My Phony Ladylove

02. Her Best Friend

KEIRA GROANED AS SHE STIRRED IN HER SLEEP upon hearing the non-stop ringing of her phone. She ignored the caller and checked the time. Upon checking, she got more irritated. It was only 5:30 in the morning.

Last night, she and her mom went home late. There were last-minute orders at their flower shop. They expected the surge of customers since Valentine's Day was fast approaching but they didn't expect them to be that many. When they got home, she had to stay up until the wee hours to finalize some papers for a job application. So basically, she didn't have enough sleep yet. Answering her phone is the last thing she wanted to do.

Unfortunately for her, the ringing didn't stop. She was about to turn her phone off when she realized she needed it turned on for her alarm to work. Feeling defeated, she let out a loud, frustrated groan and answered the phone without even checking who the caller is.

"Whoever you are, you better have a good explanation as to why you are disturbing my sleep! It's 5 in the morning for Pete's sake! The sun hasn't even risen up yet and I haven't got enough sleep yet!"

"Calm down—" the caller wasn't able to finish what she was saying when Keira interrupted.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! Talk s**t to someone who's drunk but never to someone who has just woke up!" she angrily said.

"Can you let me talk?" the caller suddenly raised her voice, making Keira flinch in surprise.

"Did you just yell at me?"

"Did you forget my birthday?" the caller said, making her bewildered.

"Birthday?" Keira muttered to herself. At the very least, she calmed down a little.

"How could you forget your best friend's birthday?" the caller shouted in frustration.

"Best friend?"

"Oh, wow. So you don't even remember who your best friend is now?" the caller said, appalled.

"Mia? Oh, Mia! It's your birthday today?"

"You're really doing a great job at being my best friend, you know. What am I even expecting? You even forgot your own birthday."

"Calm down or you'll get wrinkles," she replied. "It's your birthday today and we don't want that happening, right? Our brains are crammed with a massive amount of memories that we have formed over a lifetime of experiences. Although the brain contains detailed representations of lots of different events and objects, we can't always find that information when we want it. That is, although we can hold lots of things in our memory, the details of the memory aren't always crystal-clear and are often limited," Keira said, closing her eyes. She was about to continue when Mia interrupted.

"Cut the crap, Keira Charlotte Delevigne!"

"What I'm saying is, although my brain failed me and forgot about your birthday, my heart remembered," Keira said as she yawned.

"Oh, God. Please leave all the sentimental and scientific crap to yourself, nerd. I am demanding you to come to my party later, okay? I swear to God, I will sever ties with you if I won't see you there," she ends with a threat.

"Although I hate dark places with blinding lights, loud music and people drinking booze, making bad decisions and reckless behaviors, it's still your birthday and I promised to be there," she said lazily, wanting to drift off to sleep already.

"You're such a wacko. Be there at 8 PM. You know the address," Mia said. There wasn't any reply from the other line.

"Keira? Are you still there? You haven't even greeted me properly yet. What kind of best friend are you?"

"I'm still here. Yeah, I'll be there. And I definitely know the address of your favorite bar after having to bring you home so many times because apparently, you're too drunk to drive."

"You just have to remind me."

"Yes, I had to," she giggled before continuing. "Anyway, since I'm not there and I'm too sleepy to even lift my arm, just imagine me bringing you your favorite cake with a cute candle in the middle." She then started singing a birthday song for Mia.

"You, crazy girl. Thanks for the sleepy version of the birthday song. I'm really sorry for calling you this early. I thought you were already awake since you mentioned yesterday that you’d be up and about at this time to finalize your papers for your job application. Since I already got my greetings and I know how much you hate it when people disturb your sleep, I'll leave you alone for now," Mia replied and silence was Keira's reply. She sighed. She can't believe her friend just slept on her.

"Sleep tight, my friend. See you later," she finally ended the call. "I better start the day early. I still have a lot of things to do."

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Character Preview:

MIA EVERLY, 23 years old, Fashion Industry's newbie

She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her father owns a chain of restaurants.

As soon as Mia graduated from college, she started her own clothing line, a brand that was slowly getting the spotlight for its unconventional, eccentric yet classy pieces. She was starting to flourish in the fashion industry.

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"KEIRA, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP," Keira's mom said as she entered her daughter's room. "Wake up, dear. The sun is already shining so bright and it's already 8:00 in the morning." Hearing nothing but silence, she went near her daughter, softly caressed her hair and smiled. "Get up already, freshen up, take a bath and eat your breakfast," she said, shaking her gently.

"10 minutes, mom. I'm still sleepy. Please give me 10 minutes," Keira replied, tucking herself under the warmth of her blanket, making her mom chuckle.

"Okay, dear. I know you had a long night," her mom said before leaving the confines of her room. Keira went back to sleep and before she knew it, it was half-past nine.

Hearing her mom call for her siblings, Keira finally stirred up from her sleep. She then checked the time and after seeing how late it was, she sprung out of bed with a jolt and went out of her room, scolding herself for procrastinating.