The Heart Breaker Association

Chapter 11 - The Idea

“Not really,” Jane mumbled. “He said that it was all part of his plan. That Maggie will be putty in his hands before I can even blink”

“So the bet isn’t off?” I clarified while cutting off some dead leaves from various flowers.

Jane nodded. “He upped the stakes too. He said that if he can get Maggie to fall for him within just one month instead of three, then the prize is three times the amount of cash I promised.”

I scoffed. How cocky was that? He was getting a little too comfortable with himself it seemed.

“Can you afford that?” Cecilia asked.

I gave her a hard stare. “She won’t have to. I won’t fall in love with him by the end of the month. Be realistic.”

Cecilia seemed unsure.

Jane sighed. “As far as he knows, if you fall for him by the end of the month, then he gets three times his amount which isn’t a concern for you girls. If you don’t-”

“Which I won’t,” I cut in.

“If you don’t,” Jane began again. “Then the original bet is still on. He’s got two more additional months after the first one.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I stated with a nod. “He’ll be broken by then.”

“We hope,” Cecilia mumbled under her breath. I glared at her and her doubt in me. I was about to comment on it but found that I didn’t have time.

Holly suddenly burst through the door of the greenhouse. She was breathing hard and her eyes widened when she saw me.

“You need to get downstairs,” she practically yelled out.

I exchanged a look with Cecilia before cautiously asking, “Why?”

“Preston’s downstairs in the shop and he’s asking for you!”

“Me?” I asked surprised. “Which me?”

“You you! He doesn’t want to see Maggie, he wants to see you!”

I made eye contact with my best friend once again and the newbie before I dropped everything in my hands and raced down the stairs.

“This is what I was talking about,” Cecilia yelled after me. I chose to not listen to her though as I reached the store level. We had two or three customers inside checking out what we had displayed and Preston was standing by the cashier counter waiting for someone’s arrival. That someone was me. Charlie me. So this had to be good.

“Hey,” I greeted as casually as I could. I had to admit that my suspicions were definitely up. “I heard that you were asking for me.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled seeming to shy away from me now that I was here. He almost seemed… bashful. “I wanted to ask for your help.”

“My help?” I asked raising my eyebrows. “With what?”

Preston’s eyes remained glued to the floor. I spotted Holly and Cecilia emerging from the stairway that led to the roof. Jane had to stay out of sight because Preston didn’t know she worked here. I gave them a glare to stay put before turning my attention back to Preston. He was too occupied feeling embarrassed to notice my actions though.

“You told me to take Maggie out on a real date but I don’t know anything about her. I need a suggestion or something. I mean, what does she like or what would she enjoy doing? You think you can help me out a bit? I want to do this right this time, you know?” Preston could’ve been considered cute. He was acting like a puppy who didn’t know if they should go right or left. It was, dare I say, adorable of him.