I cracked an eye open as Joshua's face faded away from my mind.

Jesus Christ, he was even in my dreams. I could still feel the uncertainty of the day before, as I rose from my bed and started to get ready. Joshua and I had headed to separate rooms the night before. It had made my uneasy and a little hurt when it happened, but at the same time Joshua had acted completely normal. He had even kissed me goodnight. I hadn't wanted to be the needy...uh...friend.

I washed my face and pulled my hair up into its normal bun on top of my head. The jet would leave in about an hour and I knew that the rest of the crew, including Joshua, were already in the dining room having breakfast.

Once I had stopped looking like The Grudge, I pulled the clothes Joshua had gotten me along and made my way down.

I calmly walked out of the elevator, in search a familiar face, when a hand snaked from behind a fern and grabbed hold of my arm.

"Holy shit!" I yelled the moment I was pulled towards the plant. I want into full panic mode the minute I realized I was being abducted. A second hand went to my mouth just in time to muffle the rest of my curse words that were to come.

I was swatting my hand around like crazy, as if the abductor was more of a pesky fly than a potential killer.

I didn't even think of biting the hand until I was being pulled down a hallway. I wanted to get a look at who the hand belonged to, but my damn brain wasn't working and I just kept swatting and screaming.  I was debating how gross it would be to just bite the crap out of the hand, when my body was rattled around leaving me being dragged facing the opposite direction of the abductor.

Images of the movie Taken flashed in my mind. Oh my God, what if I ended up being abducted into a secret ring of prostitution and Joshua had to search all of Europe to find me?

Right when I was picturing Joshua calling my abductor through the phone and promising to find him, I was whirled around.

"Will you stop swinging your damn hand everywhere?" A Texan accent floated into my ears.

Wait, Texan accent?

I whipped my head up to face none other than a very winded Texan male model. God, I wasn't even a hundred and twenty pounds, but the guy looked like he had just ran a marathon. So much for being a fucking giant...

"Robert! What the fuck?" I yelled after being released. My swatting finally became effective when I made contact with one of his arms.  I was pretty pissed and so my hand I went for a second slap, but the asshole got the point and dodged the blow.

"Darlin', could you stop slapping my arm for five minutes and hear what I have to say?" Robert asked. The guy was clearly exasperated now. I had never seen him so serious and my defenses instantly went up.

I stopped making a debacle of myself and simply crossed my arms over my chest. I was looking like a pouty teenager, but I really didn't care. We were going to miss our flight!

"Do you make a habit of fucking abducting people? I could have knocked you out, you know! Just one more minute and your ass would have been grass!" I stood up on my tippy toes and threw a pointed finger in his face. Robert looked at the finger with a bored expression, before rolling his eyes and letting out a frustrated breath.

"Alright, so maybe your ass wouldn't have been grass, but something damn close to it!" I said again. It was obviously the nerves talking, because now that the excitement was dying down I was sort of in a rattled state.

"Lilly, Darlin', could you please give me a chance to speak?" Roberts tone was a lot lower than mine and he was leaning really close. It almost felt like a big secret was coming my way and I didn't like it.

"What?" I half yelled through my teeth. Something inside of me didn't want to hear what he had to say. I just had a feeling that I wouldn't like it.

"Look, big things are about to happen. I can't let you know what they are yet, but please, don't freak out. Just remember, if anything happens you call Martin Vance, alright?" Robert leaned in really close during his hurried speech.

 The way his eyes wandered around the room and never looked at me while he spoke set me on edge. Plus, it felt like he was giving me an order.

Nothing was making any damn sense!

"Why are you talking in code? Jesus Christ, would it kill anyone to just say what they have to say?" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air in agitation.

First Joshua and now Robert.

Robert rolled his eyes again, but began to speak. Right when I thought he was going to elaborate and decode his message, Joshua's voice drifted down the hallway.

"Jilly?" He asked. I turned just in time to see the hard expression on his face as he made his way over to us. It really didn't look good. I was tucked in a corner with Robert, while he practically whispered in my ear.

"Hey!" I yelled overly enthusiastically. I couldn't explain why I felt so guilty, I just did. I set a dramatic hand on my waist and felt my mouth form into a lopsided smile.

"Hey." Joshua spoke back. His mouth was stills set in a hard line and he eyed Robert wearily.

I was shocked when I noticed that Robert was returning the hostility with just as much vigor. If I hadn't done something to cut off their stare down, all hell would have broken loose.

 I just knew it.

 They both looked like they had developed a mutual hate for each other from one day to another. That was another thing to add to the list of things that weren't making any sense at all to me.

I coughed loudly, before grabbing hold of Joshua's arm.

That managed to break him out of his haze and I felt his eyes fall on me.

"Ready to catch that plane?" I asked, already pulling Joshua along. I couldn't resist turning towards Robert, who still stood in the exact same spot.

 For a minute, his gaze looked at me with sorrow, as if he felt bad for me. He had no reason to and was obviously plotting a new plan to get Gola, or so that's what I told myself as I pulled Joshua towards the exit doors.

"What was he telling you?" Joshua asked with an intensity that he couldn't mask.

I hated myself for being so stubborn, but because everyone was keeping secrets from me I decided to keep some of my own.

"Nothing, he was just talking to me about last night." Alright, so I was outright lying, and it wasn't because I didn't trust Joshua. I did, sort of. It was just that the stubborn part of me wanted someone to be just as confused as I was.

"Well, whatever it was, don't believe him. I don't trust that guy, Jilly." Joshua spoke as we walked out towards the beaming sunlight.

I rolled my eyes, as if what he was saying was utterly ridiculous, but I was thinking the exact same thing.

Maybe it was the fact that things felt out of control for me, or maybe it was just that I felt like an entirely new girl, but before I knew it I was pulling a still weary Joshua to the side of the hotel building and practically pushing him against the concrete wall.

At first Joshua looked like he didn't know what the hell was happening, and when he did the shock from his eyes never dimmed.

With a shaky breath I put all of my weight on the tips of my toes and reached up to meet Joshua. I pushed myself to commit and meet my lips with his.

The old Lilly would have never been so brazen, but the new Lilly was definitely ready to take a risk.

It didn't take him long to return the kiss, and I let my arms reach to wrap around his neck. His hands went down to my hips, the perfect place. I was so into what was happening that I didn't notice the red beanie hiding just behind some nearby bushes. What I did notice was the damn flash from the camera.

My eyes widened like saucers as the fucking red beanie bum stood up from under the bushes and ran with the camera in his hands. For some reason the images didn't match.

 Instead of freaking out about just being photographed swapping spit with Joshua, I couldn't stop thinking how weird the bum looked with such an expensive camera. Bums were not allowed to own thousand dollar cameras!

I thought all of this as my lips moved against Joshua's. He hadn't noticed a thing, which I found utterly ridiculous, until I started to forget everything as his hands started to roam.

Should I tell him?

I quickly decided not to make such a big deal out of it, maybe I was just over reacting? What could a little picture mean? Plus, I didn't want to worry him.

I was thinking all of this when Joshua pulled away to eye me.

"What's wrong?" He asked with his cute concerned gaze. He obviously noticed my change in behavior. 

I still hadn't fully decided whether to tell him about the picture, when the thoughts in my head became jumbled and my tongue became tied.

Almost randomly, the words tumbled out of my mouth

"I love you."

My eyes went wide when I realized what I had just admitted. Stupid, Lilly!

I could feel my cheeks get red and my palms start to sweat. Why hadn't I thought before speaking? I was in full panic mode until Joshua took hold of my hand and intertwined his fingers in mine. I forced myself to look up to him and was surprised by the look on his face. It was partly sad, although he had on an adorable crooked smile.

"I really love you, Jilly."

I couldn't stop the huge fucking grin that grew on my face when I heard him say those words. I was utterly perfect at that moment. I didn't want anything else in life, but to hear those words again. I couldn't believe it, Joshua had literally just said that he loved me back. He wasn't just the guy who I got to kiss, he was way more than that. That's when I finally got it.

Joshua was someone I actually talked to. That's when I finally realized why, even though Gola was beautiful and perfect, she didn't have what I had with Joshua.

I wanted to kiss him again, except Johnny's gelled head popped out from the corner of the building. I jumped away from Joshua as if his hand burned me. Shit!

I was expecting a cocky grin from our gay amigo, but Johnny didn't do the expected. His face was perfectly blank.

"Our flight leaves pretty soon. Care to join us?" His tone was completely trivial.

Joshua and I nodded our heads, before we began to follow Johnny towards the waiting cars.

We made it to the airport just in time. I wanted to question Joshua about everything, from where he got the money for his sister, to why he hadn't wanted to tell me. Instead of doing so, I ended up falling asleep once I plopped my ass down on the expensive leather. My love haze might have been partly to blame as well.

 Even though it was a hell of a long flight, I stayed unconscious for most of it, which was a good thing, because I was sitting next to Johnny, who told me that there had been some turbulence during my slumber.

Once we had all picked up our baggage, we started to make out way towards the exit. That's when my phone started to go bizzerk and ring crazily.

I pushed the button on the screen, before I brought it up to my ear.

"Hello?" I greeted, expecting Lanning's voice to reply. Caller I.D. really was helpful.

"Good afternoon, Fenster. I just called to notify you about the urgent meeting we're having at the office today. Please head over here with everyone immediately." Lanning ordered from the other side of the line.

When all I wanted was to go home to my smelly apartment, having to go to the office instead really annoyed me. I didn't think of complaining and instead answered in my sweetest voice.

"Sure!" I wanted to ask more about why we had to be there, but it was clearly unprofessional to do so.

Without a goodbye, the call ended. I scrunched my nose at my phone screen, before sliding it into my back pocket. It took me a while, but I went around notifying everyone about the meeting. I was so focused on my task, that I didn't notice my bag filled with new clothes passing on the conveyer belt. By the time I saw it from the corner of my eyes it was already seconds from disappearing.

Being an idiot, I ran in it's direction. I had to trudge through a herd of people who were on the lookout for their own bags. I was so damn close!

Could you really blame me for jumping on the conveyer belt on skipping over bags to reach it? Uh, because that's exactly what I did. I would feel the embarrassment and remorse later, at that moment I was getting my damn bag. I tripped over a camouflaged backpack, before I reached out and wrapped my hand around my bag.

There was a cumulative eruption of cheers from a group of people who had decided to wait and watch my spectacle. I felt my cheeks get red form the exertion along with embarrassment. I lost track of time and before I knew it I was mere inches from smacking straight into a wall, as the conveyer belt continued beyond it through a small compartment.

I saw Joshua drop his bags as he practically ran over to me. One of his arms snaked around my waist at just the right moment, before I was so slam my head onto the expectant wall. 

I wrapped my own arms around Joshua and let him pull me towards him. I found myself standing back on the ground with a crowd of people cheering at Joshua. Both of our faces were expressionless until we made eye contact. The laughter escaped both of us and before we knew it we were both laughing our asses off.  For some reason the laughter didn't completely reach Joshua's eyes.

My adventure ended up relieving the tension in the group as we made our way towards the offices. Hell, even Amanda looked and laughed while shaking her head.

I was relieved until we pulled up into the main offices. That's when my stomach started to feel queasy, almost like I was about to get on a rollercoaster.

We were all directed to a conference room towards the end of the building by some pretty blonde girl who was probably aspiring to be a model herself. I just knew it, because I could tell by the way she was trying so hard to fit in. I took the time to look around the place and search my surroundings.

The walls were mostly white, but were adorned by black and white posters of the models which were inside glass frames. We even passed a shot of Joshua towards the end of the narrow hall we were walking on. The black marble floors were really slippery under my flats and I tried not to fall on my butt as we made our way.

We all crowded into a large conference room that had a black all marble table smack in the middle. There were about thirty leather chairs that were surrounding all sides of the table. Lanning sat in one of the seats on the end with her hands folded on top of the marble. Her face was full of satisfaction when we walked in.

Why was she looking so damn happy? I spared a look at Joshua, when I noticed that he had been staring at me. His mouth was slightly opened and he quickly looked in a different direction when I caught him staring.

Alright, things were definitely getting freaky at that point.

Lanning motioned for everyone to have a seat and I picked one on the opposite side of Joshua. My stomach did a little flip when Gola made a clear point of taking the seat next to him. Johnny sat on my right, while Amanda made her way to my left. The rest of the crew found several open seats and occupied them.

"I set up this meeting just to let a few of you know the news." Lanning spoke loudly and clearly throughout the room. The place had really good acoustics, so even the person at the furthest side of the table probably heard her clearly.

People leaned in closer; anyway, to hear just what it was that she was getting at. Even I craned my neck in her direction.

"Two of our top models have decided to-"Lanning paused, clearly enjoying all of the attention in the room.

"-become engaged! Which is why I called this meeting, so that all of you could be in the loop. Specifically Ms. Fenster."

All eyes turned in my direction as Lanning looked at me while she grinned. She reminded me of Ursula and I was the damn mermaid. Only there was no water and we were on land. All I could think of was the fact that Lanning knew. She knew about me and Joshua.

 Was this the way she fired the previous assistants? In front of everyone? No, I wanted to believe that it couldn't be like that for me.

I didn't want to put the two together, which was why I felt like all of the air was being sucked out of me. I couldn't breathe!

"W-w-why me?" My voice came out squeaky and I sounded like a confused balloon that was slowly losing air.

I didn't want to look at Joshua, but my stupid eyeballs had a mind of their own. He wasn't even focused on what was going on around him. All he would do was stare at the black marble and draw unknown shapes with the tip of his index finger. He didn't have the balls to look me in the eyes as Lanning continued.

"Specifically you, Fenster, because I want you to be the one to let all of the press know that Joshua Lachowski and Gola Hurwitz are officially engaged and very much in love. Isn't that right?" Lanning spoke the words but I still didn't hear them. I didn't want to hear them.

Lanning turned towards a gushing Gola who had taken hold of Joshua's hand. The smile on her face couldn't have gotten any grander. Her hand was in the exact place where mine was supposed to be and it hurt. The burning feeling in my chest wasn't going away and I was scared that it could end up traveling to my eyes.

No, I wasn't going to cry. I was still asleep on the jet. High up in the air. It was the only explanation for all of the shit that was going down in front of me.

They weren't even together!

"The company is very pleased with the arrangement. Isn't it just amazing that two of our models will be on the front covers of every magazine on the newsstands? With the help of Ms. Fenster, of course, they will both most certainly be the news on everyone's minds!" Lanning couldn't have been more stoked. Everyone else in the room looked just as pleased. Everyone except me, or at least it felt like just me.

Robert's words came back swirling into my head. Fingers shaking, I grabbed a hold of the phone that rested in my back pocket. Everyone, including Lanning, had been looking at me expectantly.

I forced the smile to grow on my face, even if it hurt my cheeks to do it.

"I'll make sure that they're engagement is known by everyone by tomorrow." I spoke the words with certainty. A certainty that not even Joshua was expecting.

I knew what Lanning was doing. She sent a competitive look towards me and I just knew that she didn't like me. She never had. I had just been her employee who interfered in her plans. That's when I knew that Lanning knew everything about Joshua and me, for sure.

She knew the things I hadn't told her. She knew Joshua's secrets and she knew that I hadn't confided them in her. The bitch was teaching me a lesson, but I could put on an act too. I wasn't the same Lilly who couldn't fight her nasty sister in law. At least Joshua had given me that.

"In fact-" I paused, enjoying the spotlight momentarily just as much as Lanning. I was going to win a damn academy award for my performance, I promised myself.

"-all I need is one phone call." I let the words settle on Lanning's mind. She looked momentarily confused, as if she hadn't been expecting me to come through.

I knew the exact number I was looking for. I scanned the room quickly for Robert, who was sitting to the far right with his gaze trained on me. I read his lips, but I didn't need to.

Taking Robert's advice, I scrolled through my contacts until I found the right one. Thank god I hadn't thrown his card out until I had input his number into my phone.

The thing didn't even ring, before Martin Vance's voice greeted me from the other side.

"Fenster, I've been expecting your call." Martin's voice was utterly calm and even jovial. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking of how crazy it was that he knew my number.

"Hello, Mr. Vance." I let his name slip off my tongue and into everyone's ears. Lanning stiffened considerably at the sound of his name.

"Let me guess, you need me to print out the headlining engagement story? All I need is for you to say so and give me the O.K." Martin didn't even have to guess. He had already known! The guy was seriously all-knowing, it was fucking freaky. I wished that I could have been as astute as him and known earlier.

"Well, I'm saying so now." I gave a small uncomfortable laugh, still a little freaked out about him already knowing exactly what I had been calling for.

"Alright then, consider it done." With that last statement the line went dead. It seemed like no one was saying goodbye to me through the phone. I just wished that it could be the same thing in real life.

I clicked the end button and looked up towards the room. Joshua had the saddest look on his face, which pissed me off. He almost looked like he was disappointed in me for doing such a damn good job at getting the word out. I had gone to the god of the press after all.

Lanning was even more pissed off than I was. She had definitely not been expecting me to come through, or at least wanted me to suffer while I let everyone know about Joshua and Gola. The thought of what had just been declared hadn't hit me yet, but I could still feel little shocks beginning.

Lanning practically snarled at me before speaking, "Wow, Fenster, I'm very impressed. Maybe you can be just as efficient in bringing all of us some coffee." Lanning made sure to emphasize the last word, making it an obvious order.

Lanning wanted to insult me by making me do the secretary's job. What she didn't know was that she was doing me a favor, because the tears were finally threatening to spill out.

I didn't bother to look at anyone else in the room. My back felt stiff as I made my way out.

That's when the tears spilled.

God, I hated to cry. I almost never cried, but it hurt. My chest actually felt like it hurt. There was a knife in my chest, when it was really on my back.

My feet slid around the slippery floors as I broke into a small run. I needed to hide. I couldn't have anyone see me this way, because of what had just happened. I didn't want to be humiliated that way.

Feet slipping, I swirled into a heaping mess on the floor. Stupid slippery floors and fucked up coordination!

I finally made it into a small storage room. There was an old banged up copy machine towards the back of the room, which I decided to choose as my hide-out.

I made myself into a small ball beside the copy machine and the white wall. I knew no one could see me, even if they were passing by the room. That's when I really cried. With my head in my hands I actually cried.

I had never felt so pathetic. I couldn't stop thinking about how everyone must have known about Joshua and I. A room full of attractive people had just witnessed me, Lilly Fenster, get her heart broken.

I had never felt this pathetic.

I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength to do it. The tears wouldn't stop coming, but I made sure not to make a sound.

"Lilly?" A voice was calling me from outside in the hallway. My stomach literally twisted into a tight knot when I recognized the voice as Joshua's.

I didn't want him to see me. He couldn't get the satisfaction of seeing me in that state. How dare he seek me out after practically lying to my face?

The tears came out even harder and I squeezed my eyelids shut to stop them from flowing. Joshua continued to call my name, until his voice drifted off as he walked away from the doorway.  I hated the fact that I didn't hate him, yet. I wasn't filled with rage and betrayal. It was all numb. I still fucking cared.

Had everything been a lie? What the hell was I supposed to do now? Was I supposed to bring Lanning her damn coffee with a fucking smile on my face?

I sniffled, before I noticed the pair of shoes that belonged to the person standing right in front of me.

Someone had found me.

I want to thank everyone for their wonderful votes on the previous chapter! <3 I was so grateful that I wanted to give you guys an extra long chapter. This was initially planned to be the last chapter of Sugar Babe, but due to the change in plans I will continue until the end :)

Thank you guys so much for reading, commenting, voting, and fanning. It means the world to me!

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