What’s going on here?

"What's going on here?" A voice asked.

They both turned in the direction of the voice. A woman almost as tall as Alexander stood a few feet away, her baby-like face framed with a bob that made her look like a princess out of a cartoon. She looked between the two of them, and Alexander pushed Selena away, sending her almost toppling to the ground.

The woman looked hurt. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No," Alexander adjusted his suit. "She had something to return to me."

"Or maybe he couldn't just avoid my charm," Selena said.

"What are you doing here?" Alexander asked the lady instead.

"I was in the neighborhood," she answered. "And my friend came to have lunch here. She said she saw you, so I thought I'd pop by and say hi."

Selena scoffed. "And he calls me the stalker."

The woman looked her up and down. "You're Selena Tequila."

"It would be unfortunate if you didn't know who I was," Selena said, opening her purse and fetching a gloss for her lips.

The woman set her lips into a tight line. "I didn't, not until I got to see that infamous video of you. It's not hard to recognize the, what was it they called you again, jealous CEO?"

Selena set her lipgloss back into her purse and faced the woman squarely. The woman stood, waiting.

"Am I supposed to know you?" Selena asked.

"Armani," the lady introduced herself. "I believe my face does the recognition since I've been on Forbes and several other magazines."

"Armani, let's head out of here…" Alexander said.

"Oh no," Selena stepped forward. "Armani and I were just getting acquainted."

'"Perhaps another time," Armani said, walking over to Alexander's side. "Alex and I have got some catching up to do."

Selena had to physically bite her tongue from saying anything more as both of them walked away. She was going to put an end to the entire saga surrounding her with some good press, and she hoped her assistant on paid leave was ready to get a whole lot of work done when she got back.

"Hey Alex," Selena's voice echoed through the car park. Alexander only spared her a look over his shoulder.

"Don't forget our date next week Sunday!" She yelled. It was then Armani's neck whipped back, and Selena walked out of the car park with another victory in her court.

●

Selena liked to think of herself as a privilege to those who get to keep her as a friend, and among those who earned that privilege was Nancy, who she could say was her closest ally. Reema was another friend of hers that mostly showed up if there was a party, and then, there was Tamika, who was always a phone call away.

The week dragged on with the slowness of a turtle, and work weighed heavily on each one of them. Selena was faced with back-to-back meetings with the staff, and oddly, her father had barred her from the stakeholders' meeting. She couldn't tell if he was still angry at her, but his handling of the stakeholders didn't lessen her workload. Before the week ran out, Selena was afraid she'd break out in wrinkles from the stress.

"Darling, you should book a spa session," Fiona had told her, pulling at the skin of her daughter's cheek to check its elasticity.

And so, after a few phone calls, a late-evening session was arranged at Tamika's house. It was the best option since it had a great view of the beach, and they needed the soothing energy of nature for themselves.

"We should have gone to the club," Reema groaned into the massage table as the masseuse worked on her stiff shoulders. "I want that kind of escape. We plan massages like these in our fifties, not our twenties."

"I'd choose this massage over clubbing any day,'' Nancy smiled at the masseuse as he rubbed oil between his palms. Selena rolled her eyes at that.

"Real question though,'' Tamika raised her head from the table. "Why don't we organize a trip? Just us girls?"

"And go where? Unicorn-ville?" Reema laughed. "We're so work-strung it would feel as though we're cheating on our significant other, our significant other being work."

"I can't dispute that," Nancy joined in the laughter. "Maybe that's why we're all single."

"I can't say about you all but I'm single because I choose to be," Tamika argued. "But really, we need that break, what do you say, Selena?"

Selena rose her head from the massage table and stared ahead at the palm trees. A cool wind shuffled past her, and she closed her eyes and hummed.

"I think we should plan a murder," Selena suggested.

"Who offended you this time?" Reema asked, waving the masseuse away as she leaned on her side, pulling the towel further up her tanned skin.

"Patricia," Selena said. She hummed some more. "She's starting another smear campaign, and I really can't handle another drama."

"Well then, just tell her to tell her family business to up their brand rather than resorting to insecure ways to attack their competition," Tamika made a hissing noise.

They all hated Patricia Heaton, the daughter and Manager of Heaton's Beer, who loved to try to steal Selena's shine in every way she could. If it wasn't wearing the exact dress like hers to events, it was jumping on every bad news that involved Selena, and she was bathing in the one with Alexander even when the world was beginning to move unto other juicy gossip.

"She started a hashtag on Twitter," Selena closed her eyes, content, as the masseuse kneaded into her back muscles. God, she needed more massages, she felt like every problem in her life came unknotted under his magical fingers. "Hashtag is Don't Let Insecure Women Win. And it's not dying because the latest thing on Twitter is about some upcoming musician stealing her friend's song lyrics."

"Ignore her," Nancy said. "That's the best thing you can do to her."

"She's literally saying I'm ignoring her because I'm full of shame and shit," Selena turned her phone to the others.

"She's baiting you," Tamika said.

"Maybe leak out a dirty secret of hers…" Reema suggested.

"No!" Both Tamika and Nancy said at the same time. Tamika thanked the masseuse, then wrapped her towel around herself and sat up. "Don't listen to Reema. You're going to paint the exact picture Patricia wants you to paint of the image she's given you."

"Or we could just plan her murder since we're all together," Selena suggested.

"And bury her where? Your backyard?" Reema laughed.

"Oh the joy I'd wake up to every morning just seeing her tombstone, that's if she even gets any." Selena sighed. She needed to stop letting Patricia dial her inner Micheal Myers.

The massaging session ended, and the girls took themselves out for retail therapy. They bounced from store to store, trying the latest designer wear, hyping themselves up, laughing at men who stared their way, dancing to street musicians and spraying them with money, and afterward, clubbing. Selena partied hard, and when the day came to an end, she slept with a contented smile on her face.