Chapter 53

Chapter 53

"Come on," I said as we arrived in front of the restaurant Josh texted me.

"No, it's alright."

"Oh, come on now, James. Don't be such a baby. You've been talking about how badly you wanted to pee on the way here."

"It can wait till I get home."

"As far as I can remember you live forty minutes away from here. Let's go."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

"It's no big deal. Unless you want your bladder to burst?"

He heaved out a sigh, "Alright," and stopped the engine.

"Attaboy. Come on." I got out of the car and he followed me inside the restaurant.

When we got inside, I saw Josh sitting by himself. I waved 'Hi' but he didn't wave back as he usually does, instead he stood alert in the most unfriendly manner.

"What are you doing here?" he charged towards Axel.

I stepped between them, "Hey, hey." I placed my hands on Josh's shoulders, "Take it easy. It's okay. He's with me."

Josh relaxed a bit but was still on his guard. I suppose Hailey told him.

"He's just dropping me off but he needs to use the bathroom first before leaving."

"Alright." Josh's voice was clipped, still focused on Axel. "Bathroom's out the back."

"Thanks, man," Axel replied then hurried to the bathroom.

"Seriously, what is he doing here, Laure? Why did he have to drop you off? Why are you with him?"

"You're sounding more and more like Hailey," I removed my coat and placed it on the chair.

"I'm serious, Lauren. It took all my will not to punch him in the face after what he did to you."

"I know. I'd like to believe it's all in the past now."

His brows raised slowly as his head dropped.

I shook my head innocently then a deep laugh grumbled inside his chest. An incredulous smirk slowly crept in on his face, "You can't convince me. You hold grudges. What's really going on?"

"Fine. We're pretending to be friends because we need to take down Katie."

"What?"

"I know it's confusing, but it's hard to explain."

"Katie? Who's Katie?"

"Katie Swanson. His ex-girlfriend."

"The actress? Why would you take her down? You know what, don't answer. I'm sure Hailey knows about it. I'll just ask her when I get home."

"Yeah? How will you explain how you knew?"

"I, uh, I'll say I saw you on the street together."

"Which street?"

He paused to think.

"Just as I thought. You know she'll get into specifics."

"Damn it, you're right. Which streets have you been to today?"

"I don't think those are the same streets you frequent."

"Well then give me something here."

"Ehem," Axel stood by our table. "What's going on?"

"Sit," Josh demanded.

I bulge my eyes at him while he paid me no mind, staring intensely as Axel took a seat in front of him.

"Okay?" Axel said uneasily.

"I know what you did to Lauren."

Axel's breath hitched and I expected him to defend himself, but all he did was nod lowly.

"You can punch me if you want."

"What?" I blurted.

"Not good enough." Josh twisted his lips, contemplating a higher punishment.

"Josh, what are you doing?" I asked, but they ignored me like a ghost.

Josh held his head higher. "Since you two are playing some type of weird game,"

"We are not," I interjected.

"And you already know about my proposal plans to Hailey."

"Yeah?" Axel said.

"I want you to stay with Lauren on that day."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Stay with her during your proposal?"

"Yes, in our hometown."

"Josh, you are out of your mind," I stated, but it's like I'm talking to the wind.

"Okay. But on one condition."

"What is it?"

"I'll be invited to your wedding."

"Did you just invite yourself to their wedding?" I whispered in gritted teeth.

"Deal." Josh extended his hand.

My head turned to Josh, "What?"

I turned to Axel and they were already shaking hands.

"Hey, hey! I'm here. What do you two think you're doing?" I broke up their handshake.

Josh turned to me, "Simple. Hailey will be too distracted with you and Axel that she would never suspect a thing about me proposing to her."

"That would never work."

"Do you know Hailey?"

I tried to think of other ways to distract her, but all my ideas come up short. "There must be another way, surely."

Josh's expression turned sour.

"Oh, come on!" I protested. Axel doesn't seem to mind.

"Sorry, Laure. You know how she is. And we both know that she'll suspect something soon enough. It would ruin the surprise. Please. It's the only way I can think she wouldn't notice my proposal plans."

"For your best friend?" Axel batted his lashes.

"Stay out of this."

*       *       *

"Axel and I are dating."

Hailey's brows raised and she chuckled as her head shook then sipped on her coffee.

I stayed silent.

Her eyes met mine and she realized I wasn't kidding. Her fingers on the straw gradually lost grip. "Hold on, you're serious?"

"Yes." My fingers crossed under the table. God, I hope she'll forgive me after all this.

"No, you're shitting me."

"Uh-uh," I shook my head.

She squinted, trying to read if I was telling the truth.

I put on the most subtle lovesick face I could muster and hoped she wouldn't see right through me.

"Holy shit," she cursed under her breath. "No," she looked away then looked back at me again. "No," her face crumpled in aggravation, "No!" her voice sounds like she's about to cry with each 'No.'

I shrugged and smiled at her.

"Holy crap. She's whipped, ladies and gentlemen. How?" she set her cup aside. "How?" Her brows raised as her head shook in disbelief.

"I don't know, Hales. I think we just click."

Her brows furrowed and she placed the back of her hand on my forehead.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm just checking if you're running a fever."

"What?"

"Because you sound delirious."

I rolled my eyes.

"Are you sure?" she continued.

"Yeah," I said breathily with a smile on my face.

She smiled back – the kind of smile you give to someone who's on their deathbed. It's obvious she's trying to keep all her nasty opinions to herself. I bet we share the same sentiments. Too bad I can't voice it out and talk trash about Axel with her now.

She didn't say another word about it, so I think our plan to distract her is working. I can't wait to hear from Josh.

Meanwhile, I kept reminding myself that this is just a sub-project and that I still need to focus on our plan to outsmart Katie.

My mind was flying as I sip coffee when my phone rang on the table. Axel. I continued sipping coffee.

"Are you not gonna answer him?" Hailey asked.

My eyes met hers. Shit, I forgot I'm supposed to be in love with him.

I smiled and picked up the phone, "Hey, babe, what's up?"

"Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Grant? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I smiled at Hailey.

"Did you hit your head or something?"

"Oh, you're funny. I miss you too. I'll talk to you later."

"What?"

"Okay, bye-bye."

"But-"

I ended the call.

"What did he say?" Hailey tries her best to look supportive.

"Oh, nothing. He just missed me."

Her eye twitched, "Okay. That's nice." she forced a smile then sipped on her coffee.

I smiled, knowing the distraction definitely works. Oh, the things I do for you, Hailey.

*       *       *

Axel was leaning on my door when I got home.

"Babe?"

"Get over yourself. I only said that because Hailey's with me."

"Oh, right. We have to pretend we're in love."

"Exactly. Now, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't let me finish when I called you earlier. I had something important to say."

"You could've called again."

"And what? Not have a proper conversation again? Not that I don't enjoy you calling me 'babe', babe."

"Alright, enough. Out with it."

He chuckled. "I was gonna tell you Katie called me."

"What did she say?"

"She said we can't fool her."

"And?"

"And I told her we weren't trying to fool anyone."

I laughed, "Biggest lie of the year."

He smiled, "I'm glad you're just laughing about it."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I can do anything else about it."

"Point taken."

I nodded, "Is that all?"

"No, I needed to give you this," he reached inside his pocket, and out came a phone. An old one, in fact.

"Why?" I asked as he handed it over to me.

"It's a burner phone. If we need to talk, we'll use this. Katie's now working double time and that includes Clark. Sooner or later, he could hack into our phones, not just our accounts."

My eyes glanced over the phone in my hand, "You're right. Clark's irritatingly good at his job. We can never be too careful."

He nodded, "I figured. Anyway, that's all, I'm sorry for showing up unannounced."

My brows raised, "Are you really?"

His side of lips curled up, "Nah."

"There we go."

He walked to the door, "But that was the nice thing to say, right?"

"What is?"

"That I'm sorry?"

"Oh, go away now."

He chuckled, "Alright, I'll go. Keep your doors locked."

I leaned on the open door, "Always."

"I'll see you soon then."

"Yeah, take care. Good night."

He gave a single nod then in a rush gave me a peck on the cheek. "Good night, babe."

"Why you-" I was gonna slap his shoulder but he ran. His laugh resounded on the staircase.

Coward.

I closed the door and walked into the bathroom to splash my face with cold water. I rose from the sink and caught my reflection in the mirror – water dripped down my face, eyes stared back at me with criticism.

As I continued to stare at the woman in front of me, I began to question my sanity yet again. How was I able to make a string of questionable decisions? How did I allow myself that streak?

I tried to make sense of how I fell trapped in this cobweb of dilemmas and how I let it get this tangled but to no avail.

My head shook in dismay, "Oh, Lauren, I told you, your decisions make you," I said to myself then I heard knocks on the door. Must be Axel. "Just a second!" I called out and reached for the face towel to wipe my face dry.

"What? Did you forget something?" I said as I opened the door.

But instead of Axel, Dean was the one on the other side.

"Lauren."

I took a deep breath. "What do you want?"

He only stared at me not saying a word.

I shook my head daring him to speak.

Not a single word.

"You know what Dean; this is getting old." I was about to close the door when he pushed his leg in.

"What?" I pulled the door to free his leg.

"I'm sorry."

I scoffed, "That's rich."

"Lauren,"

"No, because what is this? Are you only saying that because Katie told you to?"

"What?"

"Tell her she cannot faze me, alright?"

"What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Don't play coy with me now, Dean. I saw you having breakfast together then at dinner the same day. Remember? The one where you practically shooed me away?"

"Lauren, I told you, it was just for work," he pleaded.

"Yeah, for work." I puffed out slowly, "Give it up, Dean."

His brows knitted as it rose.

"You can't fool me anymore. I can't afford to be fooled anymore."

"But I don't know what you're talking about. Lauren. I'm completely in the grey here. All I know is that" he paused, looking away and inhaling deep.

"Is what?"

He exhaled, looking anywhere but me until his eyes fell on mine. His face softened but he caught his breath. His throat bobbed in a telltale sound of anxiety. "I fell in love with you."

My brows raised. I laughed, "Incredible."

"What?"

"Incredible. The length you're willing to go just to toy me around is incredible. Say kudos to Katie for pulling such a great actor."

"But-"

"Look, I don't know what's in it for you, but have some conscience, okay? You can't go around telling people that without meaning it."

"But I meant it, every word."

"Come on, Dean. Let's- let's not, okay? This matter is very delicate. Don't mess with it, please?"

I turned to close the door when he grabbed my wrist. "Lauren, please."

I glared at his hand, he let go reluctantly.

"What do I have to do to prove that I meant it?"

I paused for a while thinking of what I could possibly ask him. His eyes searched my face as my brain tried to come up with something, anything. "No," my head shook left and right as the single word tasted bitter out of my mouth. "I'm sorry, I can't deal with this now."

He nodded, "Alright. I won't push anything to you right now, but rest assured that I will do whatever it takes for you to believe me." His lips formed a thin smile, "I'll see you soon."

I watched him walk away then I closed the door as he vanished from my sight.