side of her face to her lips. My eyes linger on it before I stare back into her eyes. “If getting jealous doesn’t prove your love for me, what does?”
A heartbeat passes and her eyes remain on me. Then slowly, she tugs on my tie, forcing me to bend my head to her level before she presses her lips against mine.
She kisses me slowly at first but in no time the kiss becomes heated and I’m hoisting her onto my desk. My lips leave her mouth and traces its way down her neck while I reach behind her to undo the zipper of her dress.
“Woah, calm down,” she says, pulling away from me, “I have somewhere to be right now. I’ll come to your place later.”
She gives me a peck on my lips before I can react and slides down from my desk, adjusting her dress.
“If you had somewhere to be then why did you come?” I find my voice before she reaches the door.
She face-palms herself. “I totally forgot. I came to introduce you to someone. We started shooting Dysphoria last week and I have intimate scenes with my co-star, Ethan. He . . .”
My heart churns painfully as I tune out the rest of Freya’s words. I already know what she wants to ask.
“. . . since—Are you even listening?” She tugs on my arm and I stare down at her.
My nod comes as a reflex and her pretty lips curl up in a bright smile.
“You’re okay with it?” she asks.
I swallow before forcing a smile and nodding.
“I’ll call him in.” She walks towards the door.
I’m unable to come up with another smile when she returns with Ethan, whose hands are wrapped around her waist. My jaw hardens and I can’t help glaring at his hand.
“Las, this is Ethan Crest. Ethan, this is my boyfriend, Atlas Levine.”
Ethan’s hand is outstretched by the time my eyes return to him. At first I don’t shake him until Freya comes to my side.
“I’m a fan of yours,” he says, flashing me a smile.
I raise my brows. “Really?”
“Yup. You’re a role model to me.”
I can’t tell whether he is being sincere or making fun of me.
I let go of his hand and turn to Freya. “See you later.”
And without waiting for her response, I leave the both of them in my office.
~^~^~^~
“If I were you, I would dump her ass!”
I sigh, steering my car out of the parking lot as I listen to my best friend, Avia. He phoned me because Asher had told him what happened.
“What do you mean she got angry at you? For the same thing she does all the time!? Nah bro, you’re better than this. Do you realize how many girls would kill to be in Freya’s position?”
“I know—”
He cuts me off. “No, I don’t think you understand. What don’t you have? Looks? Money? Brains? I admit, Freya is pretty but you are still way out of her league. You can literally bag any other supermodel—”
“Avia—”
“— I wonder if she even cares about you. She came all the way to your office and created a scene just to introduce you to another one of her side-d***s?”
“He’s her co-star,” I say, a slight edge in my voice.
“Yeah right, she has one every week and she’s barely starred in four movies. Plus you do know the s*x scenes are choreographed and they don’t really have s*x? If she claims she’s practicing she’s just fooling herself.”
I don’t reply because he’s right about everything and even I wonder whether Freya truly cares about me. My mind returns to the road in time for me to slam my feet against the brakes just before the traffic lights turn red.
“Dude!” Avia’s voice booms through the car’s audio system.
“I’ll call you when I get home.”
Before he can argue, I press the decline button on the steering wheel to end the call. I wait for the traffic light to turn to green. I zone out a couple times after the traffic begins moving again before finally arriving at the giant golden gates leading to my estate.
I pop out my head for a retinal scan before the gates are opened. I leave my car parked outside the building and hand the keys to my butler.
A terrace spans across the building’s width on the level of the first floor, spitting out two twin staircases to ground level. It’s an advantage since it leads directly to the first floor, and my room, without the need to pass through the main entrance or see my step-father’s face.
I ascend the staircase and by the time I get to the top, I don’t head for my room.
- Writer
