Strung (Rock & Romance I.)

Chapter 8. - Lavish

A/N: Surprise! I just couldn't help myself, this chapter as well as the next one was just soo easy to write. Do we have a ship name for London and Lukas yet?! LonKas? LuDon? Lmao. I suck, I'm sorry. Here you go:

***

I was just heading out of my meeting with Arielle, Nikki and a few other members of the label's management team, when my backpack started vibrating. Repeatedly.

Cursing, I crunched down, setting my little backpack on the ground as I dug through it, looking of the blasted device that just kept on ringing. When I finally got a hold of it and saw the number, I frowned.

The area code was familiar, but I was never the kind of person who could memorize one digit over her own phone number – that was all Ginger, with the photographic memory. "Hello?" I answered, hesitantly.

It wasn't like anyone besides my parents, my two best friends or occasionally a job ever called me. And even the latest was rare, since the guy who ran my web shop was just as much as an introvert as me, and preferred to communicate via email. Besides selling an occasional art piece here and there, I was only working with Arielle at the moment, and this definitely wasn't her number.

Nikki exited the building at the same time, and seeing me crunched down on the ground with my phone in one hand and my backpack in the other, she just gave me a quick conspiratory wink.

"Hey there, gorgeous! Made me wait until the fourth ring, did ya?" A very familiar voice, whom I have never given my number to, chuckled at the other end of the line. He continued on. "What are you doing tonight?"

I raised my brows, even though he couldn't see me, and clutched my phone tighter to my ear, concentrating on breathing.

And while I was waiting for my shock to wear down enough that I could form a coherent sentence, he must've thought that I hung up. "Hello?" I heard him call out on the other side, followed by the sound of tapping. His voice was now distant in the back. "I swear, if this piece of shit breaks down right now-"

"Jesse!" I cleared my throat. "I can hear you. Well."

"Oh!" He chuckled, and I heard the tell-tale shuffle of him raising his phone back to his ear. "Hey, London!"

"I was just... surprised that you had my number!" I said, as a way of an explanation for my momentarily brain-fart – which actually happened quite often. Not that he needed to know that.

"Nikki was kind enough to help me out with that one..." Then, Jesse added. "Fine. I bought her out with a weekend off with her man – approved by management and paid by me. So, you see, turning me down would be a gravely mistake, as you can tell by my exceptional character that I'm a good catch!"

I broke out in laughter. "You just admitted to bribing your band manager, and probably a bunch of other people too! Willingness for bribing is not considered an outstanding character trait."

I could practically hear the smile on the other end of the line. "But I did it so I could talk to you – which shows determination and persistency. Creativity as well, which are all great character traits." I loved the sly lilt of his tone, and the fact that he had quick wit. He was definitely the ball of energy that kept the group on their toes.

"I have to give you props for that, then." I teased. "And I'm willing to overlook the method you used to get my number, as well. Just for this once."

"Does that mean that you'll go out with me?"

I smiled. I couldn't tell if he was flirting with me, or simply teasing. And following that logic, I couldn't tell which one I was doing either. All I knew was that I enjoyed his energy, and I needed that boost of confidence that came from Jesse Wolfhart asking me out. "Hypothetically speaking, if I were to go out with you – which is a very big if! What would it entail?"