CHAPTER TWELVE

As the weeks progressed, so did Phoebe and Jamie's relationship. They were much closer now. Although they weren't officially dating, they took every opportunity to kiss and touch each other.

They had discussed what happened, they had also discussed her school and how best to go about it. So far, she didn't have any problems as she was only missing classes and she had been studying at home so she was up to date. But she planned to resume the following week and she wanted Jamie to know about that.

Phoebe had gone out with the girls but had left them when they had insisted on drinking. She wasn't up for that; she would much rather be in her room with a bucket of ice cream in hand binge-watching Netflix. She opened the door and greeted all the guards she met on her way up to Jamie's office. they never answered, they always had this stoic, intimidating face but she always greeted anyway.

As Phoebe approached his office, she noticed that some of the guards became fidgety but she put it down to they might have been standing for a long time. But that wasn't the case. Phoebe passed the last guard in the hallway and began the walk down the passage to Jamie's office—he had insisted he didn't want any guard so close to his office. She began to hear faint sounds and a steady thump. Phoebe's breath caught in her throat. She didn't want to believe what her mind was telling her.

Phoebe slowly approached the door and as quietly as she could, opened it. And then she wished she hadn't. Jamie had a girl bent over his desk as he pounded repeatedly into her. Phoebe saw the girl's eyes roll back in her head, and Jamie let out a low groan. That was when he saw her.

"Phoebe…fuck!"

Phoebe immediately shut the door and ran to her room, locking the door just in time. She heard him swearing and cursing all the way to her door and she just cried harder when he began to bang on it.

"Phoebe…baby…it's not what you think!?"

"It's not what I think. I just caught you having sex with someone else and what you can say to me is it's not what I think. What am I thinking!?"

The next few minutes were spent with Jamie stuttering and trying to explain what was clear as day. He eventually gave up and went back to his room. Leaving Phoebe to her tears and her thoughts. She cried and cried, not knowing when she fell asleep.

***

Phoebe woke up realizing she was still seated on her bedroom floor and still in her clothes. She stood up and checked the wall clock, it was almost time for dinner, she caught her reflection in the mirror and cringed at the sight that presented itself before her. Her hair was all mangled up and sticking out in a different direction, some strands been as bold as to venture into her mouth. She yanked them out angrily. Her eyes were red and swollen, her mascara running down her cheeks. Her clothes were in a very pitiable state. She was in a very pitiable state.

All over a boy.

Phoebe could almost hear her mother's voice telling her to not cry over a boy. 'Boys should be the ones crying over you', she always said. Phoebe smiled at the memory and began to put herself in order. After a quick shower, she put her hair down into two cornrows and threw on an oversized tee-shirt over her underwear.

Phoebe sat on her bed and tried to take her mind off the day's events. She didn't want to see him and that was exactly what would happen if she went down to dinner.

Phoebe went back to the mirror, decided that the hair would remain the way it is, her tee-shirt was a little too short so she threw on some jean bum shorts. After a little make-up, she picks up her bag and her phone, making sure she had her wallet, and ventured out of her room. Just as she opened her door, she saw a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates sitting outside her door.

'When did he even find the time to buy these things?"

Phoebe picked up the box of chocolates and kicked the flowers to the side, away from her door.

"Wouldn't do to waste good chocolate, would it?"

Phoebe bounced into the kitchen feeling an odd sense of happiness and all of it shattered when she came face to face with the one person she didn't want to see. Their eyes met for a whole minute before Phoebe groaned and looked away. She located Hailey sitting on the same table with Jamie, next to Kieran.

"Hey, Hail."

"Phoebe. How are you doing? You missed a whole lot of fun today."

"Yeah. I wished I had just stayed with you guys, at the same time I'm glad I didn't." Phoebe eyed Jamie long and hard. If Hailey noticed, she didn't say a thing.

"Hailey, is it okay for me to borrow your car?"

"Yeah, sure. You going out now? It's kind of late." Phoebe looked at the clock, it read quarter past nine. Considering the circumstances, she's found herself in, it's not wise for her to be going out. But, if she stayed, she would keep wallowing in self-pity and she didn't want that.

"I know, I just need to go around for an hour or so. Clear my head, maybe see a movie. I'll be back before you know it."

"Um…okay. I'll just go get the car keys."

Phoebe took Hailey's chair as she stood up, studiously avoiding Jamie, completely ignoring him. Hailey arrived some minutes later and handed her the keys.

"Be careful, Phoebe. Okay?"

Phoebe nodded her head and walked out of the house and towards the garage where all the cars were kept. Just as she opened the door, she heard her name been called by the last person she wanted to speak to.

"Phoebe!" She just groaned and entered the car, but Jamie got to her and held on to the door as she tried to close it. Tried hard as she might, she had to accept that he was stronger than her and fighting with him will be futile. That, and she had a lot of things planned out for herself, she would need her strength to do that.

"What do you want, Jamie?" She fastened her seatbelt and inserted the key in the ignition. A very subtle reminder that she didn't want to talk to him. Jamie noticed and his heart fell into his stomach. He squatted beside her, bringing himself closer than she liked.

"What do you want, Jamie? I don't have all day…or night."

"I'm sorry, Phoebe?"

"For what exactly?"

"For…what you saw this afternoon."

"Okay. Are you sorry you were caught or are you just truly sorry?"

"Phoebe…"

"Besides, there isn't anything to be sorry about anyways…"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like we were dating, Jamie. I am just your one-night stand who happened to be caught in the crossfire."

"C'mon, Phoebe. Don't say that."

"But it's true." Phoebe paused and took a very deep breath, trying to keep her emotions at bay and the tears threatening to spill out behind her eyes.

"It all makes sense now…" She whispered it, so low that Jamie almost didn't catch it.

"What makes sense?"

"Why you never asked me out. You had her so you didn't need me."

"Phoebe…sweetheart. Please do not talk like that. I…" Jamie reached out his hand and touched her cheek but Phoebe quickly swatted it away.

"Don't touch me." Jamie took a deep breath and stood to his full height, looking down at Phoebe.

"You know it's not a good idea to go out tonight."

"It's also not a good idea to try and stop me."

Jamie could feel his hackles rise; he wasn't used to people talking back at him. Then again, he wasn't used to a lot of things Phoebe does to him. He chuckled lightly to himself and pulled out a handgun from the waistband of his trousers, handing it over to her. Phoebe looked from the gun to Jamie, hesitating to take the gun.

"Take the gun, Phoebe. It's either that or have two cars filled with security follow you…and report back to him."

Phoebe grumbled and took the gun, shoving it into her handbag. She wouldn't have any problem getting through security because the gun was special, one that wasn't made with metal so they won't be able to detect it.

"You still remember everything I taught you?"

"Yes, I do. Now can I go?"

Jamie dramatically stepped out of the way and watched as she drove away from him. He pulled out his phone and called two of his most trusted guards and ordered them to follow her discreetly. He didn't need to give her any more ammunition to be mad at him. He stayed until he saw their car leave the building before going inside, ignoring the questioning glances of both Kieran and Hailey.

He needed a drink, a warm bath, and a very long and undisturbed date with his bed. And that was exactly what he did.