Chapter 78: Valentine's Day II
Manny told us he had left a love letter for a girl, but some kid falsely claimed it as his own. Jay just grumbled, saying it was kid stuff.
I ended up letting them sort it out and went to pick up Summer.
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Summer and Marissa were crying.
"Are you two okay?" I murmured.
Summer, who was clinging to me, just nodded.
"Yeah, it's just really sad," Marissa said between sobs. "I'm emotionally stable," she affirmed to me.
"Uhum, I'm seeing that," I spoke with a hint of sarcasm, earning a pinch from Summer.
I grabbed the Coke straw I wasn't using anymore and tapped Alex on the nose. She had fallen asleep leaning on Marissa.
She woke up annoyed. "I'm gonna kick your ass, Jake," she ruffed, receiving a "shhh" from the people behind us.
We were watching A Walk to Remember at the theater.
When it ended, we were the last ones to leave the theater.
"You two are so insensitive," Summer made a face at me and Alex.
I retorted, "Hey, at least I watched the whole movie. I wasn't a sleep dude like this one here," I pointed at Alex.
"I worked the entire night yesterday," she defended herself. "I know it wasn't the best way to start Valentine's Day, but I'll make it up to you, Marissa" Alex added.
"Wow, I didn't think you'd be the whipped one, Miss Kelly," I mocked.
She tried to hit me, but I blocked it. "Ha, I'm becoming good at this, with women trying to hit me time to time. And I don't know why."
Summer glared, "You don't know why? Mister Sass King?"
Marissa started laughing, "That is a good one, Summer. Sass King! We should start calling Jake that."
"Oh yeah? Miss Teen Drama, Miss Eww, and Miss Hot Lumberjack," I called Marissa, Summer, and Alex respectively.
"Eww? EWW? Jake, I swear to God-" Summer exclaimed.
"She's powering up," I laughed while hugging Summer.
She kept trying to playfully bite me.
When we arrived at the parking lot (Marissa and Alex had come by taxi), both of them were surprised.
"Did you trade your Ferrari?" Alex gave my new car a good look.
"No! I don't plan on selling the M575 ever, he was my first," I stated.
Marissa was impressed, "You bought another car? You have three now?"
"Yes, the Porsche Cayenne is the most comfortable if we need to travel as a group, so I'm not selling it either. And Gloria borrows it all the time," I commented.
Summer was thoughtful. "Two Ferraris and a Porsche. It's incredible no one is throwing panties at you," she twisted her mouth.
"You're not counting you, right?" I flirted, whispering in her ear.
She let out a melodic laugh and lightly ran her hand over my abdomen.
Alex ended up interrupting us. "How did you get the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Jake?"
"Buying… it?" I smirked.
"You know what I mean. It's supposed to be delivered only in the middle of the year, and in Europe first," Alex narrowed her eyes.
"Money and connections, that's all that matters, Alex," I replied.
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We went to have lunch at 1 Pico, at Shutters on the Beach.
The waiters politely handed us the menus. "We are at your service, Mr. Pritchett."
"Just call me Jake, and I'll have the mac and cheese," I ordered.
"Mac and cheese??" Summer stared at me in disbelief.
Marissa made the same face, while Alex ordered the same thing.
After a while, the food arrived.
"I can't believe you ordered mac and cheese at one of the fanciest restaurants in L.A.," Summer kept murmuring.
"What? I think it's good," I said, poking it with my fork. "And this one is really on another level. Besides, I hate the idea of eating like a pigeon," I mocked their tiny plates.
"Why did you bring us here then?" Alex asked.
"I got the invitation, the food is good, and it has a nice view," I explained, looking at the beach through the window.
Marissa grew curious. "Who gave them to you?"
"Mr. Paul Allen. He got interested in some 2D material discoveries my team made. We became acquaintances," I revealed.
Microsoft had also invested a good amount of money in the Moore-Pritchett 2D research. With them, we now have three giants enterprises pouring money into our complex.
All three of them just stared at me, not knowing who Allen was. Probably only Seth would freak out.
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"Romance movie in the morning, fancy lunch, and now shopping," I listed our day. "Pretty eclectic Valentine's Day."
Summer gave me a spoonful of her ice cream, but before I could eat it, the escalator suddenly stopped.
"Looks like something happened up there," Alex commented, trying to get a better look.
We started walking up.
When we reached the top, I exclaimed, "Claire? Phil?"
"Oh great," I heard Claire murmur before she looked at us. "Jake, girls…" she greeted us with a strained smile.
Marissa asked, "Mrs. Dunphy, is your coat stuck?"
"It is. It really is," Claire confirmed. "It's in there pretty darn good," she stated again, trying to pull her jacket free, but it was firmly snagged in the escalator.
This time Summer spoke, "Why don't you… take it off?"
"Um, I'm freezing cold," Claire answered.
I narrowed my eyes. From Claire's defensive posture, and that strangely answer (It's cold, but not to the point where you can't take it off), don't tell me she is… naked.
"Hey Alex, do you have a pocketknife?"
"Sure," she handed it to me, surprising the others.
"You can go ahead, once I cut this, I'll catch up with you," I motioned.
Seeing how weird the situation looked, Summer nodded and pulled the girls with her.
"Clive Bixby," I read the tag on the jacket Phil was wearing, "care to do the honors?" I handed him the knife.
I smirked at Claire. "Exhibitionist and roleplay. It'll be a long time before you can lecture me again."
Claire made a mix of faces but ended up saying, "Thank you, Jake."
"Don't worry, I don't judge others' monkey business," I grinned again, just to annoy her.
But I'm happy for both of them. Claire and Phil are my favorite couple after Gloria and Jay.
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