After The Lie ✔️

Chap#36

Elaine's POV;

It has been a week since I moved back to the house. Lyra and Olivia wanted us to stay for more days, but Atlas said he had some work to do and all his files and things were back at his house. Also, I kind of felt really bad making Atlas sleep on the sofa every night.

Kate and Mike have gotten back together, and she said thanks to me for helping them. She told me that this time, they are going to convince her father and fight for both of them together. That's so great. She looked so happy! How nice it is to be in love.

Speaking of which, I think I'm starting to fall in love with Atlas. Or maybe not. I don't know. I don't wanna fall in love with him. He's like....he's different. I feel like I don't deserve him. And if I fell in love with him, then I won't keep up this act. Because then I'd want it to be more than just an act.

Claire came to pick me up today as we planned to go to the mall and I was getting ready at this moment

"So, have you talked to Atlas?" She asked

"Why do you keep bringing that up?" I replied

"Because you should talk to him." She said

"I will when I want to." I replied

"I know you won't talk to him. You're feeling hesitant to talk to him because you've actually fallen in love with him, haven't you?" She said. Damn, she was smart in these things. If only she used her brain on other things.

"What are you talking about? He's Atlas. Why would I fall in love with him?" I said as I tried to avoid answering her question

"Yeah. Right. I know you Elaine. I've known you for a long time. I know you have feelings for him." She said

"I've only known him for a few weeks." I said

"It only takes a moment for a person to fall in love and you've been with him for weeks." She replied

"But what has that got to do with me talking to him?" I asked

"I don't want to see any one of you get hurt. This is all just an act. It's not gonna be forever. It has to end one or day or another, it's better to decide before someone gets hurt. And if I'm right, and you are in love, then all the more reason for you to talk to him. Tell him about how you feel and why you don't want to keep up with this act. Trust me, it's all for your own good." She said

"Okay fine. But I'm not telling him why nor I'm telling him my feelings." I said

"Why?" She asked

"Because....you know what happened with Brian didn't you? He made fun of me and my feelings. I don't want anything to happen like that again." I said.
I used Brian's name just for an excuse. In truth, I was nervous and embarrassed about even thinking of confessing. Brian was a guy I kind of liked in college. He was always nice to me and was the chairman's son. I admired him because he was always so nice and would be there for me when I needed someone. And slowly by slowly, we became friends, I think. Until he confessed to me. I was happy when he said that until I eavesdropped on him talking to his friends about me. And he was making of fun of me. Damn, that really hurt. I then completely shut him out of my life forever. He really is a jerk. He always acts so nice but deep down he makes fun of people. And this didn't just happen to me, he did that to many other people.

"But that was Brian, a jerk. Besides, you weren't really even in love with that guy. You were just infatuated by him, that's it. This is Atlas. I can tell you really love him and you know him better than me so you should know that he'd never do that." She said

"I doubt that. Atlas is always teasing me about something." I said as I recalled all the times he teased me

"You know that he doesn't mean to hurt you and he just does that for fun. You tease him too., don't you?" She said

"Yeah yeah." I replied, "I'll think about it."

After getting ready, we went to do some shopping. We both love to shop and even though most of the time we are just window shopping, it's also fun. We met up with Amelia and Kate at the mall. After roaming around for three hours, buying a few makeup things and shoes. We decide to get some coffee at the café.

While at the café, we chit-chat about a bunch of things until Kate pointed at a table a bit away from us and said, "Hey, isn't that Atlas?"

"Where?" Claire said as we all looked at that table. And sure enough Atlas was sitting there, typing something on his phone.

"What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be at the office?" Amelia said as she looked at me

"I don't know." I said as I look at him. What is he really doing here? I think he is waiting for someone. But for whom?

"Mike isn't with him. He's mostly all the time with him." Claire said

"Mike is at the office." Kate replied

"Let's go say hi!" Amelia said as we were all about to get up when we saw a beautiful woman enter the café. She went to where Atlas was sitting. Atlas got up and greeted her. Seeing this, we all sat back down to our seats.

"Who is she?" Amelia asked

"I don't care who is she. But more importantly, she's gorgeous." Claire said as we looked at this woman who was sitting across Atlas, smiling and talking. She was wearing a sleeveless black dress that reached above her knees. She has a beautiful smile and just everything about her was so elegant.

"Atlas looks like he is having fun." Amelia said as I kept looking at both of them. Atlas was really laughing and smiling. Who was this woman anyway?

"Oh it's her! I know her." Kate said

"Who?" Claire asked

"That's Trisha. The woman Atlas used to be in love with." Kate said which made my heart beat stop and my eyes went wide.

So how do you guys liked the chapter? Sorry for not uploading per my usual routine. I'm just lazy. Although I try not to be. Anyway, please vote and comment if you are enjoying reading this book. Thanks for reading!