White Diamonds / l.h ✔️

8

~Hera's POV~

I couldn't stop thinking about Luke and I's kisses for days since the first time he kissed me in the park. It wasn't like he hadn't kissed me since then, either. It had been nearly a week and we had shared plenty more kisses, so I probably should've been used to it by now. However, I wasn't. He'd been stuck in my head, the way he kissed me and held me as his lips moved against mine. I'd never been kissed the way that he kissed me.

He'd even taken me out to get some fast food after we left the park, and then he and I ate together at my house. And this time, he had let me pay for the food. He'd been very sweet to me, and I loved it.

Brushing my thoughts off, I stood in the shower, the hot water pelting down onto my body as my dark hair slicked back, becoming even darker when it was wet. He probably had not meant anything by having gotten food with me, or eating with me at home. If he'd had a choice, he probably would have chosen to go home. After all, this was just business to him, probably the same way it was business to Ember. But I was not used to this side of the industry. I had never faked a relationship before and, even though I told myself all the time that that's all that it was, my heart was foolish. My heart liked him too much. All it had taken was some dates, talking and dinner at my house, and kissing in the park and I was suddenly a sucker for him. How naive of me. How stupid.

Sighing to myself, I washed my hair and stared up at the ceiling above me, letting the water rinse the shampoo from my hair. I lathered my hair with conditioner next and let it soak into the strands while I washed my body with my loofa, the hot cocoa scent filling my nostrils. After I had rinsed my hair and all of the soap bubbles on my body had been washed down the drain, I got out of the shower and dried off with my towel before I hung it back up on the hook it belonged on. Because I was going to be going to lunch today with Sydney, I decided I should probably try to get my makeup done quicker than I did yesterday, being that it was already past eleven AM. I needed to get there soon.

So I forced myself to hurry and do my makeup faster, finishing it off with a layer of mascara on my lashes. When my makeup was done, I headed into my closet and picked out an outfit, deciding to go rather simple today. I didn't have time to pick out an outfit.

I pulled on a black top that dipped low enough to show off my cleavage, my breasts not contained by my bra. I didn't like wearing bras very much, so if I could avoid wearing one, then I would. The top was cropped and had frilly sleeves and an open back, tying around my back. My strappy heels were black and had a thick, chunky heel. Now dressed and ready to go, I brushed my hair and put it up in a bun after I put on some deodorant and perfume, putting a pair of sunglasses over my eyes. I left my house and jogged downstairs, going down to my car so I could meet Sydney. She was probably already waiting there for me by now, so I might have speeded a little on my way there. Just a little.

When I reached the restaurant, which was a nice diner called Charlotte's, I parked my car in the parking lot and headed inside, searching for Sydney's face. Finally, I spotted her head of curly black hair in the corner and her caramel colored face, meeting her hazel eyes as I stalked in her direction. A smile grew on my lips as I waved at her, sitting down across from her at the table. "Hi." I smiled, grabbing one of the menus from where they were stacked on the side of the table, in a little holder. "Hello." She grinned, relaxing forward against the edge of the table.

"How've you been?" She asked me, sipping a cup of some dark brown liquid. It looked to be some sort of soda, maybe Coca Cola or perhaps Dr. Pepper. Maybe Pepsi. "I'm good." I answered, flipping open the menu. "How about you? What have you been up to?" I asked, curious. She grinned and lightly rapped her knuckles against the surface of the table, peering over at me. "I met this girl the other day. Her name is Maggie." She giggled in excitement, her hazel eyes glimmering. It seemed like she really was excited about this girl, like she really liked her. "Really? What's she like?" I asked, curious.

Although Sydney had been dating girls since high school, when she had first come out as bisexual, it had been a while since she'd mentioned being interested in a girl. It wasn't unusual to catch her checking girls out, of course, but she rarely actually found girls that she liked enough to bring up to me. The last time she'd mentioned being in a relationship was about two years ago, but that one had only lasted about six months, as far as I remembered.

"Well, we're still just getting to know each other, but she's so pretty, Hera. She's sweet and funny and she has such a pretty smile." Sydney said, letting out a happy sigh with a dreamy look in her eyes.

I couldn't help but to smile widely at her, biting my lip to try to stifle it. "That's so cute." I giggled, glad that she had found someone who she liked. She deserved that much, at least. "But enough about that," She said, brushing the topic off like it was nothing. "I saw those photos of your last photo shoot. You looked so good!" She beamed, looking up when the waitress arrive with a little pen and a notepad to take our orders. We both placed our orders and I ordered a water with mine before the waitress left, leaving Syd and I alone again. "Thank you." I said to Syd, biting my lip. She had always complimented me on every photo shoot, giving me her endless support.

She smiled and took one last sip of the soda in her cup, which was nearly almost all gone already and neither of us had even eaten yet. Then, she pushed the cup away and began to scoot towards the end of her seat. "I'll be back. I gotta pee." She said, slipping out of her seat. I nodded and watched her leave to the bathroom, waiting patiently at the table for her to get back.

Suddenly, though, the sound of a loud giggle pierced my ears as two people sat at a table right beside Sydney and I's. Out of instinct, I glanced over and, at first, immediately looked away, not thinking much of what I was looking at. However, then the sight registered in my head as I looked down at the table, causing my head to snap up in surprise. I didn't turn my head to look, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that it was Luke and some girl, just like I thought I'd seen. She had dark hair and pale skin with a slim figure, from what I could see.

Very faintly, I recognized her as another model that was, funnily enough, signed to the same agency that I was. As far as I could remember, her name was Nina. She was twenty, I believe, and was coming up in the business. I couldn't help but to wonder what they were doing here together. He'd said he had no friends who were models, but Nina was most definitely a model.

Luke said something to her that made her giggle again, the sound causing me to frown a little bit. I grabbed the menu in front of me and shut it, tucking it into the holder with the rest as I tried not to look at Luke and Nina. It would've been weird if I met his eyes and he was on some date with another girl, which he knew he wasn't supposed to do. The media twisted things in all sorts of directions, so he knew that he wasn't supposed to be going on dates with other girls or it could be found out that he and I weren't actually dating. I didn't want to be a snitch, but I took out my phone and texted Ember, letting her know he was going out on dates in public.

Obviously there was nothing wrong with him having girls to his house or whatever because it wasn't in public, but he knew that he wasn't to be going on dates. I had no choice but to tattle on him, even if I did look like a snitch. Ember was very clear about the rules of this whole fake dating thing.

I tried to ignore them, but even after Sydney came back, I found myself glancing over at them throughout our lunch.