BEING THE UNDERSTUDY
CHAPTER 1
I sighed as I checked my phone again within the last 45 seconds. A habit I had developed in the last agonizing twelve hours.
“HE’S A FILTHY, LYING CHEAT YOUR HONOUR! AND I STOOD BY THIS ASSHOLE FOR SO MANY YEARS!”
I lifted my gaze to the suffocatingly over-weight African-American lady who had just hollered, banging on the podium she stood at. One could innocently describe her as ghetto with her black and purple waterfall up-do and clothes I was certain were a good two sizes too small for her. Judge Mathis chuckled in contempt as he watched the burly woman.
“I could only imagine why Miss Forne, you being such a classy and astounding member of society; who could ever possibly cheat on you! Especially such an innocently charming jail-bird as Mr. Kelso here! Now-” he responded with mock enthusiasm.
“-Your honour, you don’t understand! I’ve been with him for 9 years! Had 4 babies by him!”
Now the judge looked at her from the brim of his spectacles with an irritated glare, “Miss Forne, it don’t matter how long you been with this here gentlemen, this is the court of LAW! That means your baby daddy’s fidelity plays no part in him suing you for the furniture you stole out of HIS apartment and you beating him up in the middle of the street! And if you interrupt my court room one more time with your hood-ish outbursts, I will dismiss your child care counter-sue and grant Mr. Kelso his judgement!” he yelled at her slamming his hammer down.
The colourful lady just swirled her neck like a snake with pursed lips and stared at the judge with angry silence.
I shook my head and sighed again, Judge Mathis didn’t get it, they never do.
“What’s wrong” my sister sighed from the other side of the room without lifting her eyes off her tab as she sprawled leisurely on the couch. She had notice my own sighs and I presume was getting annoyed with them.
My eyes drifted back to the zoomed in Miss Forne on our fairly large flat screen TV as I contemplated whether I wanted to respond. She beat me to it though, without lifting her eyes off that stupid tab again, swiping away at it like a cat.
“Never mind, don’t tell me... its Khalid isn’t it?” she sighed in annoyance.
I kept silent.
A mental picture of Khalid flashed through my mind. I could never get enough of how gorgeous he actually was!! Khalid is Arabic, straight from Abu Dhabi. His parents had moved countries a lot when he was younger looking for gaps and opportunities. They had settled here in South Africa as at the time the cultural difference was minimal compared to all the western countries. Khalid however had grown to be a unique and alluring brand of perfect existence... He has this almost animalistic appeal to him that makes you feel like you’re caught in an unfamiliar place with a beautifully dark and dangerous panther in your path; a panther that hadn’t made a move but was staring intensely, staring intensely at only you...
It’s one of those times you know you should run, you know how dangerous every second that clocks by without moving is getting for you, but you can’t stop staring, you can’t stop the magical captivation the dark creature has on you...
Maree finally turned her face away from the tab and looked at me, mirroring Judge Mathis’ expression, “I don’t get why you subject yourself to that asshole. I mean seriously Rori, how do u still have hope after 6 years of waiting?!” she smirked in mild amusement using my childhood nickname.
I glared at her and decided to practice my first amendment rights to remain silent. She took it as a sign for her to carry on.
“I mean like seriously Roial, do you know who you are in this here life you’re living? You’re that girl in movies and novels, not the amazing magic and charm-vomiting heroine- no, but the other girl... you know... the pathetic one who was dotting and obsessing over the bad boy lead boy for a long time before the new girl shows up. Leading Lady stumbles in on your parade, all hot and glamorous, and snatches him right from under your nose. They fall in love and she changes him into a love sick puppy... while you, the pathetic OTHER girl is left out in the cold all alone. The only difference in your story, dear naive sister is that... you’ve had about 4 or 5 new girls move in, but that don’t change the storyline regardless! And while we’re at it, do you know how many lines those girls usually get in the movie?? Not more than 5 Roial, not more than 5...” she evil-y chuckled as she shook her head dramatically in disbelief.
Maree was one person who loved speaking in irony, not like other people who stick with pure and simple sarcasm- I don’t know... like everybody that had a normal functioning brain- no, she had to mix that said sarcasm up with a dose of uncomfortably described, sick and twisted irony; especially since she knew my passion and dreams of being an actress, she always chose her irony purposefully.
I watched her with hooded eyes. Her words stung. She was right of cause, she always is, the little witch, but I was not one to tell my little sister whenever she was right, especially if it was about my life.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate my sister; in fact she’s my best friend as annoyingly blunt as she is and most of the time the both of us are forever giggling around acting silly and getting ourselves into unmentionable awkward and crazy-as-hell situations where the other would have to rescue the one by doing equally awkward and crazy-as-hell unmentionables.
A memory of me calling her to come break me out of our older brother’s childhood-best-friend’s apartment flooded my head and I shuddered involuntarily. I had left with him in a drunken stupor after the celebratory party on the closing night of the small play I was proudly in... And no, I wasn’t the lead there either, but that was because the producer/director was the father of the girl who was...
Anyway Khalid had shown up to the show with his latest girlfriend and ended up leaving the party early to do God-only-knows-what with her while I sulked, miserably drinking my sorrows away. I ended up leaving with Trey for some reason, my brother and the rest of my family had all left straight after the show but Trey- being a hoe-bag wanted to stay and party up a storm with me and my colleagues aka sluty Leading Lady. I had woken up in absolute horror as I recognized the bedroom I had never imagined myself EVER waking up in. Silently, with the shock that had mixed with my hangover, I wobbled out of there as fast as I could!
The problem with that was that Trey had a mentally challenging apartment that was frighteningly difficult to get in and out of. I mean it’s especially difficult when you purposefully don’t want to wake up the guy who knew how to open his overly technically advanced apartment- I mean how awkward would that convo have been?! ‘Hey Trey? Yeah, you mind waking up and letting out your best friend’s little sister that you grew up with- the one you yourself treat like a little sister but creepily slept with last night? Yeah, she’d like to go home and try wash off the guilt of fucking her almost-brother now, please...’ Yeah, not very wise.
I had wondered around the place for a good 30 minutes trying to find a way out. The guy was an architect; clearly he liked bringing his work home with him! The door had a weird computerized contraption on it, the windows didn’t swing or slide open like normal peoples windows and there was no doggie flap I could crawl out of! I had given up and called my sister who is just 2 years younger than me and cannot ever be too thrilled at my unfortunate circumstances to not show up and laugh in my face.
We had tried so hard to keep our terror-filled giggles quiet as we knew Trey knowing Trey could wake up at any moment! With tears streaming down our faces from holding in all that insane laughter we managed to break me out through one of his complex windows, her from the outside and me, stuck like a jail-bird from the inside. We broke the damn thing by mistake through our tugging and probing! I didn’t give a damn though, I needed to get out and I was sure he would be thrilled at the opportunity of designing a new window! Win/win! As soon as I was free, we broke into a run for our lives while laughing like maniacs! I’ve been avoiding Trey- and my brother since!! My brother Thierry is the only person in the world who can never fooled by my lies or acting and I couldn’t risk him sniffing it out of me like the Hannibal Lecter that he is!
I shuddered at the thought of my older brother finding out! He would definitely break my balls if I had any!! ...My balls and my Adam’s apple for that matter, wait, maybe he would add shoving a foot up my ass like he kept promising his teammates from time to time!
But as my sister went on and on about how I’m not the leading lady in either Khalid’s or my own life, my mood sloped lower, wondering why he hadn’t texted me back all day, he was making it difficult for me not to believe my sister right now.
“... Seriously Rori, stop waiting around for this guy, if he hasn’t wife’d you yet after 6 years, do you really think he’s going to wake up one day and decide that you’re the one? He knows you, even better than me sometimes, and... Well... and you would think he has all he needed to know how special you are and yet he still hasn’t made it official. Take the hint sis...” she finished with a heart-breakingly sad look in her eyes.
I lowered my eyes as my gut wrenched with hurt. I understood where Maree was coming from, I wouldn’t want to watch my sister obsess over a guy she met in the last year of high school and still be stuck on him at ripe age of 24. It’s pathetic!
But how do you tell your heart to stop hoping? How do you make yourself fall hopelessly out of love with someone when you’ve been hopelessly in love with them for so long?! Especially since every time you made the decision to actually give up on him he would magically sweep you off your feet again just before the last flicker of hope died.
My abandoned phone beeped.
I glanced back at Maree who sighed, shaking her head and went back to swiping on her tablet mumbling unintelligibly about how much of a dumbass I was.
My heart soared at the sight of Khalid’s name blinking on my screen, together with the contact ID picture of the cutest photo of the two of us. He had taken it while we were at one of his friend’s beach all-nighter bonfires; I had fallen asleep cuddled between his legs on one of the rare times that he didn’t have a girlfriend. He took it while giving me a forehead kiss without me knowing, the perfect moment captured in the picture showcased the most authentic description of our relationship over the years. It reminded me that we had something special that only we could understand and that no matter what my sister or any of my friends thought, we were meant to be. I smiled and open the message.
[Khalid<3]
Hey beautiful! Sorry 4 texting back so l8, only just saw Ur msg now.
(Lie. I’ve been watching his name go green and red randomly for the past 12 hours on the chat messenger service, clearly chatting with someone else other than me. But I chose to ignore that realization)
[Khalid<3]
Wat u up 2?
[Me]
U wouldn’t believe me if I told u!
[Khalid<3]
Try me!
[Me]
Having sex with a stranger...
[Khalid<3]
Ur ryt, I dnt believe u. Ur probably watchn Judge Mathis while MarE chews u out about some or other thing!
I smiled, Khalid knew me too well, sometimes even more than I knew myself. That’s what I loved about him. Besides my sister, Khalid was the closest person I had on earth. He was my best friend, in a weird way. We’d made out a couple of times which proved that we were into each other yet all we’ve become- I’m still confused how so- is each other’s confidante... nothing more.
[Me]
Aw, Ur so frikken smart, how do u do it O great 1?! I bet Ur so chuff’d wit urself 4 ‘guessing’ ryt... Just remind me how much of a square I am y don’t u?!
*roles eyes* À- COUP!
[Me]
And wat makes u so sure I wudnt be bangin the brains outa some guy NEway?! I CAN be scandalous 2 u knw!
[Khalid<3]
Ha-ha! Coz I know Ur not a hoe Roial!
[Khalid<3]
Well that and the fact that u’ve hardly dated in the last 6 yrs...
[Khalid<3]
AND... Wen u do date they Neva last long, 1stly because u introduce them 2me imed8ly ((textbook mistake #1)) and 2ndly coz I MAKE SURE they don’t last;-P
[Khalid<3]
And b4 u start hollering, turning red n growing horns:: I don’t want NE1 messing wit my ChocChip* so u cant blame me!
He was right, every time I met someone new, someone I thought would help me get over Khalid, some way or other he would get rid of them. It had been frustrating and depressing at first but now I figured it was because he was jealous... JEALOUS IS GOOD!
[Khalid<3]
Oh! And u callng me a Jerk in French doesn’t make me wrong Môn Joli! Lol <3
If only he knew about Trey... I had decided to keep that one solely between my sister and me! Not that I was too scared of him knowing- like I said, jealousy is good!- but because I was embarrassed that I had become that girl... you know man, the only type of girl who sleeps with her older brother’s best friend even though she has no feelings towards him whatsoever?? Yeah... that girl!! *CRINGE!
[Me]
Well I guess I’ll take that then, bt u gotta stop all the crazy n let me date @ sum point- bcoz I’m sure u don’t want me ending up alone do u?! Oh n I didn’t ask u wat u up 2 bck?
[Khalid<3]
Having tea in Gucci
[Me]
Noooo... Again?!
[Khalid<3]
Yessss... Again B-)
I smirked as my tummy suddenly had butterflies. Khalid is rich. Not just rich, I mean stinking filthy rich, the kind that could make you sick at the stomach of how one person could possibly have so many zeros in their bank account type rich- but that’s not why I was giddy all of a sudden!
Every time Khalid went through a breakup with yet another ‘the one’ girl, he would go to either Gucci; Armani or Louise Vuitton and practically buyout the whole store and leave with a whole new wardrobe. The store clerks obviously LOVED him and got all excited every time they saw him walk through the door. They would close it down for him immediately for the day, just to cater to him. I know for sure the VAMPIRES were more excited about the Randela signs flashing in their eyes as they thought of the large commissions they would receive than excitement of actual customer service etiquette! {Fun Fact: RANDELA is the new slang word mix for the South African currency: RAND; and the new paper money with Nelson Mandela’s face on it!}
I still think it’s a weird habit of his though; he did it not to get over the girl per say which in itself is weird, but to remind her... and our social circles that he is still on top of the world; still the king of the city and still the hottest bastard around- well I mean his social circles mostly, I don’t really have many friends, especially not rich ones.
Anyway this little show he puts on is really a symbol of his telling you that you don’t matter anymore, PUBLICALLY!
Imagine the embarrassment of the poor ex’s (not really) as soon as the story broke? Especially since paparazzi always caught them looking their worst (As bad as an insanely hot chick can look really) while Khalid was always caught in clubs living La Vida Loca! He always made sure he murdered their popularity. I guess you could say he was a slightly evil ex who has an unhealthy love for revenge... I never minded though, I would do worse to them if I could ha-ha!
Gossip magazines would usually take bets on how much he spent each time word got out of another break-up and spend a lot to buy off Khalid’s purchase receipt from the stores. He was that popular...
I mean he is practically our country’s very own Prince Harry!
I still don’t understand how I became so lucky and special enough to be the only one in the world he ended up trusting, I mean barely an upper-middle class girl who is living a painfully plain life! I am nowhere near his league and I knew that equally as painfully! The day we met on first day orientation when I moved schools was a day I would never forget, I smiled as I remembered him taking an interest in my timidness and bothering me all day until he finally cracked me. He always told me of how it still shocks him that I could be such a talented and boisterous actress and yet be so insecure about myself off stage.
(That’s where he was wrong about me really. I was actually that sexily rude, witty and insanely amazing and quirky type of girl, you could say I was almost confident in my personality and my vast potential but on that day, when I saw him I was love struck into silence and all those qualities disappeared, leaving just self-consciousness, and nervousness which is what I then became... because I am always around him)
“What the hell you smiling about?” Maree asked with a raised brow, the exotic and manicured dark eye-bush emphasised just how amused she was.
I finally spoke to her, after being in the same room for the last hour. I was kinda giving her the silent treatment at first but I don’t think she noticed so I gave up.
“Uh... Khalid broke up with that Cordelia chick” I said trying so humbly to mask my delight.
“Aw, you mean the chick that actually IS French?” she smirked.
I rolled my eyes, she thought I had a complex about Cordelia because she was fully French where as I was only half French.
My Mom was born in a small town in France but moved to South Africa when she was 20. She met my dad, a black South African, married him and popped three weird, hairy exotic little mixed race kids for him. My sister embraced and carried her inheritance with such class and dignity, she was allowed really, she was one hell of a knock out! My brother too was a hottie, he inherited my dad’s darker complexion; sharp and defined athlete physique and of cause his famous dimples that drove bitches crazy. My mom claims my dad’s dimples also drove bitches crazy in their day... and yes she used the word ‘bitches’ (what can you do? she’s French!) I however haven’t figured myself out yet... I am a... Uhm, what do you call an exotic girl who is awkwardly uncomfortable in her own skin because she doesn’t know what the guy of her dreams is actually looking for?
Oh yeah, insecure.
“You’re half French too, stupid.” I hissed at her irritably. She chuckled and went back to her tablet, I figured by now that the constant swiping meant she was on Instagram: The new stalker-forum, now with video feeds too! Get yours today! :}
Anyway, I tend to wonder with every new girl what it is about her that appealed to Khalid- what she had that I didn’t. Maree was trying to be funny by assuming that this time it’s because I THOUGHT it was Cordelia being 100% French, she’s wrong, though that did bother me a little bit, I had figured a long time ago that my complex with her, just like the 4 before her was that she was a model... *sigh
I remembered it was my turn to reply as he had just basically confirmed his split with Cordelia.
[Me]
Sorry CherryPop! <3 I know how much you believed she was the one this time. What happened?
‘CherryPop’ was my little nickname for him; cherry flavoured soda (especially cherry coke) is my favourite thing in the world so you can see how natural it is to call him that.
[Khalid<3]
Tell u 2moro @ Breakfast ChocChip? My treat, I’ll pick u up.
The obvious nickname was because of my skin as I was half black, and of cause since his favourite thing is a very limited edition of the famous Swiss Toblerone chocolate with little fudge chips, it was natural for him to call me that too!
Again my heart summer-salted! The last time Khalid picked me up himself was before Cordelia, 8 months ago...
We had ended up spending the whole day together watching movies in his unnecessarily massive penthouse. While watching another bloody zombie movie- which the bastard knows I have a real clinical phobia of- I had buried my head deep into his chest in fear and shrieked in terror at yet another zombie ambush. Khalid had chuckled, lifting my face to see the fear with heavy amusement. Our eyes had locked; the intense heat and attraction buzzing between us. His laugh faded as he’s face morphed into pure adoration, I can safely say bordering on deeply emotional, I closed my eyes drunkenly as his lips finally touched mine, causing a jolt of electricity to course through my body. I had never felt as in love as I did in that moment... well, until my phone started blaring Pharrell William’s “That Girl” song and smashed our intoxicating trance into millions of little pieces. I had glared at it in deep hatred when I saw my brother’s name flash across my screen. He had called to tell me that he was actually downstairs to pick me up. I had found it weird since though it was true that Khalid had picked me up that day, I had my own car and never needed a ride home from my brother before. Little did I known at that time that my grandma had had a stroke and was lying in hospital. I had dashed out of that penthouse like al Qaeda just landed a plane on it and me and my family caught the next flight to France that night. We didn’t return until two months later... after the crushing funeral of my only remaining grandparent. Khalid and I had kept in touch naturally; he was my support system and was there through all my heartbroken tears. Only the excitement and hope of knowing that we were finally moving forward was what held me together the entire time.
However he had waited until I was back in South Africa to tell me about meeting Cordelia.
My excitement about finally exploring what was about to happen two months before was crushed. Naturally I masked it with a fake encouraging smile that I myself can say looked 100% genuine coupled with a delivery of the line “I’m happy for you CherryPop” that not even Anne Hathaway could rival...
He claimed to have finally found “The One”. Again.
I’ve been crying myself to sleep since that day.
[Me]
OK but tell me this @least... did I have anything 2 do wit the breakup?
[Khalid<3]
Ha-ha! U always have something 2 do wit my break-ups Môn Joli!
[Me]
Yea I Noh, it’s a bad habit! :-) Sure @ the breakfast invite- as long as u don’t judge wat I put in my Omelette again Pitre!
I grinned as I typed my text message; one thing I was always smug about was the fact that even though I had a complex about all Khalid’s girlfriends, they too had complexes about me and the meaning of our relationship!
[Khalid<3]
Lol I pwomis not 2 scrunch up my nose @ Ur disgusting tastes... I’ll wear a blindfold just in case! Pick u up @ 8am 2moro my little clown-lover;-P
*XOXO
I sighed in content as I put my phone down with a huge smile plastered across my face. I had called him a clown; he called me a clown lover... Mathematics said if you put two and two together like any other idiot, you would realize that he was flirting with me!
My insides fluttered with the possibility that this time this might be it. This time Khalid had finally realized that I meant more to him than just an awkward best friend his kissed a few times. That though he knew I wasn’t here for his money and popularity, he also knew that deep down I stuck around because I actually love him and he was the one for me, that I was the one for him too.
Hey! Thanks for reading my first chapter, please leave comments and tell me what you think?
{Another fun fact: Roial means Regal in English. It’s a girl’s name.
^^Personality: Girls with this name have a deep inner need for quiet, and a desire to understand and analyze the world they live in, and to learn the deeper truth. They also tend to initiate events, to be leaders rather than followers, with powerful personalities. They tend to be focused on specific goals, experience a wealth of creative new ideas, and have the ability to implement these ideas with efficiency and determination. They tend to be courageous and sometimes aggressive. As unique, creative individuals, they tend to resent authority, and are sometimes stubborn, proud, and impatient.)