Chapter 23

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Mission day 4

Lonely. That's what I felt, installed in the hotel's room's couch. Heart-broken? Most probably. Empty? Again, defiantly yes.

I dried my tears for the hundredth time, but they weren't tears of sadness

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I dried my tears for the hundredth time, but they weren't tears of sadness. They were, as a matter of fact, angry tears. Yes, that's what I felt above all; anger, fury, hatred, or whatever you'd call it. How dares he lead me on with his little actions, fool my heart with his hypocrite words, while praising another woman? Those were worse than a player's moves.

To think thoroughly, something I didn't quite grasp was why he seemed to care. I have a feeling that I'm not just imagining things, and that he might like me back. If these theories were right, then he would be a coward. Running away from love. And believe me, cowards are worst than heart-breakers.

Nevertheless, either way, I was outraged at him. Bitter.

Perhaps it's because of my stubbornness, or just my common sense, but I was absolutely fuming. He doesn't deserve me. Oh no, he doesn't, and that's why I decided to stop whatever feelings I developed. From today, I'm a new woman, and I won't even beg for him again.

I'm moving on.

Who knows? Maybe he will come back crawling.

Meanwhile

He never felt so down, never in his entire life. Crushed. Broken. But especially mad at himself. He knows he shouldn't let go of Demi just because he's scared. It was egoistic, completely egoistic, and he admitted it.

"Joe, what have you done?" He mumbled harshly under his breath, his head hidden in his arms.

He panicked when Demi confessed. He was scared, scared to love someone like Demi. This woman was a challenge, a tough challenge, but he'd take it any day. So why didn't he? Shaking his head, he mentally kicked himself for being an idiot. A coward boy. Now, Demi was back at hating him, and he was sure of it.

After all, he knows her quite well, better than she'd ever imagined. He will admit it; he liked her for a long, very long time. Since they met. And he blew it with one little hurtful sentence... Why? He mused desperately, on the verge of crying. But Joe didn't cry; he doesn't.

"Face your consequences, buddy," he said to himself before rushing out of an extremely expensive hotel.

Twenty minutes later, he was back at the One-Legged restaurant, ready to face the mission. Not that Taylor was a mission; she was now his friend.

"Abruti! Toi encore! Ne remets plus jamais tes pieds ici! Si ce n'était pas notre belle Taylor, tu serais déjà expulsé d'ici! (Fool! You again! Never put your feet here again! If it wasn't our beautiful Taylor, you would have been expelled!) Out! Out!"

At this point, Joe didn't even care about the cook's insults, nor the owner's austere expression. He just wanted to get over with his mission, so that he could afterward focus on gaining Demi back. He sighed, there was so much to do still. So much pressure.

"Why the heavy look?"

Joe tilted his head to gawk at her, but still furrowed his eyebrows. He was at loss of words, and almost at loss of thoughts. Demi was driving him insane without even knowing it. But she's an unpredictable woman and that's was he liked about her. Explosive, edgy, a challenge for him.

"Let me guess. You rejected her?" Taylor tested, pursing her lips to stop herself from laughing out loud.

Joe gave her a surprised look, shocked about how she could already read him so well. He then shrugged his shoulders dismissively, not wanting to adventure himself on this subject. Taylor, her mind boggling with questions, bit her lips in regret when she faced his silence. Curiosity isn't always a good thing.

"I'm a coward,"  finally confided Joe, defeated.

Taylor was dumbfounded. She didn't expect him to bash himself like that since she knew him as a humble person. But that girl must be different in his heart. Everyone makes mistakes, after all. "We can always fix things," she reminded him, trying to comfort him in some way. "Work hard to gain her back."

"I will," Joe sighed. "I will."

He sank down the chair, trying to find some motivation to pursue the given mission. He couldn't abandon now that they were so close to the answer. A little push and they succeed.

Meanwhile

"So... Will you let me drive your car?"

Selena stared at the treasure, awe-stricken. She passed her driving lessons two years ago but never had a chance to really try a car. It was a gold occasion, and her mind was already whirring. Then, she turned towards her lover and battled those pretty eyelashes of hers, smiling innocently.

"Not working," refused Justin, trying to keep a straight face.

Selena smirked, and, ignoring his commands, scooted over the driver's seat before he could compete against her.

"I didn't know you were this agile," groaned the security agent.

The woman giggled but internally tensed-up while hearing his words. They were foolishly so true and so applicable to their situation. "There are a lot of things that you don't know about me," she asserted with a double-meaning to her statement.

"I will discover them all, one by one," her boyfriend giddily declared. "Between us, there are no secrets, right?"

She narrowed her eyes, a habit she developed each time she hesitated. Fortunately, as the trained agent she is, she disguised it well. "Of course, I don't like to lie."

At least, that was a half-truth. She felt guilty every time she fooled someone she loved, especially him. Justin. The man who could make her feel so many emotions, from ecstatic to broken-hearted.

Justin peered at her intensively, before cracking his legendary smile. "I'm glad we're honest with each other. I've been lied to too many times before. You must be the first girl who genuinely respects me."

Her heart ached, but what could she do? The number one rule of being an undercover cop is to, obviously, stay undercover. "I'd never lie to you or hurt you", promised Selena, feeling a big knot in her stomach that emerged her with culpability.

"That's my girl", winked Justin, putting gently a hand on her jaw and pushing his lips to hers. "I love you, miss Gomez."

Selena smiled at the feeling of their lips connected and softly kissed back. With care radiating from her eyes, she pulled away and stated admiringly: "I love you too, miss Bieber."

He grinned and shoved some strands of her shampooed hair behind her ear. They were head over heels, and they both knew and accepted it.

"Let's go to work! And don't forget we have to hide this from chief", reminded Justin while bucking his seatbelt.

Selena nodded and thanked God for letting their lives collide.

Thanks to the strokes of fate.

_____

Thanks for reading. Love you.

Nancy xox

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