Facade of Love

Chapter 320 A Clash
I was totally speechless. I was just about to say something when Idris hit me with, “You’re not gonna bail on dinner too, right?”
Awesome. He had me backed into a corner.
I pursed my lips, shot him a skeptical glance, and muttered, “Sure, if you’ve got nothing better to do, dinner’s cool.”
Feeling irked, I was not in the mood to hang around and talk, so I spun on my heel to take off. I had only made it a few steps
when I paused and threw a look over my shoulder at him. His usually handsome face was now sporting a weird redness. “Hey,
just so you know, you’re looking a bit feverish. You might want to take some meds.”
As I walked into the police station that morning, I could not shake off the sight of his cheeks, all pink and flushed. At first, I
thought he was just shaking off the last bits of sleep, but the redness stuck around way after we stepped outside. That is when it
clicked: he must have slept in his car overnight, and the cold got to him.
“Alright!” he suddenly burst out, the hard lines of his face melting into something gentler. Our eyes met, and he nodded. “Got it.”
The way he switched gears so fast left me feeling super awkward. I did not stick around to dwell on it, though. I just turned
around and made a beeline for the safety of Scott Corporation. Idris and I were different now. Our chats and hangouts had this
weird new vibe, not as uptight and by–the–book as before. Maybe it was because of the divorce. I felt like I could breathe again,
but my fuse was way shorter now.
Strutting into Scott Corp with my arms full of blooms, I caught a bunch of stares. I slapped on my best “everything’s peachy” grin
and zipped to my office.
I dumped the flowers on my desk and just stared. Who would do something like this?
They were definitely nice to look at, but flowers out of nowhere?
Was it Maxwell playing secret admirer?
Just as I thought about him, Maxwell strolled in, his arms loaded with papers. His eyes caught sight of the flowers, and he could
not help but flash a cheeky grin. “Well, well, what’s all this? Looks like someone’s got a secret admirer, huh?”
I gave him a pointed look. “These aren’t from you?”

He stared at me like I had just turned
What’s going on in that brain of your to an alien. “Why would I be sending you flowers?
Okay, he had a point.
His eyes narrowed a bit as he leaned in. “You seriously have no idea who they are from?”
I locked eyes with him, totally speechless. “You know something, don’t you?”
He
gave a laugh and a casual shrug, his face telling me he was too swamped to play detective.” I just came back to Lake City again,
and work has got me buried. No time to dig into your love” stories.”
I sighed and gave the mysterious flowers another puzzled look. Who had decided to play secret admirer if Idris and Maxwell
were out of the picture?
My phone did a little dance with a few buzzes.
Charlie’s name popped up on the screen, and I could not help but flick my gaze to the flowers in front of me. Maxwell caught my
surprised look, and a mischievous smile crept onto his face, as though he was in the front row at the movies watching the best
scene.
I shook off his amused stare and answered the call. Charlie’s voice, as deep and smooth as
said, “Do you like the flowers?”
ever,
His question caught me off guard. “Wait, you are the one who sent them?” I stammered, my thoughts racing to catch up. Why
would Charlie send me flowers, of all things?
His voice had a playful tone, and I could almost picture him smiling. “I swung by the police station to drop off those flowers and
noticed you seemed to dig them. I just wanted to say thanks for last night. I wasn’t sure what you were into, so I went with
flowers. Got a favorite? Roses, or something else?”
I was so thrown off that all I could blurt out was, “Mr. Yates, why are you sending me flowers?

“Just showing some gratitude,” Charlie said, his chuckle warm and easy.
I was totally tongue–tied. “Gratitude for what?”
“I had an awesome time last night, and I’m still riding that high. I just wanted to share the good vibes with you,” he said, his grin
wide and infectious.
I was totally thrown. “You already gave me something last night.”
He gave a little hum, like he was acknowledging a song only he could hear. “Yeah, but I wanted to give you even more. Are not
you into them?”
Ugh, seriously?
Did all rich kids think happiness was a competition in giving away stuff?
I was tongue–tied for a second, but then I found my words. “I appreciate them, thanks. But you know, you really don’t have to
keep doing this. Sharing your happiness does not mean you. have to give things away. Sometimes, just talking about it with a
friend is all you need.”
“Can we chat later?” Charlie’s words were like music to my ears.
I found myself nodding, forgetting for a second he could not actually see me, and blurted out, “Yeah, of course.”
“Awesome!” he said, then there was nothing. Just dead air.
I was sure he would drop the call, but right when I was about to break the silence, he came back with, “You doing anything
tonight? How about we go out for dinner?”
Suddenly, I had dinner plans that could have been ripped from the pages of a rom–com, just like the date I had planned with
Idris. Both of them wanting to take me out on the same night was a wild twist of fate.
I sighed quietly before answering the call, “I’m not sure I can make it; we’re slammed at work
Chapter 320 A Clash

“It’s all good. I’ll wait for you,” came the comforting reply, the voice on the other end warm and considerate, with a hint of extra
care.