MARIANNA

☆6AM☆

The shrill ring of my alarm is the first sound I hear when I wake up. I let out a low groan and a hiss , stretching my body in the process. I squint my eyes a little before slowly opening them.

I get off my bed, turn off the alarm and head for the bathroom to brush my teeth.

Feeling brand new and a burst of energy through my veins, I take to my seat and bring out my planner. First of all, I need to go to work and turn in my resignation letter.  After that, meet up with Lucas and together, head for the company.

I leave my planner on the table and quickly whip some breakfast for myself after that. Once I am done eating, I have my bath and head out.

"Hi, Lola." I greet, smiling in her direction.

"Hi. You look radiant today, Marianna." I smile at her compliment and mouth 'thank you' to her.

Heading up, I arrive at my soon-to-be ex-boss' office. With a slight knock on the door, I am permitted entry.

"Good morning, Marianna." She says.

"Hi, Miss West. Good morning." I reply.

"How do you do today? Please, sit." She asks with a smile, making a hand gesture to the chair.

"I am good, thanks for asking. There's something I need to inform you about."

"Alright."

"I am resigning." Her face drops at my declaration and I sigh. I actually feel bad but family first. My dad's legacy is a priority now.

"Was it something someone amongst us did?" She asks.

"No. I....Personal reasons." I choose not to divulge it yet.

"Alright." She says. I take out the resignation letter from my purse and hand it to her.

"Thank you, Miss West." I smile, standing up to leave. She just nods her head and I walk out of the office. I call Lucas and we link up at the company.

"Wow. You look.....amazing." Lucas says, sending me a wink.

"Thank you." I let out a chuckle to prevent myself from blushing like a fool.

I recall how when I was a kid, I used to come here with mom and dad. Taking in a deep breath, I exhale and feel Lucas' palm cover mine. Together, we walk towards the reception.

"Hi. I am here for Charlotte Davis." I say to her. She smiles warmly before responding.

"Mrs. Davis' office is on the 6th floor." She responds and slides two visitor tags across the table to us. We get into the elevator and I start to feel nervous.

"I called my lawyer. He will join us soon." Lucas says, taking me out of my thoughts.

"Alright. Thank you."

"I already discussed your terms with him and he has arranged the whole documentation process. I looked through and it is perfect." If it was anyone saying this, I would have my doubts but it's Lucas. I trust him.

"Thank you, Lucas." I say, reaching out to hug him. He hugs me back and gives me a light peck on my head just before the elevator dings and slides open. Hand in hand, we head out and walk to meet Harlot in the office.

•••••

Finally, everything is settled and I am the official owner of Davis Inc.

"Congratulations, girl. We have to celebrate your victory." Lucas says, giving me a side hug when we arrive at the parking lot.

"Really? I honestly have nothing in mind." I shrug.

"I'll call the guys and we'll maybe hangout. Go home. I'll pick you up by 7pm." He states, opening the door of my car for me. I get in and wave him goodbye as I drive back home.

Later that evening, Lucas comes to pick me up and we head to the club.

"Hi." Sophia says, letting go of Andrè's hands before running to hug me.

"Sophia!" I exclaim, hugging her and she just chuckles. I like Sophia.

"Congrats, Anna." The boys say, hugging me at the same time.

"Do you all want to suffocate me?" I ask amidst the hug. They all laugh and tighten the hug.

"Stay away from me, assholes." I say to all three of them, rolling my eyes when they finally let go of me. They don't give me a response but laugh heartily at my expense.

We go to the VVIP section of the club and the celebration begins. Moments later, Lucas excuses us and leaves.

After some time, I stand up and take a peek at the ground floor of the club, only to see him dancing with a girl. The dance gets provocative and they leave the dance floor to the female's toilet. I walk back into the VVIP room with annoyance and drop my glass on the table.

"I'll go find Lucas." I say to them and without waiting for a response, I leave, heading straight downstairs to the toilet.

As I get closer, I hear moans coming from there. I barge in, startling the both of them. They are having sex on the slab.

"Seriously, Lucas?" I ask, trying to control my anger.

"What is it?" He replies with a chuckle. His partner dresses herself and scurries off, leaving us to ourselves.

"You answer that! We are supposed to be celebrating me....." I make air quotes at 'celebrating me'.

"....and you are here screwing someone else!"

"Marie, you are screaming." I glare at him and hiss.

"I am screaming? Lucas!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asks.

"Just shut the fuck up. I fucking love you! Not as a friend. I fucking have feelings for you!" I scream, my anger getting the worse out of me.

"Maybe I am not one of the model girls you usually sleep with in place of me. I have a bank of wealth to my name, Lucas. You can at least, look at me different now." I state. I know it is selfish coming from me and if anyone had told me I would be saying it this soon, I would not have agreed to the thought but here I am.

Lucas looks at me like I have grown two heads.

"If this is a joke, please stop it, Marie." He says.

"I am dead serious."

"Are you drunk again?" He asks, looking into my eyes as if searching for an answer, anything to prove his point.

"No." I answer simply.

"That's impossible! You know the drill, Marianna..." He has not called out my actual name in years.

"....you know it's no strings attached. When did this mess up happen?"

"Mess up? You refer to my feelings as mess up? It is anything but that! I deserve more."

"I can't reciprocate what you feel, if that's what you want." He says calmly, ending his utterance with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You will have to pick between keeping our friendship by letting go of your feelings, or leaving this city." He states.

"I won't leave this city amd the life I am just starting to build for myself because of you, Lucas."

"Which is why you have to let go of the feelings."

"Let go? You think I haven't tried? You think I would want to jeopardise our friendship because of these stupid god-forsaken feelings? Well, if that's what you want, so be it. I don't want you in my life any longer. When you see me, don't even say Hi. It does not change my relation with the other guys but with you, it's a No."

"Marie."

"It is Marianna henceforth. After all, that is what you called me earlier."

"Do not act like I am the one at fault here. For crying out loud, you are the one that went ahead to have feelings when we clearly had an agreement."

"Things change, Lucas! People change. You can believe what you want, however you want it, for all I care but it does not mean I'll deny how I feel any longer. Staying away from you is the best. Perhaps it will give me the chance to let go."

"Goodbye, Lucas." I hiss, giving him a stink eye and picking up my purse. Giving him one last look, I sigh dejectedly and leave the bathroom. I don't return upstairs, I leave the club and flag a taxi to take me to my house.

Now that the reality of loosing our friendship, the one thing I so desperately wanted to avoid, has dawned on me, the weight in my chest feels so heavy.

Tears threaten to fall but I hold them in. I won't totally blame him but he shouldn't have given me options. He has no right to dictate how I feel!

More than ten years of friendship, gone! Why? A heated conversation about feelings. Well, this is so fucked up right now. I wish I had someone to talk to.

LUCAS

I am actually very pissed right now. When did feelings even become a thing in our friendship? Now she has broken it off because of some stupid feelings.

I head back up in annoyance and immediately reach for a bottle of wine from the cellar. Without hesistating, I start drinking its contents directly from the bottle without a cup.

"Easy, there. What's wrong? Where is Anna, by the way?" Nick asks.

"She's gone." I state.

"Gone? What do you mean?" This time, it's André asking.

"She is gone gone." It is still difficult to believe that she has had feelings for me all this while. I mean, I don't love her in that manner so what was she expecting? That I reciprocate and we form a romantic relationship? She knew the drill from the scratch so I don't understand why she wants to make it seem like I am the monster in this. I didn't invite harm to her, she did it to herself.

"Why?" He asks again. I take a swig at the bottle before answering him.

"We got into a fight. She says she has feelings for me." I respond to him.

"Well, that's not new." My head sharply turns to look at Fabian who just spoke.

"Yes. It's not new, Lucas. Everyone could see it." Fabian shrugs, finishing his initial statement.

"How did you not notice? So why is she gone?" André asks. Well, I guess I am the blind one here or maybe it's just because I never put my mind to it.

"I told her to let go of the feelings or leave the city." Why are they all looking at me like I did something wrong?

"That was a stupid one, Lucas." Sophia says, giving me the stink eye.

"Babyy.." André draws, gently touching her arms.

"What? She actually has a point." Nick says, backing her up.

"You really messed it up. You wouldn't have given her that option. It is totally wrong." Sophia shrugs, ending it with a glare sent in my direction.

"It's Marianna we are talking about here. Asides us, she is the closest to you. You both could have talked things out." Give it to Nick to guilt trap me sometimes. We are very alike when it comes to the ladies so Nick speaking this way is different.

"Can you all just stop?" I hiss, turning away from them, not missing Sophia rolling her eyes, Fabian giving me a puzzled look, Nick's snicker and Andrè's blank face.

Judgemental people!