Imagining Us

Ch. 31- More than Friends?

The world was a joke, and she was the butt of it.

The look on his face.

The endearing look on his face.

He wanted her to have dinner. With him.

There was nothing wrong with him. Lord knows the genes he had were stupidly beautiful.

He saw her like that? Could she see him like that?

What about Porte? She asked herself mentally.

Porte had nothing to do with this. Porte was just her friend—if that still stood.

Esi was opening her mouth to answer him when she was cut off by Luke's laughter.
His 'throw your head back' type of laughter.

A sigh of relief escaped from her lips, and she threw Luke's arm off of her and walked away from him.

"London, wait!" He wheezed.

She continued down the stairs and onto the first floor.

Esi heard his footsteps behind her as he caught up—his long legs giving him an advantage.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked it like that. I could see you panicking though." A chuckle escaped him.

She pushed the door open and stepped outside onto the paved walkway.

"Seriously, Esi. Can you just hold on for one minute?" He pleaded.

Esi stopped and turned towards him. She folded her arms and arched a brow at him.

"Hurry up. It's cold."

"I really do want you to have dinner with me," Luke rushed his words. "I have a virtual pitch for work this week on a new comic that I'm proposing..."

He watched her expression carefully.

"And...I was hoping that I could present it to you," he said. "Please."

Esi pursed her lips. What did he think that she could possibly contribute? Yes, she watched anime and read comics, but that was the extent of her knowledge in this field.

"Please, London," he pleaded again.

She sighed and conceded since it sounded like she would get a meal out of it.

"When do you need me?"

Luke wore a sheepish look. "Tonight at 7," he said.

"Seriously, Luke!" She exclaimed. "When you said that you have a presentation this week, you actually meant tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is a part of the week," he answered cheekily, his breath puffing into the air.

Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "Don't play smart with me, boy."

"Sorry, but I really would like your help tonight," Luke insisted earnestly. "If it's possible."

A normal person would've continued by saying that it was okay if she couldn't make it, but of course, Luka Danvers would have left it open ended.

The prick.

"Where should I meet you?" She asked.

"At my home...maybe I could pick you up?"

At his home. Where Porte could be. She knew that Porte had his own flat, but there was a chance that he could also be at the family home.

This was not a good idea. Esi knew that she could handle seeing Porte. Maybe. But really, she was trying to be altruistic—she was thinking about her poor nerves. They would need all the help they could get.

"He won't be there...if that's what has you hesitating."

She disliked the fact that he could  pinpoint the source of her hesitation.

"I'm not hesitating," she scowled up at him. "Send me the location...I'll drive."

"It's a little more than thirty-five minutes from here," Luke stated.

"So? Do you want me to come or not?"

Luke beamed down at her.

"Thank you...now get out of here, you look like you're freezing to death!"

"No thanks to you!" she shot back. " See you later."

Esi practically ran the rest of the way to her car. As soon as she got in, she turned up the heat and her head fell back against the rest. She thought about what just happened.

More like second guessing it.

She'd already said yes to Luka, but she didn't really know what the dinner entailed. Westport was a high class neighborhood—if you could even call it a neighborhood—with sprawling estates. Was she having dinner with him alone or was it with his family—minus Porte, of course. What kind of people were they? What should she wear?

Even though she asked these questions, Esi knew that she could have said 'no'. That it would have been smart of her to say 'no'.

The real question that she should have been asking herself was why she really said 'yes'.

A/N

Thank you for reading! We all know that Esi saying yes is not a good idea! Stick around to see what happens.

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Xx,
El