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Favor
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Chapter 11: Favor (Jules's POV)
"Red?"
I snapped out of my thoughts, my pencil slipped from my fingers where I spun it over my fingers while staring off into space and falling into the downward spiral of my thoughts.
Despite Christian volunteering to be all ears for my problems, I told him nothing. It felt too strange and just the thought of getting close to Christian again put me on edge. I didn't want that. Christian, out of all people, was very different, it was always different with him in an inexplicable way. Everything was ruined a year ago and I wasn't going to take three steps back now after coming so far and finally moving on from him.
Or at least trying to.
"Don't call me that, Mr. Lukov. Can I do anything for you?" I asked, straightening in my seat.
He watched me for a moment from where he stood at the door. "I'll be staying back at the office tonight for some work. Office hours were over twenty minutes ago but you seem to be too busy to notice," he paused, something unrecognizable flickering across his eyes for a moment but it was gone just as fast as it was there. "In other words, Ms. Declan, you're free to leave for the day." Before I could respond, he turned and left, the door closing behind him with a quiet thud that echoed slightly in my office room.
I glanced at the clock as I stood up and gathered my things, answering my ringing phone as I got on the elevator. "Yes, Dad?"
"Honey, do you want to join us for dinner tonight? Do you think you can come over to the condo tonight?"
"Um, actually, I'm leaving work just now. The condo is a bit far from my apartment and I have work tomorrow morning. Maybe tomorrow night?"
My Dad waited before replying and in the meantime, I heard my Mom questioning in the background, "When is she bringing Christian?"
A soft sigh escaped me as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, stepping out into the lobby once the elevator stopped.
"You hear her asking, don't you?" Dad chuckled.
"Yeah, I sure do," I mumbled out a response, starting to walk to my apartment while keeping my eye out for a cab driving by.
"It's all right, Jules, I understand that you're both busy with work and your own lives. You just let him know that whenever he's free, he's more than welcome to join us for dinner one night, okay?"
I cringed, reaching up to scratch my brow with my free hand. I didn't enjoy lying to my parents, obviously, but it felt like I had no other way out. If it wasn't for Alex's wedding, I might have even considered telling them the truth about my broken engagement, but the fact that they've already promoted this engagement and Christian to our entire family made me nervous and queasy. "Of course. I'll let him know, Dad. I need to get home now, so I'll talk to you tomorrow, all right?"
"All right. Goodnight, Peach."
"Night, Dad." Hanging up and tucking my phone into my purse, I stopped under a streetlamp as a cab drove down the road, stopping for me. I got on and told the driver my address. Throughout the drive, I couldn't help but overthink this mess of a situation I was in.
What's the worst that could happen if I showed up and just said Christian couldn't make it?
But my parents knew Christian well enough to know that he wouldn't do that, he wouldn't miss out on something as important as Alex's wedding, not because people expected him to be there, but just because he understood what a huge day it was for me and my family. My parents adored Christian from the day I introduced him to them, but I didn't need to hear him say it to know that my family could be a bit dramatic and over-the-top sometimes.
What mattered was that he always put up with them for me.
After creating this big web of lies, it was safe to say that I caught myself right in the middle. Using the time I had until I reached home, I called up Audrey, anxiously nibbling on my bottom lip, waiting for her to pick up the phone.
"Hey," she said, "what's up?"
"Nothing. Are you back from work yet?"
"Yeah, I got to my apartment a little while ago. Where are you?"
"On my way home. Have you got a minute?"
"Of course, always. Is it about the wedding?"
"Yeah," I admitted.
"Did you think about the suggestion I gave you?"
"I did. But Audrey... how can I do that?" My eyes followed each street lamp as the cab drove under them one at a time.
"I don't know, Jules. What I do know is that you don't have a lot of options. And what I definitely know is that after Alex's wedding, you need to tell your parents the truth to avoid such a disaster again."
"I will. I would tell them right now if I could. But they've broadcasted it to the entire Declan family." I gently hit my head against the headrest in frustration. "I just don't trust Christian to not use this against me."
"I know, it's understandable so I would tell you to be extremely careful of everything if you choose to go ahead with this plan. But as far as I know Christian, and I know him more than he would admit, I don't think he would do that to you, Jules. Not after everything that happened. I don't think he could bring himself to do anything that could hurt you again or push you further away from him than he already has in the past. He doesn't admit it but—"
"What he doesn't admit, we don't know, Audrey. And frankly, I don't even want to know," I scoffed softly, glancing out the window. "But your brother does nothing unless he gets something out of it. What could he possibly want from me now? I have nothing to offer him."
"Well, you don't know that. You'd have to ask him to find out the answer to that. But really, what's the worst that could happen here?"
A humorless chuckle poured out of me, "A lot. Not just here but even at the wedding."
Groaning softly, she replied slowly, "Right... of course. God, Jules, I... Look, no matter how hard I think about this, I don't see another way out of this for you. If telling your parents the truth isn't an option—"
"It isn't."
"Then there isn't much else to do. You can hope and pray for the best...? Manifest it."
"I think it's a little too late for that, don't you?" I deadpanned as the cab slowed down to a stop in front of my building. "Hold on one second," I said to Audrey before thanking the driver and paying the fare. Following that, I headed upstairs to my apartment where I resumed my conversation with Audrey. "Should I ask him?"
"I think it's your best shot. You don't have to do it now, obviously. Think about it."
"My parents want to meet him for dinner before the wedding, Audrey. For fuck's sake, my mother asks every day when he's available."
"Then I wish you all the luck," she chuckled lightly. "I'm about to make dinner, do you want to come over? We can try finding a better solution but I don't think that would be very successful, truth be told."
"Yeah," I exhaled, kicking my heels off, "neither do I." After saying goodbye to her and hanging up, I got out a fresh pair of pajamas and went into the bathroom, getting in for a quick shower before I came out and collapsed on my bed, my mind still racing.
If I were to do this with Christian, I needed some security, something to promise that he wouldn't be able to use this against me later, something that solidified this as nothing but business.
Could a... contract... help?
I groaned, rolling onto my side. There was no way a contract could be created for something so ridiculous.
But it's my best shot.
If I did this, if I asked Christian to do this for me, with me, it wouldn't just be a proposition, but a huge favor he'd be granting me. It would always irk and prick me somewhere that I had to turn to Christian for help even after everything he did to me. But it would undoubtedly irk me more if I ruined my brother's wedding and the family name in the process. Overthinking only made this worse, I had to think and act quickly without sabotaging this for myself. I had to do it.
Impulsively, I shot up and pulled my slippers on, grabbing my wallet and apartment keys, and holding onto them. I grabbed a clip off my vanity, throwing my hair back into a bun, and ignored the lavender satin sleepwear set I wore but grabbed a jacket and pulled it on, zipping it up and dropping my keys and wallet in my pockets before heading out, rushing to get into the elevator.
This may very well be a horrible idea, maybe even the worst I've ever had, but if I spend another minute thinking about this, I will go insane.
Walking a block ahead, I crossed the street and entered the Chinese restaurant that Christian introduced me to which had then become a favorite, and ordered some takeaway dinner for two, surprised to see that I remembered his order.
Ignoring and shrugging that off, I went back out and released a breath, getting another taxi. "Lukov Apartments, please," I told the driver. I had no other choice, this was it.
Christian was my safest bet in a situation like this. He was the only person I could rely on, the only person I could turn to. Christian was all I had left.
The only question now was, would he agree to help me or not?
.
.
.
.
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Chapter 11
I am on a little vacay for a few days but I'm gonna try to still update at least every other day as I have been <3
next ch: disaster