Chapter 30: Breaking Out

The sound of running water gradually broke through Leona's slumber and roused her from where she lay. It had been less than an ideal sleep—sharing a room with an arrogant, barely tolerable pop singer who occasionally snored.

She had tossed and turned, not comfortable sleeping in the sequin dress she had worn at the concert the evening before and she did not want to remove it because of the previously mentioned singer sharing the room.

She opened her eyes and felt hair in her face, realizing that hers had escaped the confines of the braid it had been styled into. Her curls had never been obedient and now they were frizzy, and billowing around her face and shoulders freely.

She heard the water stop and pinpointed that it was coming from the bathroom. She needed to use one but she wasn't about to barge in on Edric King in the shower. That was certainly most likely what he was doing in there based on the auditory clues.

It so happened that she didn't have to barge into the bathroom because the singer came sauntering out in a bathrobe that wasn't secured and so exposed her to a view of him in his boxer briefs.

She sat up quickly and admonished him, "Have some decency!"


"I'm decent enough. What? You've never seen a killer set of abs before?" he teased at seeing the struck look on her face and gestured at himself. She'd seen better abs than his recently and on a guy who was way more tolerable. However, she didn't voice that and instead lifted her lip in a half growl of annoyance before getting out of bed and pulling her shoes on.

"What are you smirking at?" Leona snapped out irately when she looked up at him after buckling the final strap. She felt yucky; she needed a shower. She needed to get into her own room and stood to leave.

Edric pulled open a drawer from the stand the hotel phone was sitting on and picked something up from inside it. She couldn't make out what it was at first—a credit card? He approached her and held it out, "I think you'll be needing this."

She saw what it was and tensed with angry confusion, "Why do you have this?"

It was her hotel key card.


"I wanted to make sure you were the type of person not to lose your head in an unfavorable situation, so I instructed the spa hostess to remove it from your possession. You handled yourself pretty well, so consider yourself worthy of being my backup singer."

Leona snatched the hotel key from his hand with a pure scowl, "You are such a—a—"

"Talented singer?"

"No, a—"

"Handsome devil?"

"Devil is one way to put it," she growled and before he could get another quip out or do anything else completely insane, she marched past him and out of his room.

What a complete douchebag! Did he think he was being eccentric? Because it wasn't cute or quirky, or even remotely amusing—it was just annoying. What other 'tests' would he put her through just to entertain himself at the expense of her discomfort? She had, unfortunately, already signed the contract but had been so concerned with getting that position full-time that she hadn't considered what type of person she'd be working with for the next four years.

She called for the elevator by pressing the down button and flipped the hotel card in her hand over, and over, trying to calm her mind from the surge of anger she was feeling for being tested like that. She could have slept in her own bed, in her own pajamas, if not for his stupid test.

There was no avoiding Edric moving forward, she would have to work with him and see him daily. She wondered if she could talk to Luke about this and have him get Edric under control, after all, Luke was the manager. How hard was it to manage Edric? Maybe Caroline would know what to do if that failed. Caroline had to deal with Edric's antics day in and day-out, being his personal assistant.

Leona stepped onto the elevator and punched in her floor number. She wondered if her friends were awake or had even worried about her?


"Try again," Illyana suggested.

"I've tried calling like ten times. Her phone is off—it goes straight to voicemail," Alarie said dialing Leona's number for the umpteenth time on her cell. The familiar error noise followed by a mechanical voiced message sounded yet again.

"Or it's dead. Or she's dead," Illyana slumped forward with pure devastation written on her face.

"Plumbobs, you are so overdramatic. I'm sure she's fine. She probably just had a wild night is all and ended up somewhere else. She'll turn up sooner or later."

Alarie seemed to be unconcerned but the worried look on her face told Illyana otherwise.

Illyana knotted her brows with concern, "Hopefully sooner rather than later."

Illyana had been quite jumpy ever since they ran off the casino floor last night. She worried that any minute that jerk, Tony, would barge in, having hunted her down for punching him in the mouth. Not that he didn't deserve it but he held some significant power in the casino, that she was sure of. Thank goodness Leona had booked the hotel room so neither Illyana nor Alarie could be tracked down to a room by their own names.

Illyana was anxious for Leona's return so they could get the hell outta Pandora and back to their normal lives. There had certainly been enough excitement for her in one weekend.

They heard the distinctive click of the mechanical lock on the door give way and directed their attention toward it. Illyana tensed and crossed her arms. Alarie did the same.

Sure enough, their stray friend walked into the room, and a wave of relief fell over them to know she was okay.

"And where have you been young lady?" Alarie teased in a motherly voice which was amusing since Alarie was more likely of the three to act irresponsibly.


Leona looked slightly embarrassed and exasperated as if she had a tale to tell.

"I'm so sorry! My phone died, and I couldn't find my room key," Leona began as she walked further into the suite. She was a mess, her dress was wrinkled, her makeup rubbed off, and her hair was a tangle of curls. She looked like she had a long night of hard partying.

"How was the concert?"

Leona took a moment to get the gears in her brain moving, to get out of their angry cloud—thinking back to that time before she blurted, "It was completely awesome! It was a sold-out show and they cheered so loud—well probably more for Edric—but I at least pretended it was for me and guys—I got the full-time position!"



"Wow!"

"No kidding?"

They both exclaimed at the news. They, of course, were thrilled for her but at the same time, they both thought it was all so sudden.

"So then what happened afterward?" Alarie prompted for more juicy news. She practically thrived off eventful stories or gossip.

"There was an after-party at this club downtown. I got to know Edric's entourage a bit more and we all danced the night away. It was so fun! Also got lots of free drinks!"

If there was one thing Alarie and Leona had in common, it was their love of free drinks.

"Nice!" Alarie raised her hand and Leona met it with a high-five.

"So where did you end up sleeping?" Illyana wondered.

"Well—I—" Leona began but was interrupted by knocking on the suite's door. She went over to answer it since she was closest. It couldn't have been room service yet. Check-out time was 11:00 and it was barely past 8 a.m.


"Hey there Miss Arithmetic," Edric stood in front of her. He wasn't in his underwear anymore but a sleek red shirt, unbuttoned at the chest, and he was wearing his sunglasses again. He held out her purse to her, "You left this in my room."

Seeing him sent her anger surging back to the forefront of her mind; she crossed her arms and nearly spat, "Did you steal anything else from it? My ID, or phone perhaps?"

"Nah, I only get other people to steal stuff out of your purse, remember?" he teased but she didn't find it amusing. She looked into it and found her important effects intact.

"Satisfied?" Edric asked, his voice dripping with faux sultriness. He was so strange, and she disliked it immensely. Who was the real Edric? Would she ever know? He changed his mood and demeanor so often and she'd only properly met him yesterday!

"Thanks," Leona said, but her tone wasn't indicative of gratitude. She shut the door on him and set her purse on the desk behind her. She let out a frustrated breath and then noticed Illyana and Alarie were staring at her in shock.

"What?"

"You spent the night with Edric King??" Alarie knotted her brows in disbelief.


"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Leona didn't understand the sudden chilly attitude. They had just high-fived not even a minute ago.

Alarie's expression fell into offense, "What about Antoine? Does he mean nothing to you?"

"Whoa, whoa whoa—I didn't sleep with Edric!" Leona set the record straight. Alarie looked doubtful and Illyana just stood behind her with that same initial look of shock on her face. Leona couldn't believe they didn't trust her word, "You don't believe me?"

"Uh, you're the ambitious one here. What wouldn't you do to come out top?" Alarie bit out which sent Leona into a deep glower.

"As opposed to you with no ambition whatsoever?"

It was Alarie's turn to glower, but she ignored that insult and said, "You're deflecting."

"You'd think I'd actually get into bed with that creep to further my career?"

"You've pulled something like this before. Remember the Mayor's Ball?"

Alarie was referring to when they were in high school and Leona had broken her commitment to sing in their band in order to have a spot to sing at the prestigious Mayor's Ball. She nearly lost Illyana's friendship over that incident.

"Yeah, and I learned my lesson. Illyana, you don't actually believe I would do something like this to achieve my dreams, do you?" Leona looked toward her other friend for backup.

Illyana shook her head and replied faintly, "I don't know."

She'd like to believe that Leona didn't participate in any shenanigans with the handsome pop star in order to boost her chances at breaking into the industry, but the truth was Leona was fiercely ambitious, sometimes even blinded by it and Illyana couldn't know for sure.

"Unbelievable!" Leona threw her hands up.

"Can we stop talking about this and please get ready to go? If you both don't stop, the drive back is going to be really awkward," Illyana suggested uncomfortably. She didn't care whether Leona did it or not but then again, Antoine wasn't her brother. Illyana made her way back to her room to get dressed. She just wanted to get out of there, now that they had Leona back.

Leona frowned with narrowed eyes, seeing neither of them would fully believe her, and said in an even tone, "Go ahead without me. I'll be riding Edric King's tour bus to West Clayton."


"Apparently you like riding a lot of things of Edric King's" Alarie accused.

"By Orange Plumbobs, shut your mouth! I haven't done nearly anything as bad as you. I didn't touch Edric but you would in a heartbeat for a free drink and the thrill. You have nothing else going for you and you're just jealous of my success!"

Illyana felt numb as she watched her two best friends start to scream insults at each other.

It may have seemed highly contradictory that Alarie was getting so worked up at thinking Leona had been with another man when all she had done this weekend was push Illyana towards hooking up with any strange man that would have her. However, Alarie was a big supporter of her brother and Leona's relationship. She had to be, with Leona's father acting as a strong voice of dissent about them.

Alarie had never seen Antoine as happy as when he was with Leona. She wanted her brother to be happy and she thought Leona was happy with him too. He had practically jumped at the chance to see her again, even canceling his last speaking event to come into town to be there when Alarie had tipped him off on where exactly Leona would be. In her eyes, she had set them up to finally be together again and now Leona had ruined it.

"Stop fighting!" Illyana shouted in a sharp demand and her two friends stopped mid-insult to stare at her, "Let's just get packed and leave."

Leona arched an eyebrow and said, "Why are you so eager to leave?"

"She punched an elite mafioso in the mouth when he put his greasy hands on her," Alarie answered before Illyana could tell her to shut up.

Leona's other eyebrow popped high rendering her face in surprise, wondering what exactly happened last night while they were apart. It seemed like they couldn't keep Illyana out of trouble.

"Really? The mafia—as in the syndicate?" she then asked doubtfully. The syndicates had been eradicated; everyone knew that.

Illyana shrugged, "I have no idea. Alarie is just making it sound more exciting than it actually was."

Alarie crossed her arms but didn't deny it. So, Illyana clarified:

"He was coming on strong and didn't take no for an answer. He happened to have a lot of money and someone referred to him a 'boss'—so I figure we should get outta Pandora as fast as possible before I get held for assault."

"Do what you need to, but leave me out of it. I'm taking a shower and then I'm leaving for West Clayton," Leona stated, while tossing her messy hair and brushing past them both to go to her room where she had left her luggage. She should probably find a way to return the dress they gave her for the show.

She pulled the curtains closed and wiggled out of the sequined dress, still furious that her own best friends thought that her ambition equated to desperation. Well, she hoped they'd feel foolish when she was a headliner, recording her own hits, and jetting around the world to perform them because that was the path she had put herself on now, and she wasn't going to sleep with anyone to get it!

She was regretful, however, that she wouldn't be back in Kashmire in time to help Antoine look for apartments because she had been looking forward to spending more time with him. He would understand though, he had a demanding job himself and knew Leona's goals were her priority. Sometimes she figured Antoine knew her better than anyone else, even Alarie and Illyana, even her own father.

She picked up her phone out of her purse, intending to text him the news, and then cursed under her breath because it was still dead.


Illyana hadn't showered. She just twisted her hair into a braid and didn't understand why Alarie was putting on more makeup since they didn't have anyone to impress. It was just a six-hour drive in a desert. Leona and Alarie had gone from shouting insults to ignoring each other completely. However, instead of worrying about how they were ever going to make up, Illyana was still uneasy about consequences yet to be foreseen regarding Tony.

His smile haunted her thoughts. The way he did it, even after she had popped him in the mouth, was so damn unnerving. She would have figured he'd be angry. What did that smile indicate?

"Can we leave yet?" Illyana called as she hiked her backpack over her shoulders and slipped her sunglasses on. She was asking Alarie, who stood in the main room with her makeup spread across the counter and was looking into the mirror behind the TV since Leona was using the bathroom. They refused to even share a space together.

"Fine, fine," Alarie said and brushed an applicator over her eyelid and then threw it into her makeup bag, gathering all her products in after it. She stuffed it into her duffel bag and then slid her messenger bag over her shoulder, "I'm ready."

Illyana wanted to say something to Leona to let them know they were leaving but couldn't think of how to do it in the current situation. Leona was being standoffish and probably wouldn't acknowledge it anyhow.

So instead, Illyana sighed and gave a nod toward the door and they quietly left the room.

After packing up the back of her Jeep, Illyana paused at the driver's side door and looked at Alarie, who was waiting for her to unlock the passenger side.

"What?"

"Shouldn't we say goodbye? I mean—we won't see Leona for a while if she's going on a concert tour."

"She wouldn't care. She doesn't even care who she hurts as long as she gets famous," Alarie snapped, "Besides, she didn't say goodbye to us. Just get in and start it up."

But then out of the hotel Leona emerged, rolling her luggage behind her, freshly showered, wearing her blue shades, and a floral dress that ended at her thighs—she looked just as a famous singer would.

And as she walked past them toward the tour bus, she didn't say a word to them—just as a famous singer wouldn't.