It takes a while before the waiters finally get Calvin to leave our table. Thanks to one of them pointing at the cameras he realized we were being filmed and left—but not before glaring at Desmond and me and mouthing expletives.
"Can't believe you used to live with this guy," I whisper loud enough for Desmond to hear.
"He's an asshole isn't he?" Desmond whispers back as we watch Calvin being dragged away by the waiters. He shrugs their hands from him and stomps his way out of the restaurant.
"More than an asshole. The devil's probably scared of him."
That manages to make Desmond chuckle and I smile, subconsciously resting my head on his arm. He immediately goes stiff and so do I. I'm suddenly reminded of the awkward state our relationship is in before shifting away from his head and letting go of his arm.
"We should leave before the paparazzi get here," I tell him.
"Right," Desmond mumbles awkwardly as I pick up my purse from the chair before leaving our table. Grandma already made the payments for my blind date so there's no reason to wait here any longer.
We make our way out of the edifice before reaching the lavish car park where the G-wagon is still waiting for me in the distance.
"Your car or mine?" Desmond asks as we walk towards it.
"Mine obviously. I don't trust you enough to be in the same car as you alone," I reply, making sure to remind him where we stand. I might have gotten a bit mushy in the restaurant but that was only to soothe him I'm sure. Nothing else.
"I'm not alone though. Chester's here."
I pause turning to face him. "What's he doing here?"
"Waiting to drive me back after I'm done ruining your blind date—here he comes," Desmond nods behind me and I turn to see Chester stepping out of yet another G-wagon parked right next to mine.
"I see you were successful," Chester beams at his friend before turning to me. "You have me to thank for this whole thing by the way. Calvin's too good for you."
"How sweet of you." I hug Chester, planting a kiss on his cheek but he quickly moves his head away as if my lips burn. "Not used to being shown affection I see."
"Not when the devil could kill me for enjoying it," Calvin mumbles, and I scrunch my brows at him. He immediately realizes what he said wrong and starts laughing awkwardly to himself. "You're too beautiful for my ugly face is what I mean," he adds.
Smacking his arm playfully, I laugh. "You don't know how handsome you are, do you? Back in college Manon and I had to fight off so many girls wanting to claim you because they thought one of us was your girlfriend you know?"
Chester rubs the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed by my confession. Such cute innocence. If only I could see his blushes, I'm sure he'd look too cute to handle then. I can tell Manon would be in for a golden retriever boyfriend if she finally manages to confess to him that is.
"Okay, that's enough sugar for you two today. I believe we have marriage matters to discuss in less than a week and a half," Desmond snaps us back to reality with his grumpy tone. As usual, he's the party pooper.
"So, your car or his?" Chester asks and I giggle at how similar the two are. It's almost like they're brothers.
"Actually, our cars are parked next to each other. I still choose my car by the way," I add before sashaying away, leaving Desmond and Chester to whisper at each other as if they're high school girls.
Hot scar is still as stoic as ever when I reach the car but he's too busy staring at his phone to notice me when I stand by the window and peek at his screen. The way I squeal when I see that he's on Pinterest looking at cat videos and pictures has the boys running in my direction and he flinches before hurriedly switching off his phone.
"Oh my god, you love cats? How cute," I smile at him as he leaves his seat to open the door for me.
"What's going on?" Desmond asks once they're near and I giggle happily turning to face him.
"Hot scar likes cats."
"Who's hot scar?"
Oops. I said it out loud. Slowly turning my head to look at hot scar, I'm not surprised to see him staring at me, clearly amused by his new pet name. He quickly adjusts his expression though and it turns stoic once again.
"Name's Tinashe," he says before gesturing for me to enter.
"Who's he?" Desmond asks, glaring at me.
"My grandma's driver, and will you stop glaring at him. That's rude."
"Sorry," Desmond immediately replies, smiling and getting into the car as the realization that I'm starting to treat him the way I did before he ghosted me settles in my mind.
I slightly shake my head to give myself a reality check.
He ghosted you, Leilani. He doesn't deserve your niceness no matter how flustered your heart is at seeing him. Get yourself in check.
"Now let's get down to business," I say once I'm seated, pulling out a notepad from my purse and clearing my throat.
Yes. That's more like it. More business, less nonsense.
"That's it? No long time no see or anything? Not even a hug or kiss like you've been giving Chester since that night whilst I watch?"
I stop rummaging my purse for a pen, turning my head ever so slowly it's good my bones don't creak or this would be horrifying to Desmond's ears, though I'm sure he can feel the tension either way. Chester's in his car by now and Tinashe didn't get inside when he noticed Desmond getting inside—such professionalism.
Once my eyes lock with Desmond's honey brown hues, I have to force myself to maintain my anger. He's that good-looking, enough to make you forget what you were about to say the moment you make eye contact with him. Reminding myself he's an asshole is all I need to do before rage simmers in my skin again though.
"You're the one who left me without any type of notice and now you're acting as if I'm the cold one? Does the asshole mentality run in the family bloodline or are you your brother's apprentice?"
"Lei—"
"Don't Lei me, Desmond. You have no idea what I had to go through after you ditched me back then—not that it's important right now—I finally got over you and that's what matters. Now either we discuss the rules of this game we're about to play or you leave this car and avoid wasting my time."
"It's not what you think, Leilani."
"Rule number one. We don't talk about the past—"
"I didn't fucking ditch you, Leilani! I was dragged away overnight by my family. How else was I supposed to bid you farewell when they took away my phone and I had no chance to talk to you or anyone of my friends at that?!"
The car goes silent. Tinashe glances in my direction looking as though he's ready to fight Desmond for me but I wave my hand at him.
"It's okay," I mumble and he immediately looks away.
Then I turn back to face Desmond, heart thudding in my chest so hard I can hear it in my ears. I don't want to believe what he's saying. It sounds like an excuse but goddamnit I can't stop myself from wanting to trust him a little.
It's this heart. This freaking loose heart with too many strings ready to attach to people I shouldn't be getting attached to despite heartbreaks. Maybe I'm like my mother after all. Stupid, naive, and ignorant. A fucking zombie to this thing called emotions.
Before I know it, I'm looking Desmond in the eyes and getting all sympathetic, but what can I do? His gaze looks so genuine and lord have mercy on me his face looks so hurt as if my ignoring him is more painful than his family doing it. Maybe it's because I feel a kinship with him with the family drama thing. Yeah, that's probably the reason why he gets under my skin so much. I can't seem to act rationally when it comes to him. It's been like that in the past too.
Sighing, I finally give him a listening ear. "Your excuse better be good or else I'm breaking this deal before we even start."