Chapter four

04

He knocked then entered my room with a cup of coffee - this is what makes him special. He is caring and he shows it. This is the reason why I never wanted to pursue anything beyond friendship with him. Imagine ruining this?

"Sabah alkhayr," he bids me good morning as he hands me the cup of coffee.

"You know me so well," I mutter as I take the cup from him.

"Umm… Basim, why is this coffee black?" I ask. Let me retract and say he doesn't quite know me that well yet.

"That's how I like my coffee." He smiles.

"Where is the milk?" I whine and he rolls his eyes.

"Come fetch it yourself. Your friends will be here any minute."

"You are so mean." I put the cup down and get out of bed. "Are you staying to meet the girls?" I ask him.

"No."

"No?" I gasp.

"They are sleeping here tonight and tomorrow, right?" He asks and I nod affirmatively. "Then I will just meet them tonight."

"I wanted to introduce them to the infamous Basim." I pout.

"Infamous? So you've spoken about me to them?" He asks, but he doesn't sound pleased or maybe I'm thinking too much into it, but… Why did he ask it like that?

"You're my friend. Am I not allowed to speak about you to my other friends?" I question him.

"Sorry," he mutters then leaves minutes after.

"Nurys! Get down here," Dayo screams and I slip my robe on.

"You're here early," I say, as I lean in to kiss her cheek.

"Am I? It's already ten," she says.

"My bad, I had a rough night."

"I bet you did," she says, not so pleased.

"I know, but no regrets right?" I say, shrugging my shoulders. I said I would text Bryan to set up another meet up, but from the look of it, I didn't plan to.

"But Bryan though? You know he texted me this morning. You need to stop stringing him along."

"You're right, but to be truthfully honest, I didn't even plan on speaking to him last night."

We both turn our head to the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"I've got it," Dayo says.

I hear Rossita's scream before I even see her face. I ran to find them at the door with their luggage. "I'm so happy you guys are here," I cry, pulling Azaila in for a bearhug.

"I missed you too," Azaila says, letting go of her luggage to wrap her arms around my waist.

"Don't I get a hug too?" Rossita asks, folding her arms.

"Of course you do," I say, stepping towards her.

Where do I even begin? If they asked me which group of people would I tell if I killed someone, my answer would be these girls. Dayo would probably tell Basim so he could cover it up for me because I don't know how.

I met Rossita in Miami when I was in the process of finishing my teaching degree. She actually teaches. I know, shocking, right? I always tease her on how she is able to go the whole day without strangling at least one of those annoying bugs.

"Where is the chef? I'm starving," Azaila asked, walking into the kitchen. She's used to the luxurious lifestyle, being an actress and all.

"He went out doing errands," I told her and by errands I meant, we don't have one. You would think Basim would have gotten us a maid since he is 'secretly' rich, but no, he enjoys cooking for himself.

"In Turkey, I have a chef and if Dayo had let me know beforehand that you guys planned on feeding me food from here, I would have brought him along."

"Oh shut up, you know you love the sausage rolls from here," Dayo says.

You must be wondering how I even met her, I'm not a famous model so how did Azaila and I become friends. Well, I know you have met my friend, Dayo and her family is very loaded. Although she doesn't like asking her dad for money, I always nudge her when the time comes for some travelling fun. You could say Azaila and I's world collided through Dayo when we got VIP access to one of Azaila's live movie screenings.

We've all been hanging out for a few years now and although I love travelling, it is very costly. I'm already trying to make ends meet back home so sometimes I'm not around when they all hang. You could say they have the luxury to swipe their cards without having to look at the total cost, but not me - every price tag is engraved in my mind of every one of my purchases. Sometimes I even leave stores without buying anything and I wasn't ashamed to do so - what's wrong with a little window shopping here and there?

"So, where is Basim?" Rossita asks and I shrug.

"If you guys came earlier, you would have met him," Dayo says.

"It's not my fault," Rossita says, pushing the blame on Azaila.

"We had to drive around for a few minutes to lose the paparazziler. It was, how do you say it…kâbus," Azaila tells us.

She mostly speaks like that and we've gotten used to it. English isn't really her strong point.

"It was a nightmare," Rossita translates.

"Let's hang by the pool for a few and eat some sausage rolls before I take you guys to one of the clubs opening here," Dayo says.

"Let us go change first," Azaila says and we all agree.

I'm a Social Bug

"Are you wearing that?" Rossita asks me.

"Are you shaming me right now?" I ask.

"No, of course not, but is it not too revealing?"

"Unless you can see my ass or boobs, then no, it's not too revealing. Are we all ready to go?" I ask, turning my head to look at the rest of the girls and they nod.

Our uber arrives a minute after and we scream in excitement. Girls Night Out!

The plan was to stick together when we got in, mostly for Azaila's safety.

We immediately find ourselves on the dance floor after taking two shots of vodka to loosen up. It was like any other night but with more people. Everyone paid for their own drinks and I didn't want to ask Dayo to pay for mine as well so I needed to figure out a plan B.

"I'm going to go pee," I tell Dayo, pointing to the restroom just in case she doesn't hear me.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She shouts and I shake my head.

I leave the girls dancing and head for the bathroom. I didn't plan on returning to them just yet, so when I spotted this guy drinking alone at the bar, I walked up to him.

"Hi," I say, sitting next to the empty chair next to him. He doesn't respond so I convince myself that he didn't hear me as I lean closer. "Hi."

"I'm not interested," he says, nonchalantly, taking in the last gulp of substance in his glass before leaving.

I sat there confused, not knowing what just went down. All I wanted was for someone to buy me a drink.