TWELVE: MIA

DANICA

"Now, Samantha... I know you're scared that Jay here is going to beat you senseless so why don't you just sit next to me," he said, pointing at the seat beside him.

"No I'm not," she said, tilting her chin up to seem more confident.

"Sit.down!" He commanded.

She walked over quickly and sat down.

"Jay, would you like to take a seat?" He asked with a fake smile.

"I don't like you," she said, also finding a place to sit.

"Now Samantha —"

"Call me Sam," she snapped.

I rolled my eyes and sat beside Neil on the arm of his seat.

"Sam," he started.

"I'd like to hear your side of the story. Keep it short and simple," he said, relaxing his back on the chair.

He gave Adam and Trevor a look that said, "stay."

"I was six months deep in a relationship and someday this crazy bitch shows up and almost sets my apartment on fire," she said glaring at Jay.

Jay laughed.

"I need to go back and finish the job."

"That won't be necessary, darling," Neil said."I already know exactly what's going on."

"Wait a damn minute. What about my side of the story?" Jay exclaimed.

Neil let out a small laugh, which seemed to fuel Jay's annoyance.

"What is he laughing at?" She mumbled to herself, shaking her head.

"You think you're so smart," Sam said, narrowing her eyes.

"Well I'm about to make you feel dumb as fuck," he replied.

"Grayson played both of you for six months, maybe even more. And its quite pathetic actually that you're both so angry at yourselves that you haven't realized that Grayson is the one that you should be setting on fire."

The room fell silent.

His arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me to sit directly on the chair.

I shivered slightly at the contact.

He leaned in until his lips brushed slightly against my ear. "And that's how its done," he said, pulling away with a smirk.

I felt an uncomfortable heat creeping up from my chest to my scalp and I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat.

I didn't like this feeling very much but he seemed to be enjoying the stupid effect he had on me.

They both struggled for words but only Jay managed to win the battle.

"I guess I kinda over reacted..." She started looking down in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry," Samantha started.

"No no. I'm sorry. Should've known better," Jay said.

They both got up and walked towards each other.

"Gosh I feel so stupid. How could've have been so angry at the wrong person?" Sam said, carefully pulling Jay into a hug.

"You want the long or short answer to that question?" Neil asked, earning an eyeroll from me.

Jay whispered something in her ear and they both laughed, returning to their seats with evil smirks.

"Now that your wig is back on you can tell us why you're here," Neil stated smugly.

"Oh so now I need a good reason to come here?" She asked, slightly offended. She just didn't like him.

"I came to see my new bestie, Danica." She said with a sarcastic smile.

"You got a problem with that!?" She snapped.

He held up his hands in surrender.

"This isn't my house so I really don't care," he replied.

"Come on, Danny," she said getting up. "Danny?" I raised a brow at the new nickname.

"We have a lot to talk about," she said grabbing my wrist and pulling me to my feet.

"As much as I'd love to talk, I have work to do," I replied.

"Work? What work?" She asked.

"We're planning tomorrow's dinner party."

"Well you don't have to do that. Do you?" She frowned.

"I do. I'm Asher's new personal assistant."

She gave me a weird look, then she smirked.

"We should probably get started on that," Sam said getting up.

"Right. I forgot about that. Well I guess I can stick around and we can all, you know, catch up," Jay said, earning a smile from Sam.

"Shouldn't you also be at work?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"I don't know why they bother paying me. I don't go there very often," she replied, laughing.

Smh...

"Aren't you afraid of getting fired?" Sam asked, scrolling through her tablet.

"Asher owns the place. Whose gonna fire me?"

"Good point."

...

It was three hours later when we decided to take a small break.

We sat at a naked table among about thirty others in a room I had just discovered. It was huge and apparently, that was were Asher held important events.

"So I was thinking," Sam started,

"We could have a live band right over there."

We all nodded in agreement.

"You should give them a list of songs too," Jay suggested.

"Yeah like common songs that everyone can enjoy."

Alice walked up to us looking around.

A lot was already going on.

The decorations were being set up as the caterers organized the tables.

"Can we get you guys anything?" Alice asked with a genuine smile. The maid she had walked in with, Mia, seemed bored and irritated. I assumed she was just tired.

"Umm..." Sam started.

Mia cleared her throat impatiently.

Jay raised a brow.

"Is there a problem?" She asked.

"No. Its just this new uniform is very uncomfortable. I wonder why we had to get these. Oh wait," she had a sickly sweet smile on her face.

I blinked rapidly.

I didn't even know how to feel. Angry and offended or embarrassed and sorry.

Jay didn't know what she meant and Sam wasn't paying attention.

Jay glanced at me for a reaction but I was completely frozen.

"Okay honey, why don't you go get us milkshakes," Jay said with an equally sarcastic smile.

"Okay," Alice said, still ad surprised as me.

They both left and Jay turned to me.

"What was that about?"

I managed to regain myself and I nervously explained the whole story. It was difficult but totally worth it.

They both stared at me in disbelief.

Mia also seemed to be about my age. I just didn't understand why she was so rude.

They returned a few minutes later.

Alice set a tray down and so did Mia.

"Here you go," Alice said with a nervous laugh.

And then I noticed that Mia had brought mine alone, specially.

She lifted it from the tray and tilted it slightly, spilling some on my shirt.

She gasped. "Oops" She said with a smirk.

Not knowing how to react, I froze. Again.

Jay seemed a little more angry than me. She stood up immediately and pushed her.

"Watch it, bitch!"

Sam got up and held onto Jay's arm, begging her to let it slide.

"Okay you know what? Why don't we just go upstairs and then we can fix this!" Sam said trying to control the situation.

Alice pulled Mia away.

"I'm taking my milkshake!" Jay exclaimed violently even though she didn't need to.

I smiled at that.

We all went upstairs and into my room.

I wanted into the closet and pulled off my shirt, then quickly pulled on another one.

I walked out to find them seated in my bed. I joined them and desperately searched my brain for a way to change the topic.

"So what's the dress code?" I asked.

"Wear the most classy dress you can come up with," Sam replied with a shrug.

I need help...

"I know exactly what I'm going to wear," Sam said.

Jay nodded.

"Me too."

"Now I feel left out," I said with a pout.

"Well it's you we should be worried about. You need to make a good first impression," Jay said.

"What were his other assistants like?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"You'll get to meet them. He usually has more than one."

"We don't get...noticed, do we?" I asked. That was the last thing I wanted.

"Well the rest of them don't. But you will."

I frowned.

"You'll see." She gave me a pat on the back.

I rolled my eyes.

Oh wow. Thanks for the encouragement.

...

A few minutes later we were all looking through my closet.

I begged them do move cautiously because I really didn't want Alice to go through the stress of fixing it up again.

"What about this one?" Sam asked.

"Umm... No. My back has to be covered. And I need something with sleeves," I replied.

They both groaned and turned to keep searching.

"This is it!" Sam screamed, making me jump a little.

Jay rushed over. "Yeah. This is the dress," she agreed.

I couldn't help it but smile at their enthusiasm.

I walked over and stared at it.

"Well go ahead! Try it on!"

They both pushed me eagerly.

"Okay, okay!"

They squealed and left.

After a few minutes, I managed to fit myself into the dress.

I looked down at the long black dress with a revealing 'v' neck and a slit that ended mid thigh.

I walked out.

"Can someone please help me with the zipper?" I asked.

They just stared at me.

"Is it that bad?" I looked down.

"What are you taking about!?" Sam exclaimed, slightly offended.

Jay rushed over to help me with the zipper.

She took a step back and stared.

"Damn," was all she could say.

"You look hot," Sam said with a satisfied smile.

"I'm not sure..." I trailed off trying to think of an excuse.

"What? It fits your description and shows just enough skin at the same time," Sam stated with a wink.

"You guys are making me more self-conscious than usual. Are you sure I should wear this? I shouldn't wear this—"

"I will punch you!" Jay said.

I held up my hands in surrender.

"Fine, fine."