"You can still win."

My eyes lifted up from where they had been trained on. Turns out that the shoes belonged to no other than Johnny, who stared down at me from where he stood.

I awkwardly wiped the last remaining tears from my eyes as I stared up at him in confusion. Win what? If anything, I felt like the biggest loser on the planet. I was the rejected girl who cried her eyes out in the company of broken down copy machines.

Johnny sighed, before kneeling down directly in front of me. I could smell his cologne from where I was huddled, even with the stuffy nose I had.

"Look, Fenster, the first time I met you I had one thought."

The look on my face turned into more confusion as Johnny kept talking. Was he really trying to be Doctor Phil right now? He was the last person I wanted to talk to. I was not about to have a heart to heart with the root of all evil, or so I thought.

"You know what that thought was?" Johnny didn't wait for my answer.

" 'This girl has no fashion sense'." Johnny told me drily. I had been expecting some cheesy statement about believing in myself. Nice to know Johnny was still a disappointment.

"Thanks." My voice sounded dry and nasal.

"-But I realized something during the New Year's party. You, Lilly Fenster, are armed with a sense of fashion, indeed. That dress, even though you never admitted the truth about making it, was one of the best creations I have ever seen. Don't think I don't know the truth."

My eyes widened, but I wasn't that shocked. At least Johnny wasn't completely blind. He had given me the address for the fabric store. The memory of going there with Joshua came to me and I felt like crap. Why did he do this to me? He should have just punched me in the face instead, it would have hurt less.

"Now, why is a talented girl like you curled up against the damn copy machine, while Lanning The Bitch gets to laugh in her conference room?" Johnny asked, hands on his hips.

Had I heard him wrong? Was Johnny on my side?

"Wait, what?" I questioned. Nothing was making any sense, especially the fact that Johnny was actually calling me talented and bashing Lanning.

"You heard me. I want you to get up, wipe the tears from your eyes, and make your way back into that conference room and quit. You're next, darling. Will you let yourself be stepped on, or do you want to be part of our plan?  I can explain everything after we both quit. So, are you in or not? You aren't alone Fenster, trust me." Johnny had already stood and held a hand out for me.

The gay asshole that had pissed me off countless times was offering to help me. Yet, Joshua, who had claimed to love me, had thrown me under the bus. I didn't spend any time asking questions. I knew I needed to act fast. Plus, the hurt was clouding my mind and I just needed someone to be on my side. Johnny was offering that.

I had to ask one more question, "Why are you helping me?"

"Darling, I promise to answer all of your questions when we leave. For now I need to know if you're on our side, or not."

Had he implied that there were more people? I wasn't just going on Johnny's side, this was a group. Who, I had no clue. Sighing, my hand reached out toward Johnny's and I let him lift me up.

Johnny gave me a smile before he miraculously pulled out tissue from his cheetah blazer. I gratefully took the tissue and wiped my eyes. We didn't leave the room until Johnny made sure that I didn't look like I had just bawled my eyes out.

I started to walk out of the room, but Johnny pulled me back. His hands went to my shoulders and he gently pushed them back. Johnny's behavior towards me was totally weird, but at the same time it felt right. He was being my mentor and helping me get back up. Never did I ever think that when everything got fucked up, Johnny would be the one to pick up the pieces and hand them to me.

 I didn't feel like crap when I walked out of the storage room. Hell, I felt confident. I was doing something that felt right.

My flats skid roughly the minute we made it back to the conference room. Gola had been happily chatting with Lanning, and Joshua had his head in his hands. Seeing him made me rethink my whole strategy. Maybe something was wrong. Maybe there was still something he had to say, something that would make everything better.

I knew it was all untrue when Gola's skinny arm snaked up to grab hold of Joshua and he let her.

"Fenster, Where's the coffee I ordered you to get?" Lanning looked at me through her narrowed lashes.

I sent an unsure look towards Johnny, who only leaned his head forward, telling me to get on with it.

"I quit." I mumbled. The sound of my voice was low and jumbled. I ended up sounding strangled in incoherent.

"Excuse me?" Lanning asked, leaning in closer to hear me. The room's acoustics weren't on my side, obviously.

Johnny only looked at me expectantly. Taking in a big breath, I practically yelled my words out.

"I...fucking quit!" The words felt damn good, especially when Joshua heard them and untangled himself from Gola. Joshua stood and started to nod his head, but I focused my attention on Lanning.

I realized that I had made a mistake and Lanning started smirking. Her bright red lipstick framed the large smile she sent my way when she heard my words. I started to panic, until I felt a hand on my back. It wasn't Johnny's, this one was stronger and possessive.

"So do I." a Texan accent vibrated through the room. I hadn't noticed when Robert stood up behind me. I heard his words and the effect they had on Lanning. Her smile instantly slipped when she realized that one of her best models had just quit.

"You hear that, Lanning? Lilly and Robert just quit!" Johnny taunted from next to me. Lanning looked really surprised that one of her own was actually playing with her emotions. I think that Lanning realized that Johnny was her enemy at the same moment that I did. I had known that he didn't like her, but the hatred was completely clear now.

Gola's eyes traveled from one person to another as things went down. I didn't know what Joshua was doing, since I had no intention of looking in his direction.

"What-" Lanning began to ask, but Johnny's voice overpowered hers.

"It's obvious that I quit too. Guess this is goodbye. Let's go." Johnny meant that last part towards Robert and me.

Johnny had been quick and final. He didn't even give Lanning a chance to speak, before all three of us were striding right out of the room.

I could vaguely hear Lanning yelling for us to come back, but I saw that both Robert and Johnny never looked back. I didn't either. I was done with their shit. There were about a million questions in my head, mostly about Johnny and his secret plan. It wasn't the moment to ask them, but there were other questions too.

Important ones, like, did Joshua really love me?

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 I was in the middle of pulling a stiletto off of my foot and rubbing the hurt spot, when Ana, another one of the assistants and aspiring model, came running into our office. Her perfectly straightened hair was all over the place and she looked out of breath.

"Amanda, Lanning is calling for you and she looks absolutely pissed. Hurry, shit just went down in the conference room!" Ana urged me breathlessly. My thoughts raced back to the large group of people I had lead towards the conference room earlier in the day.

I remembered that the company's top three models had been following me. Slipping on my heel, I started to run towards the direction of the conference room.

I could hear my boss from hell, Lanning, calling out my name. When I entered the woman was causing absolute chaos. I didn't get a chance to look at the rest of the people in the room, only heard my boss's orders.

"Follow the three people who just left and stop them!" Lanning yelled, pointing a manicured finger towards behind me. I didn't think twice before I broke out into a sprint. My heels clinked against the slippery floors and I prayed that I wouldn't break a leg.

I didn't catch sight of them until I pulled one of the offices glass doors open and stepped out into the afternoon air.

A large shiny black limo was parked right in front of the building and I recognized Robert, the company's second to one money maker, making his way into the vehicle. I knew Johnny from working with him briefly, and he too was making his way towards the limo. Both of them walked along side of skinny girl with long legs and a bun on her head. I was momentarily jealous about her legs, until I brushed it off. She looked a little bit confused, unlike Johnny and Robert.

My heart stopped when my eyes saw something that I should have never seen. There was no point in chasing after them after the limousine left. Lanning would not be happy.

I trudged back into the building, body shaking with fear. Lanning was going to be pissed.

I walked into the silent conference room with my head hung low.

"Well?" Lanning demanded, hands braced on the clear black table.

"They left with somebody." My voice was low and fearful.

"Left? I told you to stop them! Who did they leave with?" Lanning's tone wasn't kind at all and my stomach twisted. So much for my dream to be a model.

"All three got in a black limo. I-I-I couldn't stop them." My voice stuttered and I stared down at my shoes.

"Who the hell did they leave with and why didn't you do anything?" Lanning was practically screaming at me.

"I couldn't stop them...because...they left with-" I didn't want to say it. The name was stuck at the back of my throat. The same throat that Lanning looked like she wanted to strangle.

"Who did she leave with?" This was a new voice.

I looked up and met Joshua Lachowski's eyes. God, the guy was beautiful. My heart started racing at the thought of having his attention. It took me minute to realize who he was asking about.

He has been asking about the girl. The girl with the killer legs.

"Martin Vance." The name finally slipped out and the entire room stiffened. Lanning's eyes bulged out as her right fist clenched tightly.

I looked back at Lachowski, who had taken in a large breath the minute I said Martin's name.

I found a new thing to be jealous about when I realized that not only did the girl have killer long legs, she was also important to Joshua Lachowski. Very important.

I didn't care very much at that moment, I was too busy kissing my job goodbye.

Here is the next chapter Guys :) Thank you SO much for all of the votes, comments, and reading Sugar Babe this far :')

Please Vote, Vote, Vote for Sugar Babe!

Finally, I picked up "A Midsummer's Nightmare" Today at Barnes and Noble and finished it couple of hours ago. OMG IT WAS AMAZING. Gosh I love that author's books. In fact, my favorite book, The Duff, is by her. I really recommend that you check out those two books. They're amazing!