Chapter 17 Sirius's Past Lover

• The billboard changes to another angle, and Claudia is sitting on the edge of a mountain, in a bikini as if that is practical. One of her hands is pointed to the camera with a big, pulsating diamond ring on her finger as she bashfully looks away from the camera.
• The slogan The King and I in perfect script below her feet makes my skin crawl. It must be an old campaign. I can imagine the awed audience now, relieved that the sweet girl next door did soften the ruthless king with the power of love, and all the fairytales are true. I almost drop Alston as I chuckle to myself, because that audience doesn’t know Claudia.
• The Claudia they see basking in the limelight, once haunted the shadows with her beloved. In highschool, she was cruel, and obsessive, following around Sirius like a feral cat in heat. The thing I hated most was the Cheshire smile she always gave me as she clung to Sirius. Her presence is still an ever-looming shadow over our relationship.