"Relax." Camilla whispered to Ian as she pretended to take a sip from her coffee.
"But. . ." Ian said as he tried to listen to Mike's conversation with his girlfriend.
"Hey Jas, I thought our date wasn't till later?" Ian heard Mike ask her.
Ian quickly took out his phone and started to message Jas.
'Babe, where are you?' Ian quickly typed and sent the message.
"Look there is something I need to talk to you about." Jas said in a tentative tone.
"Can it wait till later?" Mike asked her. "I'm with friends." He pointed out.
"Actually I wanted to talk about later." Jas said slowly. "Wait a moment." She suddenly said.
Ian assumed that her phone had buzzed from his message.
"We're having a conversation, Jas, why are you texting someone?" Mike asked her.
"I just need to reply to this real quick." Jas told Mike. "One moment, and sent."
Ian felt as his phone buzzed in turn as he received Jas' message.
'Out, dealing with something. Can I come over tomorrow? I can't do tonight.' Came her reply.
Ian immediately knew that she couldn't come tonight because of the conversation she was having with Mike.
"Okay, I'm all yours, what's up?" Jas asked. "Why can't we talk now? It's just Red and Joey, no big deal they know everything."
"Yeah and two other strangers I don't want to introduce you to." Mike grumbled. "I thought they were worth something, but I guess not."
Ian wanted to punch Mike then and there. Clearly something was going on between him and Jas, add to that the fact that Mike practically said that he and Camilla were worthless make Ian furious.
"Fine, whatever, let's just talk tonight. I'll probably do some shopping first." Ian heard Jas tell Mike.
"Okay, here is my card. I'll come find you later." He told her.
"Thanks, and go easy on them." He heard Jas say.
"I will, I'll see you for dinner then we can go to my parents' place." Mike told Jas in a very formal tone.
"Alright, see you then. Bye." Jas told Mike as he left.
When Mike joined them again, he had a big smile on his face.
"Girlfriend?" Ian asked.
Under the table he felt Camilla place her hand on his, as if to tell him that she was there, supporting him.
"I guess you could say that." Mike said with a shrug. "At our level marriages and engagements are a business deal. She comes from a good family, I come from a good family. Dating could help both families. We're just in the getting to know each other phase." Mike explained.
"She's from the Ortega family." Red explained. "Old rich, the kind that will never go bankrupt."
"I'm sure everyone can go bankrupt." Ian told Red.
"We should go." Camilla said as she nudged Ian.
"Oh, you guys live in the same place?" Mike asked them.
"Yeah, it's not far, and we drove over." Ian explained, not wanting to give any other details about where they live.
"Which community?" Joey asked.
The capital was filled with walled residential communities that aimed to create a peaceful environment for the home owners and their children.
But the walls were mainly built to keep the poor out of the rich people's lives.
"Oh, we live in an apartment complex." Camilla said, quickly thinking of a lie that wasn't exactly a lie.
Solaire towers was an apartment complex, just one that was way more lavish and way more exclusive than most of the communities around the city.
There were very few places that were more exclusive than Solaire Towers. The biggest one being the old city. To own property there you needed to belong to a certain group of families.
Another place that was just as exclusive as a private community built by Krisanta Land, south of the capital.
It was so private that ordinary sales people were not allowed to sell any parcels of land in that place. The only way to purchase one was to go straight to the VP for Krisanta Land or the CEO himself.
Just getting the chance to talk to either of them meant you were incredibly important.
There was a third rumored land development, this time to the north of the capital. No one knew exactly who owned it, but it was huge and it had an amazing view of the capital from its elevated point.
The wall surrounding it had the latest and most sophisticated security technology. It was rumored to be ultra exclusive and ultra safe.
People assumed that Krisanta Land owned the development, but the Reyes Group never gave an official statement.
"You sure you don't need us to drop you off?" Red asked Ian and Camilla.
"We can manage on our own." Ian said with a nod. "Thanks for the coffee, Mike."
"You're welcome." Mike said as Ian got up and pulled Camilla out with him.
They walked in silence for a while until they were at the entrance of the Elisia Mall they had gone to.
"I texted John, he should be here soon." Camilla told Ian as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She knew that he must have been suffering from the conversation he had heard and Mike's admittance that he was dating Jas.
"You know I won't break right?" Ian asked Camilla as she looked up at him from her phone. "I won't break because Jas is also dating someone else aside from me. This isn't the first time this has happened and I've lived through much worse."
Camilla took a deep breath and sighed.
"I know Ian, I know." Camilla said as Ian's car pulled up in front of them.
"You okay?" John asked as he noticed Ian's solemn mood.
"Let's just get hime." Ian told John who simply nodded and drove them back to Solaire Towers.
The ride wasn't long, it was ten minutes at most and John dropped them off at the executive lobby.
As always, they were greeted by the guard that opened the door for them, and inside the receptionist gave them a sweet smile.
"You said this isn't the first time this has happened?" Camilla asked Ian as she was no longer able to contain her curiosity. "Why Ian, why do you let her do that to you?"
"Don't judge her Camilla, you don't know Jas." Ian wanted. "We've only known each other a few days, don't you dare get too familiar. Don't assume that you know me."
"I'm stuck with you for at least another seven years, so might as well start talking to me now." Camilla grumbled.
As she said this the elevator doors opened and Camilla walked out, leaving Ian behind as she slammed the door to her unit.
"Woah, what did you do to tick her off?" Sam asked as she stood by Ian's door.
"Jas is dating again and Camilla saw it herself, we've known each other a few days and she thinks she has the right to judge Jas. And don't you dare start!" Ian warned as he brushed past his sister and entered the room.
"You know Camilla is right." Sam said as she shook her head and followed Ian back inside the room. She knew better than to speak ill about Jas in front of her brother.