HARLEM
"Omg, Harlem you were so good. It felt so real, the way you acted it. It was magnificent." Renee and Briannon stand in front of me backstage.
"Guys, I was terrified. Believe me. But I'm so glad that I could do it" I hold their hands and we hug.
I look around and everyone is congratulating each other. I can feel the happiness and joy in the air as we all hug and laugh.
"Harlem!" I turn and Lexi crashes into me. "That was amazing. I'm so proud of you. It was hands down the best play I have ever watched. Like, I took so much pictures and videos of you cause you looked so radiant."
I laugh "Thanks Lex. It felt amazing acting it as well. It felt real to me, you know." I tell her and we laugh together and hug again.
"Birdie!! Can I just say, Wow. My sister is a star for real, and I'm so proud of you. Congratulations." Zoran, Zeke and Violet, walk up to us and I smile. "Yup. I didn't expect it to be THAT good actually, but I was very impressed, especially by your acting. It was excellent sis" Zeke agrees.
"Stop. You flatter me." I hold my cheeks blushing.
"It was more than good Harlem, it was extraordinary" Violet says and she hugs me.
"Thanks guys, it means a lot. And I'm really glad you could all make it." I say and we all take selfies and pictures. Lexi was currently in the process of showing me the video she made that I would post on my socials when someone walked up to us.
"Miss Tamrin? Good day, I'm from Zaron Modelling agency." I and Lexi stare at the guy in glasses with a briefcase as he hands me his card. "Wonderful performance you did out there. Truly exquisite. We couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are, so we were wondering if it would be okay if we collect your contact details or card as we are currently recruiting. Would that be alright?"
I look at Lexi and she turns to me. We smile and I turn back to him clearing my throat. "That would be fine. I don't mind, please do call me in the late afternoons because my mornings are quite filled up." He nods politely and I write my contact details. I need to get a fancy card though. I smile at him and hand it back.
"Thank you. Once again, your play was exquisite." And with that he walks off. Lexi and I squeal silently because I think I just got my first ever modelling gig.
"Aren't you glad you took this opportunity now?" Lexi tells me.
"I'm so glad." I can't even stress enough how glad I am because a few minutes later while I'm still taking pictures with different people and having conversations; three other agencies for acting, another modelling and a minor advertising gig collect my details. I'm ecstatic with hope by the time I'm done.
"We should celebrate. On me" Zeke tells us and Lexi and the others whoop and hoot. I noticed Lexi gets along great with Violet and my brothers. They like her and I can tell.
Lucas and I plan to have a voice call separately and then with the others before we go for our vacation next week to discuss post-play things, so my brothers helped me with my things and we went to 'celebrate'.
When we're outside, I realise I'm a bit disappointed and downcast because I thought I would have seen HIM but that asshole didn't even come to congratulate me. Like, I doubt he even met one of us to congratulate us.
I'm not going to let it bother me though. It will take a lot for a man to cause an emotional reaction from me. Especially one that beautiful and heart stopping.
Lexi notices I'm trailing behind in the parking lot and slows down. "You okay Har? Looking a bit downcast." I scoff. "You know I don't do downcast faces. Let's keep up though." I tell her and walk faster towards the twins and Vi. She raises her brows staring at my back.
Zoran and Vi are going to drive my car to the restaurant we're going to, while Lexi, I and Zeke are going in the car they rented. Lexi came without her car so we don't have to worry about that. We enter the car and start driving off. It's about 2pm right now and I realise I'm so exhausted but nevertheless I'm glad I could do this with them.
"How long are you guys staying for?" I ask sitting beside him as he drives. Lexi taps away on her phone in the backseat. He glances at me before turning his attention back to the road. "I have to go back to work on Tuesday, so I'm leaving Tuesday morning while Zo and Violet have to go back on Monday to continue planning their wedding" That's true. I wish they could stay longer though but even I have a vacation to get to on Tuesday.
We pull up into the restaurant and Zo comes with my car. We eat, laugh and have fun, celebrating a monumental moment of my life.
By like 5pm, we decide it's a good time to turn in, thankfully considerate because I'm so tired. I didn't drink so I drive Lexi, who is so wasted by the way, and I to my apartment while the twins and Vi go back to the hotel they're staying at, promising to come over tomorrow. I can't wait to spend time with them this weekend.
When I go home, I barely have strength to do my skincare before I collapse on the bed with a snoring Lexi and fall fast asleep. I dream of echoes and silver dresses with a certain god-like man.
-----
I wake up to the sound of the doorbell and I want to scream at the unknown individual. Can't a girl have more than 8 hours of sleep? I groan and stand staring at Lexi, who is still fast asleep. I step into the living room and head for the door in my onesie pyjamas. I tell myself I might place a curse on whoever is behind the door, especially if it's not important.
I open the door wide to see about four men dressed in uniform. At this point I won't be surprised to wake up and see Lucifer at the door selling protein bars.
"Good day ma'am. Are you Miss Tamrin?" one of them asks. I rub my eyes "Yes, I am. Any problem?"
"You have a delivery from a Mr. Roth. If you would kindly sign here, while we place the things inside." He offers me the sign board and I watch in a trance-like state as the men trudge into my house dropping so much things I lose count.
"I'm sorry this has to be a mistake. I don't KNOW a Mr. Roth." I resolve to lying. The man looks at me sceptically. "Aren't you Miss Harlem Tamrin, Broadway play star and worked at a bar?" Fuck.
I sigh "Yes, it is I" I give up and sign the board as the other men are STILL not done.
They later finish and leave closing the door while I stand in my living room which suddenly feels so much smaller. The amount of stuff I'm looking at has taken at least half of the space. I'm too scared to touch anything but I see an envelope beside a huge box and I sneakily pick it up, narrowly avoiding the box.
I open it and read 'Harlem. Your play was magnificent. I wish I could have stayed to congratulate you but I had to attend another event. Please note that these gifts cannot be returned as they have a strict no-return/refund policy. Yours, Ezra.'
I should hate him for this; for making me remember the sound of his voice when he says my name like it meant something. I stare at the letter and sit crossed legged on the ground. I think my mouth moved on its own when I started smiling. Yes, that the only explanation. I notice the letter was hand written in perfect cursive and smells like male perfume. I sniff it and sigh. Ezra Roth is going to be the death of me.
"What's going on?" Lexi walks out of my room yawning and stretching. I'm too stunned to speak. So, I allow her visuals to do the math. She stares at the gifts like she's not sure she's dreaming.
"What are these?" she walks closer and her mouth flies open. "Oh my God, who are these from? Those are Valentino flowers, they cost a fortune. Wait, are they for you? Or you bought them?" I stare at her blandly. She doesn't even let me speak. "No way, that's a Birkin logo."
I sigh and stand. "They're from Ezra. Ezra Roth." I tell her staring at the gifts that could buy Lexi's house at least three times. "What?! You're joking right. No, in fact I'm still asleep and this is one of my normal dreams where I wish you're dating a stinky rich man, right?"
"As a matter of fact, it is not a dream. There's a letter even" I say handing it to her. She reads it with her jaw on the ground. "Fuck me. It's THE Roth. I can see the paper has his company logo." Helpful information Lex.
"Lexi, that is not the point. Why is he doing this? As a matter of fact, I'm going to call Renée. If it's just me he gave these to."
Lexi looks at me and folds her arms. "Would you prefer it isn't?" I pause as I look for Renee's contact on my phone.
I scoff. "Of course, I will. It's much better that way."
"You would prefer that a man who just pledged his undying love for you, does the same for another woman?" I stare at her and laugh, even though nothing is funny.
"His undying love? Please Lex, don't make me laugh. He's engaged to the woman who slapped me at the bar." I tell her and she frowns dropping her arms.
"For real? Since when?" she asks but I stop her as Renee picks.
"Hey babe. How are you doing?"
"Morning. I'm doing great Renee. Just wanted to ask you if you got any delivery whatsoever today from anyone."
"Uhm, no. I didn't. Any issue?"
"No. Not at all just thought we might get something but it's nothing. If you do get though, can you please let me know?"
"Of course, babe. Will do. Take care."
"You too." I tell her and end the call. I look at Lexi who is staring expectantly. I sigh and flop on the couch.
"First off, I thought I told you he was engaged and secondly, she didn't receive anything. Do you get what I'm saying now?"
"Well now that you put it that way, I understand. But why? Why is he sending you gifts if he's engaged for Christ's sake? That's literally a red flag" The worst part is that I feel flattered about it. "But wait, it literally says nowhere that he's engaged. I would have seen it."
I sigh. "It's an arranged marriage. For business purposes" Lexi nods "Oohh, I see. Man, this sucks. Maybe he doesn't love her?"
"Lexi that doesn't help anything. The fact that it's the same woman who assaulted me and he's engaged in the first place is so bad. I'm literally stuck."
Lexi touches my arm "Hey, I'm so sorry. I know how you feel and please remind me that whenever I see that dude, I'm going to 'accidentally' spill a drink on him."
I laugh "Of course, that makes two of us." We laugh and stare at the gifts.
"What are we going to do about it?" Lexi asks me. I sigh and stand. "I'll wait till after the vacation, then I'll go to his company and RETURN it, even though I don't know how, but I'll try. Fuck the letter."
"Okay, seems slightly plausible, but if it doesn't work out, you can sell them, or I'll help you. You'd make a fortune. You'd probably not even need the 100k you stashed away." I shrug "I guess so. Well, my brothers are coming over today, let's get ready." Something tells me returning these gifts won't be as easy as I think.
She goes to shower and I stare at the letter. Ezra Roth, you have a LOT of explaining to do. And so do I, when my brothers come over.