c h a p t e r | 16
TONSIL TACTIC
'Tonsil tennis, tonsil hockey.
Who knew you could be this dirty.'
__________
"HE'S TAKING YOU TO THE MARINA?!" Indy squealed into the phone as Tessa had barely finished her sentence of where Alexander was taking her tonight.
"Oh my God, Tessa. I bet he has a boat. He so has a boat, why wouldn't he?" Indy continued and Tessa shook her head with a knowing grin as she herself was feeling excited about tonight's date.
"Candlelight, wine, three meal course on his yacht, handholding down the promenade and finish with the perfect first kiss under the moonlight that skips over the graceful waves..." Indy sighed dreamily, "Then as it gets heated, because we all know it will, you quickly ma—"
"Yeah, yeah!" Parker obviously having muffled Indy by shutting her mouth with his hand squeaked as he tried to match Indy's range. "Just add a few coincidental fireworks and tap that shit and lick that— Arh! For fuck sakes, bite marks!" Parker howled.
"It's not a porno!" Indy screamed as Parker continued to mewl about his injured hand.
"You were the one going all Nicholas Sparks!"
"Nicholas Sparks!" Indy snorted and Tessa tried to turn down the volume of the conversation running through the car, but even at the lowest Indy's voice kept going shriller. "Alexander is way more Danielle Steele than he is Nicholas Sparks!"
"Hey!" Parker interjected, clearly trying to defend himself and Tessa knowing it did not do her any good just concentrated on maneuvering the traffic, hoping to get home to them before they tore her apartment to shreds.
"I was just trying to participate in the conversation. Isn't this how girl talks go? One tell of their dramatic moment with McDreamy while the other hoots like a rooster in appraisal— Orh, ow!" Multiple thuds accompanied Parker's groans together with a loud thump which sounded like the phone being dropped as static followed in it's wake.
"Guys.. GUYS!" Tessa yelled into the phone as she came to a red light.
"Get off me!" Parker huffed, his voice strained and muffled, sending another round of static through the phone. "I'm gonna report you for domestic abu— Aaah! Arm! Arm! Arm!"
"Look, I only called because I'm running against the clock—"
"Weren't you meeting him at six?" Parker wondered out loud which earned him yet another twist of his arm.
"I'm hanging up," Tessa proclaimed as it was getting nowhere and saw no reason to listen to their fighting. In the back of her mind, she should have known better than to call them the minute Alexander had asked her out on their second real date. In fact, she should have known better than to let Indy and Parker together without observation. That's what she got for trying to tie up all week's errands into one day.
"No, no, no! Don't listen to the all American boy over here, he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about!" Indy protested and her voice came into focus after the phone finally got picked up again.
"Can you even remember what we are talking about, because apparently you still cannot seem to remember I'm Canadian!" Parker pointed out, his voice rising with emphasis on his origin.
"Tessa, don't worry. I got the perfect dress for tonight!" Indy insisted, resulting in Tessa once again staring at the phone though this time hesitantly.
"Really, don't you think we should leave Tessa to the styling?" Parker pointed out, for once being serious and helpful.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh I don't know, remember last year?" Parker quirked up and a short moment of silence passed over the line. "Feathers, Indy. You suggested feathers!"
"What about feathers? Feathers are very classic."
"Yeah, because retarded Ostriches are so chic."
"It was for the Welfare of Animals function, Indy," Tessa sided with Parker on this one.
"How was I supposed to know that?!" Indy protested on the other end, which had both Tessa and Parker groan in disbelief as the event had been highlighted for weeks and the visit to the rain forest was still very vivid in both's memory.
"Oh who cares—"
"Errh, the animals?" Parker interjected but Indy ignored him.
"Anyways, I'm thinking the black Chanel you have hidden in your closet—" Indy started but Tessa got sidetracked as her phone beeped indicating that she was running low on battery and started to feel her way around the car after her charger.
"Guys, I gotta go, I'm running low on battery," she quickly informed before ending the call and tried locking the phone to conserve the battery, however she fidgeted as she wasn't actually looking at the phone, but on the road since she was crossing the intersection.
Her phone made a thump of its own, when the holder broke and the phone bounced onto the passenger seat before dropping down to the bottom and she cursed out loud.
"Tessa," a stern voice rung through the car and she looked around confused for a minute, before choosing to just concentrate on the traffic. Apparently the car, was trying to tell her something.
"Tessa?"
"Yeah?" She said, still looking around suspiciously, before she realized she somehow had taken another call and John was on the other end, "Oh sorry, I'm driving and I dropped the phone," she felt obligated to inform as John did not sound happy.
"Have you seen the papers?" John instantly inquired as he got her attention and she frowned by the vexed urgency in his voice.
"No, I didn't have the chance to yet, but I have them right here, just," she answered already leaning towards the passenger seat to pick up the paper, while keeping her gaze on the road, maneuvering in and out of the traffic.
"I thought I made it clear that we could not afford..." Tessa couldn't concentrate on John's words and it was a good thing she had currently hit a red light as her foot hammered the brake together with some quite colorful words leaving her mouth. Her hand clutched the paper crumbling it in annoyance as she took in the headline.
"You've got to be kidding me," she blustered.
"I've had enough, Tessa. If he's serious about fucking up my work, then we can all just call it a day... I just had Javier call me saying Hale nailed the front cover, but after reading this, I'll be damned if he doesn't call me up again and sue me..." John growled over the phone and Tessa couldn't blame him as her eyes scanned the article.
"Shame though, I was just talking to some old friends who bought a new house out in the Hamptons and are now looking for someone to furnish it." Hearing the words had Tessa make snap decision to veer the car.
A persistent honk interrupted John passive aggressive outburst as Tessa snapped her eyes back to watch the road. A car narrowly overhauling her while the driver pounded his fist out of the window, "Oh, fuck off!" Tessa roared after him and flipped him off.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, look I'll go talk to him. I'm a few minutes out anyway," she said as she had already changed her direction towards Hale's house. "We will get this under control."
"You better put him on a leash!" John warned and Tessa gritted her teeth, annoyed that he found a way to let Hale's screw ups reflect onto her instead of congratulating her for her helping him nail a front cover. Granted, possibly soon to be cancelled front cover.
Not bothering to get the phone, she went a little rougher on the accelerator, though she promised herself to get Javier on the phone and persuade him of not changing his mind.
As the car came to a screeching halt, she barely bothered with locking it as she stormed up to the door, only to find it locked.
She grounded her teeth, hammering and continuously pressing the doorbell. Her rage only got higher as there seemed to be no response, though his car was on full display in the driveway. She let out an annoyed huff as there seemed to be no movement.
Hale by now must also know about the papers and she saw that as his reason for not wanting to deal with her, but she was not one to turn away. Specifically, when her ass was on the line too and he had made an utter fool out of it.
Stomping her way around, she kicked off her heels, not even taking a second to appreciate the soft warm sand cushioning and caressing her feet. Only having one goal in mind, she did take note that if Hale indeed had made her dream circling the drain she would make sure his car got to know its top-speed over a cliff.
That and she really had to get back to change before meeting Alexander as she was sure her two days old clothes weren't at all elegant and sophisticated enough for a dinner date by the marina.
A mocking laugh of victory escaped her when she finally met with a door which was slightly ajar and scooted through it, coming face to face with the pool area and the culprit behind her way too early ulcers.
"You!" She howled the minute she laid eyes on him, though he did not seem particular aware of her as his head was submerged under water as he was doing laps in the pool.
As he finished his lap, Tessa slammed the door shut to prevent from any straying bystander to overhear their conversation as she wasn't certain she could keep her voice down. "Really Hale!? Really!?" Tessa glowered as Hale reached the end to come up for air and he shook the water out of his eyes, swooping his hair backwards.
"Really, what? Did you think I got this body sitting on my ass all day?" Hale feigned ignorant and leaned backwards with one knee on the wall of the pool, displaying his shirtless chest and abs.
"Look, I don't care what sport you like to endorse but when it hits the front covers like this, it does not only mess with your own life but everyone else's too!" Tessa screamed and threw the paper at him, which he elegantly caught, skimming the front page with a blank unreadable expression before just shrugging and pushed the now water spattered paper away from him.
"For all I care, you can play tonsil hockey with every damn bimbo you want to, but when it hits the media—"
Hale gave the paper a nudge, looking up at her with raised brows, "Tonsil tennis," he corrected as the headline now glinted mockingly and Tessa huffed. "Tonsil hockey..." he mused thoughtfully as his eyes swooped over her rigidly angry figure, "Now, who knew you could be this dirty."
"Tonsil tennis, tonsil hockey same difference!" She growled as Hale could not even bother with addressing this matter with just a teaspoon of proper attention as he had to make a joke out of everything.
"Tessa," her name rolled off playfully from his lips and he dove down submerging his head for a second before resurfacing again, rubbing his hand over his face. "You and I got completely different opinions on the matter," he spoke slowly as if lacing his words with seriousness. "Though a demonstration would be more detailing—" he smirked when Tessa's features turned sour.
"Fine fine, but seriously you should know your sports before spitting misleading terms."
"Oh cut the crap, Hale. Stop dodging the top—"
"I'm not straying from the topic, I'm merely trying to clear a few things up to make sure we're on the same page." He talked over her fast-approaching hissy fit, the trademark smirk embedded in his features as Tessa's mouth turned into a thin line.
"Tennis up, hockey down... Get it?" He pushed and made a clicking sound with his mouth for emphasis, which earned him being swatted in the face with the soaked newspaper which was already crumpling apart.
"Can you please be fucking serious for just 2 minutes?!" Tessa yelled and dropped her shoes as she hid her face in her hands trying to recompose herself. "Why the hell do I even bother? I shouldn't even care," she muttered despairingly.
"Why do you?" Hale burbled through a small intake of air before his mouth went under water again as if he hadn't said anything at all and ready to deny it if she called him out on it.
"Look, it's not just your career that's on the line with this, mine is too—"
"Oh, yeah the whole making things look pretty thing," Hale remembered as he placed his hands on the edge, his arms straining visibly as he pulling himself smoothly up by the arms, the water running down his now fully displayed tanned chest.
"Hale," Tessa bumped down on the nearest chair, the stern expression still not wavering though her tone carried a small hint of hesitant defeat, she could not conquer. "Are you actively trying to sabotage yourself, because if so it doesn't matter how tight a leash John wants me to put on you, because you'll just go out of your way to fuck it all up again."
"You act like I took the pictures myself," Hale muttered, the slight sneer unable to reach her ears as he looked away from her to grab a towel and dry his hair.
"I'm trying to help your career here and this is how you repay me by public indecency. First Vivi—"
"If you even bothered to actually look at the article and not just get offended by childish word play of intimacy, you would have realized that those pictures weren't at all taken out in public," A warning tone snapped Tessa out of her rant, and she looked up into Hale's now steely eyes. "What I choose to do in my private time is none of your business. Certainly not the press' either, but the press loves to slander, hoping for a reaction they are never gonna get and the same goes for you. So note this, as much as you like to get in my face, you're just a stylist. I specifically do not answer to you, nor do I ever have to explain myself to you." His voice dropped, not at all carrying its sense of carelessness and entertainment, and instead she felt his irritation fuel hers again.
"Fine! Be an asshole and keep to your fucking laps as if that's gonna magically fix your thinning thread of a career and look if I care! I'm done!" She yelled and stomped her way over to the door, however as she tried to rip it open it didn't even budge an inch and she was almost sent on her ass.
"Ugh!" She gritted as she persistently tried rattling the locked door.
"Yeah, not a wise decision to close the door, now was it?" Hale conveyed with a dark chuckle, as he turned away from her.
"Unlock the fucking door, Hale! I don't have time for your shit!" She seethed, and stalked towards him, however as she got within reach he jumped into the water, sending a wave of water splashing all over her, drenching her from head to toe. "HALE!" she screamed as Hale got up for air turning away as he lazily kicked with his feet.
"You should really know not to go near a pool fully clothed," Hale observed nonchalantly and turned around doing a few breaststrokes, so his head remained over water.
Tessa letting out small heavy breaths, which might as well have contained fumes from her boiling blood as her chest heaved with anger, she tried fishing her phone out of her wet pocket, before it too got wet and destroyed.
Multiple expletives escaped her mouth which had Hale briefly glance back at her as Tessa glared at her phone, before she looked over the screen at Hale, before determinedly striding along the side, following his pace. "Where are the keys?"
"Oh, did I forget to tell you? I did, I'm sorry, but I'm having the locks changed in the entire house. Yeah, can't have intruders just trespass on my property. Who knows what kind of impulsive outbursts and assaults they might come up with," Hale returned breezily, and turned to look at her. He found it hard to contain a smile as Tessa angrily wiped away a few drops that found her way in her eyes and down her nose.
"Funny, Westbrook. Enough with your games, hand me the keys. I'm late and because of you I'm gonna be even more late because I now more than ever need to change!" She gritted, leaving no room for jokes.
"Oh, he finally found the balls to invite you for a proper dinner, huh? Took you long enough."
Tessa knowing Hale was just toying with her, furiously typed at the phone however the mix of low battery and moist temperature had the phone flatlining before she could call Alexander to tell about her predicaments, and in a fit she looped the phone at Hale, who dodged just in time.
"And people say a firecracker personality is endearing," He deadpanned as they both observed the phone as it dove to explore the bottom.
"Why do you insist on pissing me off, Hale?" She penetrated the silence that appeared between them as they both just stared incredulously at the now definitively drowned phone.
"Why do you insist on meddling in my life?" He retorted and sent her a dark look, "Pull the handle the other way and you should be good," he said dismissing the conversation as he pushed off at the edge, diving to get a proper start on his new set of laps.
Tessa studied his swimming figure for a brief minute before she walked back to the door, pulling at the handle and rightfully so it popped open, however she left it open before she went back to the edge of the pool waiting for Hale to return.
"I don't know what the hell happened to you to put up this obnoxious front and I could care less, but when it interferes with my work, I can't condemn it. I'm good at my job, and from what I've seen on camera you are too. I don't care what you do in your pastime, but when it influences both our work and makes me look like a moron that's when I run interference. This industry is all about image and reputation and so far all you seem to do is dragging people down with you and I refuse to let you take me down with you," she swore as he ended his lap.
As she had had her say she felt no need to linger around. She was already awfully late for her date with Alexander. She owed him to get a hold of him and explain before he thought she had stood him up.
"The pictures in the paper..." Hale's voice made her hesitate and look back at him, his arms resting on the edge as he watched her carefully. A sense of determination but also vulnerability showed in his features. "Everyone wants something from someone," he said cryptically and gestured towards the door, which made Tessa study the door. "False rumors are as good any, I take it," he concluded just as Tessa realized the real reason behind Hale changing the locks.
_____*_____
A/N: Now was that a bit dramatic or was it just me? Tempers really do run high when they start poking each other.
Did anyone notice though she didn't get through the door this time? ;D
And Hale being approached in his own home. Damn, what a wake up call that must have been - A stranger ready for a round of 'sports'... Uf...
Anyways ! I'm keeping this simple and hope you enjoyed the new chapter of TMS (finally!) Don't forget to leave a comment or vote if you feel it deserved it.
Toodles noodles !