Meant to Crash | ✓

Chapter Thirteen

"I don't get what you see in him," Akin grunted and popped a chip into his mouth. "In the way you're telling us on what happened that night, you're making him seem like an insecure loser."

"He's shy," I corrected.

"He was probably nervous while asking you," Layla added. "That's normal."

"Yeah. Normal for a prepubescent middle school boy," Akin sneered.

"You can't insult her taste in men when you yourself have no one." Layla joined in.

"Oooh, good one." I laughed and gave her a quick high five.

It was the first time in two weeks that I had gotten the chance to sit down and relax with my friends. We were all resting out on the balcony of the apartment, looking toward the twinkling skyline ahead of us. I needed this; I needed them. The first day of work was a piece of cake, I hardly broke a sweat that day. Sebastian was obviously holding back, though, because the entire week I filling in that planner till my fingers went numb, picking up call after call, arranging countless things, and dealing with his snarky remarks every now and then. He had toned down the rudeness near the end of the week, but only because I stopped responding to them. He shut up faster that way. When I didn't talk, he wouldn't either. If we kept this up, we'd be left with only giving each other hand gestures and grunts for the rest of my time of employment there.

"What's the update on Wesley?"

"Seriously though guys," I sighed, sloshing around the last remainder of my drink. "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean? You have his number, right? Just call him," Layla said.

"Yeah, and he's got my number, too," I supplied, "He hasn't called yet. I haven't had much time to really sit down and arrange a date to hang out."

"Hmm, maybe you could do what Layla did to Nigel," Akin offered, "Walk up to where he works and just plant one on him, then demand to talk alone."

"What?" I sprang upright in my seat, shooting a look at Layla. "You did that? When did this happen?"

"Last Wednesday," she revealed.

I gasped. "Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"

Layla shrunk in her chair, nursing the drink in her hands. "There was no way I could tell you. You've been up at the Lockhart headquarters for two full weeks without even talking much to either of us."

"Other than complaining about how much work Sebastian has been throwing at you," Akin chimed in. "I'm surprised you could hang out with us today."

I farrowed my brows at them. "It's not like I've found a new group of friends to hang out with."

"We understand you're busy with work. And we're not mad about that," Layla tried to defend for me. "Besides it doesn't even matter. Akin was there to annoy the shit out of me afterwards, so it's not like I got to talk to Nigel that much."

"You guys weren't talking at all," Akin stated, "He had his hands all over her and she had her tongue down his throat." He shivered. "I think that sight alone makes me want to be single for life."

"Stop being overdramatic." I giggled, then leaned over to Layla. "Tell me about everything."

I watched Layla turn into someone different right before my eyes. She got emotional, smiling nonstop, as she spoke about Nigel. In a way, it was similar to how she reacted to seeing Lucas Lockhart for the first time, only now that excitement was on a new scale, in a totally different depth.

"We're actually all planning on going to Chinatown next Friday," Layla announced. "And I was wondering if you'd be busy with work after five pm. We'd leave around seven, so I think that's enough time for you to get ready and stuff."