I sighed for the nth time, as I sent another text to Mia. Why did I think it would be a great idea to work in a cafe instead of the office, when I had to ask someone for important materials every ten minutes?

It was a sunny, albeit humid day in New York. Although the weather encouraged the sweat glands to work overtime, I liked it better than the harsh cold environment. I had yet to witness extreme cold in this city, but I was already not a fan of it.

The warm winds and clear skies were much better, as they didn't have me all shivering and vulnerable to the weather's unpredictability. It kept me reassured and confident in my body.

But, that didn't mean I could just wander off to any place, and make my team members work harder. Groaning under my breath, I looked disappointedly at the fifth empty cup of coffee. My body surely wanted more, but it would be suicide if I ordered another cup.

Already, the waitress had eyed me at my fifth cup like I was some alien from another world. Her dirty look seemed to be telling me that she thought I was some illiterate woman, which didn't sit well with me.

Five minutes later, when I felt that I'd have to cross the road and head over to Panache again, Mia replied. She'd quietly sent over the materials, without so much as a protest. Inwardly grateful to her for having to deal with me, I sent her a quick thanks instead of a ton of incomprehensible words in french.

It was only in the most vulnerable times, that my mother tongue popped up unannounced, and created problems for me.

I mustn't have worked for even a solid fifteen minutes, before I felt a bright flash of light being directed at me. Thinking it was the glare of the sun, I turned my head towards the window my table was put up against, but I instead found something else.

The paparazzi I'd sent away as I entered the cafe, an hour ago, had returned. Perplexed and cross, I prepared to stand up and give them a piece of my mind for aimlessly following me and making things uncomfortable for me, but I stopped myself.

It seemed like they weren't here for me this time.

The person they were following, was none other than supermodel Lily Jones. A brunette beauty, who was the same age as me, Lily Jones was on the same level of fame and popularity as Madison Thomas. Having started their career around the same time, these two excelled in what they did, and were on top of their game.

But, that didn't mean that they were rivals. Usually, people working in the same industry at the same time are considered as each other's nemesis, but not these two. From the beginning of their respective careers, they had established a candid friendship, and were known as the angelic sisters in town.

The best part of this whole friendship was that they often always worked together. It wouldn't be a successful fashion show, if these two weren't present.

Lily strutted in her black five inch Taro Ishida heels, and ordered a coffee for herself. Her confident stance showed how unaffected she was by the fifty people who had followed her all the from across the street. Clad in a black strapless crop top, and a matching mini skirt, she looked gorgeous, like she always did.

And for a brief moment, I felt jealous of her. I felt unbearably envious of that nonchalant aura she had around her, as if she wasn't even aware of the chaos she had caused. Totally immersed in her own world, she radiated true diva vibes, and I couldn't help but be impressed with her.

I didn't even realize I was staring at her, until she turned her head to the left, and spotted me looking at her. Feeling flustered at being caught, I quickly averted my eyes. She was a famous personality, and was already accustomed to everyone's stares, yet I felt like it was disrespectful to stare at someone like that.

Praying that she would leave the cafe soon, I kept my head buried in my book. But, my prayer wasn't really answered, like always. I saw some movement at the corner of my eye, and found that the paparazzi was now standing outside my window, directly filming me.

Their faint shouts could be heard inside, which created quite a disturbance for the other customers. Flustered and embarrassed, I tried to talk them into leaving, when a soft voice came from beside me.

"Leave them be, they're just doing their job."

I turned to see that Lily Jones was seated on the chair opposite mine. My eyebrows flew to the sky in surprise and confusion. Why was she sitting here??

She noticed my baffled expression, and sighed. "Everybody knows you, Lizette Fontaine. You're not a nobody."

I sat down, finally understanding the situation. A third lady interfered in the most popular man's relationship, and the girl's best friend has arrived to have a chat with the third lady. At least, that's how the media would paint our meeting.

"Right, I almost forgot. Are you here to insult me as well? Just like your friend did a few days ago?" I asked her, and she smiled.

Taking a sip of her creamy coffee which had the potential to cause diabetes, she said, "You're funny. I like it."

The more she spoke, the more baffled I felt. If she wasn't here to argue on behalf of her best friend, why was she here?

"Why are you talking to me, then?" I asked her again, not ready to let my guard down just yet.

Lily glanced towards the now silent paparazzi, who were still filming us and trying to listen in on our conversation. "Can you loosen up a little? They're gonna think I'm here to scold you on behalf of Maddy."

"So, that's not why you're here?" I asked her for the third time, getting tired of this pointless conversation.

"Nah," she replied. "I'm honestly impressed how you managed to do something Maddy couldn't in the past three years. So yeah, I was both curious and intrigued. I wanted to see this mystery woman in person."

Her way of talking was so graceful, elegant, but her words spoke a different story. Her nonchalance with Maddy was what struck me the most, but I didn't have the time to dwell on it.

She wanted to meet me, that's what I heard the best. Lily Jones, the most famous supermodel in town, wanted to see me. What was this sorcery?

I said, "I'm not that special. As you can see, I have boring ashy blonde hair which is always tied up, and some even say I dress up like a grandma. Someone like you isn't going to find anything interesting in me."

Lily raised her eyebrow, her bright blue eyes fixed intensely on me. I suddenly felt like I was a piece of art in an exhibition, being appraised for my value.

"Yet, you managed to hook a man like André Beaumont? I don't know how ignorant you are to our world, but you need to know you've just snatched the most eligible bachelor in town. More like, someone who was never going to marry anyone."

"And... that's supposedly my sin?" I asked sarcastically, which made her laugh.

And not just a chuckle, a full blown laugh. Was my comment so funny? I'd spoken out of frustration, but she seemed to be so amused by it.

As I looked at her again, I saw her still laughing out loud. When I'd said she looked like she didn't care about her image in public, I didn't think it would be to this extent. This girl didn't care a bit about the cameras that were focused on her, instead, she laughed till her stomach hurt and banged the table loudly.

Eventually, she stopped. Wiping the tears that had formed under her eyes, she said, "Now I get it, why André decided to marry you. All I wanna know is, how many times has he been attacked by this sassiness of yours?"

I suddenly felt relieved. For the first time, someone hadn't approached me to gain something out of me, or to show me my place. And, it was quite a warm feeling.

I replied, "Many times than you can imagine. He tries to stand up to me, but he just can't."

I reminisced all the times we had argued, because that was all I could think of. All of my memories with André were of us sitting on opposite ends, challenging, sizing up each other. I couldn't tell the truth to Lily, but the only intimacy I'd had with André, were confrontations and arguments.

"That's good, then. I take that you don't have friends in New York, right?" Lily asked me, and I nodded.

"No, I don't."

"Perfect! How about we go on a shopping tour, and build a new friendship? It just makes sense that André Beaumont's future wife is friends with Lily Jones."

I just blinked at her. I couldn't believe she had said something like this so casually. And she would probably never know why I was so shocked.

For the first time in my life, I'd gained someone I could call a friend.

And, I suddenly didn't know how to behave.

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