Sweet Neighbor; cth

6//Another Girl?

((A/N- song for this chapter is bellyache by Billie Eilish))

-Hayley

I'm on Skype with Gracie as we laugh about how each other's weeks went.

"So where is Calum anyways?"she asks. "He's at a song writing session. He should be back later later."I tell her. She smiles and nods. "Okay- OH EM GEE I'm gonna look up Calum and see if anything about you pops up!"she laughs. I giggle and shake my head.

She giggles and I watch her smile slowly fade into a confused frown. "What's wrong?"I ask. She shakes her head. "There's pictures of him with another girl.... it's not you."she mumbles.

"What? Who? Let me see."I say, sitting up and dropping my bag of Doritos. She shows her phone to the camera and I see a picture of Calum standing beside a pretty brown haired girl who looks beautiful. She has her arm around him and he has a large genuine smile on his face.

They sure do look comfortable together.

All of a sudden I feel my stomach drop.

"Oh."

"Hayley, I'm sorry babe."She sighs and removes her phone from the camera. "It's fine. When was that posted?"I ask.

"Um...20 minutes ago."she says quietly but loud enough for me to hear. A sigh escapes my lips.

I should've expected this. He said this was nothing more than sex for money. I'm nothing more than a sugar baby to him. All he is to me is my employer.

So why do I feel like crying?

"Hey, I'll call you back later."I say. She nods and smiles. "Okay. Love you boo."she says sadly. "Love you too, Grace."I sigh and hang up on the Skype call before closing my laptop shut.

I stare down at my phone, deciding on calling him or not. I quickly decide against it and look away, putting my phone on night mode even though it's broad daylight.

I look over to my incomplete dress, hanging on the mannequin doll still. I smile and walk towards it, fiddling with the material.

Let's forget about him for a good hour and a half.

———

After about 2 hours of attacking my fingers with pin cushions and sewing tread after thread into the dress, I finally finished. I even had extra time to start doodling a few more outfit ideas. I feel productive.

I look down at my phone for the time and widen my eyes.

2 missed calls from Cal Pal😋
4 texts from Cal Pal😋
1 Voicemail from Cal Pal😋
1 missed call from Dr. Fluke
1 missed call from Mike-ro-wave
1 missed call from hulk smASH

I click on the voicemail to listen to Calum.

"Hey Hayley, I don't know if you're ignoring me or if you're asleep or whatever but I'm trying to get a hold of you. Just...call me back when you get this. Okay, see you later. Bye."

My heart hurts from his words and his voice. I can just picture his face, growing and worried. Awhhhh, he's so adorable- NO. Stop.

I roll my eyes and look at the texts.

Cal Pal😋:
Hayley x

Cal Pal😋:
Answer meeee x

Cal Pal😋:
Are you asleep? x

Cal Pal😋:
Baaaaaaabe x

My heart winces at his last text. I groan at myself and click on his contact. I press the call button and wait for him to pick up.

"Hayley?"
"Hey Calum."
"Hey, why didn't you answer? I called you like twice and even on the guys' phones?"
"I know you did. I saw. I was working on my dress, sorry."
"It's...it's fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"Mr Beckham called me and said you had rock music blasting."
"It's my form of inspiration."
"Okay. Did you want me to come over tonight?"
"No, I have plans."

Liar.

"Plans?"
"Yeah."
"Like what?"
"I'm going to walk around the city tonight and look around."
"Oh, want me to go with you?"
"You don't have to, but sure."
"Alright. I'll be there by 8."
"I'm leaving at 7."
"Okay, I'll be there at 6:45."
"Okay, see ya then."
"See you then, giggles."

I smile to myself before hanging up. I quickly remove the smile, looking at the time and seeing it's now 6:20. Great. Amazing.

——

Dressed in my white crop top and black pants and some white nikes, I walk down my stairs and into my kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge.

I take the bottle and hear knocking at my door. I look at my phone and see it's 6:45. Wow. Right on time.

I walk over to my door and swing it open seeing Calum in his usual state.

Black skinny jeans, black muscle shirt with some type of design, same black shoes, and that damned smirk of his right on that face.

"Hey giggles."he smiles and looks me up and down. "Hi."I sigh out and purse my lips to the side. He leans in and presses a soft kiss on my cheek. I smile lightly.

"Should we go?"he holds his hand out.

I wonder who else has held his hand-

I take his hand with a fake smile and nod. "Lets go."I sigh.

——

As we make it into the city, I notice the paps have a caught a few pictures of us.

"So, how was your day?"Calum asks me, looking at me with a genuine smile. My blood boils for some reason.

"It was fine. I called my best friend Gracie, I finished my dress finally, I saw pictures of you with another girl, I had time to make some more designs, I-""

"You what?"he stops me and stops our walking.

"I saw pictures of you with another girl."I say and cross my arm. He looks around for paps and rolls his eyes. He takes my hand and plasters a huge smile on his face and drags me into a random store.

It's a book shop. Literally no one is here but the shop keeper.

"What do you mean, you saw-?"

"I was on the phone with Gracie and she showed me a picture of you with another girl. And it looked like you guys were pretty close."I say.

"Yeah because we are. She's my...well, she's not my girlfriend but we're dating, I guess."he whispers as he explains.

And with that my heart shatters.
But I keep a straight face. "Oh. Okay. Cool."I shrug. "You're okay?"he asks, confused. "Yeah. I'm fine."I fake a smile and nod. "Okay."he sighs.

He takes my hand and we walk out.

You can't be mad, Hayley. You're just a sugar baby. No string attached, remember?

—————————

IM PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY AND MENTALLY NOT OKAY AFTER WRITING THIS SKSKSK

I PROMISE CAL IS STILL A GOOD GUY

-Jenna💕