Chapter 13

Guilt begins to engulf me as I watch Natalie approach me. I know I’ve done nothing wrong, yet here I am, with red cheeks and an alarm going off in my head.

Why do I feel as if I’ve been caught red-handed, like a child’s hand in the cookie jar?

“What?” I question her.

“Oh, I know you heard what I said, bitch!”

I turn to look at Derek and the girls as if to ask what’s happening, but I return my gaze to the model. What is she doing here? Who invited her?

And why is she attacking me like this?

The group around us has grown quiet, and I can see all eyes on me. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle up, sending a full shiver down my spine.

Still unclear as to why she’s here, I begin to stammer in my confusion. “I-I’m here to take pictures of the girls.”

She laughs, throwing her long hair over her shoulder as she reaches me.

“What an excuse!” Natalie barks, unexpectedly ripping my phone out of my hand. “You’re nothing but a little liar!”

“I’m not lying!” I spit, annoyance starting to slip into my voice.

“Oh, really now?” Natalie’s sarcastic tone and tense smile taunt me as if she knows all the secrets of the universe and I’m the one who will remain lost.

The model starts scrolling frantically through my pictures before I can protest further. She quickly finds what she’s looking for, however, and shows the screen as if to prove her point.

“Look what I found! You lying, scheming bitch!” Natalie screams back.

It’s the picture of Derek that I took, though, in retrospect, it’s not an odd picture to have in the set. So why is she freaking the fuck out like this?

And again, what is she even doing here? None of her reaction clicks for me.

I’d been asked to take pictures of the girls. Just because there’s one of just Derek doesn’t have to mean anything at all.

The eyes around us keep staring, Tris and Bea even watching me in flat silence. Derek’s posture is tight, and I wonder if he’s waiting to intervene or too nervous to do so.

She sneers down at me with my phone in her hand, continuing to mock me with the face and phone in her hand.

“That doesn’t prove anything at all,” I insist.

“It doesn’t? Because it looks like you’re taking pictures of a man that doesn’t belong to you!”

“I was taking pictures! I was asked to do that!”

“Yet here we are, with a picture of only Derek to show!”

I roll my eyes, reaching out for my device. I’ve had enough of this pointless argument, and I’m ready to leave.

“Give me back my phone,” I protest, reaching out to get it. Aggravation is currently clawing its way out of my skin. “Jesus, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

It’s becoming a demand, and I’m losing my patience with her. She really is one of the most annoying women that I’ve ever met.

Where is she getting the idea that I have any ulterior motives with Derek and the girls?

Maybe my boss is attractive, and he’s been nothing but kind to me since finding out about my situation. But the last thing on my mind right now is to make life even more complicated.

First Ryan and Melinda, now Natalie. Is the universe trying to drive me crazy?

I keep trying to take back my property, demanding she stop this nonsense.

Natalie, however, is taller than I am in her three-inch high heels, holding my phone up above my head where I can’t reach. “This is ridiculous!” I groan.

“Lies and liar, you pathetic little worm!”

“Why would I lie? All I was doing was taking family pictures! How many times must I tell you and that pea-sized brain?”

But Natalie narrows her eyes to little slits. “I already warned you once. Don’t even think about my man. Didn’t you hear me the first time?” Natalie snaps.

Exasperated, I roll my eyes. “Tris asked me to take pictures of them! I don’t have a relationship with anyone! There’s nothing going on!” How much insistence must I give her?

“I don’t believe you,” Natalie seethes, and before I can think about what’s happening, she throws my phone into the pool with a devilish smile take over her flawless face.

The horror and dread that consumes me is unlike any I’ve felt in recent days. Losing Ryan to my cousin has been a challenge. But my phone with its contacts, work data, and even today’s pictures?

I haven’t had a chance to back everything up to the cloud yet! I’m going to be so fucked if I don’t save my data.

Without really thinking, I jump right into the pool, the warmth engulfing me as I rush to grab the device. If I lose all this data, then Derek and the company will have no choice but to fire me.

I swim to the bottom to grab the device, still lit up with my screen. If I can get up to the top fast enough, maybe the phone will avoid being waterlogged.

But I don’t reach it fast enough. Because Natalie seems to dive in right after me, grabbing me by the legs and pulling me away from my property.

I try to resurface again to grab some air, struggling now. It’s been quite a while since I’ve held my breath like this.

Natalie, however, isn’t having any of it. She manages to continue keeping my head held under the water, watching as I thrash around to fight her from holding onto me.

Is she seriously trying to fucking drown me?!

I scream into the water, my mind starting to grow dizzy from the inability to escape the model’s grasp.

I can feel myself suffocating! I start swallowing copious mouthfuls of water, my vision fighting to remain and the lights from above growing darker.

“Move!” Am I hearing things?

As I feel like I might black out, I feel someone’s arms around my waist pulling at me. We break through the surface of the water, my skin feeling the temperature change immediately.

What’s happening? How did this person get to me?

My mind is moving a million miles a minute trying to avoid me from shutting down. I can’t get a good focus on anything, but I see that the person who saved me is male.

Finally, I get a small glimpse as I move in what feels like slow motion.

Holy shit. It’s Derek! He’s saving me?!