Unknown: Monday's a custom lunch day. Tell me anyone you want for lunch. I'll prepare it for you.
Alexis looked at the message for a whole minute to finally process who must have sent her this.
Alexis: International chefs don't need introduction I guess.
Unknown: Save my number.
Was that an order? Alexis grinned.
What should she save his name as? Stone and rock? Ice and cold? Just as she was going to save his number, another text from him popped up.
Unknown: If Monday is okay with you.
Replying to his own first sent message.
Wasn't it too late to ask if she is free when he already declared she needs to choose her menu for a special lunch day?
Alexis: Alfredo pasta with chilli tomato sauce.
Alexis: And tiramisu.
Alexis: And hot chocolate coffee.
Alexis kept typing whatever she felt like eating at the moment, even if that didn't make sense all together.
Unknown: Anything else?
Alexis: Yes.
Unknown: What?
Alexis: A friend who will watch me enjoy his cooked food.
Alexis felt like teasing him again. But to her surprise, her text wasn't replied. He just read it and kept her hanging.
Wow, did he just leave her on read?
Alexis started typing again.
Alexis: Leaving ladies on read is a bad manner.
He didn't reply but sent her a like emoji.
Wah, boomer!
Alexis mouthed a silent 'I hate you' to her screen after saving his number to her contacts.
Rebecca is getting a good scolding for giving him her number without asking her. Not that she minded it, still he could have just asked her directly. Why is he so impossible?
Well, thanks to him she felt much better than she was feeling just a few moments ago.
Mr. Grumpy.
***
Thud.
Venessa put her glass of water with force on the kitchen counter as she saw Stefan entering the house.
"Why did you let it slip?" The news she meant.
Stefan halted on his steps finding an angry face of Venessa, possibly fuming in rage but trying to cover it with decency.
"The reporters tail us all the time. I can't control all of them," he replied simply.
He was back on his way to his bedroom again.
Venessa knew it was a piece of bullshit that he fed her with. He was capable of controlling the media and more than that. Still, she pretended like she didn't know all of this.
"Oh? I see. Fair. But why didn't you cover up the mess? You could have at least done that, right?" Venessa stood right in front of him to make him halt again.
"I have other things to handle too, Venessa," Stefan sighed, his temple creasing in tension. Why is she so adamant today?
"Do you think I'm a kid, Stefan Ashford? You want to play games, you are free to do that but only when the divorce is finalized. We have to play house for another six months. At least, you could have waited for that."
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked as his expression hardened.
"You know exactly what I mean, Stefan. Both of us know why you are so impatient to let the media spread the news, don't we? But it could wait for a few more months if you let it wait for six freaking years. I have now become a laughing stroke to everyone in my company. Can't you give me a break?" Venessa pleaded as she rubbed the bridge between her eyebrows. Everything was frustrating her a lot.
Stefan took a long minute as he squinted his gaze to look at her.
"And you waited? I know your visits to that damn restaurant have become quite frequent recently, haven't they?" Stefan smirked almost mockingly.
Venessa shook her head in disbelief. "So you have other things to handle than covering up the media and that's what you're doing as 'other things'? Hiring someone to tail me?"
"You are still connected with my name and I have some reputation to keep, Venessa. Don't you make me remind you about that!"
Venessa was used to these empty threats and hard expressions. After all, she has been married to this man for all this time although their relationship was nothing more than two actors playing their perfect marriage. Her father and he made some ridiculous deal and she had to obey her father just because of that. And now that he is gone for almost one year now, both of them knew they could do whatever they wanted to do for so long. It's not like she stopped him from doing anything even before that. Then why is he so rude about her chasing her own path?
"Let's not lie to each other, Stefan. Both of us know we never wanted to be with each other and we had a silent agreement about this right?" Only one thing they agreed about in their whole six years of marriage.
"It's not that easy," Stefan felt his migraines throb in pain.
Because it genuinely wasn't that easy. It was so hard to get to see Alexis' face for all this time, let alone have a conversation with her. And now when he finally saw her after so long, she was busy having fun with someone else.
Venessa's voice brought Stefan back from his thought trail once again.
"But why? The Alexis we know would rather stay alone forever than loving someone else as much as she loved you. You know that too, right?" Venessa looked at his eyes, her lips quivering a bit while spelling his ex-girlfriend's name. They didn't spell it out before whenever they argued until Vanessa finally crossed the line.
It was fine, wasn't it? They were already closing the deal so keeping up with these hide-and-seek games was exhausting at this point.
Was it true? Did she really love him that much to be alone for the rest of her life rather than choosing someone new?
This explanation matched well with Alexis' past six years record.
She avoided most of the public settings, and showed herself as less as possible in the media.
Declined any event invitation that required a partner in company, refused all the dating rumors which circulated around her with her close work friends in the showbiz industry.
She did a lot of photoshoots of famous celebrities too, had rumors about dating the models and then found them complementing her online pretty openly while she never seemed to respond to them.
Was the iron wall which she created really because of him? Or just her way to protect herself?
Doesn't that also conclude that he was still in her mind?
But then the memory of her dancing and smiling ear to ear with that same guy twice made him think otherwise.
Alexis wasn't aware of one important fact about her. She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life. Her smile always drew attention. She looked more than pretty showing her dimples with her eyes all shining incredibly. He hadn't seen her smile like that with her for so long. And yet she was gifting that smile so simply to that damn man, as if he is the funniest man alive.
He never felt this insecure and jealous when they were in a relationship. He was so damn confident she would never leave him for someone else, thinking they were perfectly fitted for each other. But now that he has lost her, he finally realized it wasn't because they were perfect. It was because of her love, her freaking undying love that was alone enough for both of them to go strong without all the jealousy and insecurity.
He missed it, the love and everything about her which used to be his. And so he was so desperate to get it back now.
That was the only thing which belonged to him completely after all.