Meant to Crash | ✓

Chapter Twenty-Two

Layla had her tongue down Nigel's throat after I unlocked our front door.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, separating from him. They were on the couch, tangled up with a plush blanket. "I figured you wouldn't be coming back home so early in the morning."

"It's eleven o'clock."

"You were with a Lockhart," she beamed, rushing up to me in delight. "I thought you were halfway to Bora Bora."

"Girl, I don't have a passport." I rolled my eyes. "Plus, we're only coworkers."

I didn't want to tell her about the yacht party. Layla would overreact.

She tilted her head and pulled out her phone. "Coworkers don't make headlines."

Her phone fell into my hand, forcing me to look at what was plastered across her screen.

Eligible Bachelor, Sebastian Lockhart, Caught Leaving a Night Out with His New Lady. Is she the next Mrs. Lockhart?

"What the fuck?!" I blurted out. " One little moment...and they already think we're engaged."

"I'm getting calls from employees," Layla said, "ones you use to know from your old job. No one can believe your dating him."

"I'm not dating him."

What was wrong with everyone? Layla was annoying me, turning into a person I didn't recognize.

"Stop saying I'm dating him."

She didn't hear me, scrolling through her socials. "I have to dodge hundreds of DMs I keep getting. They found me on Insta because you tagged me in one of your pics. His fans are wild. Did you get any notifications?"

"My phone died a long time ago."

She shoved her phone in my face. "Wanna read some I got?"

Her excitement simmered down when I collapsed into a chair, deflating a bit. "I'm not enjoying this nearly as much as you are."

"Why wouldn't you be happy? You're with someone that's so--"

"You're not listening, Layla! I'm not dating him. He's my boss."

"That's something you can change."

"What? You want me to quit? I just got this job."

"No....but it's not like he has a problem getting close and intimate with you," she noted, flashing her screen to show one of the photos the paparazzis took. "You kind of have a smile in the picture, too."

"I don't."

She wanted to add more, but a loud bang made her redirect her attention to the entrance of the apartment. Without giving much of a greeting, Akin barreled into the living room at full speed.

"I want my fifty bucks."

This came from Akin, bringing out his palm. "I'm ready for my payment."

"What's going on?" I turned to Layla.

"We made a bet," Layla revealed, walking to her room and coming back with her wallet. "I thought that you would date one of the other workers at Lockhart Ink or Wesley. Akin said that you were going to date Sebastian - right away, too. He was correct. We've been sitting on this since you got the job."

"Why would you bet on something like that?" I sat up in my seat, slightly stung at their amusement in my dating life. "My life isn't a game."

"Your life isn't a game, you're right," Akin said, sitting down next to you. "But I'm broke sweetie, and I'll use any excuse to make a quick buck. With morals - of course. I'm not selling your used tissues online like some Hannah Montana episode."

He snatched the money out of Layla's hand. "Thank you."

"I want to order pizza," Layla offered, "What do you think, Maddison?"

"No, I'm not hungry. It's still bright out. I'm going to go for a walk."

Entering my room, I grabbed a jacket. "Don't save any for me. I'll grab some fast food on my way back home."

After I said my goodbye, I let the smile I forced falter and fall outside the door.

Did I lose any sense of real privacy?

Have I lost my friends?

To calm my nerves, and ease the chatter in my brain, I called the one person I knew who would treat me the same no matter the circumstance.

My dad.

"Hey, Maddy," he answered, picking up on the second ring. "How are you?"

"I'm....I'm not okay, dad."

"Well, you can tell me what's goin' on. What happened?"

"I'm having a problem with some friends of mine."

"You're gonna have elaborate, sweetie, what's went wrong?"

I stopped walking at a stop sign. There was a car waiting to make a turn so I let it go before me.

"Do you know anything about the Lockhart family?"

"No. Not really."

"Yeah, I didn't either till I got here. They're a rich family, and I started working for one of their sons as a personal assistant," I explained, "and recently, my friends have been treating me differently because of who I'm associated with. It's kind of sad to see them change that easily."

"Perhaps that's who they always were," he voiced. "With the right amount of pressure and strain, you'll see a part of their character revealed that wasn't visible before."

"That's terrifying to think," I said, stuffing one of my hands into my pockets. "I want to retain some friendships."

"Maddison, you don't need to retain every friendship."

"Dad, growing up, you use to constantly tell me that one saying...how does it go? A circle is round, it has no end, that's how long you should keep your best friend."

"That was when you were seven, and I wanted you to get along with other kids at the playground," he laughed, "You're an adult, Maddison. As an adult, you'll see that not every friend will stand the test of time. You should evaluate your friendships routinely. Once something isn't beneficial, you shouldn't stick with it purely based on familiarity. You gotta step back, though, to see it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sometimes it takes leaving someone, and spending time apart, to see their affect on you. A lot of the time, you don't know how much damage someone has caused you until you've walked away." He paused. "That's how it was with your mother."

"I never knew that."

"That means I did a good job as a dad," he chuckled again, but this time it lacked any real umph or vibrancy like before. He was masking his pain. Dad didn't remarry after my mom left. He tried dating - but with no real luck.

"Thanks so much, dad. I needed this."

"Anytime you want a voice of assurance," he said, "I'm here for you, Maddison. I would do anything in the world to make you happy."

Two months from now, those words would ring through my mind, but for reasons my dad couldn't have been prepared for.

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currently at camp as a camp counselor for young boys, dealing with grief.

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