How silly was I when I asked the question about the origin of the 'You're welcome' song? Literally Everyone KNEW IT. So here's to the first three people who got it!

CHAPTER 35- I'M SELFISH-

(song above is Selfish by PnB rock. Listen before you read. Enjoy le update)

"Why does Pierre want to see Lara?" Jayden repeated his question as he approached Brie in an appeased manner, his toned legs and visible pelvic lines luring their attention towards that region.

"Lara, let's go." Brie bellowed as if trying to wave off his effortless seduction from Lara's view. She grabbed a clueless Lara's right arm and pulled her away without paying any attention to Jayden as he reluctantly watched them leave to go see Pierre.

"Pierre!" Lara called out as she quickened her steps towards the garden, precisely the white bench he was sitting on. Pierre, upon seeing her got to his feet and welcomed her into his arms.

"Lara, hey." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her, "It's been ages."

"I know!"

"You ghosted on me." He said as she pulled out of the embrace, "If I had known my cooking would have sent you running for the hills, I would have kept it to myself."

Lara laughed heartily as she pushed fallen locks of her hair behind her ear, "If there's anything in this world I miss right now, it's your cooking."

"Really? He asked sarcastically, "Why haven't you been answering my texts then?"

"I..." She scratched the back of her head, "A lot has been going on... I'm really sorry for ignoring your texts."

He observed her for a while before asking, "Are you free today?"

She paused for a second, then answered, "I could be."

"I want to take you out." He confessed. "You could tell me what's been going on, if you don't mind."

Lara shifted her gaze to her leftside as she gave his offer some thought. The only time she had been out of the house was when she had been searching for a new job, which she had been making a lot of progress with.

"Thanks," She smiled. "I could really use your company."

He chuckled whilst running his fingers through his golden brown hair, "Same with me. What time?"

"I just finished working so, I could take a shower, get dressed and we could be off."

Pierre nodded, pleased that he wasn't turned down. "Sounds like a plan."

Lara smiled, "I won't be long. Give me like, thirty minutes. Will you wait inside or-"

"I'll just wait here." He gestured to the bench.

Lara smiled then walked back into the house.

Twenty minutes after Lara had left Pierre sitting in the garden, Jayden casually strolled out through the main door, headed towards the garden; precisely where Pierre sat.

As Jayden neared him, his facial expression deliberately blank, he watched as Pierre rose to his feet with a friendly smile forming on his face.

Pierre slapped hands with Jayden and pulled him in for a quick hug as he joked, "Ghosts do exist."

Jayden chuckled as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his loose dark grey shorts, "Been here for two months now. When did you get back from Europe?"

"Ah, just roughly a month ago. How are things?"

Jayden rubbed the side of his neck, "Meh. Hey, when are you taking Brie with you?" Jayden asked. Pierre was Brie's brother, and he had his life sorted out. He was making it. Brie definitely did not need this job. "She knows you're her brother, right? That you've been taking care of your mom since you started working with the Greysons? That my father doesn't anymore?"

Pierre sighed, his shoulders plummeting, "She's extremely difficult to understand. She knows this; all of it. For some reason I wish to know of, she wants to maintain her job here. She wants to keep working here as a maid."

Jayden added, "It's quite confusing. By the way," He began the main reason he had come there in the first place, "I heard you came to see, um," He snapped his fingers as if trying to jog his memory. "-Lara. Yes, Lara. How d'you know her?"

"Lara," Pierre emphasized, his mind journeying back to the first day he had met her, "I came to see Brie when I got back, and as I waited to be let in, the most beautiful soul I've ever laid my eyes on opened the door."

"You don't say?" Jayden crossed his arms across his broad chest, eventually narrowing his fierce blue eyes on Pierre's dreamy facial expression.

"I had a little chat with her while I waited for Brie to show up. She seemed a bit closed off, as if she had seen a ghost or something, but I was in no position to ask her what it was about."

"Mmm," Jayden paid close attention. "So you met her just once-briefly for that matter- and you've already declared that she's the most beautiful soul you've ever met?"

"Not just once," Pierre corrected, "I met her again at a grocery store. We talked, and I invited her over to my place-"

"To your place?" Jayden nearly raised his voice. Lara wouldn't go to his place when she didn't know him well. She wouldn't. Why would she?

Pierre explained, "I told her she needed to breathe a little. I was going to take her somewhere enthralling but she told me she hadn't eaten since morning. I found it a chance to impress her with my cooking skills."

"Is that so?"

"And I sure as hell did. She wouldn't stop praising my skills."

Jayden mentally cursed himself for thinking the worst when Pierre had mentioned 'skills'.

"So you cooked, she ate, that was it?" Jayden succeeded in concealing the impatience itching in his suddenly air-deprived throat.

"We talked, laughed and nearly kissed."

Jayden's jaw immediately tightened, but obviously Pierre hadn't noticed as he continued,

"It nearly happened, but it was too soon. She's a really nice and humble person. She's funny, intelligent and very emotional, I realized. I made an honest, simple statement and she got very emotional."

Curiosity compelled Jayden to ask, "What statement was that?"

"She was basically trying to take over in my kitchen, and I told her she didn't have to because she wasn't a maid to me, she was my guest. A special one."

Jayden fell silent. That statement pointed out everywhere he had gone wrong with her.

Jayden glanced round before asking, "Where'd she go? Getting you some water?"

Pierre shook his head, and added with a boastful gleam in his eyes, "She's getting dressed so I take her out."

Take her out? This guy was literally doing all the things he, Jayden, couldn't do for her, Jayden thought. And at this very moment when her heart was vulnerable.

"Where to?" Jayden demanded, then wondered if his jealousy had begun to make itself visible.

"A restaurant, then my place maybe. Anywhere she wants to go. I'm down for whatever she wants."

"I see." If Pierre had been suspicious of Jayden, he would have caught the hint of envy in Jayden's voice. Rage and jealousy burst within Jayden's body as he pictured Pierre and Lara roaming the streets, laughing, cuddling, serving as 'goals' for the single people. Pierre was making her happy. He wasn't.

"Why so many questions about Lara though?" Pierre's abrupt question managed to retrieve Jayden's full attention. Pierre found it quite strange that Jayden had been asking questions about Lara, non-stop.

But before Jayden could even formulate a lie, a slim, beautiful hand slipped itself into the crook of Pierre's arm. Pierre and Jayden had been so into their conversation that they hadn't realized when Lara had approached them. She was dressed in a turquoise romper with black wedged shoes and had her long dark hair in a neat ponytail. Her beautiful dark brown eyes were enhanced by the faint dark eyeshadow she had applied. Mesmerizing was an understatement for the beauty she had encompassed, with a dash of lip gloss brightening her dull pink lips.

Pierre gazed at Lara for a good five seconds before being able to form words, "You look absolutely divine."

Lara shyly smiled at him, "Thank you."

Jayden had his eyes on her the whole time. Divine was just a portion. She looked heavenly breathtaking and absolutely stunning. He had never seen her in anything apart from her uniform and nightwear. And of course, her birthday suit.

Lara's eyes fell on Jayden's as Pierre excused himself upon receiving a call. Fathomable words had escaped their vocabulary as they intensely stared into each other's eyes. Jayden could read all the hurt and pain in them. The pain she had derived from his break up with her.

"Alright," Pierre rejoined them as he snaked an arm around Lara's small waist, which definitely caught Jayden's eye. "'Twas nice seeing you after all these years. We'll talk."

Pierre led Lara towards his black Mercedes-Benz that was parked a couple of feet away from the garden. Jayden reluctantly watched as Pierre opened the passenger door for Lara, and occupied the driver's seat after Lara had entered.

They left in what seemed like a flash, leaving Jayden all to himself with so many conflicting emotions.

***

Lara sipped on her cup of coffee, then gently placed it on the saucer as she spoke to Pierre who was at the opposite end of the table, in the coffee shop Lara had suggested they come to first.

"It's tiring. I just really need a new environment to work in." She had already explained to him why she had been searching for a new job, excluding her adventures with Jayden, "I would honestly work anywhere else. Anywhere away from that house."

Pierre gave it some thought as he held his coffee cup close to his lips and narrowed his eyes on Lara. "I'll definitely see what I can do." then he asked what he had been meaning to since they had left the house, "Why was Jayden asking so many questions about you? Are you two close? Closer than you should be?"

The croissant Lara was holding with a white tissue nearly fell from her hand once Pierre's question had hit her. She could sense the suspicion in his voice, and being the bad liar that she was, wondered if she could pull off a lie.

She lowered the croissant and mustered the courage to look him straight in the eye as she replied, "No. We're not close."

Technically, it wasn't a lie because ever since he had ended things with her, she had done a great job at avoiding him. They had never spoken to each other, never crossed paths with each other until that morning in the hallway. He hadn't even said a word to her because his question about Pierre had been directed to Brie.

Before Lara could say anything else, a middle aged woman adjacent to them who had overheard their conversation, tapped Lara on the shoulder, and gained Lara's attention.

She was dressed in a white blouse and tight denim jeans, with her orange hair cascading down the side of her hollow collarbone.

"I don't mean to be nosy but I couldn't help but overhear you're in a desperate situation for a job."

Lara observed the brawny woman before cautiously nodding.

"I have the perfect job for you. Can we speak outside?" The woman requested in a voice that definitely did not fit her thewy appearance.

Lara glanced at Pierre, registering the questioning look on his face which was similar to hers, before turning back to the woman.

"Um, sure." Lara politely smiled and calmly got to her feet when the woman had already done so.

The woman led Lara out of the coffee shop and didn't waste time in telling Lara what the job entailed.

After close to fifteen minutes, Lara walked back into the coffee shop without the woman, as the woman had taken her leave right after their conversation.

Lara exhaled as she resumed her seat and Pierre immediately asked, "What job? Why did she need to speak to you in private?"

"Prostitution."

"Prosti- what?" Pierre's surprise had drawn the attention of the people surrounding them.

Lara nervously glanced away from the people and fixed her eyes on Pierre. "She said I sounded very desperate and her sister owned a rapidly growing brothel. With my body and beauty, I would be making millions in less than six months."

"You aren't that desperate." Pierre stated, "And she definitely heard me say I'll help you."

"I turned down the offer, clearly," Lara said after sipping some coffee. "She tried very hard to convince me. Like, really hard. I told her I didn't want to seem rude to her because, I knew it was a way of life for some people, for various reasons. But it just wasn't mine. She said she was relieved I didn't get offended by her offer or pass any judgemental comments."

Pierre stared at Lara, simply awed by her calmness in the situation when he had nearly passed some comments on the woman even making that offer in the first place. The thought of Lara allowing random men to touch her and get with her was just wrong in every possible way.

Lara spoke, "Last week I received two 'will call you back soon'. I hope I receive good news. I've got my fingers crossed." She waved her crossed fingers in the air and he chuckled.

She couldn't wait to be rid of Mrs. Benson and that household. The lies. The affairs. The secrets. She would miss Emma and Dana the most. Brie too. Even though her advice had gotten her into that embarrassing mess, Lara knew that Brie genuinely cared for her as a friend.

And she would miss Jayden. As much as she didn't want to, she would. The Jayden before everything had crumbled to the ground.

***

23:49 was the time her phone had displayed on its screen when she had pressed the home button.

Pierre had dropped her off after taking her for a long fun ride and sending her back to his place for dinner and a movie. She had fallen asleep halfway through the movie and it had been the cutest sight Pierre had ever laid his eyes on. He had wrapped an arm around her as she slept on his chest, in the sofa of his huge hall. He had enjoyed passing his fingers through her thick silky hair which had no longer been held in a ponytail as they had surged down the sides of her beautiful face he couldn't help but admire.

Lara headed towards her now empty room, since Rachel had still not sent word that she would be returning.

She opened the door and was welcomed by semi darkness. Stepping into the room, she took out her key, closed the door and locked it.

It was then that her senses of smell had begun to kick in, as she picked up the soapy, aromatic lavender scent from a freshly showered person.

She knew this scent too well. She had craved for it several times.

"You're back." His deep, low voice had penetrated the silence engulfed in the room.

She hadn't turned around, but she knew the voice had come from her bed.

A/N: Lara's usually the one going to Jayden's room, but tonight the big dog himself came down to hers. GETCHUR SEATBELTS READY FOR THE NEXT UPDATE.

A/N: This Sunday! Unless, I pull up a surprise chapter before.

Don't forget to vote and comment. Take care!