It'll Come Naturally
Chapter 1177 Dignity (Part One)

"Sorry! I'm having a blonde moment," Louisa said and started the car. She tried to control her temper and told herself, 'this isn't the time or the place. As much as I want to kick Claire out of my car, she's still useful to me.' "That's cool. We are still friends?" Could they still be friends, after that? Claire wasn't so sure.

Louisa and Claire arrived at the studio owned by Louisa's friend. Showing her friend her runway walk, Claire knocked it out of the park. Her friend clapped enthusiastically. "Bravo!" she said. "You have so much potential! Welcome to the world of modeling! Now, as for the rules..." Claire was now part of the agency, which meant she had to do everything they told her to.

It was almost ten o'clock when Leena rolled out of bed. It was too late to fix anything for Claire -- she would have arranged for her own breakfast by now. But she had to check on her to see f she was okay. She skipped brushing her teeth and washing her face and raced downstairs. But where was Claire? She couldn't replace her anywhere! Maybe in the study? No, not there either. It was like she'd vanished into thin air.

"Where did she go? She didn't even leave a note," Leena murmured and returned to her room to grab her phone. She opened her nightstand drawer, and saw her phone, in pieces, lying on a scarf. She had to laugh at her bad memory. 'Leaky like a sieve,' she thought. She had completely forgotten the thugs had destroyed it last night. She had to get a new one as soon as possible. A cellphone was just too useful not to have.

But she snapped herself out of it. 'Focus on Claire,' she thought, 'not the phone.' She needed to figure out where the girl went. Although Claire was an adult, she was new in town, and might head into a bad area and not even know it. Leena would feel terrible if something happened to her.

She quickly dressed herself in a cardigan, printed tee, and jeans. She gathered up the pieces of the broken phone, in the scarf and rushed out. She had to get herself a new phone, that would be the fastest way to replace Claire. Then she could call her. She couldn't believe how lame that sounded.

With her money, Leena could get any phone she wanted. Finally, she got a new phone easily. She logged into a pay app and used that. Problem solved! But right when she finished setting up the new phone, someone called before she could call Claire. It was from Patricia. She hadn't expected to hear from her. She almost fell over in surprise.

"Hey, Patricia! Why are you calling on this bright, sunny day?" Leena said with a sad face, then opened the car door and threw the little phone box and herself into the car.

"Save it! I don't wanna talk about the weather. I finally got a hold of you. I almost thought you were avoiding me!" And if looks could kill Leena would have been a corpse. Patricia was glowering now, even though Leena couldn't see her. 'Bad girl, you didn't tell me you got hitched! Did you forget we're besties?' Patricia thought to herself.

"Now hold on! If you shut up I'll tell you. My phone was broken. I just got a new one, and that's what we're talking on now." Leena wasn't planning on telling her the truth. In the beginning, she was screening her calls on purpose. She didn't want to hear it, the complaining, the "why didn't you tell me." But she decided to just bite the bullet and tell her.

"Bad girl, you live life on the edge! You can't really live without a phone, you know," Patricia snapped. She would never have known Leena was married if she hadn't set her up on that blind date. Even worse, the guy blamed her for fixing him up with a married woman. Besides, the guy she married was a major general. There was no way he could compete with that, and he thought she knew. Boy, she got a piece of her mind after the date!

"I've been too busy," Leena said. Her voice was full of guilt. She wasn't good at lying, so it sounded very unnatural.

"Come on! You were busy? Stop lying! Where are you? Do you have some time today?" It sounded like Patricia was really upset.

"Why? What do you have in mind?" Leena asked, getting even more tense. Her shoulders were hunched and she could feel them start to ache. She felt as if a dangerous person were stalking her. "You sound scared. If you had the guts to hide from me, you should have the guts to listen to me vent," Patricia said. She was as blunt and passionate as Belinda, so she and Leena got along well. "Hide? I don't know anything about that," Leena replied, sticking out her tongue. 'Girl, you want to get together with me so you could bitch me out? No way! Not happening!' Leena thought to herself.

"Fine. Go on! Keep pretending! What? Do you have Alzheimer's now? Do you need me to help remind you what you've done?" Patricia said, then snatched up the car keys and rushed out the door. She wanted details. She was going to grill Leena about her wedding. "No, thanks. I'm too weak to fight about it. I'm not disabled," Leena replied, looking miserable. Anyway, she knew that she couldn't get out of this.

"That's the spirit! So, my place or yours? Choose, or I'll choose for you!" Patricia teased, sitting in her car calmly and waiting for the answer.