Katherine groaned. "Please tell me you didn't hit him." At least, she hoped not.
"Nah. I don't want to get into trouble. I let the guy know I was dating an amazing man who was actually good with his c.o.c.k," Angelina said matter-of-factly.
Katherine wasn't surprised at the crash words. It was Angelina's style. "Well... that wasn't nice."
"Never said I was a nice person. He touched me without my permission. In my opinion, I let him off easy with just a bruise to his ego." Angelina shrugged. She did look tired.
"You did the right thing. Did you speak to Stephen before he boarded the plane?" Katherine asked.
Angelina shook her head. "We exchanged a couple of messages but I was busy with the shoot to actually talk to him." She huffed. "What do you want to do tonight?" she asked casually.
"What is this? Two friends mourning over their boyfriends going on a business trip?" Katherine snickered. Angelina nodded, her eyes widening with realization.
"Exactly that. I can live without Stephen any day, but I feel sorry about you. You must be dying inside already." Angelina clucked her tongue.
"If I am not wrong, we are going out to the usual bar to drown our sorrows. Courtesy Lily." Katherine rolled her eyes.
"I don't know what you mean," Angelina pretended.
"Lily wants to babysit me for the next three months in hopes that I don't sulk." She scoffed.
"It's not like you have a lot of time on your hands right now. We only want to spend time with our friend while she wades through the dangerous waters of the internet and the onslaught on Cage's fangirls who will plan to murder you brutally." Angelina blinked innocently.
"Well, drowning our sorrows it is, then." She had to smile.
"You will be visiting him, right?" Angelina asked suddenly. The question was, would Angelina do the same.
"Not right now. But he has another shooting post the next Kevin Heart movie, so we won't have much time on our hands. I hope I can meet him then."
"You work remotely and you don't need to be tied down to one place. It makes sense to tag along with him. You will barely get any time together as it is," Angelina huffed. "You're lucky in that way. I have to travel for my photoshoots and runway appearances. I won't have the time to run to Stephen when I want to." She pouted to make her point. "You better grab your opportunity while you have it," she warned. With that, she stood up and walked towards her room.
Well, Katherine would have to think about that slowly and come to a decision. Moreover, she also needed to inform Stephen when she would go. Damn. So much planning was needed in this case.
- - - - -
Lily came home soon enough and it was barely sunset when they ventured out towards their local bar. As usual, there was no crowd at that hour, especially on a weekday. They sat down at the bar and ordered their drinks.
What they didn't expect was Nathanial appearing out of nowhere. It was as if he was staking out in the backroom and waiting for them to come to the bar or order.
"Hi Katherine," he spoke shyly. Katherine felt a surge of panic. Clearly, he was not on duty and even the bartender was giving the man a weird look.
Katherine hunched her shoulders and turned to face him. This was the man who had advertised her new relationship. And he just had to block her path on the day she felt like absolute crap. Maybe he was a bit of a stalker and Cage had been right. She was reconsidering his offer about bodyguards.
"Hello," she said shortly, hoping he would hear the disinterest in her voice and go away. Nope, the nincompoop took no notice. Angelina and Lily were trying to keep Katherine busy in the conversation but Nathanial wouldn't let up. He hovered and interjected in their conversation.
Thankfully, the girls didn't speak about anything private. Who knows what this creepy dude would catch up on. He had already presented himself at their doorstep.
"How was your holiday?" he asked cheerfully when the girls quietened down to take a sip of their drinks.
"Good." One word answers were the best way to go. She still remained polite. She would have to stay until they finished their drinks and there was a long way to go for that. They just had to order those tall glasses of alcohol that evening. They didn't want to get completely sloshed, so they could only drink slowly and endure the pure torture.
"I had a lot of fun. I went out with my friends on a trip..." he trailed off. "What did you do?" he asked, managing to sound less curious than he looked. She didn't like how he looked at her. She probably needed to get some classes in self-defense.
"Went to the mountains. Was great."
'Move along, already!' she wanted to scream.
"Who'd you go with?" he asked. He was studying her closely... almost crawling under her skin.
"Us," Lily and Angelina said in unison.
"Did... that guy... go too?" he asked softly. The least he could do was be subtle. But nope.
Katherine played dumb. "What guy?"
Nathanial's eyes brightened a little. "The guy I met when I delivered takeout?" It seemed like he was hoping she had forgotten the man. Like that was possible.
"Ah, did I forget?" Angelina said suddenly, sparing Katherine. "We went with our boyfriends," she lowered her voice, sounding seductive. "It was one of those vacations."
Katherine almost spat out her drink. At least, he will get the message. She was off the market.
"Good. Good." His voice was filled with disappointment. "I am throwing a housewarming party in a couple of days, I would love it if you came," he said suddenly... like the previous conversation had never happened.
"They just told you I have a boyfriend." She might have felt bad talking so rudely to someone before, but she had no patience for a man who couldn't take no for an answer.
"I get it..." he groaned. "Just... bring him if you want."