can i just start off by saying: OH THE IRONY OF THE EVENTS IN THIS CHAPTER.

Chapter Four

“I think he’s totally into you,” Stacy said as she got of the car.

I slammed the door shut and gave her a sceptical look. “He’s married.”

“Tons of married men leave their wives—especially if they’re married to the Scarlets of the world.”

Rolling my eyes, I strode ahead of her and stood in line. “Not everyone is as feisty as you.”

“Well that’s true,” Stacy laughed, winking to a group of guys in line ahead of us.

We were lined up outside a hot new club in town—Le Chateau Luxe. What it means, I have no idea since bonjour is basically the extent of my French. What I do know is judging from the exterior of the club, this was definitely what I needed to get my mind off Jake.

The line was pretty long and our waiting time was spent by me watching Stacy flirt her way into 7, yes 7, guys’ numbers, and Stacy well, flirting with 7 guys, all of whom she will never call. A couple of them tried to hit on me too, but I waved them off. All I was focused on tonight was to have fun with no limits. By the time we actually got in the club it was almost 9. Thankfully it was Saturday, or else I would’ve made Stacy turn around and head home.

Feeling a bit worn out (what can I say? We’re working women!), Stacy and I decided to head to the bar first and get a few drinks before anything. We settled down on the stools and ordered drinks—something fancy with a long name for her, and a light beer for me. I was never really into fancy drinks.

After a couple of sips, Stacy twisted to face me. “So, what’re you gonna do?”

“I don’t know…finish this drink, then go dance a bit?” I said, confused.

“I meant about Jake,” Stacy said in annoyance.

I scrunched up my face, thinking. “Hmm, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just leave it.”

“But you can’t! He’s way into you, I promise!”

“Yeah but with Jake…he doesn’t really see things in perspective,” I said, more to myself than to her.

Stacy studied me for a second. “You talk about him like you’ve known him forever.”

“I –” I stopped talking, thinking about what I should tell her, or even if I should tell her in the first place. Of course she was my best friend, but if she knew, she’d go on non-stop about how we’re meant to be and a stroke of destiny and all that nonsense, and that was the last thing I needed. Actually, I wasn’t even sure if I need it at all.

“I’m supposed to act like I’ve know him forever, I’m his receptionist, remember?” I said coolly.

“I guess,” Stacy said, but she looked unconvinced.

Downing the last of my beer, I set the bottle on the counter and hopped off my stool. “I think that I’m going to dance, you coming?”

“Later, there are some hotties looking our way,” Stacy giggled and readjusted her light pink strapless dress.

I laughed and walked towards the dance floor which was crowded with people. Feeling the excitement build up in me, I squeezed my way through bodies of people and stopped in what I thought was the middle. The movement of the crowd pushed me around and I let the music take feeling of my body. A couple of times, I would walk back to the bar to grab another beer. I don’t know how much I drank, how long I danced for, or who I danced with (except sometimes I could tell it was a guy because well, you know) but it seemed to go on for a long time.

“What’re you doing, dancing by yourself?” a deep voice said from behind me.

The buzz of all the alcohol in my system was starting to kick in and since I was trying to live this night to the fullest, I made no effort to push him away. Instead, I leaned further against whoever it was behind me

“Why don’t you show me some company then?” I laughed.

A throaty rumble rippled across the guy’s chest and I could tell that he was laughing too. I closed my eyes again and started dancing faster, keeping to the beat of the new song. Halfway through the song, I felt a pair of warm hands sit on my hips, guiding me in a faster movement.

I opened my eyes and put my hands on his. “You sure know how to dance,” I said, impressed.

“I could say the same for you,” he whispered in my ear.

Giggling slightly, I tugged at his hands and dragged him away from the dance floor.

“Let’s get a drink,” I said.

The guy didn’t object, so I took that as a yes. When we made it out of the crowd, I took a breath of air then found Stacy sitting on a stool flirting with the bartender.

“Stacy!” I called, laughing and still dragging the guy behind me.

When I called her name, two things happened: the guy dropped my hand abruptly and stopped walking and Stacy turned around and her jaw dropped to the ground.

Stacy gawked at me, her eyes flickering. “Oh. My. God.”

“What?” I said, confused.

Not saying anything, Stacy’s eyes moved to the guy standing behind me.

“What? What is –” I repeated and turned around. Seeing who it was, all I could say was, “Oh.”

Of course with my recent luck, there was Jake, standing there with sweat glistening on his forehead. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” I squeaked. All that beer I drank wasn’t feeling too good in me now.

“Well this is awkward,” Stacy said teasingly.

I shot her a cold glare and she jumped up from her stool.

“I’ll wait for you in the car,” she said and ran off.

“What’re you doing here?” Jake said after a moment of silence.

I narrowed my eyes and stared accusingly at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Just here looking for a good time,” he smirked.

“You’re married,” I pointed out.

Jake’s eyes widened and then went back to normal. “Can’t – uh, can’t I relieve some stress when I’m having marital problems?”

“Marital problems?” I said unconvinced.

I don’t know why, but it made me happy that he and Scarlet weren’t getting along well. Maybe if she was gone, we could go back to being best friends.

“Yup,” he nodded, popping the ‘p’. “So, you still up for that drink?”

Rolling my eyes, I walked past him. “You’re a pig.”

“I’ll see you at work tomorrow!” he called after me.

“Tomorrow’s a Sunday,” I said plainly.

I heard Jake chuckle behind me and I flipped him off before heading out the door. When I got to the parking lot, I found Stacy sitting in her car texting away.

Sitting in the passenger seat, I pulled on my seatbelt and shifted to face her. “Drive away.”

“Nuh-uh,” she said. “Not until you spill.”

“Spill what?” I asked innocently.

“You know what! That whole thing with Jacob, what was that all about?” she insisted.

“It was nothing, I just didn’t know it was him,” I said. It was true, I didn’t know it was him at all, and when I did know, it was too late.

“Really,” Stacy said. You could practically hear the doubt dripping from her voice.

“Really, scout’s honour,” I said solemnly.

Facing me, Stacy studied me with a mischievous glint in her eye. “That could only mean one thing.”

“What?” I asked slowly. Usually, Stacy always comes up with these whack ideas of me and a guy. Even though they were mostly right, I just don’t like the idea of them.

“That you and Jacob are meant to be!” she cried. Without letting me speak, she continued, “Obviously you guys have some serious chemistry or else you both wouldn’t have looked so hot and bothered when you were walking towards the bar.”

“That’s stupid,” I muttered. There was nothing chemical between Jake and I. We were best friends for years—I’d hardly call that and type of romance.

“It’s not stupid,” Stacy defended. “It makes total sense.”

“But he’s married to Scarlet.”

“Who cares about that Scarlet? Obviously he doesn’t, or else he wouldn’t have been in that club in the first place. And he didn’t even look worried when he found out it was you. And when you guys were walking my way, he looked like he wanted to drag you into a dark corner and just –”

“Stacy!” I scolded.

“Sorry, got a little carried away there,” she smiled sheepishly.

“Just drive,” I told her.

The car ride home consisted primarily of Stacy telling me how much Jake was into me and how much I was into him. To sum it up in one, simple word—it was torture. I didn’t know how to convince her that there was nothing going on between me and Jake. It was even harder to do that without telling her that we were actually best friends from before.

When she finally stopped at the road outside my apartment, I was literally scratching at the door to get out.

“Won’t you even consider, you know, being with him?” Stacy begged. “You guys would make the cutest couple.”

I sighed and unlocked the door. “No. Now go home.”

“Fine,” she said and drove off.

A few seconds later, my phone buzzed and I pulled it out. Turning on the screen, it read: one new text message. I opened the message and cursed under my breath.

From: Stacy T.

Jessica and Jacob sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. ;)

I shut my phone and stuffed it back in my pocket. Leave it up to her to send me something like that. I made my way into the lobby and up the elevator. When I got in my apartment, I took a quick shower and got ready for bed. Once I was in my room, I collapsed on my bed. My legs and feet were extremely sore from all that dancing and my head felt really light. All I wanted to do was sleep, but it didn’t come easy.

As I watched the red numbers on my digital clock turn from 2 to 2:30 to 3 to 3:30, I laid in bed staring up at my ceiling. I couldn’t forget how it felt to dance with Jake, even if I didn’t know it was him at the time.

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i really hate this chapter. but i love it. it's weird. it's a bittersweet relationship. like i like the concept of it, but not how it turned out. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE IT :(

on a happier note, i got 200 fans! that makes me sosososo happy and it's awesome cause you guys are awesome :).

and as always, please please VOTE/COMMENT :)