Chapter 230 - We are just friends

''No, we weren't dating, we are just friends. '' she stretched her lips into what looked like a smile;

''Hmm, but… '' The woman was about prying the more but thankfully, Claire's phone started ringing in her bag; Claire heaved a sigh of relief; ''excuse me, I have to take this. ''

She smiled at the woman and turned walking away from her; she peeked at her phone and saw it was Leo calling; staring at it for a second, she picked the call;

''Hey, Leo; ''

''Claire, where are you? I just arrived.

''Oh, I'm at the VIP section, I'll see you when the party is over. '' She said before Leo would ask her to come to him. The last thing she wanted now was a truckload of questions about why she wasn't dating Leo and how they looked perfect together.

''Alright, we'll see when the party is over. ''

''yeah; '' Claire nodded and ended the call, she heaved a sigh of relief then turned back to her seat, feeling sick all over, she wished she would just disappear and appear on her bed. This was already hell for her.

Thankfully, the guests that sat around her weren't prying on her private life; rather they talked about other random things. After a few hours, the party was finally coming to an end, and the guests began bringing their gifts to the CEO and his girlfriend who was sitting beside him. Claire had already given her present earlier so she excused herself and walked away from them, but as she walked past, she came face to face with Leo and Hazel.

Leo was talking to someone, so he had not seen her but Hazel did and she smiled at her. Claire could not escape, so forcing a smile to her lips, she walked towards them,

''Hazel, you look gorgeous. '' she beamed, embracing in her in a quick hug. Leo instantly turned when he heard the familiar voice;

''Claire, '' his eyes admired her outfit and he smiled; ''you look pretty; ''

''thank you;'' Claire pushed some strands of her hair to the back of her ear;

''you don't look bad either, both of you are just gorgeous. ''

Hazel laughed; ''you can say that again; '' she inched closer to Leo and pecked his chin. Claire traced her actions with her eyes and quickly looked away. Hazel was very excited to be here, it was all over her face, she was happy that Leo was introducing her to his friends and business circle as his girlfriend. The smug smile on her lips was irreplaceable.

''I'm tired, so I'll be going home… ''

''Wow! Who do we have here? '' Claire was about finding an excuse to leave when she was interrupted by a voice from behind her, her eyes turned to the direction of the voice and her lips fell slightly when she saw who it was;

Larissa walked towards them in dignified steps, making sure her h.i.p.s were emphasized with each step she took.

''Leo, it's been while… '' she smiled brightly as her eyes turned to Hazel and she looked her up to down;

''Is she your girlfriend? '' Larissa asked; they didn't have that kind of relationship so it was clear she was there to make trouble. Claire swallowed hard, wondering what she was about to do.

Leo stared at Larissa for a moment, but not wanting to make things awkward before Hazel, he just replied;

''Yeah, she is. Um, Hazel, this is Larissa, and she's a colleague. ''

Hazel smiled sweetly at her; ''I'm Hazel, it's nice to meet you. ''

''Uh-uh, she's so sweet! '' Larissa commented as though she already liked Hazel. Claire's eyes wandered as she planned her exit, but before she could bring her thoughts to actions, Larissa turned to her;

''And I thought you were dating Claire all along, you guys were so damn close, anyone would mistake you for a couple; ''

Not only did she say that but she also voiced it a little loud, so people around would hear, and those interested in gossip would come and join, and obviously almost everyone in the entertainment industry was interested in gossip.

''Wait, Claire isn't dating Leo? '' A woman who was standing by the side asked, her eyes wide in surprise when she said it, others turned to them too with surprise. Larissa beamed in her heart, she was going to let her have a taste of her own medicine, and next time she wouldn't dare mess with her;

Claire felt like a bucket of water was emptied on her but she laughed lightly, trying her best to keep a composed expression; ''No, ha-ha, we weren't dating, we are just best friends; '' She tried to placate the situation but Larissa wasn't going to let her have her way.

'' Uh, Best friends? Didn't know best friends could be that close, it was clear Leo liked you a little too much, everyone thought you both were dating ''

Larissa said in a mocking tone, light laughter leaving her lips.

''Oh wow, didn't know everyone kept a tab on me, but anyway, you all were mistaken. There's nothing going on between us, and as you can see there's a pretty woman by his side, who is his girlfriend, so don't go around spreading rumors. ''

Claire laughed and some others laughed with her;

''They really look good together, '' another woman said and others nodded. Larissa's smile dimmed when she saw that the topic had changed and they were now talking about other things. But she was happy anyway; she could not get over the tense look on Claire's face when she said that Leo liked her.

The truth was that she knew Leo liked Claire; no he was in love with her. The little time she spent with them during the shoot was enough to see. Since she was no friends with any of them, she had enough time to watch them closely and it was obvious with the way he stared at her and treated her. Leo really liked Claire but it seemed the feelings weren't reciprocated in that way since he was dating another woman now. She just said those things so the Hazel would hate Claire, and it was working because Hazel just gave Claire a glare.

Larissa smiled to herself and sneaked out of the crowd as they engaged in another discussion. As long as Hazel knew Leo liked Claire, she would always suspect her and that was enough punishment for Claire, she should deal with that.