Paige was making her best effort to finish one of her sketches, it was a long tail dress with some flower details on the back, but as much as she tried it was as if her inspiration left her. Her conversation with Dylan would not leave her head. As much as she knew she had no chance with him, she still considered him a friend and wanted him to be happy, just like Amy, Jeremy or Dana. However at the same she had no wish to get involved with the family drama. Her phone started ringing and she saw it was Jesse.
"Hello Jesse."
"Hi, feeling hungry? I would like to take you out on a cool place I like. By the way, you are not vegan or vegetarian, right?If you are I would have to change plans."
She felt like laughing with his question, but actually he was quite considerate to ask her about her eating habits. And somehow as if her stomach heard her talking about food it made a soft rumble.
"No, I'm not vegan or vegetarian. And yeah, i could eat something right now."
"Where are you right now? I'll pick you up. "
Fifteen minutes later Jesse appeared on a black jeep stopping it in front her removing the car secure so she could get inside.
" Hello, nice ride." she said buckling her seat belt.
"Thanks, I had it fixed with my father when i was fifteen. Since then i have had it."
" It's lovely. So, where are we going? "
"It's a place called Saucy, it's a buffet restaurant with different types of meats.I think you'll like it."
They arrived at the restaurant, and Paige inmediately felt the odor of the food and she felt her mouth watering.Paige wanted to pay her part but he insisted it was his treat. She grabbed a plate and serve herself some chicken, corn and vegetables. She served herself some coke on the drinks machine and sat next to Jesse.
"Bon appetit, feel free to grab as many times as you wish."
"Thank you." she said cutting a piece of chicken and popping it inside her mouth.
"By the way, at what time is the dinner with Stacey? I'll pick you up early. "
"At seven. "
Her voice tone sounded tired, which was not her intention. Jesse inmediately knew something was wrong.
"I thought you would be more excited about the dinner, is everything okay?"
"Yes. No. I don't know. " she said sighing and placing her fork down.
"What is it? You can talk to me, if I can help you with something I will. " he said grabbing a napking and cleaning his mouth.
" A friend of mine asked me a favor, and I do want to help him. But if I do, I feel I'm getting involved in a drama that doesn't concerns me at all."
"Let me guess, it has to do with Stacey." Jesse said placing his hands together.
"Yes, how did you know?"
" I had a feeling. Paige, if you don't feel comfortable doing that favor feel free to say no. No one can force you to do something you don't want to do. "
"Its just, I like to help my friends. I have not been the type of person who has popular and with lots of friends. I try to be close to them. "
"Saying no does not make you a bad person. Sometimes in life is good to be somehow selfish, you can't always prioritize other people and not yourself. And so you know, I'm your friend. And i have your back. Always."
Talking with Jesse helped Paige take off her shoulders the pressure she felt. He was right, she cared about Dylan but she didn't want to risk her relationship with Stacey, and she had the feeling it would if she got involved in the drama.
"Thank you Jesse, I know what to do know. Talking with you helped me. "
"You are welcome Paige.If there is something else I can help you with please tell me. "
He drove her back to the campus thanking him for the meal. She stopped for a while calling Dylan but received no response. She wanted to speak with about her decision on not getting between his girlfriend and his mother, she tried a second time but still no answer so she decided to stop trying. She would speak with him later. As soon as she arrived at her room she finished her gift for Stacey. Paige had no idea what to give her, but decided to make a scrapbook with pictures of Stacey's fashion shows, interviews, and everything she found related to her. Jesse would pick her up at six, and she decided to get ready two hours before so she wouldn't make her wait. She looked at both dresses Stacey sent her, and chose a dark blue one that resembled a ballet dancer dress. She matched it with her white heels looking on her mirror and feeling satisfied with how she looked. Someone was knocking her door, and as she opened it surprised her to see Dylan.
"Hey, you clean nice. " Dylan said looking her.
"Thank you.How can I help you?" she asked as she knew he didn't come to check on how she was dressed.
"I wanted to know if you need a ride to my mom's house, you can come with me and Lucy. And I wanted to apologize as well for not answering your calls, I was busy at the moment."
" It's okay, Jesse will take me. " she was actually relieved Stacey insisted on taking Jesse as her date otherwise she would have been a third wheel on Dylan's car. "And Dylan, I need to tell something. I appreciate that you trust me that you asked for my help, but I won't speak with your mom about Lucy. "
"Why?" he asked opening his eyes widely.
"I have a good relationship with your mom, she has been amazing to me.And if interfere there is a chance things will change between us, I honestly don't know how will she react if I meddle between her and Lucy. And i don't want to risk anything her. However, I do hope that she gets to know Lucy better and like her."
" I understand your motives, thanks anyway Paige. I guess I'll see you later. "
He walked away as soon as he finished speaking. She closed the door and saw a message from Jesse saying he was almost there. She stuffed her phone on her purse and grabbed her wrapped gift and walked outside. Jesse had parked his jeep and she opened the door. He was wearing a dark blue jean, a green formal shirt and a blue coat on.
"Wow Paige, you are the belle of the ball. " he said smiling when seeing her.
"It's not a ball where we are headed. " she chuckled.
"But that doesn't mean you are not a belle. "
"You are too kind. Thank you. " she answered with a low voice. "You know what? I spoke with my friend and I told him that i couldn't help him."
"Did Dylan took it nicely?" he said stopping with a stop sign.
"How do you know I was talking about Dylan? I never told you it was him. " Paige asked surprised.
"When you told me it was something related to Stacey I suspected him.Did he took your answer well?"
"Yeah, somehow too well. He was too calm, I didn't expect that reaction. He's really desperate on having Stacey approve his girlfriend, and he asked if I could help. "
"I have not known Stacey for a long time, but yi do believe she knows how to read people. And she must see something on that girl for her not to like her. The day of the commercial I noticed how Stacey cares about you a lot, by the way she looks at you. How long have you two met?"
"Not too much, around one month since I started being her intern. "
"And yet she likes you more than her, even though she has known her the longest. Maybe tonight we can see a hint of why she doesn't like it.We can discuss theories at the end of the night. "
Stacey received them happily when she saw them giving the a long hug and thanking the gift. They walked to the living room where drinks were being served. Dylan and Lucy were seating together, but her attention was soon on Paige, and discreetly started checking on her from head to toes.Paige wondered if Dylan told them about their previous conversation.
"Feel free to have as many drinks as you wish, dinner will be served well. By the way, you are rocking the dress, Paige.I may hire you sometime as a model for one of my fashion shows. "
Lucy opened her eyes as soon as she heard Stacey said that.
"Thanks Stacey. May I use your bathroom?" she whispered.
"Of course, at the the end of the hall. "Stacey said pointing with her finger and walking away.
Paige was checking her hair and retouching her lip gloss, staring at herself for some minutes at the mirror. As she opened the door she saw Lucy outside.
"All yours. " Paige said walking away but Lucy stopped her grabbing her arm.
"I want to speak with you." Lucy said.
They had never crossed words before, her request shocked Paige. But somehow she had an idea about what she wanted to say, as Paige knew how she reacted when Stacey was speaking with her. First Dylan, now his girlfriend.Couldn't they just leave her alone?
*Just wanted to share an exciting news that happened to me yesteday. Zak Henri (who plays Connor) sent me a dm on instagram. I'm thrilled ! Wonder how he would react if he knew he plays a character in my books. He seems so nice and down to earth.