Her Escape

Chapter 6

Friends

"Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end." – Robin Sharma

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"You're still eating that shit?" I glanced up to find Chase leaning against the reception desk, his eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned his forearms on the cold counter.

"This?" I looked down at my half-eaten strawberry poptart before meeting his gaze.

"Yes." He replied, rolling his eyes.

"What's wrong with it?" I frowned. Poptarts were delicious. Clearly he needed some sweetness in his life to help him not be so grumpy and sour all the time.

"It's disgusting." Chase scoffed.

"You're disgusting," I fired back, taking a large bite just to spite him. "Hmmm. So good!" His eyes lowered to my lips, and I self-consciously looked away – bringing my hand up to cover my mouth while I chewed.

Then, he shook his head, pushing himself off the counter. "I give up." He mumbled under his breath and I smirked triumphantly.

I don't know if it was because the two of us were working together more closer than before, or what, but Chase had become significantly more pleasant to be around since Catherine went on maternity leave. He was by no means my favorite person to be around, and there were days where I knew to just stay away from him because he had this look on his face that just screamed don't fuck with me, but our interactions had improved significantly since we first met.

"Leave her alone, Chase." The two of us turned just in time to see the front door slam shut behind Scarlett. She was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a white crop top that showed off her toned stomach, and blue duffle bag draped over her shoulder. 

"I'm not doing anything to her." He scowled and rolled his eyes. "Stop making me out to be the big bad wolf."

"You are the big bad wolf." She sympathetically patted his shoulder in passing before waving to me. "Hey Lexie!"

"Hi Scarlett," I flashed her a smile, completely amused by their entire exchange. They made Tom and Jerry look like angels. It's like these two couldn't go five minutes without throwing some sort of insult at one another.

"How come you're so nice to her, but not me?" Chase scoffed, nodding in my direction. "You've barely just met her."

"Don't bring me into whatever it is the two of you have going on." I gave him a pointed look, shaking my head while laughing. They both chose to ignore me as they continued their bickering. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of them were sleeping together on the side with the way they always went at it. 

Later, after Scarlett had disappeared to teach her 3 PM yoga class, I was sitting down and reading a book when a plate of pasta was placed in front of me. 

My eyes shifted upwards and they landed on Chase towering over me. He was taller than me even when I was standing, but now that I was sitting, he looked like a giant in comparison to me. His tattooed arms were exposed, and he was sporting his signature scowl. "Here." He grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why?" I asked stupidly. Did he not just see me eat less than an hour ago?

"Because this is real food," Was all Chase said. He didn't give me a chance to respond, because as soon as he had appeared, he also disappeared.

...........

"You and I," Scarlett skipped down the stairs, pointing between the two of us. "We're going out tonight."