Double Assignment

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"I'm fine," I grumbled but sat anyway. I took a cursory glimpse at my room, avoiding Kim's pointed stares. To be honest, Kim wasn't wrong. Pieces of clothing were strewn all over the place, the chair by the corner and even under the bed. On the other hand, wrappers of potato chips and Doritos made it hard to differentiate where the actual floor started from.

".....you're not like this." Were the words that brought me back to planet Earth. " Are you even listening to me?" Kim was frowning slightly, her head bobbing up and down.

" I am now, I'm sorry." I wrung my hands together." I just zoned out a bit."
"You see, now I'm convinced something is wrong." Soft hands clasped over mine. They were soft and I spotted a mini tattoo of a butterfly by her index finger. " You're apologizing and you look like a mess!"

"Ha." I teased." A lot of people have been complaining about my attitude so I'm changing. "

"You seriously don't expect me to believe that do you?" She pouted, one of her perfectly shaped eyebrow quirking upwards. " You haven't been attending classes either. I know you're not a nerd but I'm sure you don't want to fail either."

"I'm not going to fail." I ran a hand through my hair and regretted it immediately. I need to fix that, asap. " It's just a few classes."

"And what about your job?" I felt my stomach drop to the ground." Don't you have work to do?"
"I don't. " I lied through my teeth." I've been sending in my reports through emails and he's fine with that."

"You're lying, Diane." She shook her head empathetically. " It's written all over your face. I'm your friend aren't I, so why can't you tell me?"

Friend. The monosyllabic word tugged painfully at my heartstrings. Kim and I had gotten quite close over the weeks and it was kinda fun. We'd spend our drunken nights sharing secrets and swapping stories. More like lies on my side, and I just couldn't shake off the gnawing feeling of how she'd react if she ever found out the truth about me.

"Fine then," she got up abruptly." I guess I'm not if you can't even talk to me. Have a great day. Not!"

"Hey!" I facepalmed." Fine, I'll tell you."

"No." She halted in her tracks but from my peripheral vision, I could make out a ghost of a smile tugging at her black-colored lips." I'm not listening."

"If you think I'm going to plead with you to hear what I have to say," I reclined in my seat, mirroring her expression." then you my dear, are very mistaken."

"Whatever." She beamed, dropping back down in front of me." Now spill the beans."

"Okay." I drawled, thinking of a way to put it out to her. There was absolutely no way I could tell her the full truth.
" So it's not really about me, it's about um,  a friend."

"Really?" Kim snorted. Technically, she didn't seem to be buying my story. "I don't believe that but continue."

"Your problem." I hissed good-naturedly. "So my friend has a friend too, a male friend and they met online. They started talking recently."

"Your friend eh?" She cut me off, her ears perking up in excitement. " About what?"

"I dunno." I shrugged, praying she wouldn't see how nervous I was becoming." Anywho, they both decided they'd remain mysterious to each other. You know, giving little deets and leaving the other person curious about more things. "

Kim nodded with so much enthusiasm and I took it as an opportunity to continue.
" Then something happened. The male friend found out she wasn't just being mysterious but had been lying to his face all along. He got mad, she got mad and they said some unpleasant things and now he isn't speaking to her anymore and it's driving her crazy!"

"Do you like him?" I blinked rapidly at her question." Do you like him?"

"What!?" I stuttered, furrowing my eyebrows together." It's not me, I said my friend."

"My bad." Kim smiled satisfied with the fact that she'd been able to get a rise out of me. " Continue."

"No, she doesn't." I frowned, crossing my arms over my bosom. "What does that have to do with this?"

"It has everything to do with it." She replied." If she likes him she'll have to apologize to him."

"Why?" I rolled my eyes." What if she had a really good reason."

"I don't think there could be any reason to justify lying and a lot of people don't take lying lightly." I gulped at her statement. Those were Maxim's exact words." And because she likes him she's going to keep on feeling bad about everything, unless she grows some balls and apologizes to him."

"Oh," I mumbled

"Yeah." She nodded." Which is exactly how you're acting."

"What?" I snapped my head towards her and she was staring back at me, her round eyes boring holes onto my body. " I'm not acting like that. I'm just sharing in her grief."

"Yeah right." She drawled, smirking smugly while I groaned in defeat. " What if she doesn't like him?"

"Then she shouldn't be too bothered about it." She blew on her nail polish." You're usually not bothered about someone's reaction except you care about them."

"Hmmm." I hummed thoughtfully." So you're saying she was wrong for lying, even though she had a valid reason, which she can't disclose by the way."

"Yup." She gave me a look I couldn't decipher the meaning of ." Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"No, no, no." I exhaled deeply." I'm fine."

"Oookay." Kim drawled, her eyebrows creasing with worry. " I'll be heading out now, I don't want to be late. Take care of yourself okay?"

"Yeah, sure thanks." I mumbled incoherently, barely registering the words she'd said. " Bye."

Only after the door downstairs slid shut, did I release the breath I never knew I was holding. Kim's words and advice swirled in my head, further worsening the throb in my head that was slowly increasing to a loud bang per second. I heaved loudly, slapping my hands over my face continuously.  I'd been in a shitty mood ever since I left Maxim's office on Friday and nothing, absolutely nothing had been able to cheer me up.

My mind kept on wandering back to the moment he asked me to leave, the angst written all over his face kept on haunting me till this very moment and I hated it. My eyes darted to where I had my mini accident, where Maxim's doors had almost chopped off my fingers. It still hurt, but not as Nas the rejection I faced that day.

He was conflicted, wether to be nice to me or devour me in his rage. And he chose the latter.

I had to lie and it wasn't exactly my fault; Chief was the one who forged the details and not me. I just had to play along with it, right?.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted something hanging loosely on the slightly opened wardrobe. It was his shirt from the other night. I had countless opportunities to return it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. As if haunting me, I shook my head forlornly, a cold chill seeping through my bones as what I was supposed to do dawned on me.

Hiiiiiiiiii

I'm sorry this update took so long

So pardon me please 🥺

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ILY❤️✨