Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Knox
Lorelai sat beside me, texting at a furious rate as a bout of turbulence hit. I grabbed my seatbelt, quickly doing it back up, and then glanced over at her. I hated this part of flights, and even I should be used to it by now, I wasn’t.
“Did you put your belt on?”
She ignored me, muttering to herself about how this wedding was going to be the shit shows of all the shit shows.
I smirked to myself as I hit her arm, causing her to almost drop her phone. She glared at me.
“What did you do that for?”
“You should do up your belt. The sign is on.” I grinned.
She let out a sigh. “I don’t undo it, therefore I don’t need to worry about it. You can also stop worrying about it and leave me be. I’m a grown woman, perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she grumbled, going back to the crazy texting.
This wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined this trip starting out. I’d actually changed my flight because I’d found out from Dylan that I’d be sitting beside Lorelai on the other flight. I hadn’t wanted her to be uncomfortable the entire flight, so I figured changing my flight time would be best. Yet, here we were. It’s funny how things always come back to bite me in the ass, regardless of what I do.
She let out an irritated sigh, continued typing, and then shoved her phone into the back of the seat in front of her and closed her eyes.
“Is something wrong?” I questioned.
She shook her head but then mumbled under her breath something about how this wedding was going to be the death of her. I sat there quietly, but then curiosity got the better of me.
“Why would that be?” I questioned.
“What?” She frowned.
“Why would this wedding be the death of you?”
She shook her head. “If I were actually speaking to you, then you’d have a right to ask, but since you like to listen in to my private conversations with myself, then here is your answer. It will be the death of me because it’s just the way it is. There are already issues. The shit show is already beginning. Plus, I am going to be forced to be around Hugo every single second of pretty much every single day. That’s why!”
I could already see the tension not only on her face but in her shoulders when I looked at her. “Well, I can understand things going wrong. That’s just par for the course with any wedding, destination or not, but I don’t get the Hugo part. Why would you find it an issue to be around someone you’re in a relationship with?”
“Can you not keep up?” she said, throwing her head back and closing her eyes.
I frowned and shook my head, wondering what the hell she was talking about. It wasn’t as if we spoke to one another daily, and we never talked about anything personal. Hell, I was lucky she was civil during my treatments, now that she was looking after me while Stacey was off sick.
“I’m not exactly sure what it is I’m supposed to be keeping up with?”
She gave me the death glare before speaking. “Knox, in the last few months that you’ve been around, has there been any sign of Hugo?”
I thought for a moment. Every time I’d seen her had been with Dylan and Aurora. We were always at some event for something, or when we’d helped them move into their new place. I thought Hugo should have been there, but I never gave it much thought that he wasn’t. I figured the guy was working, however, come to think of it, I hadn’t heard her speak of him, which was odd, but I really gave it little to no thought.
“Have you even heard me mention him?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
“Well, genius, that is because we broke it off. Or he broke it off. We are over, finished. Have been for a few months now, practically a year. Yet my stupid brother didn’t honour my wishes and ask him not to come to the wedding like he promised he would. So now, I get to see my ex-boyfriend parade his new piece around in front of me, while I am left in the dirt picking up the pieces. I’m also incredibly single, which will only make him think I’m not over him.”
I wanted to be sad for her, however, inside I was cheering. Ever since that night she kissed me in that bar, I’d wanted to be with her, but for the sake of my relationship with her brother, I knew better. So, I avoided the complicated mess that it promised to become and shoved her away.
I could still remember the look in her eyes that night as the words of rejection flew past my lips. My words had been harsh, and I hadn’t meant one of them. In fact, the memory of that kiss had haunted me for years. When I’d finally gotten up the nerve to approach her, she was in a relationship with Hugo and she seemed happy, so I bowed out and internally wished them all the happiness in the world.
Well, not entirely true, but I’d like to think I did because I’m a decent human being. Anyway, I’d thrown my chance away with her and I focused my energy on others, not giving her one more single thought until this second.
When she’d first started with the Dominators, I’d thought about asking her out again, but stopped because I was certain she was still involved with Hugo. Her lack of interest in anyone, including me, said it all.
Just then, her phone went off. She grabbed it, typed a response, put her phone back, and then buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.
“You know what? I think you could use a drink. What do you say?” I questioned as she lifted her tear-filled eyes to mine, then immediately looked away from me.
I hit the button for service and waited for the flight attendant. Almost immediately, she appeared, and I ordered us a drink without giving Lorelai a chance to turn it down.
I held out the can of tonic and a small bottle of gin for her, along with a glass.
“What’s that for?” Lorelai questioned. “Trying to get me drunk so I shut up?”
Clenching my teeth together to stop myself from saying something I’d probably regret, I shook my head.
“It’s a peace offering and something to help you cool down. I also think you need to shut that phone off and ignore the fact that Hugo will be at this wedding and focus on being in one of the most beautiful places in the world.”
“He’s already starting, though.”
I frowned, not sure who she was talking about. “Who is? Your brother? Aurora?”
“Hugo! Like I said, can you not keep up?”
“That’s who you were talking to? Why would you be talking to him?”
Lorelai unscrewed the tiny cap from the small bottle and dumped the contents into her glass, adding the tonic after.
“He wants us to talk,” she said, using air quotes to emphasize to talk .
“Talk about what?”
“Who the hell knows? He called me not too long ago and left a message, but I didn’t call him back. I have nothing to say to him.”
“Makes sense. Yet, I’m confused. Why are you talking to him now? And why does he want to talk to you if, as you put it, he has his new piece there with him?”
Lorelai took a sip of her drink and rested her head against the back of her seat. “I don’t know.”
“Do you have things you want or need to say to him?”
I studied her face as I waited for her answer, secretly wanting to know the truth. Did she not get closure? Did she need closure? I was confused why this was bothering her so much, if she didn’t want to be with him anymore.
“No, I have nothing to say to him.”
“Then ignore him.”
“I have been, but I also don’t want him messaging me the entire trip, either.”
“Lorelai, don’t you know that it’s better to ignore him than to give in and answer? That alone will only keep him coming back. Either ignore him or tell him straight up that you have nothing to say and tell him to stay away from you during the trip because your boyfriend will get angry.”
“That would be lying, and I don’t do that.”
“You did when I met you.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“‘Hello, I’m twenty-six,’ when, in fact, you were only twenty.”
“That was different.”
“How was that different?” I questioned.
She took a drink and smiled. “It just was. I was young and stupid. Now I refuse to do those things.”
“You shouldn’t be, not when it will benefit you.”
“Is that what you do?”
“Depends on the situation at hand.” I shrugged.
“Do you know what I feel like doing?”
“What?”
“I’m this close to getting a return flight back home when I land and saying to hell with it.”
“I get that, but you know you can’t.”
“I know. If it weren’t my brother’s wedding, I’d do exactly that.” She sighed, taking a drink. “That way I wouldn’t have to watch them slobber all over one another.”
It bothered me that she was so bothered about Hugo being at the wedding with his new girlfriend, so I ran through things that may help her face whatever demons were going through her head. A series of thoughts floated through my mind, and I sifted through each one of them.
“He’s just such an ass, and he hurt me so bad, I’m at a loss.” She sighed.
“What would be an ideal situation for you to face this situation?”
Lorelai thought for a moment and then shrugged.
“What is it that bothers you about the most about the upcoming situation?”
“That he has someone that he’s moved on with and I’m here, alone.”
“So, don’t be here alone.” I shrugged.
Lorelai looked at me as if I had two heads. Then a smirk fell on her lips. “Okay, so who am I supposed to be here with then? You?” She chuckled to herself. “God, that is just hilarious,” she murmured before rolling her eyes.
“Why not?” I shrugged.
“Oh, my god! You can’t be serious.” She downed the rest of her drink while I signalled for another two.
“I’m totally serious!” I said, smiling up at the flight attendant, who brought over two more drinks and placed them on my tray while I tapped my credit card on the machine.
“First, no one in their right mind would ever believe that we are together.”
“Why not?”
“Really! You really have to ask? Are you telling me that my hatred of you doesn’t speak for itself? Or the fact that you can’t stand me doesn’t show through.”
“Oh, it speaks volumes, but it’s not something that we couldn’t deal with.” I shrugged, ignoring her thoughts of me while dumping the two little bottles of alcohol into each glass before the mix.
“Nice try, but it would never work.”
Here I’d figured I’d come up with a way to mend fences between us, and she wasn’t having any part of it.
“I think it would. I can be very convincing if I want to be.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can.” She rolled her eyes.
“Well, that’s okay. Don’t say I didn’t offer. Good luck with Hugo and all that!” I said, holding my glass up for her to clink hers to mine. We each took a drink, and I pulled the magazine I’d brought to read from the back of the seat and opened to the article I’d left off at. I could feel her watching me.
“Wait, were you actually serious? You’d do that for me?”
I said nothing to start, but then finally nodded. “If I knew it would make things better for you, yes. We could do this. No one needs to know the truth. It would be our secret.”
Her eyes met mine as she sat there. She didn’t say a thing, then her phone vibrated, and I watched her eyes fall to the screen, irritation lining her face once again.
“We could pretend like we just started dating, in secret. That way, there would be little to explain to anyone. Give me your phone.”
“What? Why?”
“Trust me, just give me your phone.”
I quickly took her phone and began typing out a message. When I was done, I didn’t hit send. Instead, I passed the phone back to her.
“Read it. Then send it,” I said. “Change nothing.”
She met my eyes and slowly took her phone from my hands. She looked down at the screen and read what I’d typed, then she looked up at me.
“Now hit send,” I urged.
I watched as her thumb hovered over the send button. She was about to press it, pulled her thumb away, and looked at me again. This time I simply nodded, and that was when she glanced back at her phone and hit the send button.
“Now, turn off the phone and put it in your bag and forget about it.”
She did as I suggested, and then she sat back and took a sip of her drink.
“Do you really think this is going to work?” she questioned a few moments later.
I nodded. “Considering you just told Hugo that your boyfriend was getting irritated as hell that he was interrupting your cuddle time and for him to be forewarned when we land, I do. Now, we just need to come up with a convincing plan.”