Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 231 -

Allegra.

Spinning to show off my latest outfit on the catwalk, I felt so alive. My hair flowed down my back, and I felt like I was on top of the world. My heart pounded, and my smile was simply radiant. Cheers rang out from either end of the catwalk as I set yet another trend. When the show was over, I met with my boss, who couldn't stop showering me with praise. "You're KILLING it, Allegra," he said, his voice dripping with awe. I nodded in agreement, beaming at him.

"Thank you for giving me this chance. I'm glad you didn't end up regretting it given some of the restrictions that come with me," I said, still cursing the fact that I was banned from the United States. It made many things inconvenient, but here I was, happy anyway.

"Are you kidding?" he said with a laugh. "No regrets, none whatsoever! You're a star, Allegra, I can't emphasize that enough. Top of the line, of a perfect stock, you have so much enthusiasm you bring to the catwalk that it radiates from you." We exchanged a hug, and I prepared to leave for the day. I had to refrain from skipping, because I was in such a good mood. At home, I would see Layla, a princess who was more than perfect. Speaking of no regrets, that applied to me being with her again.

There had always been a worry in the back of my mind that, once again, something would go wrong. She was constantly apologetic, though, and soon, my worries evaporated. Now I had to lecture her that it had happened and was done. We could move on.

On the way home, I put on some rock music, bobbing my head to it and wearing a huge smile. Everything was wonderful. This time, I had a feeling deep down I wouldn't be knocked off my pedestal, at least when it came to Layla. I pulled into the garage and found my designated parking spot. Then, I made my way to the front door, looking through my keys and opening it. When I entered, I was greeted with a happy 'meow' and couldn't help but widen my grin. We had rescued a cat from a local organization. His fur was pitch black, and his eyes were amber. I named him Onyx, because the shine of his fur reminded me of such gemstones. I bent down and pet him, saying softly, "Hey there, kitty kitty. Hungry?"

The cat meowed at me as if understanding my question, causing me to chuckle. I made my way to the kitchen and began pouring him some food. From the other room, I heard the television going. As I began to make some noise, however, it got turned off.

Bounding into the room was the gorgeous Layla, who wrapped her arms around me. "Allegra!" she said, her voice dripping with adoration. "How was work?" She stared at me expectantly, and I knew what she wanted.

I smiled at her, bending my head down to place my lips against hers. She melted in my arms, her entire body relaxing and a grunt of joy emitting from her as we exchanged a deep kiss. Sparks of ecstasy rushed through my body at the tender moment we had.

Breaking the kiss to take a breath and reply, I said, "It went wonderfully. I bedazzled the audience, as usual. Got several gorgeous pictures taken. They're getting better at those. I'm on the top of my game and couldn't be happier, Layla." She smiled at me, cupping my cheek and whispering, "That's wonderful. I'm sorry I couldn't come this time." Layla usually tried to come to all of my runway shows, but she'd had an appointment this time and couldn't make it. She gave me another hug before bending down to pet Onyx and give him some attention, too. The cat had been brushing against our legs, demanding it, after all!

I let Layla play with Onyx for a moment before sweeping her into my arms and carrying her into the living room. She chuckled during this, relaxing in my arms and enjoying the fact that I was carrying her like a princess, no doubt. We got there, and I asked, "How's the job search been?" Thankfully, she'd dropped the live-in nanny career. I wanted to spend time with her and see her more, so I was glad we saw eye-to-eye on that.

"It's been going. I may take care of some kids a few houses over. It wouldn't be overnight or anything, don't worry, and just five days after school, from about 3:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I'd have weekends off, all of which I could spend with you." I smiled at her, giving her a nod. "That sounds perfect. Besides, I think we know the breadwinner of this household," I laughed, giving her a wink. She blushed, but we both knew I was now making it big with my modeling career again. We didn't need a bigger space, admittedly.

Layla and I had discussed whether we should put our focus on moving anywhere more extravagant, and both came to the conclusion that we were happy in this fairly large apartment. We didn't need a house, and the neighbors were very nice. I was content with settling here, as was she. We settled in to watch a movie together, this one a family one. Something she enjoyed immensely, and I found a lot of fun in as well. I had a soft spot for fantasy, after all, and many elements of that were in these movies.

Eventually, I got up from the couch and asked, "What do you want for lunch? I can make something delicious for us." Layla beamed at me and went silent in thought for a moment, her eyes gleaming.

"Your spinach tarts with a side of salad sounds nice," she said. I saluted her, stealing one last tender kiss before making my way to the kitchen and setting up the ingredients. I put a kettle on the stove for us to share some tea, as well.

Humming as I prepared the ingredients, I set up things perfectly for lunch. Soon, the smell of food in the oven filled the area, causing my stomach to rumble and my mouth to water. Layla's suggestion was, as expected, simply perfect. While I waited for the food to cook, I looked over to see my phone lighting up. I was getting a call, something I missed initially. I walked over to the counter and grabbed it, tapping through it to see who it could be. It was Neal.

I swallowed hard, recalling I had yet to tell him anything about Layla and I making up. At this point, Layla and I had been together for a few weeks, and all was well. He would definitely not take well to this news. He would replace out soon, too, given he lived in the area.

Mustering up the courage, I finally dialed his number, placing the phone against my ear and waiting for him to answer. I would hold my ground when faced with him on the subject of Layla. For now, I didn't want to bring that up and stress over

it.

"Hello?" Neal said. The tone of his voice was off, as though he was deep in some melancholy thought. My stomach twisted at that tone. I knew when heavy things were on my brother's mind, he wasn't the best at hiding as much from me. "Hey. You called? Is everything alright?" I asked, hoping something else didn't come up similar to the mob situation.

"Yes, everything's fine. Just called to check in, but also to mention I heard about Becca's wedding. I wanted to visit her one last time," he said, causing me to furrow my brow and let out a sigh.

"I'm surprised at you, Neal. I thought you were over her. She's settling in now. Has a new kid on the way. Word from the grapevine is I may get a wedding invite myself. I'm still in contact with Becca and would need to send her my address, though," I said.

We'd made amends, for the most part, and there were no hard feelings between us. Neutral, really, with the potential to rekindle a true friendship. Of course, that may change when she learned about me being with Layla, but I didn't want to think about that right now.

"I am over her," my brother said, causing me to raise a skeptical brow on my end. I clutched the phone more tightly, trying to detect a lie in his tone. He and I didn't always see eye-to-eye, and I could tell this situation might blossom into exactly that.

"Right," I muttered, letting out another sigh. "I hope you're not pulling my leg on this, Neal. You know she's done playing your games," I scolded. I was too. Sure, I'd not gotten over Layla myself, but my situation was a bit different. Layla wasn't taken. She made a mistake, which we've since worked through. We can be happy together and see to all of our dreams. My brother had a tendency to latch on and not let go when he should let things lie.

"I'm not," Neal said. "I want to visit as a friend. As I said, I heard about the wedding. I'm not sure if I'd be invited, but I wanted to wish her well," he added. This didn't abolish my skepticism by any means, and rather, caused me to grumble a bit. "Then why would it be one last time if you'd visit as a friend?" I asked, my tone shifting to an annoyed one. "You don't have to stop seeing her if you're truly visiting as a friend. Otherwise, 'for one last time' would mean you're seeing her while wanting her. For one last time."

I could see through the fog sometimes, especially if it was his fog. The hesitance on the other end of the line caused me to give a low groan. He couldn't be serious. This was unhealthy for him, and I really hoped his spiel about moving on had been true.

"Just trust me," Neal muttered. "I'm not going to do anything ridiculous or think we'd actually get together, especially at a wedding. I said 'one last time' because I doubt she will want to keep in contact with me after I pestered her." "I thought your phone call with her went well. The one where she told you to no longer fret about Tally, because you weren't the one who killed her," I said, recalling his description of the call. It'd been after Becca had offed Allison. Good riddance to that b*tch if you asked me.

Becca was made of more fragile stuff than I was, however, so I wasn't surprised it had impacted her more deeply. What I was surprised to hear was Neal consoling her and admitting he thought he'd killed Tally. I was glad he gave that call and that she'd answered.

He could be at peace, supposedly. But here he was, calling to tell me this. I was none too thrilled. "It did," he said, hesitating. "But that doesn't change things. Just because the phone call went well doesn't mean she won't be wary of me. One last visit as a friend, then."

"Not a fan of how weird you sound," I snapped at him, but then sighed. "Fine, though. Don't do anything stupid." I hung up, agitated at this behavior and unable to help myself.

I meant it. He better not do anything stupid.