The Lunacy of Tyler Lockhart ✔️

Chapter Nineteen - Present

Victoria

I had tried my darn hardest to stay as far away from Tyler as I could, but at the end of the day, I had to communicate with him to help him with Maya's birthday surprise as I had promised and for that reason alone I was forced to accompany him to different stores all over town. He could have easily put one of his staff to the task, but instead he was driving around with me everywhere.

I wasn't stupid. I knew that he was making excuses to have conversations with me.

"You look like a nun wearing that." Hazel had commented when she'd seen the dress I'd picked for the birthday party.

"I don't mind looking like one, considering that I'm not exactly trying to attract someone's attention."

"By someone you mean Tyler." She gave me a knowing smile.

"Whatever..."

"Well, you don't have to worry about wearing an unattractive dress. You already look seventy with all those wrinkles all over your forehead, there's no way Ty's going to be attracted to that." Hazel commented picking up a shiny pair of earrings from my drawer.

She was a certified accessory and outfit thief. When I usually found my stuff missing, like my favorite t-shirt, charm bracelets, makeup, etc, it was mostly because the things magically appeared in Hazel's room. She implied that there was a supernatural entity present in the house.

And that comment, she was baiting me with it, hoping to conjure a reaction out of me which she wasn't getting.

She skimmed through my closet and tossed a dress towards me that landed over my face. "You're wearing that because I'm not going to accompany a nun to a birthday party, and if you really wish to be a nun than you can try auditioning for the next James Wan movie."

"Hazel..." I said.

"Come on, Vicky. You're not playing the game."

"Because I don't want to," I said firmly.

"Do you know what excites him more than anything? A challenge. And by acting like you don't care, he's going to get the message but if you keep giving him importance by wearing wrong outfits to a party, he's going to find it fun. He's going to think that you actually give a bloody damn."

"I don't care what Tyler thinks."

"You say that but you actually do." She said literally poking the mascara wand into her eye-balls.

In the end, she convinced me to wear a really sexy bright satin red dress that was mid-thigh, low neck, and strings at the back. The look was completed with a pair of red heels and a clutch bag. Hazel always told me that my platinum hair looked so much better when I wore bright colors.

"I haven't seen Archer all day. Where is he?" she asked.

My brother was back in town. He'd done everything maintaining silence and never posting anything relevant on his social media. He'd gone a few extra miles by posting a status that clearly said he was still in France. And then I'd received a call from Maya asking me if Archer had any plans to come back to Cold-Bay. I'd naturally toyed with her and told her I didn't know anything about his plans since he never mentioned them.

"It's a secret." I grinned.

"Ugh, I hate it when you and Archer keep secrets from me," She said.

"It's for the best."

Hazel's mouth was big, and chances were if I included her in one of my secrets, she would spill the beans to Maya. I couldn't risk it.

The birthday party was going to be held in their family-owned Club "Lucifer's Den" which was run by Max Lockhart, Tyler's cousin.