Chapter 45

Chapter 45

The ringing sounds of phone calls haunted us for the rest of the day. We had to communicate with other departments and branches to ask for documents we needed immediately.

"Lauren?" Harper called from her office.

"Yes?" I replied walking towards her.

She motioned for me to sit. I sat timidly.

"Have you talked to Axel yet?"

"Oh, that." I twiddled my thumbs, "Uh, sorry, I haven't yet. I was finishing up some billings."

"Okay," she nodded. "Uh, please tell me when you talk to him. Maybe he can talk Katie out of this. I can't call him directly, you know; I'm too involved in the situation."

"Yeah, I understand. I'll call him later."

She nodded, "Okay. Let me know how it goes?"

"I will."

She stood from her seat; I stood too and took my leave.

Why do I always end up in situations like this?

Why am I always being forced to see him?

God, what did I do wrong? Have I sinned so much that I'm being punished?

By the end of the day, I was staring at my phone on the table – the screen showing Axel's phone number.

"Lauren, aren't you going home yet? We can continue this tomorrow."

I turned to see Cass putting her coat on.

"I'll go in a bit."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you. Take care."

I looked at my phone again.

This is torture.

One more look and I realized I have no choice.

Ugh, I give up. What happens, happens.

I clicked on 'dial'.

It's dialing.

I put it on speaker mode and with every ring, I can hear my heart pounding in my ears.

Please don't pick up. Please don't pick up.

"Hello?"

Damnit.

I raised the phone to my ear, "Hi, this is Lauren."

"I know."

I inhaled a breath, "We need to talk."

There was a pause.

"Okay," he said finally. "Where do you want to meet?"

My eyes closed and my jaw tightened.

Why is it so hard to get rid of him in my life?

I exhaled, "Corrigan's. I'll meet you there at seven."

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Okay," I said then dropped the call before he could put in another word.

"Lauren, you're still here?"

I raised my head and saw Harper approaching the cubicles.

I stood, "Yeah, I just talked to Axel."

"Oh," she walked closer to me. "What did he say?"

"Um, I'll meet with him later to discuss in detail."

She sighed a breath of relief, "That's great news." Her head shook, "Thank you so much for doing this, Lauren. You don't know how much this means to the company; how much this means to me."

I nodded.

"Keep me updated, okay?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Okay then, let's go now."

"Yes. Right." I picked up my stuff and went out of the office with Harper.

I was having second thoughts while I was waiting for a cab outside the building.

How could I face him after everything I've said the last time we spoke?

After I practically told him to get lost, now I call him in for a favor?

You're no better, Lauren.

A taxi stopped in front of me. I entered it straight away. I'm not that dumb to pass up a good cab, especially at this hour.

"Where to, Miss?"

I thought for a second. I could just go straight home, but I remembered how much the agency is in peril because of the lawsuit.

"Corrigan's."

* * *

As I untie my coat belt, I saw Axel sitting alone by the bar with a drink in his hand. He watched the liquid spin with the flick of his wrist before downing its contents.

I walked towards him.

"You're here." His eyes were glassy as he put the glass down.

I nodded. "Can we talk somewhere a little more private?"

"Sure."

He stood and we went to the dark corner – the losers table, if you may, or in places like these, the make-out table; though that would never happen, in this case.

He pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit. I just stared at him.

"I can do that, you know."

"I know," he nodded. "But I wanted to do it anyway." He smiled sadly, "Please."

I shook my head and sat.

He sat on the chair in front of me, "I'm so glad you wanted to talk. I need to tell you something."

I exhaled, "I wanted to talk to you about Katie."

His brows furrowed, "What about Katie?"

"She's suing the agency."

"What?"

I shook my head in dismay, "She's claiming artistic rights to a photo we published about a week ago. I think that was the pressing issue that they were talking about that night in the club. Remember? When they had to go back home suddenly?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I remember." He put a hand on his chin, "About Katie, how is that possible though?"

"I don't know. Apparently, she posted a photo with the same concept five years ago."

"Have you seen the photo?"

I was taken aback for a while. Why haven't we asked that in the meeting?

"I haven't." I shook my head, "I haven't yet. Harper wasn't able to show us. She wanted to keep it under wraps." My voice faded as I struggled to find the reason why I haven't seen the picture.

He's right. It's bizarre that we didn't see it.

"Okay," he nodded, trying to convince himself. "Well, that must be it. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, Harper thinks that maybe you could convince Katie to stop the charges."

His eyes squinted infinitesimally. "She's my ex-girlfriend."

I scoffed. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

I raised my brows and frowned, "Okay."

He laughed humorlessly, "Here we go again, Lauren. I tell you the truth and you don't believe me."

"Oh, um, please don't hold it against me. I just... Hm," I chuckled. "When people break my trust, I tend to not trust them again. That's just me. Don't take it personally."

His jaw tightened.

I smiled.

Oh, I'd love to see you get mad.

"So, what is it you wanted to tell?"

"What?"

"You said you needed to tell me something."

"Oh, that." His eyes wandered, "It's nothing. It can wait."

"Alright. So, can you do it?"

"What?"

"Talk to Katie. I swear to God, it's like you're not even here."

He looked at me, irritated. "I'll try to talk to her. I think I know what she's up to."

"Do I wanna know?"

"No."

"Do I need to know?"

"Maybe."

"Would you tell?"

"No."

"Okay."

He looked at me, eyes traveling from my eyes to my lips then back to my eyes again.

I looked away and cleared my throat, "Now, if there's nothing more you wanted to say, I think I should go."

"Wait," he placed his hand on top of mine.

I looked at our hands then at him.

He pursed his lips then retracted his hand.

"What?"

He exhaled loudly then ran his hand on his hair. "Are you and Dean really together?"

"Seriously, James?"

"Yes," he came forward.

I rested my back on my seat, "Yes. We're together. What's it to you?"

He laughed, "You know what's it to me."

"No, I don't." I challenged.

He squinted, "You're tryna make me say it."

"No, I don't."

He smirked, "I like you, Lauren Harriet Grant, a lot."

"How did you know my middle name?"

"And if you think I would give up to string-bean-Dean, you insult me, dear. I don't fold that easily."

I let out an amused sigh, "You really got some nerve, James. I'll give that to you. Call me when you talk to your nugget Katie." I stood from my seat, "And don't call me 'dear'."

I walked out, leaving his pissed-off face on the table.

What was I thinking? I knew our conversation would end up like this.

I was tying my coat belt when I saw a familiar figure walk out of the club across the street.

"Lauren," Axel's heavy footsteps stopped behind me.

"Shush," I grabbed his arm and dragged him in the shadows.

"What are we looking at?"

He followed my gaze, "Is that Clark?"

I squinted. "With Katie?"

I looked at him, "Wait, how did you know my ex-boyfriend?"

He looked at me, our faces inches away, and cocked his head to the side.

"Right." He had me investigated. I wonder if there's still something he doesn't know about me.

I looked back at the scene before us. "They're getting in a cab," I said, panicked. "Did you bring your car with you?"

"Yes, but –"

"Well, let's follow them."

He opened his mouth to say something, but thought the better, "As you wish." He jogged out of the shadows to his car. I followed him and sat on the passenger seat.

"There," I pointed to the cab they got into. He followed at a reasonable distance.

The cab advanced and we're still going at the same speed.

"We're losing them."

"I can't tail them, Lauren. She knows my car."

"Okay. Then I'll keep an eagle eye." I focused on the cab, trying to get the license plate so we wouldn't lose them.

"5..." I squinted. "K98! That's the plate."

"Okay," he nodded, focused on the road.

My eyes followed the car like a game of shuffling cups.

What are you up to, Clark?

"They turned left."

He was about to turn but the signal light turned red. "Oh," he groaned, slapping the steering wheel.

I stared at the signal light in a puzzle, "What the fuck?" I unbuckled my seatbelt and went out of the car.

"Lauren, wait!"

I jogged to the sidewalk and looked out for the cab.

5K98... 5K98... Where are you?

There.

The distinct sound of a car door closing caught my attention. Axel went out.

"Lauren," he hissed. "Come on."

"Okay," I jogged back to the car. "They're also stopped by a stoplight."

He exhaled, "Good." Then went back inside the car.

I watched the counter as each second passes. Almost there, almost there. 5, 4, 3, 2... "Go, step on it!"

The car roared to life as he drove straight ahead.

"Wait, where are you going? They turned left."

"I know a shortcut."

"Really?" I challenged. "I swear to God if we lose them-"

"We wouldn't lose them, Lauren. Trust me."

"Easy for you to say."

He bit his lip in frustration.

"What are they up to?"

"I don't know. I know as much as you."

I scoffed, "At this point, I don't even know anymore."

"What does that mean?"

I didn't answer.

"What does that mean, Grant?"

"I don't know, what if you're also in on this?"

He groaned, "Here we go again! I don't know anything about this, Lauren. I swear to you."

I raised my brows at him.

He scoffed, "I swear on my life."

"Okay, good enough. I know you love yourself too much."

"Ugh!" he groaned loudly. "Why are we even doing this?"

I watched the road, "Where are we heading?"

"Watch me."

He turned left and then another left and there it is, 5K98.

"Hm," I frowned.

"See." The car slowed to park a car away from them.

My right lip raised, "Gloating doesn't look good on you."

He chuckled with a smirk.

I focused on the cab, waiting for Clark and Katie to go out.

Katie went out first and her eyes scanned the area. Axel and I slouched down in panic.

"She didn't see us, did she?"

"I don't think so," he replied in a whisper.

When we heard the car door shut, we slowly rose to see what was happening. They went inside the apartment in front of them.

I let out a breath I was holding.

"What now?" he asked.

"Now we wait."

He chuckled heartily, "A stakeout with Lauren Grant. Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

"You know what, you can leave me here," my hand touched the car door handle to open.

"Don't!" he touched my arm.

I looked at his hand. His touch was both ice and fire – it'll burn you both ways.

"Don't," his voice faltered and his hand slipped away. He cleared his throat, "It's late. I can't let you wander in these streets alone."

I nodded, in absence of any more sensible thing to say.

He was quiet for a minute as I kept a keen eye on the door.

"What do you think they're doing?" he asked.

"I haven't a clue. Clark called me a few weeks ago,"

"What did he say?"

My lip formed a frown as I shook my head. "He said he wanted to meet. I basically told him to fuck off."

His lips curved upwards in a smirk. I ignored it.

"How about you? What do you think Katie is up to? Is she suing the agency because of me? Because we went out on a few dates? If that's the case, please, tell her I'm not a threat. I'm not interested in you."

His expression turned sour. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. And I have a boyfriend, so..." I shrugged.

His lips formed a line and his jaw tightened. "Is Dean really your boyfriend?"

"Yes, I already told you."

His forehead scrunched, "Is he your boy friend or boyfriend?"

I made a face, "What? I can't hear any difference."

He cocked his head to the side looking dismayed. He was about to move closer when I saw movements from the building.

I stepped out of the car.

"Grant!" I heard him hiss as I closed the car door.

I moved near the windows to see what's happening. I can't just wait in the car with Axel and not get anything out of this.

I ducked my head further, careful to not be seen.

I gasped when I hit a body next to me.

"What are you doing, James? You scared me."

"Shhh, I have to look too." His neck strained as he tried to get a better angle.

I ignored him and put my fingers on the window sill to be more stable.

"We can't be seen in public, Clark," Katie warned. "Or else our plans would be over." she sipped champagne.

What plans?

"Alright, I understand. But you're taking too long. You said I'd have Lauren back."

Her forehead creased, "Too long?" she stood, placing her glass on a lamp table, and moved towards Clark.

"You just finished antedating; you want instant results?"

"Antedating?" I whispered.

"What's that?" Katie's head moved towards the window.

I ducked and Axel grabbed me to move away. He held me close as we hid next to the window.

Katie unlatched the window, getting dangerously close.

What would she do if she saw us?

Axel's hand covered my mouth as my breath came in shallows.

I heard the creak of the window as she slowly slid it up, but halfway through, the sound of glass hitting stone reverberated in the small salon.

"What in the hell, Clark?" she shut the window down.

Axel's hand slowly freed my mouth as I moved away from being pressed up against his body. I moved next to him.

"It was an accident."

"No wonder Lauren left you."

"At least I'm not the psycho who was left by her boyfriend."

"Don't you dare," her voice was as cold as ice.

A few seconds have passed and not another word was said. I looked at Axel confused, he just shrugged. Useless.

I moved closer to the window, but he grabbed me by the arm. "What?" I mouthed.

"Do you want them to catch you?" he whispered.

Before I could say anything, I heard Katie's voice from the inside. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is for our plan to work. I know Axel is going to want to talk to me after he learns of the lawsuit. I bet Lauren already talked to him. They're so predictable. I would give him a choice – drive Lauren out of MGC or MGC will shut down. Either way, we win. Then all the other companies in New York wouldn't accept Lauren anymore that she would have to go back to North Carolina."

"And she would be mine again."

"Precisely. So don't be impatient, and trust my strategy."

I was sticking out my ear to hear more but they were silent for a while until the doorknob turned and Katie's stiletto hit the steps.

Shit.

I turned to run but it was too late. Axel backed me up against the wall, his arm raised to cover our faces.

"I'm gonna kiss you."

"What?"

Then kissed me square in the mouth.

My eyes bulged but when I saw Katie glance at us, I immediately closed them.

"Ugh, cheap people making out in the dark. Don't fornicate in public, losers." She remarked and soon I heard a car door close.

I sneaked a peek to see Katie and Clark drive away in a cab.

I pushed Axel away.

"They're gone."

He was catching his breath from the kiss, but I soon realized that he was actually wheezing.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What did you eat?" he struggled to say.

"Mushroom soup?"

"I'm allergic to mushrooms."

"What?" I almost screamed.

His face is getting redder by the second and his breathing more and more erratic.

"Oh my God, give me your keys. Let's get you to the hospital."