57. My Day Dream

Panic dances in me like disco as Carina walks past me with a sly smirk.
The mischievous look that she gave me, tells me something malefic is hatching in her mind, like a secret weapon she is nesting for the future.
A tidal wave of anxiety crashes over me, wondering if she had suspected something between me and Dakota?
*Oh God!* What if that cunning fox adds spices, over cooks the information and then whispers in someone else’s ears?
*Shit!* I need to clear the air before her mouth and imagination both run wild.
Without a second thought, I turn around to catch her in time before I lose the moment forever. I take a quick breathless stride after Carina as she walks down the driveway with her heels clicking rhythmically against the concert.
“Carina! Can I talk to you for a minute?” I call her out.
She pauses and turns around with a raised eyebrow. Her foxy eyes check me out from behind her cat-eye glasses and a slow cunning smile spreads across her face.
“Emara..” She purrs, looking at me. “Honey, how late did you get that you attended such an important meeting in your flip-flops?”
*Oh shit!*
A rush of embarrassment floods through me as I glance down at the furry indoor flip-flops that Dakota had given me.
“Ah-sorry. Actually, I was running so late in the morning that I completely forgot..” I laugh out and try to act casual about it. “Listen, Carina.. I just want to clari-”
“Did you see the size of swimming pool and his house.. Oh my god! And the chandelier hanging right above the entrance of his living room.. It was sooo huge!” Her attention flies around like a real-state agent, and suddenly she pauses, looking at me.
“But you do not seem surprised at all. You have been here before, right?” Her expression sharpens, observing me to a microscopic level.
“Me? No! No. I just.. I have seen better.” My pulse heightens and I look around, pretending to be awestruck by his villa. “But yeah, this one is also a very big house. And I liked how artificially advanced it is with the latest technology.” I desperately try to change the subject.
“Oh, honey!” Carina leans in, showing a faux concern as she touches my damp hair. “Your hair is still wet. Did you shower in his bathroom?”
“What?” My soul almost leaves my body as she suddenly asks me out of nowhere. “No. I-was in a hurry and rushing late so.. I..”
“Yeah, I totally understand.” She nods her head in understanding and then asks me excitedly, “Did you two sleep together?”
“What! NO!” I nearly choke on my words. Heat flushes on to my face as vision of those intimate nights flashes in front of my eyes and I shake my head, trying to convince her, “I-I think you are misunderstanding the situa-”
“Oh, how sweetly he was asking you for the morning coffee!” Carina cooes dreamily like a fangirl, before she leans in, lowering her cat-eye glasses at me and whispers, “Did he kept you up all night?”
*What the-*
Blood shoots in my skull and my mouth drops down to the concrete at the audacity of this woman. *She got to be kidding me!*
“Oh… Is that why you woke up late?” She asks me, jumping from one question to another, and enjoying herself.
“No. Nothing happened. Why would you even think that?” I breathe heavily under her probing gaze as she stares at me with an intensity of a detective.
“No hickeys, no bite marks.” Carina tilts her head, trying to get a good look of my neck. “Did you cover them up? Or..”
She pauses dramatically, and her voice drops low to a conspirational whisper, “He gave you somewhere else.. More private?”
*Oh god! This evil woman.*
“Carina! It’s not like that.” I shriek in anxiety. Even my anxieties are having anxieties right now.
“Oh, Emara!” She cooes, giving my cheeks a playful squeeze. “You are so cute. You don’t even know how to lie.”
My heartbeat sky rockets as she steers the topic down to a way which leads directly to the highway of scandal. “I am not lying, you have clearly misunderstood the situation.” I assure her, with blushed cheeks.
“Darling, for a second I would have believed you.” Carina chuckles, adjusting her cat-eye glasses. “But since you walked in, my sixth sense could feel the wild sexual tension in the air, only a child would have not noticed. And the way Mr. Black was staring at you with his sexy bedroom eyes.. *Oh my!*” She says, fanning herself dramatically.
I feel my abdomen clench, feeling the sudden increase of heat in my body at her taunting words. My face flushes with redness as if his eyes are still on me and I look away, fidgeting with my heart.
“I think you have gotten a wrong idea of the situation. We are just.. good friends.” I try to hold on to my ground despite the enraging pulse in my ear.
“Emara, honey, come on!” Carina rolls her bitchy eyes, her face contours with *I-have-no-time-for-bullshit* expression as she speaks unfiltered, “You are a hot piece, sweetie. I would hit on you too if I were a man.”
My eyes widen at her bold comment and I slowly tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, feeling extremely shy. *Really?*
“And he *is* a man. Rich and powerful. Someone who knows how to *get* what he *wants*.” She whispers the last words like a devil.
Her all-too familiar wicked smirk takes over her face while she stares over me and sneers, “Only a blind wouldn’t want you.”
Flushed by her direct teasing, I feel a strange kind of heat in my bones. Something that burns my cheeks along.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I gulp, manage to keep a straight face.
“I think you know exactly what I am talking about, darling.” Smirk deepens on her cunning face.
“And remember, come directly to my office later. We have a lot to chat about.” She orders me, with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Carina, please..” I call her out desperately as she turns round to leave.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody… yet.” She sneers and my heart drops, feeling trapped in her game of words.
“Enjoy your day.. with Mr. Black.” She winks at me with mischief brimming her tone and walks away, cat-walking like a queen-bitch.