Dalliance | Paul Lahote

━ SIX: BAD LIAR

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IT SEEMED every time Evangeline decided to bake something, a key ingredient would be missing.

She adored the activity but ended up giving up after seeing there wasn't enough sugar or flour to get it done. This morning, however, she was not going to let that stop her from having pancakes.

At first, after waking up, she had thought the previous night had been nothing but a dream, or rather a nightmare, but soon reality came crashing around her, and Evangeline realized that it did happen, and that now she was probably going to run into Paul more often than expected, especially since her expectations had been no run-ins at all.

Evangeline couldn't stop thinking about if and when to tell him, not to mention how she would do it. So many scenarios ran through her mind, but all of them were less than ideal.

The most prevalent was that he wouldn't believe her, think she was crazy and just wanted to pin her child on him, and after probably some legal action and DNA tests, she would have a horribly broken relationship with him, and that would end up affecting Oliver. Not to mention it would hurt like hell to be humiliated like that, to have your word mean nothing and your past mistakes be analyzed.

Another thing that could occur is him believing her, being incredibly mad, and wanting either nothing to do with Oliver or wanting custody all to himself. Both of those would completely destroy her, the latter more than the former, but still both undesirable.

There was the perfect scenario of him being understanding and them figuring a schedule out for Paul to get to know his son, and a healthy co-parenting relationship being built, but Evangeline was not going to fool herself into thinking that was remotely likely to happen.

She sighed heavily and tried to take her mind off the whole situation, focusing on the shelf in front of her to find the specific flour she liked to use instead. When she found it, a little above her reach, Evangeline got on her tiptoes to try and get it, huffing when she couldn't. She was about to search for an employee for help, when an arm reached out from behind her and grabbed the pack of flour.

It was like the universe was trying to mess with her, because in front of eyes, extending the flour to her, was Paul Lahote.

"You looked like you could use some help." He smiled, the same damn smile she had imprinted on her mind so long ago.

She knew she was staring, but Evangeline was a little shocked that she found herself in this situation not even twenty-four hours after she had first seen him again. She had to wonder for a second if she wasn't still dreaming.

Apparently he took her silence for irrecognition, because he gave a sheepish laugh. "I'm Paul, by the way, we met yesterday, remember?"

That brought her out of her shock. "I remember you," Not only from yesterday, but sure.