Competing For Hollywood's Superstar

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

It wasn’t every day that Alec went to the local diner near the hospital, but when he did, his former best friend and his former girlfriend had to be coincidently eating there together. Before he had a chance to grab Jasmine and make an exit for the door, Jace suddenly glanced up from his plate of fries and looked directly at them.

Alec immediately scowled in displeasure as he watched his friend stand up from the booth and walk over to them.

“Hey Alec... Hey Jasmine,” greeted Jace with a smile, “Nice seeing you two here. Would you care to join Leila and I—”

“Don’t hey me,” snapped Alec angrily. “What are you doing here with my ex? Are you chatting up with her nicely? Or did you forget the bro code again?”

 For a moment, Jace frowned at the false accusations he received before replying in a calm and collected tone, “You know very well that I did not break the bro code last time and nor am I breaking it again. What happened with Tasha was a tragedy, but she was just upset over the massive fight you two had. That’s why she went to find me for advice that night... You got to realize it wasn’t my fault that she d—”

“Shut up!” snarled Alec loudly, causing a few people in the diner to give a dirty look at their direction. “You know what? Forget this shit.  Jasmine, let’s go, we are leaving.”

“Wait! Look, what I was trying to get at is that Leila came to me for advice. There is absolutely nothing going on between us,” cut in Jace.

“Do you really think that I really believe all this shit you are saying?”

“Believe what you like, but it’s true,” added in a female voice from behind Alec, “I merely wanted some advice about a problem that has to do with you...But since you’re here now, I was wondering if we could discuss a certain matter outside in private?”

Alec rolled his eyes at Leila, “What’s there to talk about?”

“Our relationship.”

Alec gritted his teeth in anger. “I thought I made it clear that you lost your chance of being with me when you refused to my proposal!”

“I know, but give me another chance to speak...” Insisted Leila.

 “Fine, you have five minutes to spit it out and then I’m leaving,” replied Alec with a scowl as he exited the door.

Without hesitation, Leila quickly followed after him, leaving Jace standing awkwardly for a few seconds before Jasmine broke the silence.

“So, want to tell me what that was all about?”

He gave her a weary smile, “Yeah, I’ll fill you in about it... But first, let’s take a seat at the booth I was eating at.”

When the two had settled into their seat, Jasmine immediately started firing her questions at Jace. “Okay, who’s Tasha? What happened to her? Why is Alec pissed off at you still? What is Leila’s problem with Alec? And what else don’t I know about this situation?”

“Whoa! Slow down and hold your horses,” laughed Jace. “I barely understood all your questions. Try asking me more slowly. So what do you want to know?”

“Everything that just happened,” replied Jasmine abruptly.

“Okay, well I suppose I should start with the reason why Alec is angry at me and why we have this ongoing tension —which you may or may not have noticed— between us. Last year Alec had gotten into a large argument with his girlfriend Tasha. It was believed that she couldn’t understand all his female fans and the reason why he never had time with her. Alec on the other hand was merely frustrated that she couldn’t see his point of view. Unfortunately, as Alec grew internationally famous, they started to grow apart and their relationship began to dwindle. Thus the fight was the final breaking point for her. It was then after that she had gotten drunk and decided to find me for advice. That night, Tasha never made it to my house. She got into a brutal accident and died on the scene. Now Alec blames me for being the reason his childhood lover had been killed.”

When Jace ended the story, there was a morbid silence that hung in the air. Jasmine had no idea what to say to that. All of the sudden she pitied Alec. He was withholding so much pain and wasn’t letting any of it go. After a few more seconds of reflecting on the story, she spoke, “Wow...that must have been such a blow for him, but this isn’t your fault...I don’t know why he blames you.”

Jace sighed, “Yeah Tasha’s death had definitely hurt Alec in more ways than one. After her funeral, he became completely closed off and snappy. We didn’t talk much either… In fact, I thought our friendship was dead until you came along and revived it.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Jasmine, “You two barely talk still... But if it is true, how do you know that it wasn’t someone else who saved your friendship?”

“Actually that’s where you are wrong. You did something incredible to him. You opened Alec up and brought some of his old self back… I wouldn’t be saying this to you if it weren’t true. Despite the little tension that we still have going on, it’s slowly dissolving. That’s better than I could have hoped for before you came into his life. Besides, I wouldn’t have been invited to his birthday party if he was still angry with me,” explained Jace before pausing shove to a French fry into his mouth.

“Okay, fair enough, but you still haven’t answered one of my questions though... You don’t know if it was me who saved your friendship and changed him.”

Jace sighed as he wondered if his words were ever going to get through Jasmine’s thick skull.

“Look, when you know someone for as long as I did, you start noticing the little changes in them. That said you would also start noticing the person who helps aid the changes. Just believe me when I say that you are the reason Alec’s showing more of his compassionate side.”

Jasmine immediately snorted at the thought of Alec being compassionate. “You mean that obnoxious jerk? Please, he’s as rude as ever. I don’t ever recall him being nice.”

“Oh common, I’m sure Alec showed you a glimpse of his true self already,” teased Jace. “He only reveals it with people he has deep feelings for and I can tell you three people who had seen it...Tasha, Leila and now you.”                                                                                                              

Jasmine sat silently, all the while staring at Jace as if he was a two headed alien. Her mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour, trying to come up with something to say. She couldn’t think straight because had Jace said the very thing she had been trying to avoid hearing. After another minute of silence, she spoke.

“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. Alec can’t possibly have feelings for me.”

Jace’s face suddenly turned serious as he looked Jasmine in the eyes. “Don’t run away from something you can’t avoid. Your heart can’t hide from your feelings forever. There are thousands of girls dying just to date Alec. If you’re not careful, you might just lose him. One girl that I know who is looking for a rebound is Leila. She lost him once, but she’s trying to get him back. Don’t lose this opportunity because it comes and goes like the rain... Take it from me. I lost the girl I loved because I acted in a stupid manner. The next thing I know, she married another guy.”

Jasmine had no idea what to say to Jace, but she was spared the need to reply when Alec walked towards them with Leila quickly following behind.

“Let’s get going,” he said. “I got a call from Nurse Lee. She wants us back at the hospital to help with the last patient.”

 With a nod, Jasmine stood up and flickered a smile at Jace. “Thanks for the advice; I’ll consider your words.”

For a moment Alec looked suspiciously at the two of them before wondering what part of their conversation he missed. None of the less, he quickly dimissed his lingering curiousity as he took Jasmine by the hand.

"Later Leila... later Jace," he mumbled.

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Yeah I know it's short. Sorry, the next chapter will probably be longer. Anyways, this story is going to come to a close in about two or three chapters. I hope  you guys had fun reading it..