What Happens in Paris...

...Over Tea

Drake sat between Kate and Hana in the back of the limousine. Any other day he might have enjoyed being sandwiched between two beautiful women, but not today.  On the other bench seat, directly across from him, was Kiara sitting between Maxwell and Penelope. The way she looked at him made his skin crawl inside his fancy clothes. To add to his awkwardness, having Kate and Hana sitting so close to him meant he didn’t know where to put his hands, so he just folded his arms across his chest and glared at the privacy screen behind Kiara’s head.

Next to Kiara, Penelope had her eyes glued to her phone, trying to avoid looking at Kate. She was still mired in guilt over her part in the Tariq scandal, and felt uncomfortable being so close to Kate and her friends. She would have felt equally as lost in the other car with the King, Adelaide, Madeleine and Regina so she tried to lose herself in the ebook she was reading.

Hana couldn’t help but feel the rigidness of Drake’s frame as he sat next to her. Whenever the car turned a corner, or swerved to pass another vehicle he fought not to lean on either of them. If he wasn’t so clearly uncomfortable, it might have been endearing that he was making an effort to be such a gentleman. Leaning back on the seat, Hana tried to catch Kate’s attention with a glance but she had her head turned toward the window. Taking a cue from Penelope, Hana digs her phone out of her purse and sends Kate a text.

Drake glances at Kate’s purse in her lap when it chimes, watching her open it and fish out her phone. He feared the text might be from Liam, causing a sour feeling in his stomach. With her phone screen so close to him, Drake couldn’t help but see the message and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Hana was the sender. He feigned indifference as he gazed out the window, but couldn't help but see their conversation.

Hana: <poke> <poke>

Kate: ??

Hana: Poor Drake, he’s trying so hard to be the polite thorn between two roses. 

Kate: Heh, I noticed. He’s super tense. It doesn’t help that Kiara is being a total sleaze and giving him the ‘fuck me’ eyes over there. I want to punch her in the face. 

Drake clears his throat, glancing at Kate with an amused twitch to his lip.

Hana: Shall we give Kiara a not so subtle hint that he’s taken?

Kate: Yes, let’s do that. Something to make her jealous AF.

Hana puts her phone away in her purse, and then crosses her legs to give Drake more room on the seat. He steals a quick glance her way, wondering what she’s doing. When she angles her upper body toward him and tucks her hand into the crook of his elbow he gets his answer. 

He leans over and mumbles to her out of the corner of his mouth, “Care to explain?”

Hana smiles at him and pats him on the arm, “Just roll with it,” she whispers. 

Penelope looks up from her phone, does a double-take and then nudges Kiara with her elbow. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” she hisses.

Kiara nods, a confused frown on her face. Her eyes cut back and forth between Drake and Hana.

Drake relaxes his posture on the seat, spreading his knees apart and dropping his hands down to fold them in his lap.  He gives Kiara a wide cheshire grin, and then waggles his eyebrows at her. She tilts her head, and then casts another glance over Drake, confused by the direct eye contact. What is he doing?                                                             

Once he’s sure that he has her undivided attention, he glances down at Kate’s bare leg pressed up next to his. Sliding his hand down his thigh he lets his pinkie finger graze along her skin and then he places his hand on her knee.
Kiara’s eyes go wide when Kate turns toward Drake with a smirk, tucking her arm under his to hug him across the chest and nuzzle her face into the side of his neck. Penelope gasps, picking up her phone again and tapping at the screen. Kate shoots her a warning look, shaking her head, and she drops her phone back down into her lap.