Chapter 240 - No Rest For The Busy

One hour and fifteen minutes... When they heard that they cleared the game with fifteen minutes to spare, the girls were elated and the boys were simply relieved. Edward just sprawled out unglamorously on the floor with his limbs in an uncoordinated mess but Jasper flopped and let his knees give out on him, landing with a thud on his bum. The sisters screamed and jumped with joy as Alex hugged Scarlet tightly, squeezing most of the air out of the writer.

Nook had mixed feelings. Both couples were incredible but they were also rather eccentric. Who would have thought to use the janitor's cleaning cart to transport a person? Also, if he had to choose one person who was the MVP, he would say that it was Edward even though Scarlet was an extremely good attention grabber in the right ways. He didn't suspect a thing about their plans until it was too late. While there had been many jailbreaking attempts in the past, there was nothing as dramatic as this.

To sum it all, he never expected for six out of ten guards to be taken down. If Scarlet activated the lunch alarm for Cell Block C, Edward could have easily shot everyone down and they could have strolled away to freedom. Yet, they didn't and their escape was the most dramatic thing Nook has witnessed. It was well-executed, well-timed, well-coordinated, communicated clearly and left no room for doubts even if it was crazy. He didn't know who these kids were but they would have a very bright future ahead of them.

As Nook and his staff prepared the prizes and montage of the group's crazy escape and moments to be added to their company's hall of fame, a staff informed Jasper that throughout the game, he had been receiving text messages and calls.

Jasper excused himself from the graduation ceremony to deal with business and Alex sighed. She was happy that her sister made up with Edward but she couldn't help but feel a little lonely with how busy Jasper was despite their date. She couldn't stop him from going to work but she wished that things would not end up like her parents with Jasper working all the time and never coming home.

After waiting for a good while, they were ushered to the lobby to retrieve their belongings. Scarlet and Alex got their bags back and were talking about the game but Edward had something else on his mind. The group chat that Elfie made for him and Jasper was finally active once more.

Elfie: Julian came by again.

Jasper: Received a call from Rowan informing me about it. When is a good time to arrange a meeting?

Edward paused and looked at the girls. Things were finally progressing and he hoped that the Wilde daughters would remain out of harm's way until they got the last missing link they needed from Julian's side. After the meeting with Julian, they should be able to find out who that missing link between Pineapple Group and EZ Express was.

Edward: Fix a day convenient for you and Wilmer. We're bringing in Wilmer to put pressure on them so that Elfie and I can investigate the back end. I'll let Claire know to increase security with the girls during those dates. There have been more flies around lately.

Elfie: Got it. Enjoy your dates!

The boys were brought back to the present when Nook requested for a picture. Scarlet looked uncomfortable and Alex felt uneasy at the mention of pictures. Jasper tried to decline but Nook was very forceful. He wanted to put their pictures and use their record as an advertis.e.m.e.nt for his escape room business but three people have declined. His only hope was for the MVP to agree and convince the rest for a group photo but to his surprise, Edward was the one who was most against the idea.

"We came here to enjoy ourselves and that was just it. You won't be able to afford to pay for our photographs," he told the game master honestly.

Nook was confused when he heard what Edward had to say. When the girls started to put on their hats and sunglasses, it finally clicked. That tall blonde lady... he might have seen her before. Also, judging by her good figure, she must be some sort of celebrity. No wonder he said that!

The two couples left quickly and decided to go to a restaurant that Jasper reserved under his name ahead of time. It was a rather upper-class restaurant known for their grill in Manhattan and they decided to book a cab to get there. Edward texted Claire their location so that the bodyguards tailing the sisters could follow.

Scarlet could tell that her boyfriend was up to something with all that strange texting while they talked. However, she didn't question him. The bodyguards were shuffling behind them and Scarlet noted that their numbers had increased. It made the writer start to think of the worst possibilities but she tried to remain calm. It must be all that adrenaline from playing the escape room earlier that was giving her funny thoughts.

She was still having a hard time wrapping her head around how easily Edward was able to make plans, study floor layouts, change into disguises, find clues and fire accurately with a paint gun. He even wore the gun holster without help as if he had done it many times before. Slowly, the pieces were coming together. Edward might be someone who worked in a similar field as Claire but like Claire, Scarlet knew that his feelings for her were not related to his job. Even if Edward turned out to be someone employed by her family to keep her safe, Scarlet decided not to care about those trivialities. If he had a good reason for not telling her, Scarlet decided not to pry. Like the game, Edward had never once let her down. That was all the reason Scarlet needed to believe in him even if his texting made her feel uneasy on the inside.

The restaurant that Jasper reserved was lovely and right up Alex's alley. Not needing to diet for today, Alex demanded the menu right away and had trouble deciding what she wanted. Jasper simply let Alex choose whatever she wanted and told her that he didn't mind sharing food with her. This prompted Scarlet to look at Edward.

"What?"

Scarlet smiled. "Are you a big eater?"

Edward listened to all the things that Alex wanted to eat and shook his head. "Not as much as Alex. I'll eat an upsized meal at a fast-food restaurant but that's the maximum for me."

The writer agreed and simply chose something light. Edward raised a brow at her choice.

"Clam chowder and garlic bread only? Are you not feeling well?"

Scarlet laughed. "I'll have food handed over later. Alex is hell-bent on ordering everything on the menu so we can even have takeaways if we wanted. I suggest just ordering drinks, sides and desserts that you want, she's in charge of the main course."

Although Edward didn't know why Scarlet was doing this, he decided to trust her judgement and ordered a pina colada mocktail.

After ten minutes of ordering and discussing what was good, they finally had their orders.

"Let me repeat your order," the waiter smiled. "A clam chowder with garlic bread, a pina colada mocktail, an iced tea, warm water, a fillet mignon medium-rare steak, a grilled cod with asparagus, a butter lobster risotto and grilled half chicken seasoned in rosemary and thyme. Is there anything else?"

Scarlet thought about it and looked at her sister before they unanimously asked about ice cream. The waiter chuckled and flipped to a section that both girls spent time discussing in detail. Edward gave Jasper a look and mouthed the question if this happens often. The young CEO only gave him a resigned nod. 

"It's going to be raspberry cheesecake flavour in the end," Jasper mouthed to Edward who raised a brow. Jasper shrugged. It was the only ice cream flavour that they would agree on. Alex liked chocolate and hazelnut but Scarlet preferred peppermint chocolate chip and for some reason, these girls wouldn't eat desserts alone.

"Darling," Edward called out. "You can order anything you want for dessert, I'll share it with you if you can't finish."

Hearing Edward offering Scarlet an option, Alex quickly looked at her boyfriend who blinked.

"Will you share with me too?"

Jasper found it odd. "Have I ever rejected you?"

Alex pouted. "You don't like hazelnuts."

Jasper grimaced. That was true. "We can eat something without hazelnuts then."

Alex became whiny and Scarlet chuckled. Compared to her sister's relationship, she was much luckier to have someone like Edward who humoured her whims. Thinking back about her actions, Scarlet felt really bad. She had no reason to be insecure over such a wonderful boyfriend, she was a fool but it won't happen again. Scarlet was thankful for the double date surprise that Alex planned and decided to go along with her sister's whims this once.

"I'll share it with you. Double chocolate and hazelnut please," she told the waiter who looked like he was tired of standing for so long.

Alex was surprised but didn't turn the offer down. It was very rare after all and the model wanted to maximise her non-diet day to eat everything that she normally couldn't.