Mallory held onto her purse before she knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it.
"Hey, give me a second to change. I mean come in" Colton opens the door and moves aside so she step in. "I had to submit an essay for tomorrow's class" Colton says.
"He's engaged" Mallory lets it out. Colton turns to look at her, "the guy from last night?" Colton asks. She nods.
Colton doesn't know what to say and pulls her in for a hug. He sets his chin on top of her head not applying any weight or pressure and soothes her back.
"Lets go out and have lunch to get your mind off all of this going on"Colton smiles. However she doesn't look as happy as she did the previous night before he left and she left with Ezekiel.
"Do you think we can just order room service" Mallory shrugs. "Room service sounds good too" Colton nods and reaches over for the menu and the phone.
He orders the food and sits besides Mallory on the bed. They sit there and speak about watching a movie or something. They can't decide on what to watch and look through everything that's available. As they search they speak about his classes and how long it is before he graduates. He can't help but notice how sad she looks.
"I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better" he says as he looks at her.
"Have you ever been in love?" Mallory asks him. "No, not really" Colton smiles as he shakes his head. "Not even once?" Mallory raises her brow. He shakes his head no.
"Although between you and me, I wouldn't mind falling in love with you" Colton smiles at her.
"You really are good" Mallory smiles back. "Well I'm trying to impress you" Colton grins as he continues to change the genres. As soon as they hear a knock at the door Colton gets up and goes for the food. He tips the worker and pushes the cart of food into the room.
He set the cart in front of them and opens the trays. Mallory asked for a hamburger and he asked for pasta alfredo. "Do you want a soda or a beer?" He asks as he reaches the mini fridge.
"Sprite is fine" she amswers. He grabs a beer and a sprite before sitting beside her. "Are you sure this is good? We can go to a restaurant if you prefer?" Colton asks.
"This is more than enough" Mallory asked as she grabbed a french fry.
~
They finished having their food and Colton moved the food cart aside. "Do you want to go out for a walk somewhere?" He asked as he sat beside her.
"Earlier today you said that you're trying to impress me, why? I mean why if you've already been intimate with me" Mallory asked. "That doesn't mean I shouldn't work hard to earn points" he said.
Mallory smiled. "You know what I think we should go out" She said.
~
"The famous bean" Colton said as they walked towards it. "Want to take a picture?" Mallory asked as she took her phone out of her bag.
"Lets" he answered and smiled as he stood besides her. They took more than one picture before they walked to a near by bench to sit.
"So what was it like growing up here in Chicago?" Colton smiled. "Interesting, I mean we have great weather and our bean, what more could we ask for" Mallory answered.
"Tell me more about your life, what was it like for you growing up?" Mallory asked.
"It was a little rough for me. My parents divorced when I was only seven and my mom kept custody of me so we often moved from one place to another. I was fifteen when we finally stayed in New York. My mom got a job at one of the art museums, she was paid well however she decided to get another job and asked me to cover her at the museums sometimes and that's how I got more into art. Then when I got into NYU it was a bit discouraging hearing that you have to know certain type people to make it in the art business so I changed my major. My mother found out and gave me a lecture that made me change my major once again and it's how I finally stayed in art" Colton nodded.
"Does your mother still live in New York?" Mallory asked. "She passed away two years ago" Colton said making Mallory wish she had never asked.
Colton noticed Mallory was speechless and didn't want pity. "It's okay Mal, she's in a better place. Breast cancer wasn't easy on her but she fought it with all the strength she had" Colton smiled.
"I'm still sorry for asking" Mallory looked at Colton. "It's fine" He smiled.
"Did you call me Mal?" She asked.
"Yeah, if you don't like it I won't do it again" Colton said. "I like it" Mallory quickly responded.
"Do your friends and family call you Mal?" He asked.
Mallory nodded, "A really close friend of mine started calling me Mal when we were in elementary. Then he would call me Mallory calorie salary. Anything
that would rhyme he'd say it after saying my name until we reached high school. He'd call me Malibu but I disliked it so he just sticked with Mal" Mallory smiled as she remembered Jason.
Colton smiled. "You know you have this serious face expression that's so attractive and it gets even better when you smile" He said making Mallory blush.
They both decided to walk around and stood up. They walked towards a coffee shop to get some donuts when in the corner Mallory watched as Nick and Ezekiel walked towards them.
She hoped that they would continue walking but Ezekiel stopped right in front of them. "Hey" Ezekiel said to Mallory then looked at Colton.
"I didn't know you guys were still in town" Mallory said. "Well I'm from here" Ezekiel nodded. "Ezekiel, a close friend of hers" he said introducing himself to Colton. Mallory frowned at Ezekiel.
Colton figured who he was and simply raised his brow and nodded with a smirk. "Well I'm Colton, a very close friend of hers as well" Colton smiled.
"Right" Ezekiel responded and stepped into the same coffee shop that Mallory and Colton where going into.
"Can I speak to you" Nick said to Mallory.
"Go ahead I'll be inside ordering" Colton smiled and stepped into the cafe. Mallory didn't want him to be in there with Ezekiel but Colton was already inside.
"I need you to help me speak to Cassidy" Nick said to Mallory sounding very demanding.
"You're asking me for help? No" Mallory responded. "Asking was my way of showing a kind gesture but I'll demand it if you prefer" Nick answered.
"You're in no position to demand" Mallory looked at him. "Tell her to meet me here or give her this, it's the hotel I'm staying in" Nick handed Mallory a card.
Mallory smiled as she grabbed the card then let it fall to the ground.
Nick smiled back, "you might want to pick that up"
"No" Mallory shook her head. "I like how you're exactly like your father and uncle yet act as if you're so innocent. You know I've always wanted to travel to Amsterdam, what's it like there?" Nick asked making Mallory frown.
"I mean I ask you because I know you took a trip there the summer before you met Zeke" Nick smiled. "No wait, it wasn't Amsterdam where you really went. If I'm not wrong your actual destination was the Oasis Medical Clinic"
Mallory looked at Nick before turning to the coffee shop to see Colton waiting for their order.
"I'm figuring you haven't told him just like you haven't told anyone else that you had an arbotion." Nick said.
"You don't know anything" Mallory responded with a shaky voice. She was amazed at how quick her throat dried.
"I didn't but I've learnt something from your family and it's to always have important information on your enemies. What was the name of your first boyfriend?"
Mallory didn't answer she simply looked at him in shock as to how he had even found out.
"You don't have to say it I'll figure it out. However what you do have to do is get Noelle to meet me or Zeke will be the first one to find out what you've done at such a young age. See ya" Nick said before stepping into the coffee shop.
