The ride was a silent one but it was comfortable silence. Sofia enjoyed the feeling of being out of the confines of her home. She was excited to socialize with people apart from the ones she knew already.

"Tell me something about your friends and being your girlfriend, I have no knowledge about who they are." She said as she leaned her head back at the headrest.

"Yeah, you're right. So there's four of us. Daniel, Josephine, Luca and me. Daniel loves  golf, girls, and wines. He owns a club on Long Island. He has sharp eyes and a very pathetic taste in women. You know what I mean." Carl said and Sofia nodded.

" Josephine is an artist. She loves to paint. She saved us all one night in a brawl when we got drunk back in college. She's just like a ninja. She's the mother hen of our gang. She cares for everyone but she doesn't like everyone. At least not the ones associating with us." He continued and smiled at the thought of Josephine. Sofia saw him smile. He must be very fond of her. She thought to herself.

"Luca is a racer. He loves the thrill. He loves wine, cars, and girls and not to mention he's Greek so he's very handsome. Just the little problem you could face with my friends is that they can be a little inquisitive and persuasive. But you'll be fine." Carl said as he finished talking about them.

They reached at the venue half an hour later. The house was big and stretched out on a wide area of land. It was big and spoke boldly of the wealth that its owner had. Carl stopped the car in front of the main door and got out. He gave the key to a valet as he approached them. Carl got out of the car first and helped Sofia out. He held her soft hand in his hard ones and walked inside.

"Mr. Alexander, it's so nice to see you here. I thought you weren't going to come." A young girl around Sofia's age opened the door wide as they rang the bell. She said as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"How could I not introduce my girlfriend to my friends, Nina?" Carl said focusing on the word girlfriend to rub it in her face. Her expressions changed. Her flirty smile fell and she gave Sofia a little nod before taking a look at their intertwined hands. Carl took Sofia's hand and led her further inside the house. They came to an indoor pool area and there were a lot of people there.

"I thought you said there were only going to be your friends but there are so many people here, Carl. I can't do this." She whispered to him as they stood outside.

"Relax, Sofia. You're not backing out of this now. I'm here with you. Don't worry." He said as he held her by her dainty waist. Sofia squirmed a little but she was fine once they entered.

Music was blaring and there were people in skimpy clothing all over the place. People were lazily swimming and drinking.

There were two boys sitting on a couch in their swimming trunks with girls all over them like bees to honey. They got up as soon as they saw Carl and Sofia enter.

"Hey, Carl. How are you and who's this arm candy with you? Can I have her?" A strikingly handsome man with brown ruffled hair came to hug Carl.

"Hi Danny, I'm great. And this gorgeous woman here is not an arm-candy. This is Sofia, my girlfriend." Carl said pulling Sofia closer to himself to show give him a warning message.

"Bro, you've done yourself proud. My, my, she's gorgeous." Daniel said as he took a step back and gave a once over look to Sofia.

"Sorry for not introducing myself properly. I'm Daniel Johnson. It's nice to meet my bro's girlfriend also known as you. I must say your presence has disappointed many girls here. But don't mind their expressions. They're here just for fun. We don't make commitments." He said as he winked at her. Sofia smiled. Carl led her to a couch and they sat there. Carl put his hand at the back of the couch behind her head and sat closer to her.

"Would you like to have anything to drink, baby?" He asked Sofia.

"Pina colada or orange juice if they have," Sofia replied looking at the people in front of her playing throw ball in the water.

"Bring one orange juice for the lady and a Hendricks for me," Carl said as a waiter approached them. The waiter nodded and came back right after a few minutes to deliver their drinks.

"Thank you," Sofia said as she took her drink and smiled at the young boy.

"Johnny, how's your course going?" Carl asked the waiter aka Johnny as he took his drink.

"I'm taking my exams next month. I'm prepared. Hopefully, I'll do you proud." Johnny replied with a smile.

"I'd love to see you go to the top. Because you know I don't settle for anywhere less than the top." Carl said after taking a sip of his drink.

"Sofia, you know, this young man is in his last year of college. He works here part-time whenever we have parties and he's a brilliant student. He's the help we look to whenever we need an extra set of hands at work." Carl said proudly.

"That's amazing. You've got yourself some supporters," Sofia said smiling at Johnny.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll always be thankful to all of them for taking me in." He said giving a sweet smile to both of them.

"Johnny! I need your help! Where are you?" Asked a girl's voice. Johnny nodded at us and left.

"That's Josephine. She always calls him. They're the same age and literally inseparable." Carl said.

"Carl?" A girl said as she launched herself onto him.

"Josie!" Carl said as he hugged her back. She was a pretty girl with a bubbly personality. She was wearing a black & white plaid skirt with a black top.

"I missed you! Why didn't you come to meet us for so many days?" She asked as she playfully hit Carl on his arm.

"I missed you too, Josie." He said with a smile.

"Sofia, this is Josie or Josephine. Josie, this is my girlfriend Sofia." Carl said as he intertwined his fingers with her and kissed her hand lightly.

"Bro, you're smitten. No doubt, Johnny was right. He thinks you've found your match." She said as she winked at him.

"She doesn't look like your taste, bro. She doesn't look like those cheap women who'd throw themselves at you." She said as she smiled at Sofia.

"That's why you can guess she's special. Because she didn't throw herself at me. Instead, she made me work hard to get here." He said. Sofia looked at him and then back at Josie who was now seated in front of them on the couch nursing a glass of juice.

"I like you. Welcome to the family." She said as she smiled and raised her glass to Sofia.

"Thank you. I like you too." Sofia said to her.

"Josie, where's Luca? I can't find him anywhere." Carl said looking around.

"Yeah, he got a phone call from his dad. You know big daddy never stops bugging him." She said shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh.. I'll go look for him. You stay with Sofia. Don't leave her alone." Carl told Josie as he placed his glass back on the table.

"Will you be alright, baby?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry. You go." She said as she gave him a small smile and a pat on his hand. She saw Carl take the stairs on the left.

"So, what do you do and how did you two meet? Tell me all about it." Josie asked as she looked at Sofia straight in the eye.

"We met at our hotel. He's a partner there. He came to me and forcefully sat on my table. I didn't know he was a partner until he told me his name. We started talking and here we are." She said truthfully. Josie started laughing. Sofia was confused.

"I can't believe it. Carl played you. You're so naïve. Carl never stays with one girl more than a night. So how much did he pay you to act to be his girlfriend? " Josephine said as she started laughing loudly.

"I'm not a whore. You better stop accusing me of taking money from Carl." Sofia said as she stood up and straightened her dress. She took her purse and took the stairs where Carl had gone. Josie smirked. She knew Carl was going to hear about it and that was what she wanted. 

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