"Forget the plan."

Lee jumped at the sound of my voice, clearly startled by my outburst. He turned to look at, placing a hand over his chest. "Henley, you scared me."

My phone vibrated in my hand for the thousandth time and I clenched it, resisting the urge to hurl it across the room. "I know you want my help, but I think Bennett is perfectly content with how things are. I highly doubt I'll be a motivating factor for him to want to change anything in his life."

He studied my face for a moment, eyebrows knitting in concern. "Are you okay? What wrong?"

"Everyone is wrong. All I hear from them is how much Bennett cares about me. But if he cares so much about me, why break up with me just because his mom said so?"

"There's more to it—"

"I tried to be understanding. I know his reasons. But the more he leaves me out, the harder it is. Why should I wait for him? Why do I have to watch him with some other woman and remain silent? Why is it on me to understand how he feels? Is he trying to understand me? He's decided he can't be with me, but he still cares about me, so I have to be the one to wait for him? And that's only if he ever gets any ounce of courage to ever go against his mother. Which, newsflash, that's unlikely, because—"

Lee placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a soft look, and effectively silencing me. My chest rose and fell rapidly and I felt embarrassed for getting so worked up in front of him. "I'm sorry, Henley. You have every right to feel that way. It seems I myself might have asked you to consider his feelings before your own. And I've been very selfish."

A coil of guilt wrapped around my gut and I stared at the floor. I hadn't meant to make him feel bad. Lee didn't have anything to do with this. In fact, he was trying to help both Bennett and myself, not just Bennett.

"Let's go then."

I blinked at him. "Huh?"

Lee stood from the kitchen table, checking his watch. "My mother should still be at the office. Shall we go pay her a visit?"

"What?"

"This wasn't part of my original plan, but I can't let you go around getting hurt for the sake of my brother and myself. I can't apologize for what Bennett is doing... but I can give him a chance to apologize. Sitting here and planning is only getting us to run in circles."

"What do you mean? Where are you going?"

Lee passed me, exiting the kitchen and I followed him to the front door, where he paused to slip on his shoes. "I just told you. We're going to talk to my mother."

Not only did my heart fell into my stomach, but I think I pretty much collapsed in on myself. I grasped onto Lee, shaking my head furiously. "W-woah, woah. We are not going to see Mrs. Calloway!"

"Yes," was his simple response and he put his arm around my shoulder, guiding me to the door.

"I am the last person she wants to see."

"And I'm the one she wants to see the most. We'll make a great pair, won't we?"

I stood there motionlessly as he dug my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the doors to my car, ushering me into the driver's seat. After climbing into the passenger's seat, he stuck the keys in the ignition and twisted them. I attempted to shut the car back off but he batted my hand away.

"Henley," he said, lips pulling into a deep frown.

"What are we going to get out of doing this?"

"A step forward. I told you already I plan on taking down my mother, but there was only so much information I could get while being so far away. Things will move faster if I can get back into the company. One thing is all we need. One thing to convince the board to terminate my mother."

"Like kill her?!"

"No... fire her." He gave me a quizzical look.

"Yes that does make more sense doesn't it, ha ha..."

"You're quite cute."

I blushed a little. "What do you plan on doing once we get there?"

"I'm going to meet with my mother. I have no doubt she'll try sending me back to California immediately, but she doesn't have the same hold over me as she used to. And I'm not afraid to let her know that."

"How will this help Bennett? He seemed pretty startled by your sudden appearance the other night."

"You'll find out. Bennett will get over it."

Get over what? When Lee didn't elaborate, I decided not to question it. He clearly had some kind of plan. I just needed to make sure I wasn't getting in the way. Which didn't seem possible, since he was dragging me with him for some reason. Just imagining the look on her face when she caught sight of me made me cringe and clutch the steering wheel tighter.

By the time I parked at the hotel, the nerves had gotten the best of me and my hands were shaking. While climbing out of the car, I realized I was still wearing the jeans I wore to work and a stretched out t-shirt. Stopping dead, I gaped at Lee. He tilted his head to the side. "What's with that expression?"

"My clothes! They're awful!"

"What? There's nothing wrong with them."

"I can't see your mother while looking like this, I'm not going in, and she'll just tear me down—"

"Hey," Lee interjected, "you look fine. Seriously. What, you think you're less of a person than her just because you're not wearing Louis Vuitton? Don't think like that Henley. You're absolutely perfect the way you are."

I closed my mouth, gripping the tops of my thighs. Lee really was something else. Now I felt embarrassed for a completely different reason. Lee smiled and gestured to himself and I realized he was in a pair of ripped jeans himself and while his shirt was in a better condition than mine, it was still wrinkled from a day of wear.

"See?"

I nodded, keeping my eyes glued to the pavement. "Geez, I must look like the most self-conscious person on the Earth."

"You'd have to beat me out for that title."

"You?"

"We all have our insecurities. We can't let other people make more of them for us."

I looked up to see him smiling handsomely at me. "You're pretty good with words, aren't you?"

"It's because I'm a walking thesaurus," he said with a laugh, gesturing me to follow him to the front door of the hotel.

Still a little apprehensive, I followed him, trying to mentally prepare myself. No matter what Mrs. Calloway said, I wouldn't let it get to me. I just hoped I could bite my tongue and not retaliate.

As it was my first time being in one of the flagship hotels, I couldn't help but be impressed. The design was elegant and classy, white marble everywhere and high ceilings, leaving an open feeling. I didn't have a long time to marvel at it because Lee headed straight to the elevators, ignoring the shocked face of the desk clerk, who couldn't keep her eyes off him and nudged the other desk clerk, whispering something frantic to her.

"Do the employees know who you are?" I asked Lee when the elevator doors closed.

"I tried to make my rounds and greet the employees and check on them, make sure they were okay and didn't have any questions, so I'm assuming most would remember me. It hasn't been that long. We have a very high employee retention as long as my mother doesn't get to them and we try very hard not to let her get to them."

"I'd quit if your mother breathed in my direction. No offense," I added after a second.

He smirked, but didn't say anything. The silence stayed until the elevator dinged, signaling our arrival to the floor I assumed the main office was on. Once again the uneasiness hit and Lee basically had to drag me off the elevator. "I really shouldn't be here," I told him.

"You're important to my plan."

"How?"

"To convince Bennett to agree."

"Agree with what though?"

"You'll find out in about three seconds," he said, coming to a stop in front of a refined set of double doors made of a dark wood. He grasped the golden handles and I tried to pry his hand off it, to not avail. In one motion he opened them both, making one of the grandest entrances I could only hope to recreate one day.

Him, standing proud and confident in the middle of the doorway. Me, cowering behind him. And Mrs. Calloway, frozen in a half raised position at her desk, looking like someone had struck her in the face.

"Hi mother," Lee greeted her, his steps echoing through the large room as he advanced toward her.

I carefully treaded behind him, glancing around the room. Unsurprisingly, it was tasteful. A large conference table sat to the ride, surrounded by plush chairs, and adorned with different plants and décor. A huge painting of Mrs. Calloway herself rested on the wall behind the desk and it felt like something straight out of the movies.

"L-Lee," she stuttered, her face turning white.

He held up a hand in acknowledgement. "I'm back."

"W-what are you doing here?"

He stopped right in front of her, squaring his shoulders. "I'm here to take over the company. I'm reclaiming my spot as the heir to Calloway hotels. I'm the next CEO."

My jaw dropped, and so did Mrs. Calloway's. Was this part of the plan? This was the way he was going to take down his mother? By outright challenging her? Mrs. Calloway's shock quickly subsided and fury replaced it. Her eyes narrowed into slits and she turned her attention to me. "You!"

I subconsciously took a step back, her demeanor almost palpable.

"You did this, didn't you?" she spat at me.

What was she so mad about? About Lee coming back? About him wanting to take over the company? He was her son!

"How dare you do this to him?" she continued, attempting to move around the desk.

Lee blocked her path, holding out his arm. "Leave her alone."

"Lee!"

"Mother, she doesn't have anything to do with me coming back. I made the decision myself."

"As if I'll believe that. I know that little bitch has something to do with this. I told you to stay away from one son, so you go for the other?"

"Are you kidding—"

"Henley," Lee cut me off, shaking his head slightly.

"You're not mentally stable," Mrs. Calloway said, now turning to Lee. "I don't know what kind of things she put in your head, but you've fallen prey to her. I'm going to call security and then Henry will come pick you up—"

"I'm not going anywhere," Lee said.

"You're not right in the head, Lee, I'll call your therapist—"

"Mother!" Lee shouted and I jumped. Someone as gentle looking as Lee didn't seem possible of making such a loud noise. "Enough. You're not forcing me to do anything anymore. Now we can have a conversation like adults, or I can go directly to the board and find my place there."

Mrs. Calloway's eyes flashed between her son and myself. My entire body shook from anger. How could she treat Lee like that? Not right in the head? What kind of mother said that? Lee didn't deserve this.

"Get her out of here," she eventually conceded. "Then we'll talk."

"There's a reason I brought her here."

"What possible reason could you have for bringing someone like that here?"

Lee folded his arms over his chest, his mouth pressed in a straight line. "Apologize to her."

This man was going to give me a heart attack. If I thought I'd seen Mrs. Calloway mad before, I was sorely underestimating what true anger looked like. I seriously wanted to run away. What was Lee doing by trying to get her to apologize to me?

"There's no reason I would ever—"

"Apologize to her."

Mrs. Calloway reached for the phone on her desk, hitting a button before Lee could stop her. "Get out," she said to me again. "Security is on their way."

I glanced at Lee, who gave a deep sigh. "Henley, wait for me outside. I'll be right out."

Without needing to be told twice, I twisted on my heel, and hurried out of the room. As I was stepping out, two beefy guys in black suits barreled past me. I quickened my pace, hoping to get to the elevator before those two realized I was the reason they were called upon.

I pretty much ran around the corner of the hallway, crashing into someone and sending us both tumbling to the floor. My head knocked hard against their jaw and we both groaned. Pushing myself off, I realized it was a brunette girl wearing a long black dress that probably had dust all over it now.

Well, maybe not. I'm sure they vacuumed the floors here every other minute to keep it clean.

Still. "I'm sorry," I said, offering my hand to help her up.

"No, I'm sorry too," a familiar feminine voice answered and my heart sunk in my chest. "I'm not really used to wearing heels."

Brown eyes burned into mine as Bennett's blind date grinned at me. She must have recognized me too somehow, because the smile dropped as recognition dawned on her face. "Oh—"

"Cara? What happened?"

A jolt of electricity went through me. Oh, I so didn't need this right now. Bennett came to a stop in front of us, his face white as ash. I quickly retracted my hand, putting my head down, and maneuvering around the pair. When I reached the elevator door I pressed the both the down and up buttons as many times as I could. I didn't care where I went; I just needed to be off this floor.

Fortunately it came a few seconds later and I quickly got in it, hitting the close button, feeling a little bit of relief. Which only lasted one second, as a hand shot in and stopped the doors from closing immediately. I braced myself, but felt at a complete loss as the brunette girl stepped into the elevator, not Bennett. The door shut and I was efficiently trapped with her.

Her long brunette hair was a mess and it was clear she had run after me by her slightly heavy breathing. "Damn you have some long legs," she wheezed.

I stared at her, swallowing hard.

"You're Henley, aren't you?"

"Uh..."

"I'm Cara," she said, holding out her hand. "I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to meet you."

I didn't move.

She smiled, holding her hand out a little further. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not trying to steal your man. Don't you know our parents are forcing us to date?"

"You could just say no."

"Really, you don't have to worry about me. We're just pretending. I know it's hard to understand—"

"No offense, but I don't know you. And I don't want to hear your reasoning. Bennett is his own person and can make his own choices—"

"I'm gay," she interjected. "I don't like guys."

My next words died on my tongue and I stood there, open mouthed like an idiot.

"Haha don't look so surprised."

"T-that's not, no," I stuttered, feeling my cheeks turn red.

"Are you less mad at me now? I can promise you I'm not trying to steal Bennett away from you. We're just helping each other out. I really expected him to tell you, but judging by your reaction earlier, he hasn't yet. So I decided to do it."

The elevator reached the next floor and a man in a business suit tried to get in, but Cara pushed him back out and hit the close button and then pressed a bunch of floor numbers. I shuffled my feet, my whole body tingling in embarrassment. "I'm sorry I misjudged you," I finally said.

"It's okay. I get jealous too."

"Why are you helping him out?"

"We're helping each other out. He has someone he cares about and I do too. But both our parents are exerting their power onto us. This is the best way we can get extra time to figure things out. I'm sorry for asking your boyfriend to do this for me, but I really needed help."

"He's not my boyfriend anymore."

She pursed her lips at me. "Oh please. Not you too. Things always have a way of working out. Don't you know that? Just hang in there."

I bit my lower lip. So Bennett wasn't over me. And he wasn't going on blind dates happily. I'd just misjudged the situation.

"Ask me anything you need to feel better," she continued, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I want you to feel comfortable with this. Well, as comfortable as you can be. I know it's hard to see the person you love with someone else. Even if she's not into dudes."

"How come you're doing this for me?"

"Because when I think how my girlfriend feels and know you're in the same situation, it's what I would want someone to do for my girlfriend."

I felt a lump form in my throat and I swallowed hard, nodding. I'd seriously misjudged everything. Including this girl. Jealously really did turn people ugly. I needed to work on that.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah," I admitted, feeling myself smiling shyly. "Thank you. And now that you've done me a favor, I'll do you one. Are you guys on your way to see Mrs. Calloway?"

She made a stank face. "Ugh. Unfortunately."

This caused me to laugh. "That's my reaction too. Anyway, I highly suggest not going to talk to her right now. You might not make it out alive."

"What happened?"

"Er, the short version. Bennett's older brother came back and told her he's taking over the company and I think rebelled against her for the first time in his life."

She covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh shit."

Oh shit indeed.

______________________________________________

So who's entering the Watty Awards?!?!?!