Rebound with my Fiance's Arch-Enemy

Priorities

Kelsey pulls the chair out and sits down hard across from Ray. Kelsey slides her sunglasses off first, setting it on the edge of the table, raising her eyebrows at Ray, making her take hers off as well.

After they've both slid off their sunglasses, they just look at each other.

“Ray, wow,” Kelsey starts finally. “I haven’t seen you since… that one awful party during the time you were still taking your business degree, maybe?”

Ray manages a weak smile. “Kelsey! I couldn’t place the name on the phone. You look exactly the same.” She tilts her head. “Wait, I actually realized this on the call. Hall-Vale. Isla is your sister?”

Kelsey nods. “Yeah, half sister but yeah, sister all the same. She’s the dramatic one in the family, obviously.”

“Wow, i had no idea,” Ray says.

She shakes her head slowly. “I just knew you from the back row in one of those classes we took together. You were always so quiet, I never figured.”

Kelsey gives a quick laugh. “I was trying to pass the class. You were out with the others being popular.”

“Hey! I was building my network,” Ray jokes, and she actually smiles for real this time.

It helps cut through the weird tension.

“So, yeah, we know each other from college,” Kelsey says, her voice turning serious again. “But we didn’t meet up to talk about old homework or like pals. We’re here to talk about what just happened.”

Ray’s smile disappears fast, she starts to look nervous again. “Right, yeah, about that... Look, Kelsey, I need to be upfront. When you called, I thought you just wanted to gossip. But now that I know you and Isla are sisters… I’m not sure what you’re doing. Are you trying to hurt Pierce too? Because, you're certainly not out to hurt your own sister... half or not.”

Kelsey holds her hands up in front of her. “Calm down, Ray. I know this looks really strange. But believe me, I have zero interest in ruining your thing with Pierce.”

Ray raises one eyebrow. “But you called him my ex-fiancé just more than half an hour ago.”

“Okay, you got me,” Kelsey admits. “But I didn’t mean anything by it. Here’s the real situation, I’m not here to talk about you and Pierce. I’m here to talk about Isla and Elijah.”

Ray leans in closer, curiosity obviously piqued. “What about them?”

“They are the problem,” Kelsey says firmly. “And right now, they are totally winning. They humiliated you and Pierce on TV. They have the entire city talking about their grand, crazy kiss. They look like the couple everyone should cheer for, and you two are pegged now to look like the losers.”

Ray nods miserably. “I know. Pierce is absolutely losing it. He wants to go straight to war with Elijah, he is probably tearing up his office right now.”

“And that’s the wrong move,” Kelsey says. She picks up a coaster and flips it back and forth on the table. “Pierce is obviously playing their game, right into their trap, Ray, and he’s getting crushed. He tried to fight them with anger, and it just made Isla and Elijah look strong and justified in front of the world, and it's just unfortunate that he wandered into their bait.”

Ray looks confused. “So, what should we do? Just take the loss and move on? Keep quiet and keep looking on like the losers?”

Kelsey shakes her head. “No, You don't take the loss. You need to do the one thing that will take all the attention off of them and put it back onto you, but in a good light.”

Ray stares at her, waiting. “And what is that?”

Kelsey leans in super close. “You need to get married right now.”

Ray looks completely shocked. “What?! Are you serious? We can’t. We just half canceled the big wedding. Pierce is too embarrassed to even look at a public street, get married?” she scoffs, "is the last thing that man would want to hear from me right now."

“That’s the exact point!” Kelsey almost hisses the words like the person she's talking is a big dumb woman, technically, that's how she sees Ray anyway. “You don't do a big fancy wedding! You don't call another press conference! You do the total opposite of what Isla would ever expect, shock them.”

She taps the coaster on the table. “Think about it, Ray. Isla told everyone she left the wedding deposit so Pierce and you could use the hall. That makes you guys look like you’re using her money, right? So you can’t use that hall.”

Kelsey leans back, letting Ray process this. “Instead, you and Pierce go to the courthouse or you fly somewhere secret for the weekend. You get the marriage done, the quick ceremony, and you post one blurry picture on social media. One single announcement. That’s it, so that way, even if they want to in the future, they can't claim anything over paying for your wedding as they planned.” Kelsey said firmly.

Ray’s eyes get huge. “A quick small wedding… but why would that work? I wanted a big wedding that's why we made them promise to pay...” she sounds sad and disappointed that she'd have to abandon her dream for a big world rocking wedding.

“Because it completely flips the script in your favor,” Kelsey explains. “Right now, the story is, Isla had to dump Pierce because he cheated on her with you, and now she’s with Elijah. If you guys get married in a rush, the story becomes, Pierce and Ray were so madly in love they didn’t care about Isla’s drama, they just ran off and got married. It makes Isla’s huge, passionate kiss look weak. It shows that Pierce didn’t even care enough about her to wait.”

Kelsey taps again and again on the table, emphasizing so the other woman would understand before she starts getting exasperated.

Ray finally smiles, a genuine, delighted, and slightly wicked smile. “It makes Isla look like she’s still chasing a married man who has totally forgotten about her.”

“Exactly!” Kelsey says, feeling a surge of excitement finally. “The attention will be focused on you. Suddenly, everyone is talking about your quick wedding. Isla and Elijah’s big show? It becomes old news. It becomes just a footnote.”

Ray leans back, taking a deep breath. “But Pierce is so angry, he won’t hear this. He wants to attack Elijah directly.”

“Then you have to be the smart one,” Kelsey says, her voice firm. “You have to calm him down. Tell him this is how he really wins, tell him the best revenge is showing the world he’s a married man who doesn’t care about his ex anymore. Tell him this is the only way to be completely free of her drama, and a married man is always taken more seriously.”

“How long do we have to lay low then?” Ray asks.

“Just until the wedding is done. Get the ring on your finger and make the headlines. Give them something new to obsess over. Then, when they’re totally distracted, we can start our real plan.”

Ray nods. “Okay. I think I can do that. I can make him see the logic.” She looks straight at Kelsey. “Thank you, Kelsey. This is actually a brilliant idea, trust me, I am very surprised you'd help us out. Why though? Why would you offer to help us at the detriment of your own sister?”

Kelsey pauses, taps the table for a second before looking at Ray. "Because I have other priorities, and I’m happy to help,” Kelsey says. She checks her phone and stands up. “I need to go. My mom thinks I’m out running some personal errands.”

Ray stands up too, apparently believing the vague response. “I need to leave too. I have to find Pierce.”

Kelsey stops right in front of Ray. “Wait. One more thing, Ray.”

Ray looks up, ready to go. “What is it?”

Kelsey leans in, her voice now very quiet and serious.

“I need one more favor. A small one, but important for me.”

Ray looks uneasy again. “What kind of favor?”