So here's the next chapter! Enjoy

CH.19 The Gentle Hum of Anxiety

The next few weeks went by in a stressful blur. Yelena barely had time to breathe. Stephanie had begged her to work a photo shoot since the views for their Instagram page were sky high, and now she had that to worry about on top of her job and taking pictures for the Instagram page. She worked hard to make everything imaculate and worked out harder in the gym to relieve the stress. She barely found the time to eat and her sleeping patterns had been shot to hell. She found herself drinking a glass of wine almost every night to calm her nerves. Thankfully, she had made up with Phil and had even hung out with Randy. They got together and watched a movie in his room or just spent the evening talking about any and everything and she could tell that a bond was forming between them, but she often found herself second guessing being around him so much.

Chris was out on a thirty-day suspension, but she still felt that she was defying him, so she took a few steps back. The last encounter she had with Chris had been intense. If he didn't have feelings for her after that night, she didn't know what more she could do to prove herself worthy of him.

Yelena sat cross-legged on her bed. Her brown hair was pulled into a sloppy bun atop of her head and her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose and she pushed it back up for the upteenth time. She spooned a mouthful of the the Raspberry Truffle Ben & Jerry's ice cream she was devouring, holding the spoon in her mouth as she uploaded pictured from the photoshoot she did earlier that day. was redoing the website to make it look sleeker and more modern, so every Superstar and Diva were required to take new photos for their profile. She helped with a quick run through of at least fifteen people, the bright lights giving her a pounding headache, but she pressed through and the results were amazing. She was just about to start on Dolph's pictures when her phone chimed on the nightstand. She stretched and grabbed it, seeing it was a text from Mike

Hey shitface, what room are you in?

xMike

She rolled her eyes. Mike had become one of her best friends. They fought like cats and dogs, but she adored him. He was like the annoying brother she never had, kind of like Phil.

533 asswipe. Why?

xYelena

Her response was a knock on her door five minutes later. She opened it, smiling when she saw Mike with two boxes of pizza, AJ, carrying sodas, and Aksana with a stack of movies.

"We're taking over your room and there's nothing you can do about it shrimp" Mike said, shoving her lightly out of the way. She retaliated by kicking him in the butt on his way in

She greeted the two others and everyone filed into her bedroom

"No fair, how did you manage to get the walk-in shower?" AJ asked

They all spread out on the two beds, Mike and Aksana on one, Yelena, AJ on the other.

"Please no Chick Flicks" Mike groaned

"Shut up Mike. Even if we watch a chick flick, you're going to watch it with us because no one asked you to tag along. This was suppose to be a girl thing" Aksana said, popped a movie into the player

"What's a movie night without me?"

"Awesome?" AJ smirked

"Shut it pipsqueak." he shot at her

The movie turned out to be "Ted" and it was hilarious. They laughed and ate pizza. When the was over, AJ voted that they watched "The Hunger Games". Mike started snoring loudly halfway through

"He's asleep. Does anyone have a Sharpie?"

Yelena found one in her purse and handed it to the small Diva and they giggled like schoolgirls as she drew a Mario-like mustache on his upper lip.

They finished the movie and passed out around three a.m.

Two days later, Phil was making his way to the gym, his Beats booming in his ears. It was 7 a.m. and he found himself awake earlier that he needed to be, so he decided to busy himself with a quick workout. As he pushed the glass door open, he saw he wasn't the only up. Running on the treadmill at a fast pace was Yelena. She wore a pair of workout shorts and a sports bra. Her body glistened with sweat and her long brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail and swung from side to side. She was obviously in the zone, having not noticed his presence. He climbed onto the empy machine next to her and she finally noticed him

"Fancy seeing you here" he said with a smile

"Hey" she huffed, stopping the treadmill. She moped the sheen of sweat off of her face on her towel. She hunched over, holding on to the railings for support, trying to catch her breath. She might have overdone it with the treadmill this morning

"You okay?" Phil asked, noticing her struggling to regain her breath

"Yeah, just a little dizzy"

"Have you eaten anything yet this morning?" he asked

She had been in the gym since five and food had been the furthest thing from her mind so early in the morning

"Not yet" she admitted

"There's the problem. You shouldn't run on an empty stomach."

"Yeah, your right. I should go find something to eat before I pass out"

"Want some company?" he asked

"What about your workout?"

"I could skip it just this once"

"Sure." she agreed with a smile

"Okay. So we'll find somewhere to eat after you shower" he joked, scrunching his nose "You're smelling a bit ripe girlfriend"

Yelena laughed, twisting up her towel and with a flip of the wrist, she nailed him with a sharp hit.

"Ow! You're an agressive little shrimp, aren't you?" he grumpled, rubbing the sore spot on his chest

They went to her room, playfully poking fun at one another. When she was showered and dressed, she slipped her favorite hoodie over her head and grabbed her things. Phil drove and they pulled into an IHOP parking lot. Phil help the door open for her

"Thank you kind sir" she said sweetly

"You're welcome m'lady" he said in a cheesy accent.

The conseirge showed them to a table and they sat. They're hostess showed up a few seconds later and took their drink orders

"Do you always work out early in the morning?" Phil asked, skimming the menu

"Sometimes."

"Do you do other things or are you strictly a runner?"

"I try to vary my workout, but I enjoy running more."

"Me too. It helps me clear my head. I feel like all I need are a pair of running shoes and some music and nothing else matters. I prefer outdoor running better though. You'll never know where you'll end up or how far you'll go, you just do it."

"You sound very passionate about it. I usually just lose myself in it."

"You should join me for a run one of these days."

"I might take you up on that."

The waitress came back and took their orders. Yelena opted for a short stack of pancakes and a fruit salad on the side. Phil went all out, ordering an omlet, red velvet pancakes, with a side of hash browns and bacon

"I'll work it off later" he said with a wink.

They swapped random stories as they ate. Phil cleaned every plate in front of him. Yelena barely ate her pancakes and picked over her fruit, nibbling on a slice of honey dew. It didn't go unnoticed by Phil. He noticed how she sliced her pancakes into small pieces before eating it, but chose not to point it out. He realized that she barely ate when food was involved and that she worked out excessively over the past weeks and it worried him. He made a mental note to ask Aksana about it when he got the chance. The waitress came over and asked her if she wanted a "To Go" box and Yelena declined.

"I'll be back with your check" the waitress said, taking their plates

"So..." Phil trailed "Talk to anyone interesting lately?"

"Not that I know of." Yelena said, stirring the straw around in her cup

"No one... important?" he pressed, choosing his words wisely

Yelena inwardly rolled her eyes. Leave it to Phil to bring up Chris

"If you are referring to Chris, then no. He hasn't called since he left for his suspention." she muttered She really didn't want to talk about Chris and wished he would talk about something else. Anything but this.

"Sorry to hear that" he offered

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Can we change the subject?" she said, picking imaginary lint off of her hoodie

The awkwardness eased when the waitress returned with the check. Yelena went to grab it, but Phil snatched it out of her reach

"Phil-"

"I've got it" he said with a smile, waving her off

"Are you sure?"

"Of course"

They were walking to the car and Yelena got settled in the passenger seat as Phil slid behind the wheel.

"Hey look, I didn't mean to upset you back there. If it makes you feel better, I won't bring it up again"

"It's okay. I know you only asked because you care, and I'm glad. I would just prefer we not talk about my... issues with him since you disagree with my choices. No need to start another arguement" she said, offering him a small smile

"Okay." he smiled back, glad that they cleared the air. He started the car and they rode in silence back to the hotel

So what did you think? Phil doesn't approve of Yelena dealing with Chris and Randy is still in the dark. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Things should start picking up soon. PLEASE drop me a review! Until next time :-)