Falling For The Playboy

EVA.

Where are you?

The text from Axel popped into my phone and I didn’t even pretend to ignore it.

At home. Why?

We’re supposed to pick Omar up. Did you forget?

Oh.

I have to remind you that we’re picking your best friend up today? Really, Eva? I thought he was the one that got drunk.

I narrowed my eyes at the screen. So he was back to his usual infuriating self. I should have known that the last night version of him wouldn’t last long.

I thought I was going alone.

When he’d said ‘we’ yesterday, I hadn’t thought he meant it literally. I was shocked he was even helping at all.

You thought wrong.

The bubbles showed that he was still typing. In curiosity, I clicked on his profile. He had one new post. He was dressed as he had to the party so he’d definitely taken the pictures last night but the house in the background was different. Maybe he’d snapped them at his house.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

I squinted, pinching on the picture, trying to zoom in so I could see the house clearly, but it was all blurry. I gave up, going back to our chat to reply his message.

When are we going?

I noticed how he put the ‘we’. I’d never met a more relentless person. He could be quite unstoppable when he wanted to have his way.

I was thinking maybe an hour or two from now.

Okay, I was lying. That was what I told myself an hour ago when we came back from service. The truth was, I dreaded ordering a ride to the hotel. I’d entered the app several times and exited again, unable to make up my mind. Sitting in a car alone with someone I didn’t know would be so uncomfortable for me to bear. And what if they decided to strike up conversation? Dear God.

Maybe Axel going with me wasn’t really a bad idea.

Why? Are you busy now?

His quick replies baffled me. Was he truly that jobless? I barely pressed send on the texts before he replied back. It was like he gave all his attention to me when we texted. But just as easily, he could also be like that with everyone else he chatted with. Right.

Yes. I’m reading.

Shelve the books. We’re going now.

So annoying. Who did he think he was to order me around?

I said in an hour’s time.

His reply had my eyes widening.

Tough shit. I’m already at your gate.

Tell me you’re joking.

But he wasn’t. He wasn’t at all. I knew the crazy boy well enough to know that he was currently parked in front of the estate, not-so-patiently waiting for me. I could just picture him sitting back in his car, obstructing every other person wanting to come in, one hand thrown carelessly on the steering wheel and the other holding his phone as he texted me, with a nonchalant look on his face. And why did I picture him chewing a gum?

I wanted to yell at him, curse him out for being so annoying, but I couldn’t do that over text. Adrenaline fueled me as I hopped off my bed, marching over to my closet and flinging it open. I shoved my hand in, blindly picking out joggers and a hoodie. I didn’t even have to search; they were almost all I had in there.

I heard the ping that told me he’d replied back, but I didn’t care. Shoving my feet into oversized slides -which I would later regret, mind you-, I grabbed my phone, my tiny black wallet, and stormed downstairs. Mr and Mrs Lawson were rarely home lately and other than me, there had been no one else in the house. Everyone left after they changed from their church wears.

I’d never seen Zoe walk with anyone at school or even be visited by anyone so I didn’t really know where she spent all her free time. Probably at Dexter’s. And I could guess Abi had gone to see Laura or some other person from her study group. Yes, she had a study group. I’d wanted to join, but they interacted a lot, so no.

Laura and I had not been able to talk about where I went that night and I knew she must have been worried so I’d called her several times but her number wouldn’t connect. I figured I would see her in school tomorrow after all.

As I stormed down between the row of trees just outside our compound, I caught sight of Axel’s car in the distance. It gleamed under the afternoon sun, shiny and luxurious.

1-4-7-1

I recited the code in my head as I typed it into the pad. I did that every time. I always felt like I would forget it one day and get stuck. It was always a relief to see the gate sliding open.

Axel’s car was tinted everywhere so I couldn’t see his reaction as I marched straight to his door and pulled it open. “You’re such an asshole. Do you know that? ”

I hadn’t used the word ‘asshole’ before, but it seemed fitting now. I didn’t even have to think about what to tell him, the words just poured out of me.

His eyes widened in shock and he actually drew his head back, looking marginally scared at my outburst. “Well, if I didn’t before, I do now. ”

“And you’re so bloody annoying. What the hell is your problem? ”

“I don’t really know for certain. ” his eye darted between mine and he seemed to be measuring his words carefully. “Can you get in the car, Cg? ”

Again with the smart-ass replies!

“Stop telling me what to do! ” he shifted farther away from me. “You. Do. Not. Have. The. Right. To. Do. That. Do you understand me? ”

He seemed to have gone into a trance so I snapped my fingers in his face, leaning into the car and closer to him. “Yes or no? ”

“Yes, ma’am. ”

As I turned to leave, I heard him mutter, “Although for the record, I asked a question. I didn’t order you. ”

My head whipped around and I glared at him. He instantly mimed pulling an invisible zipper over his lips. I didn’t relent in my glare even then, because I needed him to understand just how serious I was. I didn’t appreciate being ordered around. Especially by him. When he didn’t say anything, I assumed that he had finally gotten the memo.

With that cleared, I felt better all of a sudden. I took a step back as I closed his door, breathed in deep, then rounded the car to get in on the passenger’s side. I felt better. I really did.

Silence wrapped around us like a thick blanket. It wasn’t quite comfortable -mostly on his end; he was shifting around in his seat, fidgeting with the car stereo, but I was okay with it. Loud music filled the car suddenly and he hurried to reduce the volume. “Shit. Sorry. ”

When he wanted to reverse, he didn’t drive backwards until he reached the tarred road. Instead, he climbed right on top of the high carpet grass, causing the car to tilt, and almost hitting the tree before he stopped, then he turned the wheel, now reversed. We were on level ground again.

I gazed at him in puzzlement, wondering how he could be so….. rough. How did he work? What went on inside his head?

“How did you and Omar meet? ”

He just couldn’t stay silent, could he? Well, I guess that was the difference between us, while I could keep my questions to myself, he couldn’t.

I should have known he was going to ask sooner or later. It wasn’t a secret that I was adopted. He knew it was only my first month living in this state, yet I’d told him that Omar and I had been friends for a long time. Being the curious person that he was, he was bound to ask questions.

But I hadn’t talked about my time at the orphanage with anyone. Not that they’d tried to ask. I’d always assumed they could care less, although sometimes when Abi introduced me to new things, I caught a question or two in her eyes, but she never voiced them.

“I’m surprised you’re taking your time to come with me. Especially with how you reacted yesterday. ” I studiously changed the topic and surprisingly, he followed through.

“What? You think I’m going to miss the verbal ass beating you’re going to give him for his massive fuck up? ” When I didn’t say anything, he took his eyes off the road, glancing at me. “You are going to give him a verbal ass beating, right? ”

“Why would I? ”

“Why would you give him an ass beating for getting drunk, spilling his guts on the dance floor –literally, for everybody to see, possibly ruining your reputation and making you go through the stress of dealing with him alone if I hadn’t been there when it was pretty late, mind you and you were wearing that dress? ” sarcasm dripped from his every word. “No. Really. Why would you? ”

So he noticed my dress after all. He hadn’t said anything about it yesterday.