Page 14 of Love is Fake

My eye focuses on the post-it I stuck to the front of the binder, reminding me to watch the video of the match. Seeingthe accident in real time gives me more information on the trauma of the injury. Also, I’m more than a little curious to see how he managed to finish the damn game without being stretchered off.

Either he was so high on adrenaline he didn’t feel the pain or he’s the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. After our conversations last night, I’m willing to bet it’s a combination of the two, with a healthy dose of the latter.

I zone out watching the coffee machine do its thing, falling half-asleep again on my feet. I’m so out of it that I don’t even hear my front door open.

“So youarealive then. Good to know I don’t have to kill anyone.” Kiara sets her keys to my place down on the kitchen counter along with a bag from my favorite bakery and leans against the refrigerator, arms crossed.

I blink at my best friend, a vision of bright orange in my tiny kitchen. As usual, she’s perfectly-put together, in a killer outfit complete with stiletto heels, golden eye make-up accentuating her dark skin and her jet-black hair in braids. She looks like she’s ready to take over the whole damn world. It makes me acutely aware of the ratty tee I sleep in, which declares me a ‘Structural Mobility Superhero’. If I were any cooler, my apartment wouldn’t need air conditioning.

“You’re an angel.” I open the bag, inhaling the smell of fresh-baked croissants and devour one in about two bites.

I didn’t realize how hungry I was, but between the events of last night and the sadness of my refrigerator, I didn’t eat much yesterday. I didn’t even have time to make a dent in the PhD work I was already lagging behind on.

Tonight – I promise to myself, tonight I’ll get it done, even if it means getting even less sleep than I have been. I grimace a little at the thought of that, but truth be told, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve pulled all-nighters to do what needed to be done.

“I appreciate that even though you thought I was dead, you still brought baked goods.” I wave my second croissant at Kiara, but she doesn’t crack a smile. Instead, she just keeps on giving me that pissed off look, which has sent lesser men running for their mommas.

“It’s 6 in the morning, Ki. Don’t you ever sleep?” I grumble the question at her, automatically getting another mug out of the cupboard and filling both with coffee - hers with cream and sugar, mine black like my soul.

“Of course I sleep.” Kiara inhales the smell of the fancy Colombian coffee I’ve been buying since I deposited my first paycheck. It’s my one splurge. “I just don’t need as much of it assomepeople.” She gives me a pointed look, which I ignore. I’m too busy rubbing the fatigue out of my eyes anyway as I inhale my first cup of coffee and quickly pour myself a second one.

“That stuff’s going to give you a heart attack one day, you know?” Kiara watches as my second cup goes the way of the first. I start to feel vaguely like myself again by the time I start my third.

I don’t respond immediately, knowing she’ll follow me the few steps to my bedroom as I get my day started.

“Statistically, that’s not accurate,” I remind her. “But I’m guessing you’re not here at this ungodly time of the morning because you’re worried about my blood pressure?”

Kiara gives me a nonplussed look. “I was worried aboutyou. You never called me back after your meeting with Lennox Gray and whenever I tried to get hold of you, I got bounced to voicemail. I thought something happened. And then this morning I get an email from the rental place saying your car hadn’t been returned…”

Kiara doesn’t look at me. Instead, she’s inspecting the limited clothes in my wardrobe, but her tone tells me just how concerned she was. It might seem like overkill from anyone whohasn’t lost someone, but I know Ki’s back-story. I know what happened to her sister and how it made her prone to think the worst was always about to happen.

“I’m sorry, Ki.” I lay my hand gently on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. “My dad called as I was leaving the Gray mansion and then by the time we finished talking I figured it was too late to call you back.”

Kiara makes an unimpressed sound and I’m not sure if it’s about my excuse or my wardrobe.

“And how did things go with Gray? And is he as gorgeous in real life as he is in his photos?” She throws me a sly sidelong look and I immediately know I’m forgiven.

I sigh, thinking about the man I’m only a short time away from seeing again. “More, if anything he’s better looking in person, which just proves my theory that the universe is a she andshe’skind of a bitch.”

Kiara laughs and her shoulders finally relax some of the tension they’ve been carrying since she arrived.

“Look, I’ve got to be on the road in a half hour and there’s no way I can be late meeting him again, so can we talk while I’m getting ready?”

I slip into the bathroom, turning the shower as cold as I can stand it before taking a deep breath and jumping in. It’s the final step in the wake-up routine I perfected in college. Back then, there was hardly enough hours between classes, work, studying and trying to have some kind of a social life.

I squeak as the cold water hits my chest and scrub my body as hard and fast as I can before hopping out.

Kiara gives a dramatic shiver as she hands me a towel. “I still don’t get how you stand doing that every day.”

“That’s funny coming from someone who runs almost every morning. I don’t getthat.” I copy her shiver and she throws a hand-towel at my face.

“One day I’ll get you in some running shoes.” It’s a promise, wrapped in the tone of a threat.

“Thanks, but I’m good with the pool,” I remind her. And it’s true. Vertically, I might be challenged. Horizontally and with the water carrying my weight, there’s not much that can go wrong. Plus, my swims are pretty much the only time in my day when all the outside noise is – quite literally – drowned out. It’s the only kind of meditation I’ve ever had the patience for; focusing on my strokes and my breathing.

“If you’re going back to The Hamptons today, then I’m guessing the meet went well?” Kiara searches my reflection in the mirror as I hurriedly moisturize my face and swipe some mascara onto my lashes.

“Aside from getting into a car accident with the client before officially meeting him, it all went fine.” I smile at the horror in Kiara’s dark eyes as they almost bug out of her head.

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