fast lane - c.leclerc

chapter twelve

CHARLES

'EVANS, WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with you? Why are you being so rude?' he asked her. He knew why. They'd been making out less than twenty-four hours ago and now he was bringing another girl to the club. Still, he had to act like it was the most normal occurrence ever. It broke his heart to see her so upset. She looked so beautiful wearing a dress in his favourite colour.

'I'm not being rude. Well, maybe to you, Alexandra. You don't deserve that. You seem kind and you're beautiful. Anyway, I am really tipsy. Your boyfriend is a jackass, by the way. I am curious, how long have you been seeing each other?' Lauren asked question after question. Alexandra let go of Charles' arm. It felt like a massive weight was lifted off his shoulder. Her touch was suffocating him.

'I feel like I'm being dragged into something I'd rather not be a part of. Charles, is there something you haven't told me?' Alexandra sent him a stressed look. This wasn't part of the plan. Alexandra didn't prepare for confrontation. He hadn't informed her about Lauren.

'Yeah, Charles, is there something you haven't told her yet?' Lauren threw her hair over her shoulders, baring her neck to the Monegasque. She looked so hot when she was mad. It hurt Charles to lie to her.

'I spent the night with Lauren last night,' Alexandra fake gasped at his confession, hitting his chest. It was embarrassing for both of them.

'So you're asking me on a date after spending the night with another girl, you're such a clown honestly,' Charles groaned. The spiteful look on Lauren's face physically harmed him. He couldn't stick to his plan.

'Alexandra, stop, I'm going to tell her. The gist is up. Lauren, I'm not dating her,'

'What the hell are you talking about? You know what? I don't even want to know. I am here to celebrate. Instead, I'm here getting mad at you. Just forget it all. Forget about last night and everything else before,'

'Right, I'm gonna go now. Lauren, please hear him out,' Alexandra awkwardly trotted away.

'Evans, please, talk to me. I can explain,' Charles pleaded.

'You have 60 seconds,'

Charles checked for potential eavesdroppers. He caught Lauren's friend and Carlos watching them cautiously.

'No, not around here,' Charles said, dragging her by the arm away from the crowd.

'Don't touch me,' Lauren tried to push him away. She pinched his arm. Charles made a pained expression.

'Quit that, you idiot,'

They finally reached the bathrooms. Charles pulled her into the disabled stall, locking the door behind him. He was panting at this point. The longer he remained silent, the bigger douchebag he was becoming in Lauren's eyes. A club remix of that one Elley Duhé song was playing faintly from outside the stall.

'Talk, Charles,' Lauren ordered. Anger clouded her eyes. She was burning up. She called him by his first name. She never called him by his first name.

'You look so beautiful, Lauren. So god damn beautiful. I don't want to waste my time arguing with you. I mean look at you in that dress,' Lauren was now both angry and aroused. She kicked him where it hurt, pushing him against the wall. Her hand rested on his heart. It was on the verge of jumping out of his chest.

'Don't you dare try and charm me with your meaningless words,' Charles smiled at her, adding to her frustration.

'I love seeing you so riled up, but I'll tell you before you slice my throat,'

'Good,' Lauren groaned, still fighting the urge to strangle him.

'This morning Fred called me over. He said that Christian shared the footage from yesterday with him. Apparently, our moment in the garage was taped on video. He gave me a whole talk about how you and I were risking our image. He said that I had to break things off. I told him I didn't want to. Then he said he already found a solution for me. He suggested I date Alexandra for a while. She models for one of our main sponsors. It would be great publicity for both of us. I had to accept or they'd pull out their funding,'