Whispers of Deceit, Echoes of Love

Chapter 27

Sophia shook her head. She turned Mia towards the office building entrance, smiling at the looks her fellow employees were giving her. “I am so thankful to have such amazing brothers who can let me use their car,” she said loudly to Mia, ensuring everyone else heard.

Mia frowned; she looked up to dispute her, knowing full well her brothers didn’t give a cent about her. Her gaze swiped the curious looks of their colleagues. Understanding, Mia pasted a smile, “You sure are, babe. I mean, imagine having Enzo Collins as a brother.” Mia fanned herself, even giving out a girly giggle.

Whispers started following them as they entered.

I knew it! I saw Seth Collins here yesterday. I thought it was her boyfriend!

Now that I look at her, she does have Enzo’s eyes!

She looks nothing like her so-called brothers. She is probably a distant cousin or something!

If she really was Enzo Collins’ brother, why is she working at a place like this?

Sophia bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry; it was so much better than having everyone wonder about Steven.

“Don’t think you will get away from me that easily,” Mia huffed. “I puked inside my mouth a little when I had to say Enzo was a good guy,” she shuddered dramatically. “Now, spill. It’s just the two of us.”

Sophia bit her lip as she studied her friend. Mia has been with her through a lot of things. However, being hurt and betrayed by Emily made her a bit defensive regarding trusting others. “I met someone.”

Mia screeched and jumped up with joy.

“Wait! Wait, I am not done,” Sophia placed her hands on Mia’s arms to calm her down. “I met someone during my run a few days ago. After my breakup with Eric, I decided to calm myself with a run. I did a good one. Then I had a stitch on my side. The m-guy stopped and helped me. We exchanged contacts, and that was it.” She tried to keep to the truth without releasing too much information.

Mia clapped her hands. “I am so happy! At least you aren’t hiding yourself in your apartment. So how did you end up having his chauffeur?”

“I was upset yesterday after the intervention, so I called him. He asked me to meet him at his workplace, we went for dinner, and he dropped me home. I had to tell him that my car was here, and so he offered that Orlando bring me to the office,” she skipped the part that Steven was the man who dropped her off at Mia’s apartment or that Orlando had been driving her around since the night before. “Now, with this,” she waved her hand, encompassing her ruined car, “I think Orlando will drive me around for a while. But I don’t want people to ask so many questions.”

Mia nodded, “hence the whole announcement about your brother. Now I understand.”

“Yes,” Sophia sighed. “I know that I have opened a can of worms with that, but I would rather fend off women who will definitely ask for my brothers’ phone numbers that have people tell Eric that I am dating, and he starts being an even bigger asshat than he is now.”

“Don’t forget his crazy girlfriend,” Mia rolled her eyes. “I swear that woman is trying me.”

“How are you feeling though?” Sophia indicated to the scarf on Mia’s neck.

“You should have seen the other guy,” Mia winked as she moved towards her office. “We will chat later. And we are definitely going out tonight! Your stupid family ruined our plans yesterday.”

Sophia laughed, “I won’t say no to being sloshed.” She gave her friend a wave and walked to her own cubicle.

She had been right in her assumptions that women would ask about her brothers. While others became overly friendly, others directly asked her if she really was related to the Collins. She fended off as many of the questions as possible, keeping her answers vague but friendly so she didn’t offend anyone.

One call that she had to answer, after ignoring calls from her brother Morgan and father, was from Steven. It was brief, mostly Steven ensuring that she was ok and that Orlando was at her disposal until she got her car fixed. Sophia had tried to refuse him fixing her car for her, but he had not allowed her to refuse him. At the end of it all, Sophia agreed to let him fix her car, but she was going to pay him back. The only thing he did was chuckle before hanging up.

By the time evening time came Sophia was so over the day. She sent a quick message to Mia to find her downstairs because she knew Orlando was waiting downstairs for her.

“Sophia, hi!” A girl named Dana smiled at her as she got into the elevator with her.

Sophia smiled at her. Although they had been working together for a few months, they were not as close. The occasional nod of the head was the only greeting they used to exchange in the corridors. “Dana, how are you?”

Dana rolled her eyes, a little giggle escaping her pink-painted lips as she flipped her obviously bleached hair off her shoulder, “tiring! You know how it is.”

Sophia nodded, “I do understand.” She waved at her as the elevator pinged and the doors opened, “see you tomorrow.” She walked away fast so that she didn’t allow Dana to say anything else. She knew exactly why she was being friendly with her.

True to his words, Orlando was parked outside, in the same spot her brother had parked the previous day.

“Hi, Orlando,” Sophia greeted him with a smile. She shook her head when he moved to collect her things, “I have agreed to you driving me around, but that is it. I am not used to this boss thing.”

Orlando bowed his head a bit before he moved to open the door.

“Wait, listen. A friend and I are going out for drinks today, so you really don’t need to stick around,” Sophia told him as she turned to the entrance to see where Mia was.

Orlando frowned, “I was not made aware of these plans. Can I call the boss first to confirm?”

Sophia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms on her torso, “Your boss doesn’t dictate to me where I can or cannot go, Orlando. I am going out with my friend, so you can head home.”

Orlando completely ignored her and reached for his phone. A quick dial and he was talking to Steve. After exchanging a few words, Orlando extended his phone to her.

“Are you serious right now?” Sophia glared at him. When he did not make a move to take back his phone, she huffed and took it. “Seriously, Steve. What is this?”

“I just want you safe,” Steven replied, unrepented. “Orlando can take you and your friend wherever yo need to go. I would prefer you to head to my club for added security.”

“No-”

“Hear me out,” Steven interrupted her. “Your car was vandalised by an unknown assailant who hasn’t been caught yet. Ba-Sophia, I don’t know if you know this, but in a short time, you have become very important to me. And I am very protective of those I care about. So please, while I am away, let me protect you the best way I can. Orlando will take you to the club. You will have access to the VIP lounge. All you have to do is enjoy yourself. Can you do that for me? We will talk when I get back.”

Sophia was quiet for a few seconds, digesting what Steven said. Sighing, she nodded, “Okay.” She replied before handing over the phone back to Orlando. She half listened to what was being spoken, her eyes on Mia as she approached her.

“Aah, I see your ride is here,” Mia smiled at Orlando, who gave her a small nod.

“Our ride,” Sophia shook her head when Mia was about to ask. “We are going to this amazing club, VIP access and all.”

Mia clapped with excitement. “Then why are we standing here for?”

“Who the fuq is this?” An angry voice asked, taking hold of Sophia’s arm as she was about to enter the car.