Chapter Ninety eight

Ariana's POV;

San Diego is a very beautiful place.

When I moved into Brianna's beach house, I saw that it was good as new. Scratch that, it's actually a new place. All the furnitures were brand new and covered up to prevent dust.

She informed me that she had bought the place so she could come chill for the summer, away from the hustle and bustle of LA life.

There were times I would just sit by the beach side all alone because I felt lonely for the few weeks I had been here.

I would cry whenever my mind wandered over to my father. I used to scroll over to our chats and read through them, I used to listen to our voice notes and find myself laughing and crying at the same time. I missed all our long calls, our bickerings and never ending arguments over him taking care of his health.

A part of me still did not want to believe he was gone. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way about losing someone, am I? Most of the time when I think about him, it never felt like he had gone to the great beyond. It's hard to explain but I just don't think of him as dead sometimes, I don't want to believe it and other times I do. It's a strange feeling.

Then I thought about Damien. I hadn't seen him in the news for a while. I had been off the radar so people were most probably thinking we were keeping things private after Aleena's scandal. I shook thoughts of him away.

"Don't think about Damien." I warned myself as I prepared dinner.

A knock on the door startled me. I swallowed. I was not expecting any visitors. I had been living low-key and minding my own business. I hadn't made any friends for the last few weeks I had stayed here so it was a cause of worry for me.

I picked up my empty frying pan, hoisting it as a weapon for self defense.

I looked through the keyhole and saw a female hat poking at it. I slowly opened the door.

"Brianna?" My jaw dropped.

"Hi Ariana!" She beamed and stepped in quickly with her personal assistant, Miley, following closely.

She pulled me into an embrace.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good. I wasn't expecting you." I said in surprise.

"I just wanted to surprise you. I didn't want you to spend the weekend alone this time around." She said, plopping down on the couch.

"Ooh so bouncy!" She exclaimed with her British accent making itself even more evident.

I chortled. Brianna could be such a child sometimes.

"I'm glad you came. I've been sooooo bored and lonely. No offense Mico" I said walking over to the kitchen and she followed. I rubbed on the little guy who had kept me company since the beginning of my stay.

"Awww, I know." She gave me a cheeky grin and I rolled my eyes at her.

"The traffic was crazy and I'm starving." She groaned.

"I'll have dinner ready in no time." I said trying to hasten up the cooking process.

"Oh put those aside, I'll have Miley order some take out for us."

"But-"

"Nuh uh. We're going to enjoy this weekend, you and me. And that means no cooking or chores. Just chilling." She said pulling me away from the kitchen.

We had some Chinese takeout for dinner and binged watched movies late into the night. I sure needed the company.

***

The next day was Saturday and Brianna suggested that we went out. We went for a beach party wearing camouflage hoping no one would recognize either of us - her especially.

It took a lot of convincing but I finally wore a pair of denim shorts with a sunny yellow crop top.

"Girl you're too hot to be hidden." She said when I stepped out. I laughed, picked up my sunglasses and top hat and put them on to complete the look. She was wearing something similar.

"Let's go party!" She swung her slender hips as we sashayed out of the house.

****

"There's no way you're going to look this hot and not take a picture." She said as I sipped on a cocktail by the beach.

"Brianna I'm not a picture person." I said, disagreeing to take pictures.

"Then we make videos. Simple." She said and I grunted. She wouldn't let me be. She reminded me of Fiona.

Wait, Fiona?

"Oh my goodness! It's Fiona's birthday today!" I exclaimed, feeling bad for forgetting.

"Oh wow! I didn't know your young sister in-law was born in the same month as me! May babies are the sweetest beings!" Brianna gushed and handed my phone over to me.

"I agree. Let me go wish the birthday girl. Gimme a minute." I said, excusing myself to go make the phone call.

"When you get back, we'll take those pictures and videos!" She yelled after me.

"Yes ma'am." I hollered back, moving further away from the music.

"Ariana!!!" Fiona squealed the moment she picked up. I smiled.

"Happy birthday sweetie."

"Aww, you remembered!" She exclaimed.

"Of course I did. How are you?"

"I'm alright. I just miss you." She said in a pouty voice.

"I miss you too."

"Where are you? When are you coming back? It's been a month already! Please come back, Damien's learnt his lesson and he's going crazy without you!" She said in one breath.

"Oh Fiona let's not talk about this. It's your birthday and we're supposed to be talking about your gift from me." I said trying to change the topic.

"I want you and Damien back together. That's the only birthday gift you can get me. Aleena isn't going to be a nice sister in-law like you, she's so bossy."

I sighed. This girl couldn't understand.

"I'll think about it." I lied.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Yay. Thank you!" She exclaimed excitedly.

I cringed as I got her hopes up with my untrue promise.

"Ejoy your day sweetheart. Bye now."

"Bye. Love you."

"Love you too." I hung up and sighed. I took the walk back to where Brianna was dancing her heart out. Seemed like she was a little tipsy.

Immediately I got back, she pulled me to the beach side to take pictures. She would not let me hear the last of it, if I didn't agree to it.

We had so many photos and videos taken I thought my phone would be filled up but the funny part is that she scrolled through deleted about ninety percent of them, leaving only the perfect ones.

We stayed out till evening and went back to the beach house. Brianna turned quiet all of a sudden and I assumed she was tired and trying to wear off the effect of the alcohol so I let her be.

I was busy taking my clothes off when my phone started buzzing continuously.

I picked it up and saw a torrent of notifications.

I ran to the living room and saw Brianna nursing her head with an ice pack.

"Brianna what did you do?"

"Uhmm I may have mistakenly uploaded the photos on our pages." She looked like a kid that had just stolen candy.

"I think you guys need to see this." Miley spoke and we turned to her standing in front of the television set. She increased the volume and I looked up at the screen and gasped.

"-What's even more noticeable is the fact that her flashy engagement ring and wedding band are missing from her ring finger. This is coming after a month of her being off the radar and not spotted anywhere near her husband. She's currently in San Diego with famous actress Brianna Ellen where it appeared they were having the time of their lives." One of the entertainment news anchor said facing the screen as they zoomed in on one of the pictures I had taken today and compared it with all the other pictures I had taken with my rings on.

"A reliable source who has chosen to remain anonymous informed us that Aleena Berkeley, the supposed mistress, moved into their home and since then Ariana had moved out of the house. It is obvious that their marriage is hitting the rocks and it's so sad that they're ending things this roughly because they've been one of America's favorite couple for a while and it's heartbreaking to see them split up so soon." The dude who I was seeing for the first time on screen said.

"I know right, it's so sad but I'm glad that she's thoroughly enjoying herself after being away from social media for over a month now. I mean, she just lost her father and now her husband had to break her heart even more. Shout out to her for being such a strong woman and keeping it together. I hope she finds all the happiness she deserves after such a trying time. And I also hope she moves on and has a better relationship afterwards." The third anchor added.

"With all that sexiness, she sure will. I'm shooting my shot here and now and I'm totally hoping she sees this." The dude said and they all laughed.

It's so frustrating how these people talk about other people's lives like they don't have feelings. I hated it a lot.

"I'm so sorry Ariana." Brianna said obviously feeling guilty.

"It's fine. What's done is done." I sighed resignedly and retired to bed early, not in the mood for anything else.