/Madison's POV/
The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the Ayanna girl was that she was pretty. She had thick shoulder-length curls, hazels eyes that caught the light, curls, tall, lean, and figure fit still feminine in all the right places.
Ayanna was the type to steal attention the moment she walked into a room because just her posture exuded confidence. Judging by the band on her ring finger, she was either married or engaged—either one of those.
"Let me get this straight," I said with a small smile, moving over to the armchair to get started on my pancakes, undisturbed by the two foreign presences in my room. I was too hungry to ignore the steaming butter pancakes on the table. "You don't question Zane's motive for trying to uncover the truth behind my sister's death even though he's not family, and you question my motives even though Allison's my family?" I shot up a brow at Ayanna. "Pretty sure I have a solid reason to be here." I concluded, raising a slice of pancake to my mouth.
Zane and Ayanna, however, just stared at me blankly in response, but I caught a flicker of amusement in Zane's eyes. I turned away from him. I don't want to admit it, but he's a walking six feet of pure temptation.
I'd literally just made up my mind to keep things strictly business, but our little run-in this morning didn't help. I'm not sure he knows how obvious it was that he was checking me out. I really need to wrap this up and go home.
"Well, Zane's the one who's been with Allison for the past five years or so… you practically vanished from her life, and you expect us to believe that you what? Suddenly came back because you remembered you have a family somewhere?" My fork froze mid-air.
Honestly, I'm surprised Zane hasn't called me out on that yet after all, things didn't end well between me and Allison.
"She never told you what happened between us?" I asked.
My sour expression had guilt flushing Zane's face, even if all I caught was a glimpse of it since I didn't want to look at him too long. I couldn't mistake the look in his eyes. "Did she tell you it was my fault we ended up like this?" I asked, tracing lazy circles that had pooled at the edge of the plate.
"Does it matter whose fault it is?" Ayanna frowned, her tone nonchalant while I reached for the warm milk served with the pancakes. "Going thirteen years ghosting your sister because of what? And now you show up and expect us to believe you actually care?"
I know the reason why Ayanna was being very intrusive, and while it might appear she was on Allison's side, I could tell her concern wasn't for Allison but for Zane.
"It was Allison who wanted nothing to do with me," I confessed. "But I didn't want to go my entire life beefing with my sister. I wanted this whole thing to end because we are what's left of our family. That's why I'm here. I mean, I could have just ignored her when she reached out, but she brought me here." My tone dipped.
"Unfortunately, I didn't really have a chance to fix our relationship because she was taken from me. Call it guilt or whatever. I shouldn't have let this simmer for this long. I should have tried to fix it sooner. Perhaps I'd have gained a little more time with her."
"But still—"
"Let it go, Ayanna," Zane said firmly this time, his tone commanding.
"I'm sorry." Aya muttered. Wheen I looked up, guilt flickered in her eyes, softened by a touch of embarrassment.
"Honestly, when I heard about this whole thing, I just really thought it was insane," She admitted with a half-shrug before sympathy crashed the playful look on her face. "I still can't believe she's gone, so I understand why Zane's pushing for this. If it was Richard, I'd probably go mad too." Ayanna turned to Zane, whose expression had turned solemn.
Richard must be the name of her partner, I guessed silently.
"I should go," Zane suddenly declared. He couldn't have made it anymore obvious that the conversation made him uncomfortable. "Maddy, I apologise for Aya's impulsiveness. She can be a lot sometimes, but I can assure you she's very good at what she does."
With an abrupt side glance, Aya pointed out, "You've never actually told me that before."
"What's the point?" Zane sighed. rubbing the back of his neck. "You'd gloat about it for for weeks and It's annoying." Zane feigned annoyance, but Aya looked like she couldn't wait to tell everyone that Zane just acknowledged her.
"Admit it—I'm great. I've made as much for the company as half of your high-end celebrities," Aya said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Knock it off." Zane sounded exasperated. couldn't help smiling. From the look on Aya's face, she'd probably been waiting years to hear him admit that.
"Madison, right?" Aya asked, turning back to me.
"Yeah, but you can call me Maddy," I suggested.
"Okay, Maddy." She responded with a quick genuine smile. "I'm really sorry for attacking you. I just wanted to get to know you, and I know that was a brash way to go about it, but emotions speak more for a person than a mouth could ever do but I'm not always like that."
"No, you are always like that," Zane cut in dryly.
Aya rolled her eyes, but I could tell from the look she gave him that his teasing didn't bother her. Despite her boldness, she cared about him deeply—like family would.
"Anyway" Aya started again, crossing her arms. "When do you plan on confronting the reporters? With the announcement, it's only a matter of time before one of them barges in here." Aya turned to Zane, who was about to make his exit.
"Maddy's not ready yet, which is where you come in. You'll know when she is, and that's when we can put this whole thing in motion," Zane simply said.
"If I'm getting this right," Aya threw her hands in the air, "you're asking me to turn her into a celebrity, correct?" Her question left me feeling confused.
"Yeah," and Zane's admittance didn't help either.
"Wait, what?" My brows knitted. "What does pretending to be Allison have to do with her turning me into a celebrity?"
"Because Allison was a celebrity," Aya said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her eyes swept over me in one quick, judgmental scan. "Sorry, but you're nowhere near prepared for what you're getting into."
Great. Confidence boost of the year.
"I guess I'll leave you two to it then. I have to get back to work, so I'll see you later?" Zane asked, his eyes meeting mine. I nodded as he exited my room, closing the door behind him.
"I still don't get it," I confessed the moment Zane's receding footsteps faded outside the door.
"Your skin's dry," Aya announced suddenly, grabbing a strand of my hair and examining it like I was some kind of experiment. "Your hair feels like it hasn't seen oil in years, your lips are chapped, and your nails—god, what is going on with your nails?"
I looked down at my perfectly trimmed nails. "What's wrong with them?"
Is it too late to rethink this? I can always do this on my own anyway, I thought, forcing Aya an awkward smile.
"Even on their deathbeds, celebrities look their best," she said matter-of-factly.
I forced a stiff smile. Is it too late to back out of this?
"You look a lot like your sister, sure," she continued, circling me like a hawk, "but in this industry, looks are everything—and right now, people would spot the difference a mile away."
Honestly, I don't really see what makes me so different from my sister, but I guess I should go with this for now.
"Why don't you finish your breakfast," Aya said at last, "and then we'll talk." I couldn't be more glad to return to my food.
"Maddy." What now? I glanced up to meet Aya's worried eyes. "Do you really want to do this?" Her voice had softened.
I remained quiet to her question, unsure how to respond.
"I know it's not my place to tell you anything, but what you're doing is pretty dangerous. I know you think this is the only way to make it up to your sister, and Zane wouldn't even listen to reason since this is the only way he knows how to mourn his loss. Honestly, I wish in the midst of doing all of this, he'd get over it and give up."
"He doesn't seem the type to me though."
"You noticed too… he's annoyingly persistent," Aya groaned. I rose from my seat, hoping to head to the kitchen.
Aya doesn't look it at first, but she talks a lot.
"Maddy," she called again, and I groaned. Her upbeat energy was exhausting—she was literally the opposite of me.
"What?" I forced her a smile as I turned back to her, pausing by the door.
"You're bleeding."
"What?"
"The robe's—it's stained." She pointed out, forcing me to glance at the red patch on the white bathroom robe I had on.
"Oh, for f—" I bit my tongue. "Great." I muttered under my breath, putting the tray back down before moving over to the bedside drawers, then to the closet and bathroom, rummaging through any corner that could house my saving grace.
You'd think amongst everything Allison left behind at her fiancé's house there'd be tampons, but there weren't any—almost like she'd never had a period while with Zane. Not that I cared.
"No luck?" Aya asked, already fishing her phone out of her bag.
"Unfortunately no," I said ruefully. "D'you think you could get me some? I'd appreciate it. I'm not really in the position to go out at the moment."
"I could, but why bother when Zane can handle it."
I blinked. "What?"
"I already sent him a text. He said he'd handle it. My purpose here is actually to take your measurements. I already made appointments to pick your outfits. You might have the same face as your sister, but your body structure is different. That's what Zane doesn't know." I could no longer register any more of Aya's ramblings since my brain was stuck on one thing.
"You sent Zane to buy me… tampons?" I demanded like I hadn't asked her the first time.
"Yes," she replied innocently. "Is something wrong?" she asked after seeing the horrified look on my face.
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