Her taste was constantly changing, and with a trust fund hovering somewhere around the nine digit range, why not adjust your life, home, and wardrobe whichever way the wind blew. At present, a crystal cut vase overflowed with seasonal flora on top of a square, white, sculpted table in the middle of the pristine entranceway. She prayed she hadn’t tracked in mud or sidewalk grime on the freshly waxed marble floors as she strode through the foyer and down a small flight of stairs into the sunken living room. Lexi couldn’t imagine a space contrasting with her apartment more than Chyna’s den. In square feet, the living room along was larger than Lexi’s entire residence. The pure white carpet was constantly steam cleaned to maintain its perfection. A sofa, loveseat and recliner—all a matching set of soft black leather—centered on an entertainment center rivaling a movie theatre. Original oil paintings Chyna had collected while traveling throughout Europe decorated several walls and black and white photographs floated in a collage of frames against one another.

Advancing across the room and through the arching hallway, Lexi made her way to Chyna’s bedroom. She cracked the door open, and peered into the expansive room to see if Chyna did, in fact, have a companion in her king-sized, four-poster bed. “Chyna,” she whispered into the darkness. “Chyna. Wake up, chica.”

A deliberate grunt sounded from the other end of the room. “Go away.”

“Get your tiny ass out of bed! Is there someone in there with you? I’m not afraid to do jumping jacks on your five million thread count sheets,” she taunted with surprisingly more enthusiasm then she thought she was capable of that particular morning.

“You wouldn’t,” a muffled cry emanated from the darkness.

“Come on. How well do you know me?” Lexi questioned.

The covers flew to the foot of the bed and Chyna sat up grudgingly. “All too well,” she grumbled swishing her glossy black hair over one shoulder.

Lexi pursed her lips with envy as Chyna slung her long olive-toned legs over the edge of the bed and hopped down. With the genetics of an Italian supermodel, Chyna was enviable from head to toe. Chyna felt more comfortable sauntering around in skimpy lingerie than probably anyone else in existence. But why not? She was rail thin with large perfectly perky breasts and a petite ass that didn’t even look remotely fat in white, ultra skinny jeans. Her flawless complexion had never seen a blemish. Her large emerald eyes were almost always smoky and seductive. She was one hundred percent her mother’s daughter in appearance and her father in personality, which explained why she didn’t get along with either.

Her parents had made a public mess of their divorce when she was in high school, spreading their personal affairs all over the tabloids. Chyna wasn’t sure why they had gotten so angry with each other. She had known since she was ten years old that both of her parents were having affairs. It had been pretty obvious. She couldn’t understand why they hadn’t realized that as well, but they hadn’t. Or at least they had pretended they didn’t know, possibly for her sake, but more likely, they looked the other way to hold on to some semblance of why they had gotten married in the first place. Money. Love. Who knew? Now her father couldn’t look at her, and her mother couldn’t be around her.

“What are you doing here so early? Unbelievable, Alexa,” she chided, using Lexi’s full name as always. “You know I need a minimum seven hours of beauty sleep or I look like shit all day. Do I look like I went to bed at midnight?”

Lexi smiled at her. Chyna looked like she had never gotten less than seven hours of sleep in her life. “Oh wow, I’m sorry,” she said in mock repentance. “You look like an ugly old hag this morning. Perhaps you should sleep for another three hours.”

“You’re right,” she nodded. “I’ve only been sleeping for four hours.”

Lexi sighed dramatically. “The world will end.”

Chyna poked Lexi’s shoulder playfully. “Shut up, you.”

“Bernard mentioned there was someone with you?” Lexi asked cocking an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, phew on him. What do I pay him for anyway? I threw that boy out hours ago,” she said smiling mischievously. “Now, what in the world are you doing here so early? Our hair appointment isn’t for a few more hours.” Lexi brushed the flyaways behind her ear anxiously, a clear indicator of her anxiety. “Oh God, it’s a boy,” Chyna squealed in excitement. “Tell me everything!”

Chyna always got excited when Lexi mentioned a new guy. Mostly, Lexi figured because it happened so infrequently. Pretty much since she had moved to the city, she had been too preoccupied with school, and relationships had been placed on the backburner. Every now and then, she would go out on dates with guys from class or someone Chyna recommended, but, it never worked out. When it came to her luck with men, Lexi preferred just to avoid the situation entirely.

“Well, it’s kind of a strange story,” she began, realizing she had exactly mirrored Jack’s words. Chyna nodded enthusiastically, bouncing on her toes in anticipation. “So, you remember Jack?” she asked tentatively, forcing herself not to wince when she said his name.

Chyna’s faced clouded over and a crease formed between her eyebrows. “Oh no, not him,” she said pleadingly. “Please tell me that this has nothing to do with him.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Lexi asked, strangely enough, finding herself getting defensive.

“Alexa, Alexa,” she scolded, “do you not remember yourself after that boy left?”

Lexi did remember. She could still feel it every time she thought about him. When she stumbled across a picture of them together or passed a particularly cozy looking coffee shop, she remembered it all like it was yesterday. Only in the past six months had a numbness started to take over that feeling. Sometimes it still hit her fresh nearly two years later. He was capable of eliciting such emotional and physiological responses to this day, even though they had never officially been together. She was amazed she had turned him down over the phone after no contact for that long. If he had called for anything else, she was certain she would have crumbled.

“Yeah, I remember,” Lexi said softly.

“Well, then, why would you bring him up?” Chyna demanded.

“He called me,” she said brushing her hair back several more times before meeting Chyna’s disapproving eyes.

“And?” Chyna asked with a look of firm protectiveness taking over her features.

Lexi sighed, and then quickly gave Chyna the run down on the mess Jack had gotten himself into, and what he had requested of her. She forced all the words out in quick procession, not allowing Chyna to get in one word edge wise. When she finished, she breathed out heavily and looked up to find Chyna staring at her curiously. Somewhere throughout her story, Chyna’s features had changed, softened. Lexi wasn’t quite sure what it meant. “So yeah, that was my morning. Sounds great, doesn’t it?”

“You turned him down?” she asked clearly surprised. After everything she had been through with Jack, her feelings for him were unrivaled.

“Yeah, I did. Aren’t you proud?”

“I think you should do it,” she stated simply.

“What?” Lexi asked bursting from her comfortable lying position on the bed. “This morning is just nuts. Jack calls, and then you, of all people, tell me that I should go visit him and meet his fiancé?”

“Fiancé-to-be,” Chyna quipped letting a naughty smirk creep onto her face.

“Whatever! Just explain this to me. Why should I go see him? Nothing good ever comes out of me being around him. I know this and you know this. The whole world should know this. Give me one good reason I should go see him.” Chyna couldn’t be serious! After all, Lexi had been so proud of herself for turning him down for once in her life.