1,460 hours.

87658.1277 minutes.

5259487.66 seconds since I've spoken to Lana in person.

Today was our first taping in front of a live studio, and each contestant had five tickets to give away. Like many of the other participants, Wesley invited their families to come and join them out here. Luckily for me, Lana, Meadow, and Catalina were the only people I considered family.

With two extra tickets remaining, I offered one to Greyson, who had to do everything in his power to get off from work, and the other was given away to one of my co-stars. The thought of inviting Declan crossed my mind, but I wanted private time alone with Lana. He would only make me regret giving it to him in the first place.

I've spent the entire morning working on a surprise cake (mainly for Lana) but knowing the other rodents, they would jab their claws right into it. Afterward, I changed my outfit at least twenty times before settling on Nike's printed black t-shirt and cargo western-style trousers. Ultimately, I gave up on styling my hair and opted out for a boring old cap.

The mood of the penthouse has been... depressing.

After that horrendous encounter with Davina, I rushed home and found Wesley sobbing on the bathroom floor. He held onto the bathroom curtain as if it was his own personal teddy bear and kept repeating the statement she said to him.

"Wesley, you're to me what I am to my ex-boyfriend... nothing. Just a fling."

This girl was absolutely insane. Being a celebrity has gotten to her head, and she couldn't distinguish feelings apart from her own. All my life I thought my parents were the most egotistical individuals in the world, only to find a reality where there were other people like them.

And Davina was one of them.

A desperate sigh departed from my lips when I saw Wesley laying on the couch with no emotions on his face.

I truly think Davina broke him.

"Your family is coming today." I sat beside him on the couch. "I thought you would be more excited."

He chuckled. "I don't know what excitement is anymore."

His response brought an innocent snicker to sneak through. It brought back memories of the big blowout between Lana and me. I drank for three nights and partied with his pink-haired girl. They were only fragments, but I remembered bawling over Lana, and for five seconds I truly loathed her.

But as soberly took over, my thoughts circulated through my mind like an endless merry-go-round. First lesson- I couldn't despise Lana because she loved another. The second lesson and possibly the most important was I could cry for months if I wanted, but I'm the only person who could pick up the pieces. No mattered how much I craved to be alone, I needed to be around others and learn to smile for myself.

Too bad my heart continues to forsake me and fall for the girl I could never have.

"Come on, being cooped up in this hotel isn't helping the heartbreak heal. Your family will be a good distraction," I suggested since this dude has literally not stepped foot out of our penthouse since a week ago.

A gut-wrenching sob lurched from his lips. "I don't wanna see her again."

"Unless you plan to withdraw from the show, I'm sad to say it won't happen," I stated.

"The thought crossed my mind," Wesley muttered under his breath.

My eyebrows jerked to my hairline. "Are you insane? For the first two weeks, I had to listen to your rants about how passionate you're about your chef career. Now, you're planning to give it all up because of a breakup?"

"Don't act all high and mighty. You admitted how your passion for cooking decreased once Lana dumped you," Wesley countered in the harshest tone all week.

"Touche," I muttered.

"Besides, I said it was a thought. My parents will murder me if I willingly give up my dream after begging them for months to let me go." Wesley lightly chuckled.

"Good, I got a laugh outta you. Now let's get going. I have the love of my life waiting for me," I simpered.

Wesley shook his head. "And you said I was the hopeless one."

Happiness streaked through me like a comet when I received a pulse on my cell phone. However, it drifted away like when a storm ruined your day when I saw it was a message from an unknown number. Once I read the text, a sense of dread spread through my body.

From Unknown Number-

Rethink our offer. The PR relationship is still on the table and we are willing to renegotiate terms in the contract.

Milo

The entire idea was laughable.

Davina and me.

A couple.

Because of the Lana situation, I entertained the thought for a second until Davina strutted her bobblehead into the room.

Two minutes into the discussions and we were seconds away from ripping each other's heads off. Honestly, I felt bad for the poor girl. Something had to take a wrong turn for her to change into an emotionless brat. I didn't believe her for some reason. There was a difference between wanting to stay single and straight out stabbing people in the chest.

Dating her? No, scratch that... Even fake dating her would make my life a living hell. I rather deal with my Lana issue when the time came instead of forcing myself into a relationship with the Devil's daughter.

They moved the kitchen to another studio, which supplied one thousand seats for our guests this evening. The steel equipment shined under the rays of light, contrasting the brown wooden tables below it. Our gray aprons hung on the coatracks in the back of the room and a line of Chef's hat perched above them.

I was seconds away from collapsing over pure happiness. My hands trembled against the plastic container holding the cake as I paced back and forth, trying to regain composure. All my feelings for Lana were overwhelming, and I hadn't truly realized how much I desperately missed her.

Gradually, the audience filled up with the contestant's families, and my anxiety reached a new peak as I thought maybe they forgot it was today. My lips curled upward as I watched Wesley's eyes haven't completely lost their shine yet.

"Wow, I expected Ambrose to be serenading Lana already." Meadow's husky voice captured my attention.

My throat felt dry when I glanced at Lana's long, tan legs that were exposed from the short, button-down dress she wore, and felt like a switch was flipped in my perverted mind. Her stunning eyes and pretty, berry-lipped smile sent a wave of arousal through my body.

Maybe Wesley was right, and I needed to get laid.

"I freaking missed you so much," I confessed, and wrapped my arms around her petite frame.

Her giggle vibrated on my shirt. "Ambrose, we facetime two days ago. But I really missed you too."

"Gee, sometimes I wonder why we third-wheeled them," Meadow teased, her eyes inspecting us like we were germs underneath a microscope.

A bright light came from Catalina's phone when she snapped a picture. "Oh shush, we all knew Ambrose can't live without Lana. If it wasn't for Declan, you guys would be couple goals."

Lana smiled like a heavenly spirit. "I don't know... Declan and I are pretty darn cute. I've finally talked him into matching costumes for Halloween! I'm so excited."

My eyebrows furrowed. "I thought you were staying here until November?"

The girls exchanged awkward glances until Lana cleared her throat. "Umm... When I told Declan about coming to Paris, he really wanted to come and I didn't have the heart to tell him no... I'm so sorry, I didn't want to ruin the gang's hangout but I'm hopeless when it comes to him."

Meadow snickered. "It's written all over your face how upset you're about Declan being here."

Catalina nudged Meadow's shoulder. "Jesus, you're so insensitive."

Just like that, happiness trickled out my pores and was reinforced with dread. "Oh... That's great. On the contrary, I missed Declan's frustrating behavior."

Lana released a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! Don't worry, you still got my full attention."

For now.

"Okay, wait! I wanna know the couple's costume," Catalina interrupted.

Lana's grin grew bigger. "Well, Declan is going to be Winne the pooh and I'm going to be Piglet!"

Meadow snapped her finger. "Darn I thought for a second we would see Declan in a hot costume."

Catalina laughed. "Just thought is hilarious! What did it take for Declan to say yes?"

Blush crept over Lana's chipmunk cheek. "Lots and lots of kisses."

The thought of them being intimate made my stomach churn. The only man Lana should've been kissing was me. It's a shame how the universe truly favored Declan in this manner. Her lips brought a brightness to my every day, both in their perky hue and the sun-golden words she shone.

"Ambrose looks like he's on the verge of throwing up!" Meadow shouted, followed by a train of giggles.

Shaking my head, I opened my mouth to speak, only to be silent by Lana.

"Don't be silly! Ambrose doesn't care about our relationship anymore now that he's committed to a girl," Lana blurted, causing my entire body to go rigid.

"Oh, yeah! Our little Ambrose has a girlfriend," Catalina teased as she squeezed my cheeks to a pulp.

Meadow smacked the hell out of my shoulder. "Who would subject themselves to dating this idiot?"

Lana's gorgeous emerald eyes brightened like another dimension. "So when can we meet the lucky lady?"

My muscles tightened as my breathing grew thin and ragged. How could I've been such an idiot to tell Lana this elaborate lie? I could feel the sweat trickling down from my forehead and armpits.

My parents haven't taught me anything, but the one lesson I learned was... how to lie. To be frank, I was a master at it. As I relieved the memories, I wished my lies weren't good enough to persuade my teachers that I fell off my bike and not that my father had punched me because I left the beers outside.

However, when it came to Lana... it was like I had word vomit.

Every time she's around, the first thought that came to mind would amble out my mouth like water descending from the faucet.

It was truly a curse.

"S-she's not here," I confessed, subconsciously tapping my foot against the pavement.

Catalina narrowed her eyes. "Mmm... sweating... rapid blinking... fidgeting movement. You're a horrible liar."

"I'm not lying!" My voice did the worst thing it could conceivably ever do--- it cracked.

"She's totally around here somewhere," Meadow snorted, glancing around the crowded studio.

"I wonder who thaw the frozen, broken heart Lana left behind," Catalina added, scanning quickly for any girl in the area.

"What do you think, Cata?" Meadow smirked, nudging her elbows against Catalina's. "Would Ambrose go for someone exactly like our sunshine bestie or someone completely opposite?"

Catalina pursed her lips. "Probably someone like Lana."

Suddenly my face felt hot as if I was getting a sunburn underneath the bright blue sky.

"Alright let's stop teasing, Ambrose wants to keep his girlfriend a little secret." Lana tried to calm down the giggling hyenas.

"I cannot permit it!" Meadow recited the famous quote from an ancient comedy movie. "His face reveals that she's somewhere in this room."

It took less than five minutes for me to regret offering Meadow a ticket. There are three important things to know about Meadow-- she's basically Nancy Drew and would solve any case down to the last question whether we liked it or not. Good thing number two-- Meadow, was the most toxic woman I've met.

And last but most importantly-- don't ever take any of her things without permission.

"Please, Amby!" Catalina pleaded, protruding her lips. "We just want to know who's going to be our new best friend."

"Alr-right!" I exclaimed.

The girl's faces combined shined brighter than planet Mars.

"Oh my gosh, I hope she likes me," Lana mumbled, excitedly clapping her hands together.

My stomach constricted into a tight ball. "Yeah... just give me one second to find her." I swallowed the lump in my throat as I browsed through the people arriving.

My mind was spiraling out of control as all the faces got blurred into mush. All I needed was to grab someone who would hopefully go along with this white lie. But if I plucked the wrong person, the truth could be revealed and Lana would distance herself from me.

That's the one thing I cannot permit.

My eyes skimmed over this girl's features, and by the look of her face, her mouth was loaded with food from the dessert table. One thing was for sure, if her mouth was full, she wouldn't be able to deny the lie. I'll give them a free dinner or fifty dollars for complying with this fabrication.

I reminded myself to be calm and carefully grabbed onto the brown-haired girl, turning our focus to my lovely peer-pressuring friends. "This is my girlfriend... Davina?" I whispered under my breath and ran a hand over my face.

The girl devouring the company's table was Davina? My throat felt dry when the realization that I just introduced the girl I despised as my girlfriend. Suddenly, Davina grabbed onto her throat as she began choking from the shock state I put her in. My body went into a state of flabbergast and I stayed rigid, ignoring the girl spitting the remaining of her banana into her hand.

"Here's some water." Meadow rushed over with a paper cup. "I got it since Ambrose was busy watching his girlfriend choke to death."

Davina stared at me as if I was a ghost or if I wronged her in some way with wide eyes and mouth agape. I waved my hands in front of her, "Hey, honey... I wanted to introduce you to my friends."

She blinked once, twice, and appeared to gather her surroundings. "Oh... I see, darling."

"Just play it cool," I whispered in her ear and composed myself.

"Holy fucking shit! You're dating the famous Davina? The Davina who played Cleo in our favorite teen drama ever!" Catalina squealed like a manic.

Davina squinted her eyes from the pain of the high-frequency Catalina's voice went. "That's me. Ambrose and I have been keeping our relationship on the down-low with all the fame and paps."

A lopsided smile emerged on Catalina's face. "Oh lord, don't get angry with me... but I got so excited and tweeted about you guys."

Davina choked on her water, "Excuse me?" she nervously laughed. "How did you tweet that so fast? Please tell me you have like ten followers."

Catalina laughed. "No, silly! More like around fifty thousand."

Davina's eyebrows jumped to her forehead. "Huh? Oh, no."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah... honey now we can't have our late-night picnics anymore."

"Hmm?" She blinked and composed herself. "Oh right. I love those chocolate strawberries you always made."

Never made that in my whole freaking life.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Lana wrapped her petite arms around Davina's neck, dragging her down by her weight. A beautiful smell of strawberries and champagne radiated off of my Lana, and my heart practically melted.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you! Ambrose mentioned how nervous you're about meeting new people, but I promise we are the nicest people you will ever meet. I'm Lana Hart, by the way," she rambled like the angel she was.

Davina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're the famous Lana Hart. Ambrose talks about you all the time."

I nudged her in the gut. "Can you quit it?"

"Pardon?" She shot her eyes my way. "I'm just speaking the truth."

"I'm not surprised. Ambrose has been in love with Lana since high school," Meadow chimed in.

Davina blinked. "So I had heard."

"Don't worry, Davina." Lana shot a grin in her direction. "I'm a married woman and in love with my husband, Declan. We have to schedule a double date or something! Hopefully, Declan doesn't overshadow Ambrose's looks."

Catalina rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Lana has a severe case of love. She breathes and thinks Declan."

Davina smirked. "That's interesting. I love to meet him one day and find out why you chose him over this yummy piece of meat."

"Quit it," I gritted between my teeth.

"I have a perfect idea!" Lana announced. "Why don't we all hang out at our Halloween party? It's going to be at Catalina's penthouse."

Before I could deny her request, Davina covered my mouth and muffled my words.

"I think that's a wonderful idea!" Davina grinned with a hint of wickedness behind her eyes.

Shitt...

What did I get myself into?

Looks like Ambrose got himself into a pickle... I wonder if he's going to be able to get out of it or if it's too late 🧐? What do you guys think?

Hope you guys enjoyed and I can't wait to read all your comments!! Love you guys!!