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She turns, sees it’s me and smiles brightly. I love it when Dejonae smiles. Her cheeks bunch up and her eyes get cute and ‘crinkly’. Funny enough, that expression reminds me of her husband. They’re starting to resemble each other.
Oh, the power of love.
“Trouble in paradise?” I sign. Some people pace up and down or go hiking when they need an outlet. My sister… panic-brews.
“No, this is boredom. Not anxiety.”
“You sure?” I sign.
“Who do you think sent these customers?” She gestures to the chairs.
I glance around, noticing how everyone is obnoxiously happy. That’s when I see the little cardboard sign at the counter that reads ‘FREE DRINKS’.
I roll my eyes. Only billionaires like Sazuki would waste money on nonsense.
It’s not a waste if it makes Deej happy.
Okay.
I retract my earlier statement. My sister taking a trip down memory lane and pretending to be the broke, college-student barista she was pre-Sazuki is a perfectly sound use of money, time and resources.
“Mom texted this morning. She mentioned a limo,” Dejonae signs.
“Oh, yes, that.”
“Oh, yes, that?” Her smile is joyous. She makes bigger signs to show her excitement. “What’s going on? What haven’t you told me?”
I blink rapidly, a thousand thoughts flying through my mind at once. There is no magazine photoshoot, and there won’t be, unfortunately, because my manager thinks I’m ‘a lot’. Every opportunity I’ve had in the modeling business was what I earned for myself.
“Nothing,” I sign.
She wrinkles her nose in disbelief.
Oh no. Should I have gone with the modeling job story? What if she asks more questions?
“Are you lying to me?” Deej signs, her gaze stern. “Or did you lie to mom and dad this morning?”
I feel ill, but it’s too late to turn back now. I chose this road. I gotta keep walking forward.
“I lied to them. If I told them who I wasreallywith today, then I’d have to explain what happened after the wedding last night.”
Her entire body stiffens. I see the moment it happens. First relaxed and then, like a current of electricity, she’s straight as a board.
“You mean… Richard Sullivan sent that limo?”
I blink and blink and blink.
What have I done? What do I DO?
I feel my face pinch as I admit the truth. “Yes.”
“Why?”
I open my mouth and start gulping air.
Why?
Her eyes are as hard as marbles. She’s watching my every move.
