Going Backwards
~
January 16th, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Gym
Vera's P.O.V.
11:12 am.
Lilly groaned again as I pulled out my headphones out of annoyance for the third time. "I can't do this!"
I wipe off the sweat that built on my forehead as I slow down on the elliptical. I grab my water bottle and taking a small sip out of it, watching Lilly struggle on the bench press.
"Maybe take off a few pounds?" I suggest, clearly confused why she put on more pounds than she can usually work out with.
She grunts and doesn't reply.
As I was about to continue my workout, I get a call from work which causes me to come to a complete halt. I get off my machine and walk out onto the terrace before closing the sliding doors.
"Hello?" I answer after I catch my breath.
"Hey, Vera." My manager answers. "I heard about your resignation and I would like to meet with you tomorrow around—hold on."
I bite my lip as I look out into the city. I heard shuffling on the other line before she answered. "At two o'clock."
I clear my throat. "Yeah. Do we meet at your office or at a café-"
"Yes. See you then." She cuts me off. Before giving me the chance to answer, she hangs up.
I roll my eyes as I started walking back into the gym where Lilly was. She abandoned the weights and was now on the electrical bicycle. I go over to the elliptical I was on previously and grab my water bottle before taking another sip.
"Who was that?" I heard Lilly asked. I turn around as Lilly slowed down her pace a bit. "My manager." That caused Lilly to grimace. "What does she want?"
I set my water bottle down and began to get onto the elliptical. "She wants to meet and talk about my resignation." She nodded before continuing her workout.
For the rest of my workout, I worked on with weights after I finished my time on the elliptical. Unfortunately, I gain a lot of weight when I don't watch what I eat for a few days. Lilly doesn't have to go to the gym as much as I have to because of her great metabolism and me on the other hand, I don't.
Lilly left to go take a shower in the locker room as I decided to stay an hour more to work out harder. I don't mind working out much, but some days are definitely more difficult than others. Today was a bit challenging because I've been feeling strange lately. I haven't been sick, but I feel unpleasant in my own skin. I don't how else to explain how I feel.
Once I finished my workout, I glanced at Lilly who just came out with her hair slightly wet and a new outfit. "I'm going to the pier to take some photos. Do you want to come?" Lilly asks as she raises her camera.
I haven't been to the pier in a while. I nodded my head before saying. "Let me go home and change though." She smiles gleefully as she tries to contain her excitement. "Alright."
~
January 16th, 2019
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica Pier
Vera's P.O.V.
12:40 pm.
Lilly and I flinch as we heard the seagulls squawk while walking on the Pier. We're afraid of those birds. Once when I was a child, I went to the beach with Lilly's close and extended family. Somehow, a seagull sat on top of her uncle's head. Everyone freaked out when the seagull used her uncle as a bathroom. Lilly and I were traumatized as a couple of seven-year-old children.
"Vera, can I use you as my model like we used to?" Lilly asks as I lean against the railing.
Lilly started to have a strong passion for photography ever since she was a child. Whenever we hung out, she most likely had a camera with her. She started to take photography classes in high school and throughout college. For her assignments and projects, she would have Norah, Luca and I be her models. We used to mess around all the time and take candids which came out perfectly due to Lilly's talent. She took pictures of us to post on our profiles online. I give credits to her on most of my pictures.
When she reached college, she changed her photography theme from lifestyle to nature. She began taking pictures of how beautiful the earth has to offer. She made nature ten times more appealing than it already was. She also brought a lot of awareness of how pollution is destroying our earth.
Lilly is truly talented.
I smile as I reminisced the old memories "Yeah, just tell me what to do—" She squealed. "—boss," I add before winking her way.
For the next hour, we've been roaming around the city for me to model in specific places such as at the boardwalk, or in front of the rides at the pier, or at the beach.
"Yes, girl!" Lilly gleefully shouted as I posed in front of the water.
I looked off to the right and spotted a boy who looked enough to be Aleksander's age who was in dirty attire getting cursed at by some other man. "Wait, Lilly look." I averted my eyes to the situation.
"You homeless beggar! You'll die on these streets alone. You ruin the image for America!" The guy shouted at the homeless boy. My heart broke at what he said.
Why would he say that? It angered me.
Before I made up my mind and Lilly could stop me, I stormed over there. "And you don't?" I say, catching both of their attention. The man's eyes widened before clenching his jaw. He would be a good looking man if his disgusting personality didn't ruin his image.
He rolled his eyes. "Stay out of it, bitch." The man spat.
The boy looked up from under his long eyelashes. "You shouldn't talk to her like that." He mumbled tremblingly.
The disrespectful man laughed. "You're going to protect her now? What are you going to do? Nothing, because you're worthless—"
"—As if you're worth much more." Lilly retorted.
Her voice broke me out of my trance. At this point, there was a small crowd gathering around us watching this unfold. I was afraid someone would recognize me, but that was the least of my concerns if it was compared to defending the poor boy who was being bashed for no reason.
"Why don't you mind your business and go whore around somewhere else?" The rude man muttered.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "It's kind of hard to since your big mouth is running pretty loudly around here." The man clenched his jaw as well as his fists. "You don't know who you're messing with." He muttered as he stepped closer to me.
I scoff before chuckling. "And is that a threat? You don't scare me." I spat back. "In fact, you don't scare anyone here. All you're doing is causing a scene." I glanced down seeing his hands clenching and unclenching which angered me more. I felt steam leaving my ears as I hardened my stare at the tall rude man.
"You bitch-" The man shouted before the boy came between us to dodge the other's punches. The crowd erupted and began pulling away from the man who was punching the poor boy. I heard Lilly curse at the man for hitting a minor while I was pulling the trembling boy away. I noticed he had a cut above his eyebrow and a bruised forehead at this point now.
I looked from the corner of my eye seeing many phones recording our altercation. "This isn't over." The rude man shouted before storming away.
The sweet little boy in front of me sighed. "I'm sorry." He mumbled as he kept his head down. I furrowed my eyebrows. "For what?" I question as I examined his wounds. I lightly touched the cut and he winced. I mumbled a sorry.
"For starting this. It was my fault for—"
I interrupted with a confused expression set on my
face. "—For nothing. That guy was just being a jackass and I'm sorry on his behalf for treating you that way. He shouldn't have hit you, but that's going to destroy him now. He'll get what he deserves."
He winced away from me. "No, it's okay. I don't need help." He whispers as he avoids looking in my eye. He's been avoiding that ever since he got hit.
The sight before my eyes had my heart breaking into little pieces. A scared teenage boy with dirty old clothes worn on his petite body with recent blood splattered on it. He had been shaking from when I saw him.
"Why not?" I ask before carefully taking a step closer to him again. He didn't answer because his eyes began to water. I embraced him in my arms as the first tear dropped onto his cheek. His cries began to get louder as I comforted him. I didn't want to ask again. He seems so young and I know it's best for him to express his feelings right now.
"The kid is traumatized and you want to ask questions now?" I heard Lilly shout. I look up seeing a swarm of paparazzi on their way over to us. My heart dropped before I called out to Lilly. She wiped my cheek. "Don't cry." She said before glancing at the boy. "We need to get him out of here. Someone leaked us."
His cries were now silent. His eyebrows were pushed together as he looked between us. "P-paparazzi?" He mumbled. I nodded weakly before looking at Lilly. "How are we getting out?"
She glanced at the paparazzi's coming closer to us before her eyes lit us as well as the light bulb in her head did.
~
January 16th, 2019
Santa Monica, California
A Local Café
Vera's P.O.V.
1:34 pm.
I looked at the boy as he scarfed down his sandwich and gulped down his drink. How long has he been living on the streets?
Lilly and I glanced at each other before looking back at the boy. I cleared my throat which had gotten his attention. "What's your name?" I ask as I fiddled with my fingers.
He swallowed his bite that he had taken. "Xavier." He mumbled before taking another big bite. I nodded softly before glancing back at Lilly who was deep in thought.
At the boardwalk after the whole situation with the man and the paparazzi, we gave Xavier sunglasses to not be blinded by the flashing cameras as we pushed through the crowd of paparazzi. They were bombarding me with questions relating to me not being in New York and the altercation. I didn't answer because my number one concern was to get the bruised up boy out of here.
Of course, my arm was securely around him to protect him from the paparazzi that kept on physically pushing him for answers.
Now we were sitting in a secluded seat in a nearby café for him to eat a meal and for us to ask questions. Something in me dropped all my concerns to help this boy. How could people walk by this kid and not help him out?
"Who are you guys?" His question pulled me out of my thoughts. "There was paparazzi and screaming fans." He mumbled as he glanced at us under his long eyelashes.
I pursed my lips before looking towards Lilly. "I'm Leilani and she's Vera. Our parents own a few big companies." She answered.
His eyebrows raised slightly. "Bernacelli? You're the one who disappeared but recently came back?" He asked quietly. I nodded as I took a sip from my iced coffee. "I don't want to seem like I'm an inconvenience to you." He mumbled as he stopped eating his sandwich.
I shook my head immediately. "You're not at all. I just want to help you." I say as I place my hand on his before giving a small grin.
His eyes began to water again. "Thank you. I don't deserve it but—"
"—You do." Lilly interrupts. He gave us a small smile before returning back to finish his sandwich.
I was about to ask a question when a few familiar people caught my attention. My eyes widened before I slipped on my jacket and pulled my hoodie over to cover my head. "Lilly, paps are here," I mumble as I positioned my body to hide Xavier from the rest of the café. From the corner of my eye, I saw three paparazzo's ordering their drinks.
"You have any idea where they went? Boss will kill us if we lost them especially since she was spotted in a fight." One of the paparazzi asked the others.
I roll my eyes and sigh as I placed my head on the table. "I'm so sick of these damn paps," I mutter.
Lilly and Xavier began to laugh when I heard one of the paparazzo yelps before hearing someone heavy drop to the floor. I look behind myself as I saw one of them on the floor groaning with their coffee spilled all over them. I looked back at Lilly and Xavier as we all giggled together before the whole café erupted in laughter. I was glad that the clumsiness of the paparazzo made him laugh. It was refreshing after seeing him heartbroken.
I would have to eventually bombard him with a question pertaining to why he is living on the streets and other personal questions. I didn't want to ask right away. I don't want to try to overwhelm him, but I will have to ask a few.
"Xavier?" I call out.
He looked up as his hazel eyes stared into mine. You could see the heartbroken boy behind his eyes which had an effect on me. I fiddled with my straw before asking, "I know this is sort of personal, but where are you going to stay tonight?" I mumble as I glanced at Lilly who was sitting next to him.
He stayed silent as he was thinking of an answer. He ate the last bite of his sandwich before shrugging lightly. I pursed my lips as I glanced back at Lilly who was in the same state as I am. I wasn't sure what to do. I was hoping Lilly did, but she shrugged as she was looking at me too.
Before I could stop myself, I asked, "Do you maybe want to stay over at our place until you can stand on your own?" I scratched my neck nervously as I waited for a reaction. I didn't want to seem I'm a weird person offering strangers to stay over at my place, but I had good intentions. "Before you say no, I know that was weird for me to ask but I'd rather you stay under my roof with new fresh clothes than you stay out another night alone," I mumble as I bit my lip nervously.
He sighed. "I don't want to seem like I'm a charity case." He muttered a bit too harshly. "I'll be fine." He adds.
I bit my lip and nodded. I didn't want to pry any longer, but I couldn't stand to see where he would end up.
"Do you want another sandwich? Or anything else?" I asked once I noticed he finished his drink. He gave no answer to my question. "Don't worry. I can get you anything you want. I'm kind of craving one too." Lilly said as she glanced at Xavier whose head was down. He nodded softly after a moment which caused a soft grin to appear on my face. "Come on," Lilly said as she got up.
I look behind myself as I watched both of them walk up to the register. The paparazzi had left which caused my body to relax internally. I was too afraid that if he had to stay out on the streets again, the paparazzi will find him and I didn't want that. I didn't want him to stay out again anyway.
Poor Xavier. Who knows what he's gone through at such a young age. Something within me was determined to get people like him off the streets and begin to live their life, and I was going to start with him. I just can't invite everyone into my home though.
As I took a sip out of my iced coffee, I saw the two of them come back into my line of vision before sitting down. They were both an amusing smiling as they unwrapped their sandwich which caused me to softly grin. "What happened while I wasn't there?" I ask amusingly as they held the grin on their lips.
"Just an inside joke. You would be let in on it if you were cool enough." Lilly jokingly insulted. I playfully scoffed. "Wow," I added exaggeratedly as I flipped my hair before I giggled. Xavier was laughing at Lilly's and I encounter. I could see the spark in his hazel eyes which had happiness blossom within me.
"Vera?" I heard Xavier call out. I hummed as I turned my body towards him. "What's up?" I asked before taking another sip of my drink.
He sighed before biting his lip nervously. He looked up into my eyes before saying, "I think I'll take you up on your offer."
• • •
and introducing, drum roll please... Xavier!
he has quite the story, am i right? and this is just the beginning :) i'm excited. i think Xavier and Aleksander are my favorite characters so far! now the story is starting to take place and i can't wait for the next few chapterssss.
i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned because this story is soon to take off!
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- alli