"The photos have come up really well." Simon Whittaker said, turning in his chair as he went through his laptop. "You were right about not showing the face thing. They love the mystery."

I nodded my head, letting out a small smile play. "I'm glad it worked out." I said, crossing my left leg over my right.

I had been to their studio twice that week doing a photo shoot and there was no one who was more than happy to not show their face than me. My face reeked of sadness and agony that no one could come up with words.

Without my face in it, I was sure that the photos had come up really well. I was asked to come meet the head to collect a few royalties that they were generous to give me. I had bagged that chance not wanting to let it go.

My economical conditions had come down with the latest turn of events. I had stopped going to the café, not able to manage time to find a new one in between my self pity. Most of my earnings were taken into the tracks account, leaving me only enough to buy daily needs.

So when Whitaker said that he was giving me a royalty, I jumped up my room and drove right there.

"Though we could have improvised it, it seems better on those magazines." Cole Wills said and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Though I had never seen those photos myself, I knew it was alright.

Though he was holding a grudge against me, he had cooled down a little considering how much profit that mystery girl had gotten him. He was too shy to tell me that he had forgiven me though. But in a way, I had understood.

"May be we can work it out in the next shoot." I said.

"So, here's a cheque for your hard work, Scarlet Stone." Simon got up from his chair and respectfully handed the a cheque to me. "Good job. I think we should celebrate."

I followed his movements and took the cheque in my hands. I was only a few minutes away from crying. With Dad's medication list on my hands, I didn't know how I was going to pay for that. But with this amount, I knew I could survive this month.

Another guy who was very well dressed came up and held a glass of champagne to all three of us and then left. Though I was in need of a little cheaper drink to get my foul moods out, I held the classy glass in my hand and raised it to them as a salute and pressed it to my lips.

"Scarlet," Cole started and I turned towards him to see what he had to say. "I heard something about you participating in a race."

"As a racer that's what I do to earn a living." I said evenly.

The hesitant and the scary girl was long gone. I was now shooting daggers with my own eyes. Anyone who didn't know me didn't have a chance to stay and chat. It was even surprising for me to think how I had changed so much in such little time. Then again, the circumstances had changed me.

"Heard it was illegal." Cole said slowly, twirling his champagne in his glass. I looked at him with platonic eyes, not giving anything away. "You do have put your signature on that contract, right?"

"Yes, I remember." I said, planning another perfect line to kill his other doubts. "And yes, it is illegal."

Simon and Cole both looked at each other. They held their gaze for some time and then nodded then head before turning to me.

"Then what I think is right." Simon said. "Isn't the race with Ashley Matthews?"

If I was the old Scarlet, then I would have sat in his chamber with wide eyes looking at them and wondering how in the world that they had got hold of that information. I mean, with the way Ashley moved, it was hard for me to tell what was going on in her mind, let alone think what she wanted to do next.

"It is." I said, crossing my right leg over the left. "I remember I told you I had another contract before I signed yours."

Simon nodded his head, while Cole turned red.

"Scarlet, you need to understand that we are a legal team." Cole said. "If you are going to be involved with the illegal team, then it will bring bad name for our company."

"I understand." I said, nodding my head as I bobbed it up and down.

But inside, I was shivering. I didn't know what else to do. Late as of now, it was my only means of food and if VS was taking me away from their contract, I didn't know where else to go. Though Simon seemed calm enough, Cole was breathing fire at me and any minute now, I knew he would kick me out of his office.

"What I want to clarify here is that, I want a legal team too." I said, my words calculative and thoughtful. "Just how your magazine people don't know my face, the illegal people don't know my face."

"You think that's consoling?" Cole asked, not believing my words.

"Well," I leaned forward placing my glass on the table in front of me. "I'm not planning on further racers in illegal world after the race with Ashley. I'm only participating in it because I had agreed to it six months ago."

"Yes, what is the guarantee?" Cole interjected, not convinced with my words.

"Right now, all I can give you is my word, Sir." I truthfully said.

"Wait," Simon said. He rubbed his fingers across his wrinkled jaw. It was as if he had caught a good idea. He removed his spectacles and placed it on the table. "Your face has been doing wonders, Scarlet."

"What are you talking about, Simon?" Cole asked mirroring my questions at him. "That's what is our problem here."

"No, Wills." Simon said, his eyes shining brighter than before. "She has not given her face to the world from our side. Our contracts are very close knit." He looked at me. "We can always say that it was another girl and not our Scarlet."

That idea seemed plausible and I let out a smile linger on my lips. "Seems good to me."

"But I must say, it's only if your face gets out under the words illegal." Simon said and I heaved a sigh. I was wondering if I was losing this job too along with my others. "So, keep you head low till your next game."

"Don't worry." I smiled. "You won't lose me."

---

I sat looking at the blank pages of my book, wondering how my once blank life had been filled up in all shades of red. Everything had warned me from the beginning, yet I had turned a blind sight to them, believing everything that was white was nothing but the pure milk.

How my life had turned out to be such a bitch was still in question. Hadn't I done everything that I once believed in? What karma was catching up on me? Yet, I was the picking and cleaning the shit that others had left behind.

I thought I would be losing my home and my Dad together in that final race but now, I didn't know even if I did save if miraculously, there was nothing that I could call as mine.

And the worst part was Robert had turned his back on me when I thought he was the only one I had. He had not only betrayed me, but had played with my feelings. How could I still think that he had sane intentions for me even if he said that he loved me now?

He was a liar, a cheat and a monster who was planted in my life to get rid of me one way or the other. Everything circulated together and it all pointed towards my Dad, because of whom this maze was formed. If he was careful or even smart, perhaps my mom would have been here with me now.

"Hey, what's happened to you?" I was startled by a new voice. Before I could turn to the new person, I wiped my eyes and put on a smile.

But it was Brian who was looking at me as if he was seeing a scared kitten. His bronze locks were combed towards the back and his eyes crunched together in concern. He took a seat across mine as he stared at me, trying to decipher what was up with me.

"Hi, Brian." I said. "You forgot something?"

"What's wrong, Scar?" He leaned further trying to read in between the words that I had left hanging. "I have been watching you for past two days since that awful party. You look like you are sentenced to death."

I wanted to laugh at his choice of words. Kudos to his imagination. It was so true. I was dying in another few days and I carried all the burden on me. My shoulders had stooped down with the information that I had received recently.

I hated the fact that I had to turn on that microphone at that precise time to know the truth. At least then, I would have died in peace believing that Robert was the only guy who actually liked and cared for me as I did him.

Now, everything was ruined. I had learnt the bitter truth. No one dared to love me unconditionally and everything came with a price. By the end of the day, it was my life that took for someone to even pretend to like me.

Robert had whispered me that he loved me that night. Was it a lie too? Was it all a tangled mess to get me in his trap all along? Those races that we raced, the nights that we spent, the laughter that kept us together - was it all a plan to get me hooked to his charms?

"Hey, it's okay." I heard Brian say as he scooted over to my desk, wiping my tears away. "What happened? Did Macy or the boys tell you something? I swear I didn't have any hand behind it."

I let out a snort. I could have chosen high school drama over my life any day. "No, they didn't do anything. Why had you planned something?"

"No... well, actually..." He scratched his head. I chuckled, wiping my tears away, trying to think of ways to forget the harsh reality that was thrown on me. "It was way before we became friends again."

"When did we become that?" I raised my eyebrow challenging him, but my uplifted lips let out the fact that I was only teasing him.

"Hey, I always consider people friends when I have a drink with them." Brian raised his hands in his defense. "With you, well, you were drinking bottles of beer with me, so we should be a little more than that, don't you think?"

"Brian..." I dragged.

"I know, I know." He smiled. "You think you are the only one who can joke around here?"

I chuckled. A genuine one this time. "Okay, my bad."

"So, tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours?" He asked, crossing his hands at me, with a smile on his face.

"The usual." I said, looking at my folded fingers. I didn't want to put out all my miseries onto him just because I had drink with him.

"Is it about the race you were talking about?" Brian asked, as gently as he could muster. My eyes widened in horror.

"Race?" I asked, still gasping the fact that he knew about it. "How... how do you know anything about it?"

He only rolled his eyes at me. "You told me." His mouth twisted into a playful smile. "You talk an awful lot when you are drunk, Scar. So, tell me, is it about it? Because, I know for one that you are going to ace it."

My tears ran fresh at his words. He was a stranger to me, yet he was here consoling for the reasons he didn't know.

"Hey, hey." He put his hand on my shoulders. "Come on, I'm craving for an ice-cream and some company."

"No." I wiped my face clear. I already had a lot to deal with, I didn't want to add any more burden on me than I could bear. I collected my things and stuffed it into my bag, standing up. "I really need to go."

"Oh, come on." Brian took my hand in his and tugged it further. "I'm not buying you one. Just sit with me while I eat. Deal?"

Before I could say another word against it, he pulled in and literally dragged me out of the class. After fifteen minutes of him hauling me around, we stood at the counter of Ibaco ice-cream shop, waiting for Brian to decide on which flavor was more suitable for his taste. He finally settled on pistachio and strawberry – two separate cups making his seat towards the seats.

"Now, I guessed strawberry is your favorite." He said pushing one of the cups towards me. "The treat is on me. I don't want to hear any protests, now."

Brian looked very calm for someone who seemed to be struggling with withdrawal syndrome. Why couldn't I have liked him instead of that asshole? But then again, he didn't hold me like Robert did. He didn't make me feel sane even when I was in the middle of chaos.

I tore my eyes away from the boy who sat in front of me and looked away. "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean why?" He questioned back. "I wanted ice-cream and I thought you could use one too."

I put my head in my hands and sighed. Brian wasn't making this easy for me. The fact that I had talked all about the race to him, made me jittery.

I heard Brian sigh in front of me. "What happened Scar? Did you fight with your friends? Lily or that guy?"

"Nick?" I asked, looking at him in confusion. "No! What makes you think that I had a fight?"

"Then what is it that you have taken to heart?" He asked. "Is this about Bert?"

As soon as his name was thrown, my breath hitched and suddenly, I had forgotten how to breathe. I gasped, struggling to get air into my lungs. Brian was soon at my side, rubbing my back as tears flowed down my cheeks.

"What did that jerk-face do to you?" Brian's handsome features were now masked with a layer of anger and rage for the said guy. "Just let me know and he will not see tomorrow. Did he say he didn't love you back?"

"Wh... what?" I stuttered like a parrot, my eyes in wonder. How had this guy come to know almost everything that I wanted to hide from the world? The fellow ice-cream eaters looked at me as if I was going mad.

"You told me how you loved him, and you wanted to keep a secret." Brian slowly repeated. "That he is a good kisser..."

"What?" I looked at his face to see if he was making fun of me. But Brian looked serious like he was going to kick his football into goal the next minute. "No, I didn't tell you that!"

"He teaches you to race and you spend time together, Scar." Brain said, patting my back. "I understand. I just didn't peg you for a girl who had the hots for the bad guy."

I banged my head on the table with a loud thud. "God, kill me now."

"Did he cheat on you?" Brian's words made me let out a bitter laugh.

I would have probably dealt with that more maturely than I was doing right now. But he did something more appalling than that. He played with the devil to get me and finally to kill me. What was he getting from that?

"I just realized that he was a wolf in lamb's clothes." I murmured. "He gave me all the hints to pick up, but I didn't see them coming."

He nodded his head in understanding. "But the race is still on, right? Even though you have forgotten pretty much everything that night, you did invite me and I'm not planning on missing it."

"I did?" I wondered out loud. But then again, I was dying anyway. It might as well be the last goodbye to everyone I knew. "It's still on."

"If you need anything, Scar, just let me know, okay?" He said, placing his hands on top of mine. "Don't let Bert or even me to spoil it for you."

It was one of the sweetest things he had ever said to me and I wondered how in the world I had fallen for the wrong guy.

"It is now that I regret giving you a purple cheek." I tucked my hair behind, my emotions clearly uplifted. "Thanks, Brian."

"Anytime." He smiled proudly. "Look, you made all my ice-cream melt. I will have to get another one now."

I laughed at his pathetic excuse to change topics. "What's up with you? No drugs or booze anymore?"

"Shush! You are not supposed to say those things out loud." He scolded lightly. "I have a reputation to hold on to. But if you must know, my parents being the nosy lawyers sniffed me out."

"What?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, I had no clue." He nodded his head, putting his spoon on the liquid cream. "I now wonder if they have any hidden cameras in the house. Shit! That means all my secrets are out!"

The rest of the day was spent with Brian laughing and I couldn't believe myself. He had not only made me laugh, but had distracted me with my current problems. It was a desperate need to have a change of scenario and Brian was one. I had assumed him to be the villain of my story but he was actually a hero.

How ironic was that?

---

A/N: Another filler to let the emotions cool off. What's going to happen next? Any ideas?