The Middleman | ongoing

39 | the antichrist in flesh

39 | the antichrist in flesh

Song: The Come Up by Raja Kumari

Depicted Above: Deepika Padukone as Leia Kar

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Sprawled on my hotel bed, glued to my phone, wasn't exactly how I foresaw spending my Thanksgiving Break, but it is what it is.

Exhausted from the long ass day of business, I haven't even made an effort to change out of my dress and heels, nor have I removed my makeup.

Instead I'm starfished on my bed, my hair a mane of curls strewn around my pillow. Staying in this position, I check my phone. I'd get ready for bed later.

Anyways, the night is still young. Quinn opted to stay down in the ballroom as he wanted to network and connect with future business clients. If I needed to go down... well at least I was dressed for the sophisticated environment.

I finally open my group chats and Snapchat, which have exploded with activity, and while on any other occasion I'd be ecstatic to catch up on my friends' lives, in this case it's not so.

I scroll through pictures on pictures sent on the group message that the girls had taken on Thanksgiving. Andres, Caleb, Minseo... everyone is included in those pictures. Except me and of course Aunt K who had cancelled her flight due to my fake last minute college visit trip excuse.

I had fabricated many lies to make this business excursion possible.

Guilt simmered up inside me as I stewed in my own pile of falsehoods. Every blue text bubble on our group chat was pretty much a lie.

yeah, guys. just finished the tour

Lie.

the dorms are surprisingly nice, im really considering it 

Lie.

their student research labs are pretty big, damn

Lie.

Just about everything I had sent as of recently on our conversation was some form of dishonesty on my part. It was necessary in protecting Quinn's career, but it certainly didn't help with how alone and isolated I felt. Thanksgiving break was the one time I could make at least a little time for friends and family, but even that couldn't go in my favor.

This wasn't close to an average seventeen year old's life.

Everything about me is just messed up.

Middlemanning?

Jeez. How in the hell did I get caught up in this? Never in a million years would I have thought I would be swept up in the business of galas, secret deals, and corruption.

School?

Torturous. Everyone was relaxing as twelfth grade was meant to be for most students. But obviously, I wasn't most people. I was that girl with the sharpest resume and transcript. All things, which required a tremendous effort on my part.