Chapter 261

Elena “Hi, sir!” I smiled at Cyrus Schmidt as I entered the law firm. He was one of the best lawyers in the city an not to forget, Victoria’s father.

He was a well-respected man and had even been my professor at one point. “Elena, what are you doing here?” Cyrus spoke, confused. He knew exactly what I was doing here. He was a workaholic and had been pushing Victoria to the fullest. I knew he saw me as a distraction, but I didn’t care.

There was much more important stuff to worry about other than his feelings.

Such as a criminal having the nerve to ask me out on a date.

Was it even a date?

“I came here to visit Victoria,” I told him. Being kind and supportive was part of Cyrus’s big act, so I knew he wouldn’t deny me. I knew what kind of monster he was, and it was all due to Victoria’s stories. The only flaw in her fabulous life was her dad.

“Oh.” Cyrus spoke while the sides of his lips trembled. “Of course, go and have fun-she’s in her office.” “Thank you, sir!” I spoke as I turned around. “Bitch,” I muttered under my breath while I made my way to Victoria’s office. I had no time to knock, so I did what I had to do and burst through the door.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with you?” Victoria laughed as she leaned back in her chair with a glass of red wine in her hands. “A lot, but first-give me that!” I pointed to her glass.

I sat down on the chair and pulled her glass out of her hand to finish it. “Hey!” Victoria frowned.

“What do you think you’re doing.”

“Drinking, and you better pour yourself another glass because you’re not prepared for what I’m about to tell you.”

Victoria eyed me suspiciously and leaned forward as she waited for my explanation. “Are you pregnant?”

“What? No!” I scoffed. “It’s so much worse than that!”

“You think being pregnant is bad?” Victoria commented. “That’s rough.”

I slammed my hands on her desk and her in the eyes. If she thought that was rough, I had another thing coming for her. “Do you remember that prison pen pal from a few weeks back?”

I could tell by the look on Victoria’s face that she did not like where this was going, and neither did I because it seemed crazy to actually say it out loud. “Yes?”

Her threatening eyes were staring straight into mine, and it made me feel insecure. Pretty perfect Victoria wouldn’t do something stupid like that. “We’ve been sending emails back and forth and-”

“Elena,” Victoria sighed, disappointed. “I told you to let it drop. Why can’t you just ever listen?”

I lowered my head as I took in Tori’s words. This was not the first time it had gone like this. It seemed to be some habit of ours. I would screw things up, while Victoria would put me straight. “Do your dad and brother know about this?”

“No,” I whispered. Her reaction was pretty worrisome, considering I hadn’t even told her the whole story. “You are so lucky his ass is stuck in prison because we all know how stuff like that ends.”

Victoria laughed hysterically. She slammed her hand on her desk while she let out giggles and waited for me to join her, but I never did.

“No.” Victoria gasped once the realization had finally hit her. “Don’t tell me…”

“Yes, I nodded my head. “Don’t ask me how, but yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Victoria opened her mouth to say something, only to close it a second later as she went into deep thoughts. I was waiting for Victoria’s solution, she always had one.

I searched for the email and handed her my phone without saying another word. There was nothing left to say. I felt embarrassed, but she probably already knew that. “S-so what do you think?” I asked with a hopeful expression on my face. Victoria read the email and let out a deep breath while she shook her head in disbelief.

“I think you got yourself fucked up.”

Well, this wasn’t going anywhere.

“W-what?” I stuttered, surprised. Those were the last words I had expected to hear from her mouth, but she wasn’t wrong. I was screwed.

“This Marvin guy seems to be really into you, and that’s an issue,” Tori spoke.

“I know, we’re in so much trouble!”

“You.” Tori chuckled. “You are in trouble, don’t try to turn this on me.”

It was funny of her to pretend as if she didn’t brought me into this mess in the first place. I was literally minding my own business until she decided to make up that stupid bet. “You’re the one who encouraged me to do it!”

“You’re the one who went through with it!” Tori called me out. I was lost for words because she was actually correct. No one held me at gunpoint, and it was my own decision.

“So now what? Cant, you give him a restraining order?” I requested while Tori snickered at my comment. “Who the hell do you think I look like? The police?”

“Good point.” I noted at my dumb request. I guess my chances of protection would be slightly higher if I told my dad what kind of mess I got myself into.

I stared at Tori, who still had my phone in her hands and had a big smile on her face. “What are you “Reading through all those emails, of course,” Tori admitted shamelessly with a grin on her lips.

“He’s funny.” She laughed, while I couldn’t help but laugh along. I had to give it to him, he was funny. “He is.” “You know.” Tori began. “He doesn’t seem all that bad, and people do deserve second chances.”

me, I was shocked to hear this type of response from Tori’s mouth. Even though she had a lot to say about she was known to do everything according to the books and not forget her dad’s puppet. If Mr. Schmidt would’ve known what kind of stunt I had pulled, he would’ve forbidden her from hanging out with me in a second.

Tori’s words were comforting, and I was finally able to breathe again. See, I was overreacting. If even Tori was okay with it, what was there to freak out over?

“What does he look like again?” Tori wondered. “Look at the attachments,” I instructed her. Tori giggled as she went through Marvin’s pictures. “He looks hot and kind of familiar, don’t you think?”

Tori turned around my phone to take another look at the picture, but I found myself drooling instead.

Who even cared about this guy’s occupation? He looked hot.

He was probably some local drug dealer, nothing to worry about.

I cringed at my unacceptable thoughts and mentally punched myself. He was a criminal.

“He looks like a snack, so if you won’t take him, I will.” Tori shrugged. It seemed as if my best friend had some issues herself. “Are you serious?”

“Obviously.”

I looked into Tori’s eyes and waited for her to put me straight, but she never did. She truly believed he had changed and wanted me to give this man a chance. “So I should…meet up with him?”

Tori took a deep breath. “Elena, look at the messages between the two of you.” She smiled.

I had been looking at the messages, and that was the thing that had scared me the most. I felt so comfortable around the guy, and I hadn’t even met him yet. Perhaps I felt comfortable because I knew he was behind bars, but that didn’t matter anymore.

“I know.” I sighed. Tori reached her hand over the table, so she could hold mine and look at me with a sympathetic smile. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for this guy.”

“I can’t,” I spoke immediately. My feelings were all over the place, and I did not know what to do.

Maybe I wanted to meet him. Perhaps I knew this was wrong and was waiting for Tori to talk me out of it.

“He’s just so different from what I expected him to be, and he has this strange ability to make me laugh. and you know I barely laugh.” I smiled as I thought about his confident personality and his unexpected charms.

“True.” Victoria agreed. “Listen, maybe you should give him a chance.”

Give him a chance. It was easier said than done.

“Victoria, what if tries to kidnap me?” I whispered as if someone could hear us. This conversation ended up going differently than I had expected.

“Then I’ll know where to find you,” Tori reassured me. “To be honest, this Marvin guy seems like a changed man, and by the looks of it, he’s been cleared of all charges and is completely innocent.”

“You think?” I frowned. Tori rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. “Well shit, I don’t know!”

+5 Bonus “I don’t know either!” I spoke, stressed. She wasn’t making it easier for me. “Tori, do you really think I should do it?”

“You should.” Tori nodded. “I mean, the decision is yours-but if I were you, I would definitely do it.”

Tori’s reaction was positive, and that gave me hope. If she, out of all people, could see the good in him, so could I. I really enjoyed talking to Marvin and did not want to lose him as a friend. He probably felt the same way, and that’s why he felt the need to meet me in person. “I’ll go.”

“Nice!” Tori clapped her hands. “So Saturday, the Vermont Street Bridge at 12 PM.” She smiled as she handed me my phone.

“I guess so,” I huffed. I felt confused and could hardly believe it myself, but I was really about to do this. “That’s one day before the wedding I told you about.” I shared with Tori.

“That’s right!” Tori gasped. “I forgot all about the wedding. It must be so exciting to run behind Rona’s ass all day!” She shared her unwanted opinion. “You practically saved that cocktail bar from complete disaster, while all she does is sit on that lazy ass and—“

“Tori!” I interrupted her. “You’re going off-topic!”

“Oh, right.” She spoke, embarrassed. I knew she had a lot to say about Rona, but I enjoyed my job.

I got acknowledged for my recipes, and I loved the attention, so that was enough for now.

“I feel so bad for you. You must have your hands full.” Tori spoke. “First, you’re meeting Marvin and the next day you have that wedding.

It was nice of her to worry about me, but the wedding would be a piece of cake. Meeting Marvin and bartending at a wedding were two different things and not even comparable.

“Well, the good thing is that I won’t be seeing Marvin at that wedding-so the wedding is the least of my concerns.”