Little lie

Chapter3

“Thank God you’re here Ellie,” Mario, my manager, says as soon as I walk into the building. Turns out he has been waiting for me. I gave him a small smile. I turned back to make sure it was Arion that drove me here.

It is him.

He’s now leaning on his car, making another call.

“Who is the guy behind you?” Mario asks, licking his lips. I turned back again, feeding my eyes at the sight of him. Now I know what all the females at work like about him. They all go around with their little gossip, drooling over him. I’m never included in their gossip.

“He’s not gay, Mario,” I groaned and walked ahead of him.

I signed in with Mario closely behind me. My feet are shaky, hoping that nobody has seen my pictures up on the walls. Soon, the lighting was set and I changed my dress. Standing in front of so many lights with expensive lipstick on my lips makes me feel different. Doing my second job makes me feel different.

“Smile for me, Danielle,” Mario says, and I do, striking different poses, letting go of every feeling of pain or burden. I froze when I saw Arion staring back at me. He might be behind, but his presence is not one to be ignored.

“Perfect shot,” Mario says. I blinked hard and focused on the camera again. I can’t focus for the rest of the shoot and Marion says we will make use of the ones we took before I got distracted. I simply nodded, making sure to keep my head down as I headed for the dressing room to avoid the heavy gaze of someone with green eyes.

Even as I walked away, I could feel his eyes on my back. I shiver and keep my back to the door as I walk into my changing room.

I sit in front of the mirror after a few deep breaths. I start rubbing off the makeup from my face when I hear a knock on the door. Mario is probably asking me to come and check the pictures again.

“I’ll be right there, Mario,” I called out, dabbing more wipes on my face.

The pounding continues, becoming more insistent. That isn’t Mario. Definitely. I simply ignored the knocking. The crew would tell the person to stop if the knocking becomes unbearable.

Is it the police?

I stood up abruptly, causing things to fall on the floor. I run to a corner of the room when the person starts trying the door handle. I almost screamed in fear. Is this how my life is going to end?

The person on the outside breaks the door handle and walks right in with a furious look on his face.

“Why didn’t you open the damn door?” Arion says, and I sigh, clutching at my chest, trying to catch my breath. I hate the fact that I have to live constantly in fear.

“Maybe you should learn to knock first,” I said, breathing loudly. Unladylike, my aunt would have said. Good thing she’s gone now.

“Were you scared?” he says, taking tiny steps towards me. I nod honestly.

I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to lie.

He stands in front of me, making me press my back to the wall.

“Why were you scared, little sinner?” he asks, taking another dangerous step forward.

“Nothing,” I said, swallowing hard to reduce the dryness in my parched throat.

Little Sinner?

Does he… no. He doesn’t have any way to find out. Rich people like him have all the gadgets. But I would be the last person he’s checking up on.

“So you work two jobs?” he asks, never taking his green eyes off my hazel ones.

I nod in response, and he slams his hands to the wall just above my head, making me jump in surprise. His eyes were darkening. I look behind him, trying to focus on the wall and bite back the tears. By the time I look back at him, he’s staring at my lips. I’ve been biting them so hard and there’s blood oozing from them.

“Why didn’t you tell me you did two jobs?” You didn’t ask. And you didn’t need to know.

His eyes darkened further. It feels like he would slap me anytime soon.

“Miss Jennie!” I scream, and he finally lets go of me, turning back in horror. See? He still loves his girlfriend. He’s my boo either way.

“What are you doing, little sinner?” he asks me and shivers run through my spine as he say the new-found name for me.

“You shouldn’t be calling me nicknames,” I whispered. “I’m your staff.”

He gives me a tiny smirk and rubs the side of his mouth with his thumb. “Not for long.”

The statement makes me take a silent intake of breath. He notices. His smirk broadens into a sneer. Without saying a word, he headed out of the room, silently closing the door behind him.

“F*ck,” I screamed, hurling the pack of wipes in my hand at the door.

“It won't help you,” I heard him say before I heard his receding footsteps.

“F*ck you too, a**hole,” I said before falling to the ground and doing the thing I haven’t let myself do in the last five years. Cry. Breakdown.

I let myself release everything. Even if I know that there are depths in my heart that can’t be touched. I let the mascara-stained tears flow down. Nobody will see me. I’m safe here.

“Elle,” Mario calls out. Are you done yet? We need you to go through the edits

I sniffled and stood up abruptly. His nice voice makes me feel almost better. I almost ran out and hugged him. He would end up feeling weird and things would never remain the same between us.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I said, putting on that face that people want to see all the time.