The hotel was a buzz, probably because people were finally squeezing out the remaining weeks of summer in order to have a last chance to get a vacation. We glided through the lobby and into the elevator without grabbing too much attention.

“How did you even get Kate’s laptop?” I questioned Adam when we got off the floor where my father’s room is located.

“I borrowed it and told her I broke the keyboard,” he shrugged as it was the simplest thing to do, “She believed me, yet she did seem hesitant to give it to me.”

“Wonder why,” I snorted, sarcasm dripping in my voice as I lifted a hand to press the little button by the door, acting like a doorbell to them.

My father gave a small greeting when he opened the door, but instead of actually feeling angry at him, my annoyance was directed to the girl sitting by the bed, nervously chewing her bottom lip, thinking of the worst case scenario.

The thing here is, I won’t be telling her that I knew all of her secrets, I’ll pretend I had no knowledge whatsoever of the things she had searched in her laptop.

Adam took out her precious device from his sling bag and handed it to her, giving Kate an innocent smile, “Told you it would be a quick repair.”

She blinked for a second and maybe she bought our little act, her lips slowly lifted into an appreciative smile, but now, I could see through her façade, “Thank you so much, I was so worried.”

Worried of getting caught, I presume?

 “It was a good thing Adam was able to give it back to you,” I said, it took every will power to make my voice leveled, instead of bitter like I was feeling, “I mean, that laptop must hold a lot of important files.”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but we’re talking about the girl who spent her teenage years in Hollywood, learning the tricks into giving the perfect act. I plastered a sweet grin, clasping my hands behind my bag as I casually swayed from side to side.

“It really does,” she nodded, hugging it closer to her chest.

MY father switched his gaze from me to his fiancé, probably feeling up the growing tension. I was standing here and I could almost cut it with a knife.

“So I have a lot of errands to take care of,” I spoke, slowly retreating to the door with Adam right behind me, “I just accompanied Adam to make sure that’s returned to you.”

She nodded, saying words of appreciation as my best friend and I got out of the room. We shared a look, before smirking at each other, walking to the elevators where we know that we have done phase one of our devious plan.

“Do you think she suspects anything?” Adam asked as he strapped on his seatbelt, “I mean, she was acting a bit weird.”

“She’s nervous,” I concluded, sticking in the keys to the ignition, “She’s worried if whether or not we found out about the things she’s been doing.”

Unluckily for her, we did. I’ve reserved this day for a seven letter word that will make her go crying back to England – revenge.

“First stop,” I grinned, backing into the streets, “Forever and Always Bridal.”

We were instantly greeted by the workers inside the shop, but today, I’m a girl on a mission. We have to delay the catering, cancel the venue, and most importantly, put a rain check on the bride’s plans.

“Are you sure about this, Miss Valentine?” the staff in front of us asked. Macy was out of town, attending to another wedding she was assigned to, but with the lack of knowledge with the girl in front of us, this would be a lot easier than I thought.

“My future stepmother has fallen ill,” I told her, trying to sound devastated by the turn of events, “We’re going to push back the wedding so she wouldn’t stress on anything except for getting well.”

Adam clearly looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh. I kicked him underneath the table, silently chastising him to behave. We can’t act suspiciously if we want for this to run smoothly.

With my short words, the woman turned sympathetic as she told me she would be doing everything to make sure the wedding would still run smoothly even with the delay. I hate to burst her bubble when I say that the event would never happen.

Because it’s hard enough to mess with my bank account, but to even try to recreate a wedding my mother had worked hard on when she was to be a bride, it was just plain ol’ infuriating.

When we exited the shop, I instantly knew where our next stop was. Pulling up in front of the gown designer’s boutique, I felt a sense of satisfaction entering my system.

“Heart Valentine!” the owner quickly greeted me, running up to me, before planting a kiss on either of my cheeks, “How can I help you?”

“This is regarding my future stepmother’s wedding gown,” I uttered sweetly.

One thing I resented was Kate pushed on with my mother’s wedding gown, even with my protests. I tried to be rational and decided to leave my nose out of it, but ever since I found out, I realized she knew all along what she was doing.

I could practically picture Kate smirking inside my head when I started to go hysterical when she first tried on the dress.

The man clapped his hands in delight, “Oh, we’re just making a few adjustments so it would fit her perfectly.”

“I’ve just talked to her, she would like to add a few more things to the design,” I said, “And the wedding date has been pushed back, so there would be no need to rush.”

His eyes widened at this, but he nodded, running to the back of his shop and returned with a binder in his arms. He searched through it for the paper that contained the sketch and he handed it to me, “Please, examine it and tell me what she has requested.”

Oh this is going to be amazing.

My mother looked like a beauty when she had on the gown when she was younger, it was simple and elegant, instead of it being the star of the night, it was like a spotlight for my mom, it accentuated her looks and body during that day.

That’s what I believe Kate can never duplicate, it was my mom’s simple beauty, even without dazzle of a million ruffles and sequins, she still looked amazing. Maybe that’s why I agreed to let Kate use the gown, the knowledge that she can’t pull it off was a comfort to me.

But not anymore.

“I will need more ruffles here,” I instructed the man, pointing by the end of the skirt, “And a few fabricated flowers over the bust,” I continued on. Adam tapped on my shoulder and gave more suggestions in order to make this gown look like it was thrown into a mad sewing machine.

The man scratched his bald head, but I assured him that this is what the bride wanted. Thankfully, like the rest of the people making this wedding work, he was gullible enough to fall for my plans.

Before we headed to the flower shop, we decided to have lunch first. We entered a small diner, it was a nice place to eat, but it wasn’t famous. It was perfect place to have a nice meal without being hounded by fans and paparazzi.

The waitress recognized me instantly, but with a small wink and an autograph, we were able to hush her from saying anything out loud.

“This is more work than I thought,” I groaned, taking a sip of my iced tea, “Who knew ruining a wedding would be twice as hard as planning one.”

“That’s because you have to act like you want everything to happen that way,” Adam chuckled, “Though you’re right.”

“After coming home tomorrow, I never knew this is what I’ll be doing today,” I grumbled, picking on my fries, “Because after what happened at the premiere, I thought of laying around all day just to get my head together.”

Adam paused for a moment, before he touched my hand to gather my attention, “You never told me what happened during the premiere.”

My mouth went dry and I froze on my spot, I did promise to tell Adam everything, but where do I begin? How in the world can I tell Adam that instead of watching the movie, I spent it at the fire exit, having a talk with Axel?

There was something I realized yesterday, Adam never hesitated or gave Axel the stink eye when he picked me up last night. He allowed us to go on our merry way with no questions asked.

I don’t know how to think that ordeal, should I be grieving that it was like a confirmation that Adam never liked me that way?

Perhaps, I’ve known it for a long time with the denial that there’s a possibility that I was wrong.

I’ve been drop dead in love with him for such a long time, but now, I’m accepting it like it was nothing.

“Soph?” he questioned, “Are you alright?”

I blinked up at him, taking a deep breath, I nodded, “It’s just that last night, I’ve realized something.”

“This sounds interesting,” he muttered, propping his chin on his palm, “Care to elaborate?”

“How one person can change the balance of everything in your life,” I said, mostly to myself instead of to Adam, “And even though you’ve been trying your best to avoid him, it’s kind of inevitable.”

The first time I met Axel, a voice in my head said that I instantly hated him. I avoided him at all cost, at a small town like Hollywood, I was doing a mighty fine job, which was until this movie deal.

Against all odds, what I thought was a simple job together evolved into something I don’t want to be part of. I never wanted him to like me, because if this continues, the feelings I’ve been directing Adam for a long time will be transferred to him.

I don’t want that, he just spell out trouble. There was no assurance with him.

“Adam,” I called out softly, “What do you think of Axel?”

He seemed taken aback by this question, but he cleared his throat as he tapped his chin, thinking of the right words to say to me, “He likes you.”

“I think we’ve established that,” I scoffed, feeling more the weight when Adam mentioned it, “But seriously, what do you think of him?”

“I really don’t know,” he shrugged, “I don’t actually talk to him and he seems to resent that fact that I’m your best friend.”

Adam said that I had a soft spot for Axel and that’s all I want it to be, a soft spot.

I remained silent for the rest of the meal, and Adam seemed to understand our disposition so he finished his burger and waited for me with my slow pace.

I’m practically begging myself in the inside to stay the same way I’ve always been. A temperamental, hot headed bitch who got spoiled by Hollywood, but still remains in love with her British best friend.

We just have to finish this last mission and then we’ll go home, I’ll probably lock myself up in my room again as if it was a way to avoid reality.

Imagine our shock that when we opened the door to the flower shop, Axel was there with this phone tightly pressed into his ear as the woman at the register fanatically took his orders.

Speak of the devil.

“No, I wanted the small bouquet,” he groaned at the cashier, “My girl said she doesn’t like anything extravagant.”

My girl?

He turned his attention away from the woman, speaking to the person on the phone, “Reserve the one on the top floor, I want a good view of the city.”

I cleared my throat loudly, which made Axel snap his attention to us, looking rather annoyed that we cut off his conversation. The moment he recognized that it was me, his gaze softened in an instant and I gulped audibly, “Oh, hi Valentine.”

Can we turn back time when we’ll great each other with snide remarks?

Adam clicked his tongue, knowing that this will turn into something compromising, “I’ll talk to the owner about our plans, you should speak to Axel,” he whispered into my ear.

I slowly nodded as Adam gave me a small pat on the shoulder for encouragement, before he went to the counter where Axel was previously standing.

“So who’s your girl?” I lifted a brow, crossing my arms over my chest.

His cheeks got stained with a blush as he looked down, scratching the back of his head, “I was just planning out something.”

I don’t want to sound assuming or anything, but I had a hunch that he was going to ask me soon, and what he’s doing right now is what he wants to give me when he does.

“You’ve been caught red handed,” I muttered, “So who’s that for?”

I pointed to the bouquet of flowers behind him, and he sighed in defeat, grabbing it before he presented it to me, “You like it?”

Instead of answering, I received it with a small thank you. He noticed my depressed expression and his eyebrows scrunched up in concern, “Anything wrong, Valentine?”

Somehow, every time we have moments like these, I’m in a damper mood.

I don’t want him to give up – maybe because there’s this piece of me that’s thinking that there’s a possibility that we could happen. My mind still has trouble embracing the thought.

I kept telling myself that I should give him a chance, but with the way that I’ve been acting, I haven’t really been doing that.

“Let’s go out,” I spoke to him, surprising the daylight out of him, “If you want to.”

That scene when Adam let me go last night with no hesitation was plastered in my mind, and as it replayed itself, my heart was slowly sinking.

So when Axel nodded, I forced a smile. Maybe this will end up in something nice, or this will be another tragic fairytale.

----------------------------

Oh look, I finally updated! Let's celebrate, the apple juice is on me! I apologize that I suddenly went away, but there's a storm in the Philippines so that meant I had no classes and I finally got some time to write! 

I think this is the point of the story where Sophia is shifting, and no, this is not some werewolf story so plase get that out of your head right now.

Dedicated to @despxndency for the amazing cover on the side, that's one of my favorite quotes form Heart.

Question: Do you think Sophia should finally let go of Adam for Axel or should she still fight for him? Why?

So here we go guys, it's December and I'll probably update more, so watch out for that. See you guys next chapter, love you all and don't forget to comment, vote, and follow.