Take Me by Surprise, It Will Blind Me

When I got to the boutique, it was a surprise to see Arletta, looking through the racks with Hillary and Stacy hot on her trail in case she needed something. I gave my bag and my coat to Lena, the third shopkeeper so she could take them to my office. Arletta noticed my presence and smiled. "Right on time as always, Dareen."

I nodded and went to her side quickly. "It's a surprise to have you here, Arletta. Do you need my coffee?", I held up my grande hot vanilla latte a bit so she could see, but she shook her head as she pulled out a cream colored reception dress.

"I just swing by to see how you're doing... And something to talk about.", Arletta trailed off after hung the dress back to the rack. I furrowed my brows. What was something so important to talk about until she had to fly down from beautiful town house in New York. Arletta sighed and motioned me to follow her to the back, as known as my office. When we got into the room, she sat on the love seat and patted the space next to her. I followed her gesture and sat next to her. Something was definitely up.

"Dareen... You've been doing an amazing job for two years of working with me, I don't want to let you go...", she stated with a little hint of sadness in her tone. What was she talking about? Was she going to fire me?

"I know you probably won't leave Virginia because this is your hometown and your family and your friends are here... But I have an offer on the table."

My stomach filled with butterflies as I waited for Arletta to continue. It would be a lot easier for her to cut to the chase already. "My friend, Victor Lenox, just called and he's looking for a talent for his new reality show about girls in L.A... 'Golden Candy' or some sort."

"And that has something for me...?", I really didn't get what Arletta was trying to tell me. So what if her big producer friend who actually produced most of my favorite Tv shows called her and looking for a talent for his new show? Was that supposed to do with me?

Arletta chuckled lightly and patted my hand. "Victor wanted to use one of my boutiques for his show because one of the girl will be working as one of the shopkeepers. He actually met me last week here and he saw you. He's very interested to get you into his show as one of the four girls."

Whoa. Did Arletta seriously told me Victor Lenox wanted ms to be a part of his reality show? I meant, most of Victor's shows were amazing and looked real, but it would take place in Los Angeles, on the other side of the country. What would happen to Amy and Feranix? What would they say about it?

"No rush, my dear. I told Victor to save that spot for you until mid summer, so you could think about it for a while.", Arletta smile before standing up. "I have to go, Brian is having his big football game and he wanted me to come.", she said. Brian was her oldest son and a sophomore in Columbia. Apparentaly, he was the quarterback for the varsity football team in Columbia. Little did Arletta know, Brian and I hooked up a lot when I had to tag along to their family vacation to Maldives last summer. It was a summer fling, but Brian confessed that he loved me.

After Arletta went out from my office, I slumped on my seat and closed my eyes. What Arletta told me wasn't a bad news but it added to the things I needed to think about. What should I do to Cameron? He texted me earlier saying he wanted to take me out to lunch because he had 'band thing' at the night. Probably his excuse to spend the night with Trish, but, if she knew that Cameron liked to cheat on her, why didn't she break up with him a long time ago?

I got some things covered by lunch time and then, Amy came over with a paper bag from Panda Express in her arm. "Did someone order sesame noodles and fried shrimp egg rolls?", she grinned when she walked into my office.

"I'm starving!", I gushed as I jumped off from my seat and waltzed to get the paper bag from Amy's arm. I settled the bag down on my desk and got a pack of the noodles out. The smell of the food relaxed me a bit because I had been going on about Cameron through out the day.

"So, how was your day so far?", Amy asked while chewing her egg roll. Both of us had our shoes off and legs pulled up onto our chests. Too bad Feranix didn't have a long lunch break so it was hard for her to get to the boutique to have lunch together.

I shrugged. Should I tell Amy about the reality show? It was still April and I had a lot of times to think about it. Living in California was actually one of my dreams and this was a chance. "Actually Ame... My morning had been bittersweet."

By that, Amy set her food aside and looked at me intensely. "Tell me."

There was no other way around. I had to tell Amy everything, including the Trish incident. It took a full hour to tell everything and all Amy could do was dropping her jaw onto the floor. I felt bad for telling about the reality show because by that she and Feranix had to pay the rent of the apartment alone. About Cameron... I felt bad because Amy would interrogate Eric.

Someone knocked on the office door and both of us jumped a bit in surprise. "Come in.", I called out as I slipped my feet back into my shoes. Stacy crack opened my door a bit and poked her head inside. "What's wrong, Stacy?"

"Someone wants to meet you.", she piped up before pulling her head back. I furrowed my brows and stood up, following Stacy out to the boutique. When I saw who it was, my blood boiled to the core.

"You're ready?", Cameron asked with a grin on his face. If Trish didn't confront me earlier, I would grin back, but now, it was different. I wanted to slap him or just bitch out on him. His grin fell when he noticed my expression. "What's wrong?"

"What the fuck are you doing here?!", Amy suddenly popped up behind me. It was obvious she couldn't held back her anger. "Get the hell away from Dareen before I cut your balls off!"

"What is wrong?!", Cameron demanded, glancing back and forth at Amy and I. He looked like he didn't know a thing but I noticed a bit of fear. Was he scared that I knew the ugly truth?

"Are you still dating Trish?", I choked out the words. The tears stung my eyes and I fought the urge to blink so they wouldn't fall. "Are you?"

Cameron's eyes widened and he looked startled. "What are you talking about, Dareen? I caught Trish cheating and I broke up with her! Now I'm dating you!"

"She cheated on you... Is that just a cover story? Just a cover up so I could be the secret mistress that you fuck and left in the morning?", I started to talk giberish. My body was already trembling because I just wanted to punch him in the face. Cameron just stood there, no answer or whatsoever. "Get out and don't you dare to contact me ever again."

"But, Dare--"

"Get the fuck out!", I screamed and jerked my index finger to the door. Cameron looked at me for a moment before walking out from the boutique