TWO

Cara's heart pounds in her chest as she sizes up the angry man stalking towards her. She realizes the gravity of her mistake and makes a desperate decision to flee, leaving the cash behind. But her escape is cut short as Alex scoops her up and carries her on his shoulders, ignoring her protest and the constant blows she gives to his lower back.

"Let me down!"

As they march past the crowd and into the building, Cara's fury boils over. She screams and kicks until the door slams shut, leaving her alone with the man who has captured her.

"Hands off the merchandise, pervert," she shoves his arms off her butt, as he lets her down. Cara takes two steps back.

With each passing second, Cara's initial rush of adrenaline fades, leaving her with a sinking feeling of regret. She acted impulsively, like the protagonist in a movie who rushes toward danger without thinking of the consequences. In Cara's case, claim you are pregnant for one of the most talked-about celebrities at the moment.

In the real world, her actions have landed her in a precarious situation with a man who looks like he could crush her with a single blow.

She is screwed.

Cara's heart races as she sizes up the angry monster blocking her escape. She scans the room for options, her mind conjuring up a wild action sequence with an intense, adrenaline-fueled soundtrack. With a smirk on her face, she knows what she has to do.

Is it practical? No, but she knows.

She sidles up to the two massive guards, who look like they can bench press a car and gives them a confident grin. They tower over her, but she doesn't flinch. She knows what she's capable of.

She has had her fair share of bar fights that prepared her for this moment.

In one swift motion, she pushes the guards aside and makes a break for it. She feels like a true action hero as she sprints towards the door, dodging obstacles and laughing in exhilaration.

But just as she thinks she has it made, two lions appear out of nowhere and block her path. Cara's eyes widen, but she doesn't lose her cool. Instead, she channels her inner badass and charges toward the beasts with a fierce determination to take them down.

As she lunges towards the lions, her mind floods with a colorful barrage of curse words. "Dickheads! Fucktards! Shit brains!" She even lets out a nonsensical string of syllables, "gsjaoakhsh," For a few years to come, no one would know what that means.

Like every action star, they suffer setbacks that lead to the climax. Our heroine, Cara, suffers her very own setback, as the lions push her back to the angry monster while she is yelling all kinds of profanities at them.

Not her favorite moment.

Cara finds herself standing before Alexander once again, back right where she started. His eyes dart over her delicate features but linger on her piercing blue gaze. As much as he can't deny her beauty, he's convinced she's escaped from a loony bin.

Desperate to escape the mess she's made, Cara puts on her best puppy dog eyes. She blinks slowly, pouting her lower lip and biting her upper lip, hoping to appear cute.

"Hey," Cara continues to blink, adding a slight wave to her awkward performance. She feels utterly ridiculous, but she's willing to try anything to get out of trouble.

Alexander stares at her intensely, his hands buried deep in his grey suit pockets. He looks like he's trying to crack a code, or maybe just control his mounting anger.

"Do you even realize the gravity of what you just did?" he speaks slowly and deliberately, trying to stay calm.

"This won't have happened if you paid up." The adrenaline kicks in as Cara stands up for herself, ready to defend her actions. But as Alexander takes a step closer, her confidence drains away like water down a drain.

"First of all, that was not the right place to park your bike and secondly, I am not giving you a dime."

Alex does not know how Marcus went about hitting her bike but he knows it wouldn't have been parked well.

Cara knows her bike wasn't parked well but in her defense, she always parks her bike that way since she started visiting the hospital and no one had been dumb enough to knock her bike off.

"Th-then I - I..." Cara stuttered.

Cara doesn't stutter but being extremely close to this handsome devil, it's intense.

Alexander was done trying to study her, he doesn't have time to waste, his meeting is starting minutes from now.

Alex checks his watch and mutters, "What am I doing talking to you? Show her the back door." He orders his security men, walking away from Cara.

She tries to come up with a witty comeback but can't think of anything. "Well, I don't want to be seen talking to you too." She yells.

Cara turns as she feels someone grab her arm, and she drags her arm back into place.

"Madam, you need to leave." The bodyguard on the left says in a bored tone.

Someone really hates his job and people like Cara makes his job harder.

"Don't touch me, I'll go." Cara snaps at the poor man before walking away.

After a short walk and lots of colorful words, Cara makes it outside where the paparazzi is closing in on her, eager to capture a scandalous moment.

"What happened in there?" Cameras all up on Cara's face.

This is the part she tells the truth, she can rectify all she has done. Like all protagonists that suffered setbacks, Cara's next words are her comeback.

"He told me to get an abortion." The words flow out of her effortlessly, and those tears come rolling down on command.

Cara knows she's turned the tables on Alex. With a triumphant smirk, she runs away like a true action star.

~~~~~

As Cara pours drinks and listens to the never-ending stream of midday drunkards' sob stories at Geisel's over-the-counter, she can't help but feel like she's back to square one. Among the regulars is Slim Jerry, who ironically, is anything but slim and insists on regaling Cara with his delusional tales of having lived alongside dinosaurs and fighting in World Wars. Cara has had enough of his nonsense, and she's not alone.

Cara's day has been a series of disappointments, from being low-balled on her bike's sale to realizing her boss won't lend her any money. Jim doesn't believe in handouts; you earn your keep at Geisel's. The establishment is divided into two halves; the public bar, where anyone can come to drown their sorrows, and the VIP bar where the rich and powerful rub shoulders with the city's elite. There are lots of escorts always hanging around. However, this isn't the kind of bar where anyone is forced into anything. They're free to choose and come and go as they please. But Jim must always be paid though.

Just as Cara is lost in thought, Cassie, her best friend, bursts into the bar, interrupting her stream of consciousness, "Girl, I saw you on TV!"

"What shit is coming out of your mouth now?" Cara is clearly not paying attention to her best friend. A customer drops some bills on the counter, she absentmindedly picks them up and tucks them away in the cash register.

Cassie taps her phone a few times and then shows Cara a picture she screenshots from Instagram. The picture captures Alexander carrying Cara on his shoulder while she was yelling to be let down.

"Yeah, that," Cara says, rolling her eyes at herself.

"Yeah, that? What the fuck is 'Yeah that'?" Cassie stares at her friend who is acting nonchalant about the whole issue. Cara is trending all over social media platforms. "Don't even act like it's not a big deal," Cassie warns, pointing her finger at her best friend.

Cara doesn't understand what the fuss is all about and is surprised at how quickly people are to believe things.

"We need to talk, now!" Cassie glares at her before walking out of the bar.

"Toby, cover for me. I'll be back soon," Cara yells at her co-worker, who's just coming out of the storage room. Before Toby could protest, Cara is already outside with Cassie.

Cassie folds her arms outside the bar like a mother waiting for her child who has just missed curfew to come home.

"Spill," Cassie demands the minute Cara is in front of her.

"There's nothing to spill, Cass," Cara shrugs.

"How about telling me you've had sex with the hottest man on the planet?" Cassie isn't buying the story her friend is selling. Cara cringes at the fact that her friend thinks that douche is the hottest man on the planet. He's hot, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

"He's not that hot," Cara comments even though it's hypocritical for her to say after turning into a stuttering mess around him. Anyway, Cara isn't going to call the guy that treated her like trash hot, even though he is.

Cassie glares at her friend, who's totally diverting from what's being asked, and Cara glares back. She isn't going to let Cassie intimidate her with her stare. So, like little kids, they both are having a staring contest until a watery-eyed Cara blinks.

"Fine, you win," Cara surrenders, blinking a couple of times to get the water out. She cleans her teary-eyed face. Cassie looks down at her friend, worrying. She has no clue what is going on.

"Are you pregnant?"

Cara looks up upon hearing that question, and she sees the concern on her friend's face.

"Back it up, firstly, he's not that lucky to have this." Cara gestures at her body dramatically, trying to lighten the mood. Cassie, on the other hand, doesn't find it funny. She's such a mom sometimes, Cara wonders how they are best friends. Cassie and Cara balance each other out; that's why they work.

"Chill out, girl. I'm not pregnant. The dude scratched my bike, so I went after him. I asked for payments to be made, but he ignored me. Then it turns out that this dude is some big shot, and the pregnancy shit was the only way to get his attention."

"Pregnancy? Seriously, that's all you could think of?" Cassie shakes her head disapprovingly.

"Hey! It just came out," Cara defends herself.

"Well, because of your stupidity, he lost a million-dollar contract worth." Cassie hands Cara her phone to check the headline that just popped up. Cara looks at the phone, but her eyes are glued to the heading that contains the douche's name.

"Or Mr. Douche's name is Alexander Black." Cara can totally see him being named that. He is smug just like his name.

"You're totally missing the point."

"Except for the part that my ass looks cute in this picture, I have no idea what I'm missing." This is the second thing Cara notices after the name reveal of the angry monster.

"Scroll down, Dingus." Cassie points at her phone forcing her friend to look beyond his name and her well-structured ass.

Cassie jabs her finger at her phone screen, directing her friend's attention to the scathing online review of Alexander,  "disgusting" deadbeat" "animal" and "butthole", although Cara finds the last word impressive, she knows he does not deserve it.  As her eyes scan the words, she can't help but feel a twinge of guilt for relishing in his downfall

"Now I feel bad," Cara sighs, reluctantly returning the phone to her friend.

Cassie drapes her arms around Cara, embracing her tightly. "Don't worry, babe. We'll talk about it later. I've got a client to meet up with first." As she pulls away, Cara can see a flicker of sadness in Cassie's eyes, reminding her of the harsh reality her friend faces every day.

When Cassie mentions a "client," Cara knows what she means - a sugar daddy who pays for Cassie's companionship in exchange for cash. At 17, the orphaned teenager had to take care of her little sister, Sam, and she did great for 5 whole years all by herself until Sam got diabetes and the cost of living became difficult. There is no job well paying enough for a high school dropout, she feels like the system is designed against her.

Cassie started working at Geisel's at 19 and a year after she met her best friend, Cara, who also worked behind the counter with her. Despite the challenges, she manages to keep a positive outlook on life, and her unwavering strength and resilience have earned Cara's respect and admiration.

Watching Cassie walk away, Cara's mind begins to churn with an idea. With the money from her bike sales, her small savings, and maybe even a night or two with one of those filthy rich old men, she could finally afford the surgery her mother needs. But the thought of her mother's disapproval weighs heavily on her conscience. Brianna has always instilled in her daughter the importance of sexual liberation and the autonomy to make her own choices about her body. But would selling her dignity for her mother's sake be worth it

"It won't hurt Mama if she never finds out," Cara whispers to herself as she begins her shift at the bar. But deep down, she knows that the truth has a funny way of revealing itself - especially in her family.

~~~~~~

Alexander slams the newspaper onto the coffee table, feeling suffocated by the fabricated nonsense that is being spewed about him. The headline paints him as a cheating, worthless deadbeat, and it's all in favor of Liza. He shoots a side-eye at the photo of the curly-haired girl pointing her finger at him, feeling disgusted that his name is now associated with her.

"She's not even my type," he mutters to himself, trying to distance himself from the delusional woman.

"But the public doesn't know that," his publicist Andre reminds him, already thinking about damage control. "Why would she even say those things?"

"Cause she's cuckoo," Alexander scoffs, but deep down, he wonders if there's more to this than meets the eye. Could she have been sent by one of his enemies? The bicycle incident doesn't quite add up either. But the way she talks, it's almost as if she has no idea who he is.

"We need to act fast before the media storm gets worse. We'll sue her for defamation of character," Andre suggests, but Alexander knows that's not the best option.

He studies the girl in the photo, from her cheap leather jacket to her fake Nikes and ugly jeans, and realizes she's not someone who has money. Filing a lawsuit against her would be a waste of time and resources, and he's not one to waste either.

"I have a better idea," he says, a smirk playing on his lips. "If she says she's pregnant, then she will be."

Andre looks confused but nods anyway, knowing better than to question Alexander's methods.

~~~

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