I was nervous. Even though I shouldn't be, and Mrs. Smith would have kissed my whole face by now, I was nervous. I was struggling with my now made decision. And I didn't know if it was right.

I was outside of the building, rethinking my decision over and over again. I couldn't help but gulp at the possible consequences of this deal that were just about to follow.

I almost hugged myself as I tried to keep myself warm, the cold air of the very evening making me shiver. I was waiting for the taxi I had ordered but slowly doubted they'd arrive. Crap.

"Hello?"

I turned around to see where the voice was coming from.

I saw the girl from the bathroom reveal herself, stepping out of the dark.

I took a very deep breath that I didn't know I was holding and replied with a short "Hi", not wanting to interact with her. I might have judged her way too early, but I knew better.

"I'm sorry," I heard her say, now standing right next to me.

I furrowed my eyebrows and pressed my lips together, "What for?"

"For the bathroom incident. It wasn't quite elegant," She shrugged as she said that, pulling out a cigarette out of her small bag. "Want some?"

I shook my head, "No, sorry. I don't smoke."

"Why you saying sorry?"

My face grew a little red when she asked, I guess it had just always been a habit of mine to apologise.

"I... just.."

"Don't worry, it's prolly just as awkward for ya as for me. I'm Brittany."

"Shay."

"Oh, you're Shay!" She almost screamed out in surprise.

"Yeah?"

"Harry mentioned you before. He told me about you interviewing him." Yeah, it was a very professional interview, not to mention.

"Oh, did he?" I regretted just asking that. I was supposed to seem uninterested.

"Yep. But it got interrupted, he told me. Sorry for y'all, what happened?"

Her way of talking reminded me a lot of Jenna, something I hadn't noticed back during the bathroom incident as she liked to call it. Was she acting like this in front of Harry, too? Was she his girlfriend? Not that it was my business, but I believed he was a man for a more... decent woman.

"I had another meeting planned," I explained, leaving out my kiss with Harry and my deal with John.

If she was Harry's girlfriend, she'd kill me right away.

"Oh," She breathed out, "'M sorry for that. Specially because Harry's always busy, that guy. Working all day. I can leave a word for ya, if you want."

"No, it's fine." It was, wasn't it?

I gave her a sweet smile as I gazed down her body.

Her body was incredibly thin and fragile – something that had caught my eye earlier in the bathroom. I couldn't tell whether she was ill or if she did a lot of sports, or if she was just a petite girl after all.

Seeing her smoking didn't really fit her. She was a beautiful girl, I had to point out, and if I was still at university with Christina, we would have probably taken her to our little dorm immediately.

Now she seemed kind and honest and showed a sweet smile. It didn't seem fake like before.

It kind of scared me, though, because I had been someone who'd quickly fall for people as soon as they had something magical about them that attracted me.

Something so mysterious.

Something that compels your heart to creep to those people to just find out everything about them, their deepest secrets and lovings, to adore them, to just want to be friends with them.

These were people with whom I could become so obsessed with as soon as they had something special about them.

Talent, or pure beauty, or something else that was special.

This girl next to me now, Brittany, was one of those girls. Before, I probably would have fought for her becoming one of mine and Christina's friends but I now knew better, so I didn't even let Jenna come too close to me. I wanted to be a self-confident, young woman.

So I was careful with the people I surrounded myself with.

"You sure you don't want a cigarette? It would warm you up," Brittany asked quietly again, and when I looked into her eyes, I could hardly say No.
I was right, though. She was definitely one of those girls who just appeared so special and perfect.

She had beautiful blue eyes and I wouldn't be surprised if she was indeed Harry's girlfriend. I had believed that he only intended to wrap women around his little finger that corresponded to the typical "perfect wife" imagine of the men's world. Big this, big that, an empty brain, but thick lips that could, er, never mind.

"No, thanks," I said carefully, not wanting to disappoint her.

I didn't know why I was so polite now. Either because she was fascinating, or because it'd be a plus to be friends with her if she was Harry's girlfriend.

I could imagine that Harry would leave any other woman for Brittany – just because it was Brittany. She seemed incredibly interesting.

"Whatcha waiting for?" She asked me, looking at me strangely.

She wore a short, tight black dress that hugged her body at the very right places. She tugged at the end, again and again, either because of nervousness or because she knew very well it was way too short for an occasion such as this.

I wondered who she really was. If she wasn't Harry's girlfriend, she had to have connections to be here, or she was also simply a journalist.

"I'm waiting for my taxi," I replied as I shrugged my shoulders.

She gave me a sad smile, "Oh, you're leaving?"

I smiled back at her, this time with a more sincere smile. "Yes, I'm really tired, sorry." I didn't know what I apologised for, but prayed that she didn't ask. She seemed incredibly attentive.

"If you say so," She murmured, "I hope the evening was not too exhausting for you, I'm really sorry about what had happened in the bathroom earlier. I should've thanked you and introduced myself correctly, I'm such an idiot." Her jenna-like slang disappeared for a minute and she looked at me seriously.

I smiled at her and shook my head, believing her. "It's okay, I hope you're better."

"Nah, there's still something on my mind." Her Jenna-Slang was back and I looked at her in shock, as if she had confronted me with a stupid idea. "I thought we wanted to drink something together," She then explained and briefly reminded me of the bathroom scene when she asked me whether I'd like to have a drink with her later.

God, I had completely forgotten about her. But how couldn't I? A kiss and a deal were quite exhausting for one evening.

"I'm sorry, God, I must have forgo-,"

"It's alright!" She interrupted me, smiling.

She threw her cigarette on the street and quilted her right foot on it. I watched the front tip of her high heeled shoes, a total bone murderer. It looked really sexy, though, and perhaps Jenna was right, I should've dressed sexier.

"If your taxi doesn't arrive soon, I'll drag you back to this house, you know that!" She laughed loudly and made me let out a noisy laughter as she pointed to the fancy building behind us.

This offer sounded both exciting and inviting, and it'd be nice to enjoy this party for once, without being reminded that I was a journalist and had an actual reason to be here.

I had hardly gone to parties. I hadn't dared to go to any during university, but Christina had left me alone each night and enjoyed herself while I had been trying a comfortable sleeping position in my uncomfortable bed, wishing I was back home with my family.

Although my family, sometimes, annoyed me until they crossed the line, I missed them very much because Christina might have been my friend but our characters were worlds apart from each. She was a total party lion, agreed to each and everything. She'd be ready to rob a bank.

Not even after the last exams I dared to go to parties, because I didn't even want to start with the whole party thing if I had spent the whole time at university without having to cope with it. Now, in the name of Walgreen, I had more than enough opportunities to attend different events, and for the first time, I was thrilled to really enjoy those events.

I didn't want to work now, but grab a drink, a cold one, and talk to this Brittany girl.

But I knew that this was impossible.

I had already said goodbye to John and then left the building without any other word to Harry, although I was pretty sure he wanted to continue what he had begun. It was incredibly embarrassing to me, though.

Just when I was about to say Yes and agree to Brittany's offer, I heard the noise of a car coming closer. I turned around and saw the taxi I had ordered what felt like a hundred hours ago.

"Well," I said, looking at Brittany apologetically.

She smiled at me and lifted her hand, as if she was trying to stop me from apologising to her for the third time this evening. "It's okay. Who knows who long you've been freezing here." She referred to me standing alone at the edge of the street, my arms crossed, holding my bag as if it was an item that warmed me up just enough.

I nodded at her, a sign for a Thank You for her understanding. I liked her, somehow. She was interesting, and nice.

Just when I wanted to get into the taxi, I felt her hold on to my arm, making me turn around immediately and look into her eyes.

"I'll give you my number," She said quickly and put a piece of paper in my hand that might reveal her number. Again, I nodded to her.

"See ya, Shay!" She shouted at me as I climbed into the cab. I yelled back a slightly louder "See you!" before I turned to the taxi driver, grabbing his attention.

Normally, I always sat in the back seat, but now I couldn't care less as I was totally exhausted.

"Wicker Park, please," I told the taxi driver before he set my named address on his expensive navigator.

It wasn't my address but Jenna's. Only God knew how long it would have taken me to catch the next train back home, right because I just didn't live directly in Chicago but quite close to there.

I was just an Evanston girl, after all.

I took a deep breath when I remembered that I had all of my stuff at home and I had to get up in just a few hours to get on my way back to work. I was sure I was supposed to prepare my report to Mrs. Smith as she'd probably be dying about how my interviews went.

I prepared my mind to see my stuff again on the very next day and prayed that Jenna would, at least, tolerate me this night. I knew very well that she only would in case I told her about literally anything that happened during this event. I guess that I was supposed to mention the kiss.

But I already knew that I wouldn't tell her as it was somehow private.

Something that I wanted to keep between Harry and myself.

I didn't want her to spit out bad words about him right away. Of course, the both of us, Jenna and I, thought he was quite arrogant. He had a lot of wealth, he could have any woman he wanted, and he was working with businessmen such as John and could push others into deals, just like I was pushed to agreeing to John's deal.

I felt like I was pushed into it, indeed.

I still had something that I held against Harry, of course, because I believed he was a big arsehole. Mentioning just this, I didn't know if I could actually use the kiss against him. If so, I'd surely tell Jenna about it, because then I'd knew that there were following consequences for him.

But there wouldn't be any.

A kiss with a journalist wouldn't harm his image.

Only mine.

And I wasn't even allowed to use this kiss against Harry, anyways, as I had agreed to John's deal.

God, I didn't even know what I thought about Harry anymore, or about John, or what I should tell Jenna and Mrs. Smith, or whether our rival, Chicagomics, where Christina worked at, was interested in what we were about to report about John's and Harry's business.

I didn't know what would happen if Brittany was actually Harry's girlfriend. My head was totally spinning.

I hummed softly to the radio that the taxi driver had switched on to his own pleasure, and moved my fingers a bit by drumming the beat on my lap. I quickly sent Jenna a short text message, saying I'd be at hers soon.

That was the only way of a polite announcement I could make.

I made myself comfortable on this seat as I sent the text, and looked out of the window. What an evening.