Chapter 8 Dress nice

Elena's POV

"If you were to ask me, there are many ways, many reasons I think this wouldn't work. But..." Layla stopped to shrug. "How bad can the consequences be? Worse come to worse, you'll ditch the guy and leave the country again this for a few years for him to calm down."

I smiled, nodding my head. "Or better, I could make him fall in love with me, and he would just forgive me."

Layla raised one of her brows at me and I giggled.

"Okay, making him fall in love with me is too big of a deal...but trust me when I say this, after I leave it would be hard for  Noah Reynolds to forget me."

This was going to be one of my biggest jobs yet, and I was going to pull it off like I always did. Nothing was going to stop me.

Layla and I chatted for a few more hours, catching up with each other on things we missed in each other's lives and before I knew it, it was past 9.

I needed to go back to the hotel I was lodged at.

"Why common? You can just stay here, this house is big enough for both of us..." Layla paused to look around the house before her eyes returned to me. "... And more." She added and I giggled.

Of course, I wanted to stay here.

I missed the good old days so much.

But I couldn't, not now anyways.

My luggage was still at the hotel and there were still things I had to settle before I could live comfortably.

"I'm sorry; maybe after I've gotten on stable ground with this Reynolds guy," I said calmly getting up from my chair.

Layla got up with a pout.

"Fine then. You're out dating... Scratch that, fake dating..." She changed her words, and I instantly glared at her, which made her giggle. "...fake dating one of the hottest guys in the entire country while I'm here just doing nothing, watching you enjoy yourself. Okay." Her words were sarcastic, that was obvious but I didn't mind.

She knew the dangers I was facing by lying to Noah Reynolds, but I needed a win.

After my three years of conflicts, I was looked down upon by my fellow con people; nobody believed in Elena Vasquez anymore. The girl who was so good at conning that she even got an award.

My name was on the line.

If the other guys found out that I was able to con the almighty Noah Reynolds, not only would I get my name back I would be their fucking queen.

Everybody would look up to me.

That... That was what I wanted.

After leaving Layla's huge house, I hailed a cab and returned back to my hotel.

The familiar darkness of the room greeted me as soon as I opened the door.

Everything was just the way I left it.

"Ouch...today was a long day." I groaned taking off my sneakers.

I was still dressed in my not-so-wealthy way... The exact same way Noah saw me hours ago.

As the memories flooded back to me, my face flushed a deep pink.

He didn't look at all impressed with me at all. Even back at the bar, he barely looked at me, and most of the times he did, it wasn't with lust or an eye that said, 'This woman is gorgeous'...which I was duh... But no, he was just amused.

"Aish... And I thought I understood men."

Taking off my clothes, I turned on the light and went into my bathroom to shower.

They mostly always wanted the same thing, sex, and care.

Those two things I couldn't give.

Yeah, I wasn't a virgin... How could I be when I con people for a living? But I didn't readily just give my body out to people, and I didn't care, not really, anyway.

Throughout my entire bath, all I could think about was Noah.

How dare he look at me like that?

I wasn't wearing make-up, but I wasn't ugly.

I knew I wasn't ugly. Was he regretting meeting me? Did he want to cut off the arrangement?

But then again, I wasn't part of the arrangement so there was no way I would know.

Maybe he was talking to the girls' parents right now, telling them about how terrible their daughters' behavior was.

And what if the girl suddenly comes out and says...'That wasn't me, I've never met you before.'

Would that be the end? My heart began to race.

What would happen next?

That man was rich enough to destroy me!

Fuck!!!

"Damn this guy." I groaned, coming out of the bathroom. He was making me rethink my choices in life.

Shutting my eyes I took in a deep breath, patting my face gently with my hands.

"Stop this Elena."

"The guy isn't here right now, and it would probably be a long time before you guys would even meet again, so just relax."

Relax...yeah, I was just going to re...

"Ring!"

My phone suddenly buzzed bolting me out of my comfort zone.

I glared at the phone for a few seconds.

It rang for a while before it stopped.

Heaving a sigh, I returned to my previous position, with my eyes closed breathing in.

"Yeah Elena, you might probably not hear from him in..."

"Ring!" The phone rang again.

This time, I stood up immediately, picking up the phone from the bed where it was and answering it instantly without even glancing at the caller ID.

"Who the hell is it?" I asked, the irritation clearly evident from my tone.

I was expecting a sharp bark as an answer, or well... Any answer, but instead, I got silence. Confused, I glanced at the caller ID.

Private number.

Who did I know that would call me with a private number? Or who knew me who had a private number?

My brows knitted together as I brought the phone back to my ears "Hello?"

"You can't just prank call someone just like that, what if..."

"What if what?" A cold, deep voice came from the other side of the phone, interrupting me.

The voice sounded familiar.

Too familiar.

My eyes and my mouth widened slowly as it dawned on me who was calling me.

"Mr. Mysterious, I mean Mr Reynolds... What do I owe this midnight call?" I almost facepalmed myself as soon as the mysterious slipped out of my mouth.

Shit...

Please don't let him notice. I prayed inwardly.

Maybe he noticed, maybe he didn't... But surprisingly, he didn't push it.

"You should be sure of the person on the phone before you haul out swear words at them."

And next time you call someone, you shouldn't take too long before stating the reason you called so they wouldn't 'haul out swear words' at you!

I wanted to retort, but I couldn't.

Two reasons: one, I was the first person to speak, and I didn't wait to realize who it was before swearing, and two... He could get mad, and that would be bad for me.

"I'm sorry," I said instead, biting down on my lips so it would sound apologetic. "May I ask, what's the reason for this unexpected call?"

"Come over to my place tomorrow, around 9. Apparently, since we would be engaged soon, we are supposed to spend a lot of time together."

What?

I blinked twice as my body froze.

Just when I was starting to get calm that I wouldn't have to see him for the next couple of days he just had to come in like the devil he was and dash that hope.

Now I was going to see him tomorrow!

"Also, dress nice...not the way I saw you today."

How dare he criticize my dressing like that?!

Dress nice?! How did I dress then? Terrible? Oh...fine then. I bit down on my lips harder to stop the words from actually leaving my mouth.

If only I didn't need him.

"Are we clear?" His voice came again.

Could I say no?

I closed my eyes in defeat.

"Yeah, we're clear. See you tomorrow then..." Before the words could land, I heard three beeps.

He cut it.

Nice.

"Sorry, Elena, but you have to get your entire acting on tomorrow; you can't lose this dude," I warned myself as I fell to my bed.

Fuck!