Chapter 6: Transition, Transition.
1086 Words
Sophie Barnes.
The downside of being an influencer was being conscious. On top of that, being overly conscious of your reception.
I can't tell if it's just me or some of the people stared weirdly. And I know you are wondering why I am still in the most boring event I have ever carried myself to.
My answer would definitely be image.
One thing about this new plan was that I found myself strangely making peace with it so fast that I felt guilty. I can't quite pinpoint where the guilt laid exactly, but I know there was a thread that connected my not-so-little troll chat and now getting married—well fake marriage, but married nonetheless. That was when it hit me, were we actually going to get married? Full certificate and all??
It suddenly dawned on me. That must have been why he stormed out. I was busy obsessing over his features and allowing myself to be swirled around by the effect of his looks, I was just starting to see for myself that maybe the plan wasn't so foolproof like Alisha had claimed.
Alisha.
I start to scan the room for the average height woman. She wasn't really difficult to find with her piercing features and white jumpsuit. She easily stood out amongst a small circle of people. All of their attention was on her and she looked somewhat comfortable. Confident, if I was to be more accurate in description. I impulsively corrected my posture.
After what I had gone through on the stage, I decided not to involve myself with any circle that would eventually drive into literary topics I would know absolutely nothing about.
Karma seemed to be hot on my downfall.
I took an unconscious step backwards, away from being possibly called over even though I was the one looking for her and ran into a waiter holding a tray of sparkling champagne. It brought them all crashing into pieces on the wooden floor. The champagne spilled everywhere, making a huge mess.
My face instantly burned up immediately. Streams of apology gushing out of my mouth as the perplexed waiter just stood in shock, looking from the champagne spilled on the floor and then my face. I was sure it was because I probably looked like an inflated tomato.
“Sophia Barnes!” He blurted out. In his little jumpy moment when he said my name, his hair fell in his eyes. I found myself blushing.
“I am so sorry. I totally didn't see you.” I felt the need to apologize before It hit me. He called my full name??
“Wait, do I know you from somewhere?”
He chuckled nervously. “Of course not…but I kind of know you. I used to follow your workout—and cooking vlogs!” He stuttered.
“Yeah…” I muttered, narrowing my eyes a bit at him but still maintaining a smile on my face.
“Yeah, mostly your cooking traveling vlogs.” He added.
“Well thank you…” I trailed off, waiting for him to fill up the gap.
“Alex.” He accepted the awkward handshake.
“I will take care of this.” He pointed at the mess at our feet.
“You just go do your thing.”
He waved me off. I thanked him again. And when he said ‘you just go do your thing’, I took the opportunity to get the hell out. As Cardi once said, “no face, no case.”
The sun had kind of gone down a bit. It wasn't as bright as I remembered it being. I looked directly at my car and walked straight to it. A bunch of paparazzi close to the entrance stared at me from a distance.
I don't know why I expected some action. Not even a single flash was pointed in my direction. I understood why though. Like who would they sell the pictures to anyways?
I got into my car and drove straight home. If you had asked me to list at least three cars I saw on the way, I wouldn't be able to tell you s**t. My mind rather chose to focus on the high probability of becoming a wife to someone who was so cold and edgy. All of the romanticism that had clouded my eyes early, have now cleared off. All that was left was the real memories of how he acted towards me. Hell, there was barely an interaction. He wasn't even interested in me as a person even before Alisha came up with her brilliant plan.
By the time I got in, Heidi was seeing a movie, sprawled out on the couch.
In acknowledgment of my presence, she lazily raise an arm dangling to the ground at me, then dropped it again like it weighed the whole world.
“How did it go?” She flipped herself to face me.
While I was taking off my scarf and shoe, I started “You know, I thought of which part I was gonna tell you first. The part where I embarrassed myself on stage because I don't know Jack s**t about literature. Or that I got recognized by a young handsome waiter that may or may not have m*********d to my old workout videos—”
Heidi's facial reaction was enough to crack me up mid sentence. Her eyebrows hung up and her jaw low on her chest.
“Oh, I also ran into him first and knocked, and broke six glasses of champagne from his tray.”
Like telepathy, I kind of just knew what her next question would be.
“And no, I didn't pay for them. He said, you go do your thing.”
I scooped her legs and placed them on my thighs. “And trust your girl, I used the exit like I would hit a joint at every inconvenience.”
“Speaking about blunts.” She stretched one to me.
“I love you…” I held onto her hand for a bit, staring at her with all the love and adoration.
“Weed head.” Heidi cracked up, smiling back.
After some peaceful drags, Heidi broke my little bubble of thoughts.
“Uh, did you go for something important for your career??” She popped her right eyebrow.
“Oh yeah!” I felt nerves growing by the second.
“I am getting married to Julian West.”
Her eyes bulged open. “WHAT THE f**k?”
- Writer
