“You’re strong. You’ll prove to yourself that you won’t let this this defeat you. Hailey will never win.”
“Anton, I don’t think I can join you guys tonight.” Seeing him would be too soon. I didn’t want to commit murder, so it was best I kept away from him. First thing tomorrow, I would book a flight out of here.
Anton didn’t appear too keen on the idea. “You are, and you will. Skip the dinner, but show up to the club. Consider this like you’re going to do a performance of a lifetime. You chose this path, Sprinkles. Maybe it’ll help you solve what you truly yearn in your heart.”
The boy could be right. This wasn’t all about her. This was about me fighting for myself by not cowering and appearing defeated.
“I’ll go, but I’m leaving first thing tomorrow.” Shattered though I was, I wasn’t ready to let this conquer me. Maybe in time, I would have a better grasp at controlling my reactions to such horrid news. Crawling into my own hellish hole wasn’t an option.
“Figured you’d ditch, but you know your limits better than anyone. Do what you gotta do babe.”
I was in shambles, and if it weren’t for him, I would still be feeling down rotten. Anton brought me back to reality by shedding the light on what really mattered. He showed me something to fight for—myself.
“Thank you for being my rock.”
“You are mine, too. You just don’t know it yet.” He gave me the tightest hug before kissing me on the cheek. “Parade those goodies so he can be reminded of what he’s missing. Make sure to dress up the part, too, like a fierce siren so he can eye fuck you all night because he know he ain’t getting it with you anymore.”
How could I not laugh at Anton’s mad idea?
When it was time for him to leave for dinner, he made me promise to meet them at the club and that he would text me once they were done with dinner.
While they all dined on sushi, I opted room service. Though I barely ate the excellent soup and niçoise salad, I tried to muster an appetite. I didn’t want to drink on an empty stomach.
After dinner, I unhurriedly went into the bathroom and drew myself a bath. The hot water seemed to do wonders to my sore body and fractionally lifted my mood. Once finished, I donned my comfort robe before I began toying and shaping my hair. I settled on a high bump ponytail that came out nicely after using a few products to tease my hair into place. Then I carried on to makeup.
From what I learned from Kells, the skin better be scrubbed off of any dead skin so that the foundation appeared luminescent. She even encouraged on giving a facial massage after polishing the face to suffuse the skin with a natural rosy glow. Next, I primed and contoured my face just as Kells had shown me. Lastly, I did my eyes, using a glittery black shade before applying heavy winged eyeliner, then finishing the look with one of my favorite brand of fake lashes.
Beautifying accomplished, I donned a black latex bare back mini-dress that stuck to my body like a second skin. It beautifully contoured my figure, proudly putting forth my best assets. Undergarments were nonessential. Pairing it with my black Giuseppe Zanotti killer heels, I was ready to party like a rock star.
Checking the brazen ensemble over the large paneled mirrors, I couldn’t help giving a mad grin at my appearance. It showed the epitome of a confident woman. I understood now why appearances meant everything.
Glossing over my glammed up exterior, River would never know how much he weakened me.
“Go rock it tonight, Cara. Show him you don’t give a fuck about Hailey.” Here was to hoping he and I didn’t have to converse tonight. The confrontation would most likely push me against the edge. Besides, he was most likely going to be hounded by his ever-devoted underlings.
My phone beeped while I gathered the essentials to put in my clutch purse, halting me from my course. Quickly checking the sender, I wasn’t surprised to see it was Anton, possibly telling me that they were done at the restaurant.
Warning! Alert! Fucking Alert! He’s on his way up. Rush out now if you don’t want to confront him. Love you.
“Shit cakes,” I muttered as I hastily speed checked that I had everything before striding toward door.
Upon exiting our suite, I was relieved to see that there was not one soul in the corridor.
“Maybe he’s in that Latina’s room to finish their session.” I laughed dryly as I made my way toward the bank of elevators.
It took me a couple of minutes until I finally reached the main floor. Boldly stepping out from the lift, I began to strut my way toward the opposite wing of the hotel, where the famous club was located. En route, a few men tried to catch my attention, and a few more tried to strike a conversation, but I politely declined them, not having patience for small talk amidst of a crisis.
Then I spotted him. His eyes audaciously travelled on my body, lingering on my shapely legs, then glued to my cleavage. His nose flared while his eyes sparked indecent intentions, and just like that, his face quickly shifted to hesitation like he was unsure of his next move, whether to approach me or leave me be. After a minute of contemplation, he slowly made his way toward me with his hands in his pockets.
“I was hoping to come and get you,” he said with a strained smile, realizing people had begun to notice that it was the actor himself.
Glancing away, I saw a few people several feet away taking pictures of him.
We had best get out of the open or this could spiral and end up in TMZ or something. I could do without all the media slander and pressure that he was so used to.
Reverting my attention to the man before me, I wondered why we were being polite to each other. Hours ago, I was ready to chop his wienerschnitzel off.
“I’m fine, no need to worry about me.” No, not any longer. I was sure once the wicked wench of the west got ahold of him, she would monitor everything he did.