Chapter 211: Need To Talk
"Adam..." Isla repeats his name with a smile and looks up at him, feeling giddy with excitement.
"Um... So... ya..." Now that she has gotten what she wanted, Isla once again starts struggling with words as she doesn't know what to do next.
This is, after all, the very first time she has asked a guy for his phone number.
Seeing her struggle again makes Adam wonder where that girl went, whom he saw shine on that stage. Last night she was in control. She looked confident, and her voice could command thousands of people.
But now the same girl is struggling to utter a single word.
Adam is now very curious about Isla, he wants to learn more about her, and which one is the real her is. This shy, clumsy mess of a girl or that bright, burning star that can make thousands of people dance to her tunes.
"I need to head back to work now, and I think your friends are waiting for you, too," Adam decides to help her again, taking matters into his own hands.
He nudges her to leave because if he didn't, Adam's sure that she would have stood at this move, wriggling uncomfortably, unable to say or do anything.
"Yes!... I should do that... My friends are waiting... Okay, bye~" she says and bolts away with hurried steps while also turning to look back at Adam every other second.
Adam just smiles in return and watches her leave.
'That's that, I guess,' Adam thinks as he sees Isla disappear from his sight.
A minute later, Adam returns to the restaurant to find both Leila and Cassie hovering around, curiously waiting for him. The moment he stepped in, they rushed at him with questions.
"What did she want?" "What did you guys talk about?" "Did she try to flirt with you?" "Do you like her?" Questions came flying one after the other without giving Adam a chance to answer.
Adam finally had enough. He raised his hand and put it before their face, forcing them to stop yapping.
"We saw each other at the concert last night. Yes, she wanted my number because she's interested. Yes, I gave my number to her, and that's it. Then she left. I am sure she is busy with her life, and so am I, and so are you guys. Back to work," Adam says and walks past them as Leila and Cassie look at each other.
"See, I told you. A guy like Adam will always have the attention of other girls. Even women with high status can't resist his charm. You see how even Isla Verne couldn't resist him. So if you want to continue being the one he favors, you need to put his needs forward, and he will reward you with his attention and care," Cassie whispers to Leila as they watch Adam entertain a table of middle-aged women who clearly are very happy to have Adam serving them.
Leila looks at Adam's handsome face and his bright smile and presses her lips together. When she met Adam for the first time, she didn't have a high opinion of him because of his good looks.
She always believed good-looking men like Adam are assholes, but then she got to know him, and she couldn't help but get pulled in and fall for him hard.
Sure, he might be arrogant and self-serving sometimes, but he is also very gentle and caring when the time calls for it. Leila has fallen for him hard, and she doesn't want to let go of him now.
So when Cassie came to her, proposing the idea to share Adam with her, Leila didn't like it.
Leila's not naive; she knows Adam has other lovers, but Adam never brought them up, nor did she care about them, as long as it's just about the two when they are together.
But then Cassie made her see the bigger picture. Adam will always have his lovers competing for his affection, and if she wants to be someone Adam values more than his other lovers, she needs to stand out; being beautiful won't be enough, and it just became very real for Leila as she saw Isla Verne herself trying to get close to Adam.
Leila slowly nods her head without saying a word before making herself busy with work again, but she doesn't notice the cunning smile on Cassie's lips.
She didn't expect her idea to blossom inside Leila's head so fast; she can only thank Isla for dropping out of nowhere and expressing her interest in Adam to make Leila believe her words hold true.
Cassie then turns to look at Adam. 'I did just as you told me to. I convinced her. Now, do I deserve it?' Cassie asks him within her head.
Adam, who has been taking orders, feels someone's intense gaze locked on him, so when he turns to look, he sees Cassie looking at him with an exciting glint in her eyes.
'Did something happen? Why is she looking at me like that?' Adam wonders before going back to work. Though he is curious, he is not someone who can be so easily distracted by unnecessary things.
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"So his name is Adam, huh?" Suzaan says as he looks at the number and the name above it on Isla's phone as she and Isla are sitting in the back seat of their car, while Kylo's in the passenger seat and Jean's the one who's driving.
"Yes~" Isla says, blushing.
"So, how did you do it? Because from what we saw, you were a mess out there," Kylo turns back to look at Isla and asks.
"I wasn't so bad..." Isla says, trying to defend herself.
"Girl, you weren't even standing still. You looked like a nervous wreck," Suzaan says.
"Whatever, I got his number, so it doesn't matter how I did it," Isla says while avoiding a face-to-face confrontation with her friends.
"Hehehe, now I am sure that you couldn't ask him. He gave you his number out of pity, seeing how pathetic you looked," Kylo says, teasing her more.
"Oh my god! Is it true?" Suzaan asks, and when she sees Isla blushing and avoiding their gaze, it confirms it. "Holy shit! It's true. He gave you his number out of pity," Suzaan says.
"No! He said I was cute!" Isla says out loud, defending herself.
"What? When?" Suzaan asks as she gets curious again.
"When we went behind the restaurant... to talk in private..." Isla says.
"Well, that sounds... promising... for now. So what are you going to do now that you have his number?" Kylo asks.
"I don't know... Should I text him right now?" Isla asks her friends for advice.
"Sure, go ahead. If you like him so much, then why wait?" Kylo suggests.
"Absolutely not!" Suzaan immediately interjects.
"Isla, you can't text him right now! It will show that you are desperate. You already made a fool out of yourself in front of him. And trust me, popular guys like him don't like clingy girls. If he feels you are being desperate, he will cut you off without hesitation," Suzaan says.
"You... are right, plus, I am sure he is busy with work right now..." Isla says and decides to text him later. In Suzaan, she trusts the most.
"I don't know. If I were him, I would love it if a girl were to text me immediately, it shows that she is interested, and I am not wasting my time," Kylo says.
"Well, that's because you are not as good-looking as him. Do you think Isla's the only girl who's interested in him? Didn't you see how those other two waitresses were eyeing him at the restaurant? Isla needs to separate herself from the bunch. She needs to stand out by making herself a rare commodity. Not some desperate bitch who is always at his beck and call," Suzaan says.
"Whatever you say~" Kylo says and immediately gives up on arguing with Suzaan.
Most of the time, Suzaan is a big sweetheart who always cares about others and is very selfless with her actions, but when it comes to matters regarding Isla, supporting and defending her, she becomes as fierce as a mother lion.
And Kylo doesn't want to deal with that side of her, ever.
A few minutes later, they arrive back at the hotel where they are staying. The whole ride, Jean hasn't uttered a word as he seems busy in his own head.
He drives into the hotel's parking lot and parks the car. The band gets out of the car one after the other.
"Isla, we should talk... In private," Jean suddenly speaks up, stopping everyone.
Isla turns to look at Jean, and so do the others.
"What's happening?" Kylo leans into Suzaan and asks her in a whisper.
Suzaan looks at Kylo as if he were an idiot before grabbing him and pulling him away. "What's going on?" He asks again, confused.
"Nothing, like Jean said, those two need to talk," Suzaan says and disappears with Kylo, leaving Jean and Isla alone in the parking lot.
Isla and Jean stand in silence, looking at each other.
Unlike when she was in front of Adam, Isla doesn't look like a mess. She looks confident and fierce as Jean doesn't make her nervous.
"What is it?" She asks. Her tone is firm and full of confidence.
"Don't give me that bullshit, you already know what I want to talk about," Jean says. Isla can hear the anger and frustration in his voice.
*sigh* Isla sighs, annoyed while pinching her nose bridge.
She didn't think this day would come so soon. But now that it is here, she needs to fix this before it escalates.