C10 Party Preparation

Before the date of her launch, Rissa had texted Miss Lane to invite her to her book launch. According to her when Hannah confronted her about it, she said she was just goofing about and wanted to try her luck. And that little harmless play came to reality. Miss Lane was at her venue for her book. How lucky could she be? Two celebrities attending her program would give her a huge boost in her writing career.

While her guards tried to calm the swarm of excited fans, Miss Lane made her way to the celebrant of the day.

"Miss Lane, it is sooo good to have you here," Rissa said nervously. Her next action shocked her and left her astonished; miss Lane had pulled her into a brief hug.

"Go, girl." She hailed before taking her seat.

Rissa felt like the most blessed person on earth. After the program, she signed the books of those that came with it and those that bought theirs at the venue. She sold out every copy and more than a hundred people ordered for it.

The book talked about three high school students who started off as good students but ended up being misled by the company of friends they kept. They were able to retrace their steps but they each paid a price.

She got contracts from several schools to supply copies of the books as it was educational and it taught several lessons. Rissa felt proud and accomplished. After the signing and the promises to make many more copies, the guards from both parties made sure the event hall was empty and that there was no violence.

"I can't thank you both enough for what you did for me today. Your appearance alone has changed my life for the better and I hope to repay you someday." She thanked them immensely and made to pack up.

After Rissa left them, Jason turned to Miss Lane.

"Hello." His hands were in his pockets.

"Hello, again." She faced him too.

"Yeah, again. Sorry about what happened at my wife's office yesterday. There was a commotion in front of her office and I had to check it out."

"It's fine. That's what every normal and caring husband would do."

"Thank you for understanding, I have to get back to work and I'm sure you have something to do too."

"Yes, I do. And if you're not so busy tomorrow, I'd love to invite you to my revelation party. I'll send the invitations later. See you around, Mr. Reed." He stared at her until she disappeared with her assistants and her guards.

'Man, such wide swaying hips.' He thought but reprimanded himself immediately.

'You have a wife, you curve craving man.' He would have hit his head if not for his guards that we're around him.

"Let's go, men." He said and began walking out of the hall. On getting to his car, the door was opened and he entered inside.

"Where to, sir?" The driver asked. As he was about to reply, a call came in and it was from his wife. He knew exactly why she was calling. He ignored it and faced the driver.

"Take me home." He ordered. "And play me something and soothing."

"Yes, sir." The driver obeyed and started the car. While driving, he went through his playlist and clicked a song from Lukas Graham - Love someone.

The song was slow but also filled his head with thoughts. At the time he had divorced Elaine, he wasn't scared of losing her. Instead, he wanted her gone immediately for what had happened to his child. Turned out that it wasn't her fault, the pregnancy already had complications. Elaine's slap only triggered its early removal.

The song made him wonder if he ever loved Elaine as he thought he did. If he ever did, he would have been scared to his wits to lose her.

**

"So, ladies, how's the party preparation going?" Elaine asked the girls that were happily licking their ice cream. She had hers but because of the mask she put on, she couldn't lick it. She was so bent on not revealing her identity yet.

"The hall has been fully decorated. We've contacted the chefs and also gave them the list of food we want at the party." Nadia stated. "I, of course, will be the DJ of the event. My cousin got me the instruments and the sound systems and they have been fully instated."

"The invitations have also been sent out to everyone today, as you requested," Stella added. "Oops, brain freeze!" She exclaimed as she massaged her temple with one hand.

"Serves you right for taking in too much at a time." Nadia teased her.

"Alright, send out two invitation cards to Mr. and Mrs. Reed. I want them at my party too." She requested and the girls obliged. She was dropped at her house and the girls were taken to theirs.

***

AT THE AIRPORT

Elaine stood in the waiting area, searching for her friend. She had gotten her text that she'd soon be landing and that was like thirty minutes ago.

"So, this girl wanted me to stand here waiting for her all that time." She feigned annoyance as she waited.

"Yo, girl!" Hilary shrieked as she sighted her best friend. Elaine turned her head and saw her friend almost racing from the lobby with her luggage behind her as shoulder-length hair waved in harmony with the wind.

"Oh my!" Elaine exclaimed as Hilary engulfed her in a tight, warm embrace. Almost making the two of them fall. "You missed me this much? Glad the feeling ain't mutual."

Hilary felt offended and pulled away from her. She smacked the back of Elaine's head.

"You're so mean, Elaine. Here I was, missing you so much and couldn't wait to see you, but this is what you tell me. I'm hurt, you know." She held the top of her shirt as though a heart attack had hit her.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean that. I missed you even more than you missed me. Where's Tristan and his girlfriend?" She looked around but didn't see any of them.

"They're coming alright." She rolled her eyes.

"Too bad I have to wait for him. We were told to report to the industry after getting here and they made sure to note that, no matter how tired we were, we should report. My company is a mean one, I tell you but I love it. I'll miss my authors back in Sydney though. We did have such a good relationship. So sad." She bowed her head solemnly but just as the sad feeling came, it got replaced by an enthusiastic one. "Anyway, I've got lots of things to give you. I hope you got something for me too. I'll break your head if you didn't."

"Shoot!" Elaine shut her eyes tightly and slammed her forehead. "I didn't think of that. You're going to have to break my head now."

"Why did you forget? Well, it's not too late."

As they were discussing about her trip, the couple walked up to them with intertwined hands.

"Who is that?" Blanca asked Tristan.

"She's a friend of Hilary." He replied.

When they approached them, Elaine nudged her friend.

"Here they come." She whispered but Hilary only hissed.

"Like I care."

"Hello there." Blanca waved at them, smiling brightly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, you?" Elaine replied with the same energy.

"I'm good. You're here to pick up your friend, right?"

"Sure am. So, Hilary, where do you want to go first?"

"We're both going to work and after that, we head our separate ways," Tristan replied and pulled Blanca alongside him.

"Show off." Hilary scoffed, grabbed Elaine's hand, and trailed behind the couple.

"They actually look cute together." Elaine complimented.

"She's pretty, he's a jerk." She said maliciously.

Elaine couldn't understand the grudge her friend held against Tristan. They were both very good at what they do but somehow, they weren't friendly with each other.

After reporting to the head of their platform extension, they headed out of the office.

"Hey, drop me off at Elaine's place." She requested impolitely, like a boss ordering her servant.

"I see you're ugly and also manner less. You can't even say please." He scoffed and unlocked his car.

She didn't reply to him. Instead, she just walked out of the environment and to the roadside. She planned on taking a cab to her friend's place.

Tristan just stood gobsmacked, staring at her.

"She's annoyed because I told her to say please. Such an attitude. She should wait for all I care." He got into his car and drove out. He saw entering a car. It didn't look like a cab and when he drove past them, she saw her friend, Elaine, inside the car. They were both laughing over something he couldn't comprehend.

"They better not be talking about me." He grouched and drove past them.

"My boss' assistant is so funny looking, with his big eyes and his pointed nose. He kind of reminds me of Mr. Bean." She shrugged. "But he's nice to us. And my boss? He is freaking hot but he didn't seem interested in us at all. If not for his assistant, we were almost as invisible to him." She said with sad eyes. She kind of felt a spark when she saw him the first time. His hair fell to his face as he stared at the papers on his desk. The top three buttons of this shirt were opened, revealing part of his abs and the long-sleeved cloth hugged and revealed his biceps. She was literally losing her breath at that time.

"I know that look. You like him, already, don't you?" Elaine nudged her playfully.

"Well, I'll just crush on him and two weeks later, the feeling would all go away. I trust myself." She bragged. "Let's go to your place. I want to show you my gown for the ceremony tomorrow."

Elaine chuckled and started the car.

"Why do I feel like I'm the only one not enthusiastic about this party? The world is literally going crazy about it but here I am, wishing I could sleep all day."

"You're unbelievable, girl." Hilary laughed away at her joke. She knew her friend never liked big ceremonies and always looked for ways to avoid them but this one, she wasn't going to let her.

"You're going whether you like it or not. I'm back and you have no option."

Hilary pulled on Elaine's hair and she winced.

That's right. Her crazy best friend was back and she was stuck with her.