Page 19 of Are You Going to Love Me

“Thanks,” Eden softly hummed, before turning to the camera.

“Eden! Eden! Turn here!” the paparazzi called, taking the attention from Natavia to Eden. This happened more times than Eden could count. But every time, she played small. Put herself in the background to keep the attention on Natavia. This night was about her anyway. Eden was just here as a showpiece, the best friend, the third wheel.

The truth was, Eden was a star in her own right. No matter how small she made herself, she outshone everyone in the building – including Natavia. She was soft and elegant with an origin story that, when she told it, made everyone root for her. When she stepped behind Natavia to give the spotlight back, the media continued to call her back to the front.

“Turn here, Eden, right here, Eden! Look at me, Eden! Over here, Eden!”

Natavia grabbed Eden’s hand tightly. To the cameras and the rest of the press, it looked like two doting best friends sharing the spotlight. For Eden, it was Natavia keeping her in line – keeping her in check and reminding her who was in control. And still, the way Eden posed put her in the forefront.

“Beautiful, Eden! So elegant, what are you wearing?” Danna Wilson from A Dose of Danna blog asked Eden as she and Natavia walked over, still hand-in-hand.

“Oh, it’s just Valentino and Jimmy Choo. Jewels from TenCut. Hair Mr. Simpson and make-up Maria&Marie,” Eden gushed over her look. It was elegant, soft yet powerful, modest yet sexy, and a contradiction of Natavia’s breast, thighs, and everything else on display. Her makeup was heavy, and her hair didn’t complement the look she was going for.

“You look good, girl!” Danna gushed.

“I’m wearing Prada, vintage,” Natavia inserted herself.

Danna’s smile faltered a fraction of an inch. “I’m sure you’re excited about your first movie. Anything else in the works?”

“Oh, yes,” Natavia clasped her hands together, finally releasing Eden. Eden watched the cameras pan from her to Natavia, and relief flooded her. She scanned the area, finding another blogger waving her over. Eden left Natavia and continued doing what she was paid to do: make everyone else look good.

Inside the theater was Rico, dark sunglasses over his eyes, standing with a group of men. She attempted to skirt by them, but Rico grabbed her hand. “You ain’t gon’ say hi?”

Eden smiled kindly again, pulling her hand out of his hold. “Hi Rico and friends, y’all alright? Good. Your girl is on her way in.”

With that, Eden went to grab her a bucket of popcorn and head inside to her seat. A few more videos were recorded as she braced herself to get through the next hour and forty-five minutes of Natavia’s five-minute movie debut.

As Eden watched Natavia’s character portrayed on the big screen, she remembered the dreams she had for herself. Somewhere between her father dying, her mother leaving, and having to become the sole provider for Staysha, she abandonedthem. Getting her degree in performance arts seemed too far-fetched, even now, it seemed like being an influencer and a model for MRA-approved content was all she was going to be doing.

Eden: Maybe we should look at some small roles after this contract is up

Staysha: I thought you would never ask

Staysha: If Natavia can hype the world up with mediocre talent, you can too

Eden: I mean, Natavia wasn’t that bad

Staysha: The day you wake up will be a great day

Eden rolled her eyes and powered through the rest of the movie. Before the lights could come up, she slipped out, hopping in her ride and heading to her first brand afterparty. She maneuvered through, took pictures, drank the drinks, ate the food, and chatted it up with the owners of these brands, then slipped out. By the time she got back in her sponsored ride, traffic was abundant.

Natavia: Girl where the fuck are you? I thought we talked about this

The red flags were bright, flashing lights now. Eden wasn’t sure how much more of Natavia’s control she could take. Talking to Mac’Roy about going in a new direction was off the table because whatever Natavia told him to do, he did. The whole situation was becoming more and more irritating. Playing small, being indebted to Natavia for saving her, and having to be subjected to Rico when she brought him around.

Eden: Traffic. Be there in a minute

Natavia: Hurry up. I want to hear what you thought about the movie

“Of course you do,” Eden huffed. “You want to spend all night talking about a five-minute scene.”

It took almost an hour to arrive at Rico’s lakeside home from the other side of the city. When she walked into Rico’s larger-than-life house, the music clashed against her ears, and people were everywhere. Already, this wasn’t Eden’s type of vibe. She preferred lowkey spots where she knew who was in and out and what was going on. Typically, she could hear Natavia’s laugh or her voice over the crowd, but in this instance, it was everyone else but her.

Eden roamed through the space, hoping to be undetected in a corner. After all, she was only here to fulfill her“contractual”obligations. Eden knew how the public perceived her, and she knew one photo of her was bound to go viral. Natavia was going to capitalize on that. Especially since she’d been struggling to bring the type of buzz Eden had. For Eden, it was effortless. Her team could upload a video at two p.m., and by four p.m., it had half a million views; by the morning, the numbers might’ve tripled. Part of it was because Eden was a mystery and only revealed what she wanted the public to know. Unlike Natavia, who told everything.

Plopping her tired body down in an armchair out of sight, she watched the women wanting all the attention grin and gleam in the faces of the ballers. Some married. No wonder Rico was doing whoever he wanted to, these women were accessible. Eden couldn’t count on two hands any more how many times Rico had cheated on Natavia. The fact that it was more than five times and she took him back was embarrassing. And telling.

It was telling.

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