This Is How You Get Her Back

Four

"Lauren? Wake up, attorney."

"Early," I whine.

"Waffles or pancakes?" Alessandra asks softly, waking me up from my much needed sleep.

"Waffles. Pancakes are, like, the muffin equivalent of cupcakes," I mumble sleepily. I honestly don't even know what I just said.

She laughs. "Okay. Strawberries or chocolate?"

"Strawberry jam, please. Thank you," I reply in my half-asleep state.

"Okay. Go shower and brush your teeth so I can kiss you already. I'll be done with breakfast by the time you finish."

I groan in my pillow. "It's so early."

I feel the side of the bed dip, and a hand gently rub my back. "It's 11am, Lauren. Come on, it's a Sunday. You're going back to uni tomorrow and I'll have to share you again until the weekend."

"One kiss then I'll get up."

She kisses my cheek. "Now get up, asshole," she says with a laugh.

Because I'm a whipped piece of crap, I do as she says: I take a shower, brush my teeth, and put on a tank top and boxers. I walk to our kitchen, and find Alessandra humming La Vie En Rose as she prepares our plates on the counter.

"Good morning, royal cuteness," I greet her cheerfully and she smiles in amusement. I assist her in setting up our brunch.

She kisses my cheek. "It's already the afternoon, but good morning, lazy ass. Oh, and Sam already left. She told me to tell you that, and I quote, You better f*****g buy groceries or I will beat your ass, Rubio."

I laugh and mentally remind myself to buy groceries.

"This looks delicious," I say honestly as we sit across each other and start eating. I involuntarily let out a moan after my first bite.

The corners of her lips turn up. "I take it that you like it?"

"Love it. You've never made me moan that loud before."

"Uhh, babe, I'm pretty sure you woke up the entire state last night."

My cheeks warm up instantly. "Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"

She tilts her head to the side and smirks. "I could literally just take off my shirt, and you'd be on your knees, Lauren." It's true.

"Yes, and that's why I hate you," I say as I point my forkful of waffles at her.

She quickly leans forward and takes a huge bite of my brunch.

"Hey! That's mine!" I whine.

"You should stop talking and start eating, then," she says and winks. Her phone vibrates on our table. She picks it up, her eyebrows raised, then she smiles after seeing the message.

It's probably another modelling gig, I think to myself. I resume finishing my brunch. Once I finish my food, I look up and find her still smiling at her phone. So I take the opportunity and eat the rest of her waffles. She doesn't even notice me. She doesn't notice anything even after I've already cleaned up our table and washed the dishes. She doesn't even notice me leave and head back to my room. Must be some bigshot shoot again, I muse, so I sit on my bed and review for my classes tomorrow. I check my phone, and I notice that I have several new messages.

[BFF]: Hoe u better buy groceries ok I'm done eating pizza and Wendy's when ur girl's away don't lose the receipt ok we'll split the bill

[BFF ]: Oh and pls soundproof ur room. I know Alessandra's name already u don't have to keep screaming it

[Ben ]: Ty for going last night! Sry 4 being an ass :(

[Sophia R.]: HELP ME STUDY FOR HEALY'S CLASS PLS

[Catherine ]: Ball soon fam I'll beat ur ass this time

I reply to the significant messages and delete the rest of my messages from random women without bothering to read them. It's been over two years and my previous hookups still hit me up, and it's driving me crazy.

Then a certain message catches my eye. It's from Francine, Alessandra's college bestfriend.

[Francine]: We have to talk.

I dial her number, and she picks up immediately.

"What happened?" I ask.

"People usually start conversations with a greeting, but okay. Hi to you, too."

"Hi, sorry. What happened?"

"Are you with Alessandra?"

"She's outside. Busy with her modelling stuff or something, I think. She's been texting nonstop. What did you want to talk about? Should I call her?"

"No, no. That's what I wanted to talk about, actually."

"Her agency?"

"I don't think she's busy with her agency. I think she's talking to Juliet. Like talking talking."

"Wait, what? Juliet? The ex?"

"Yeah. Please don't tell her that I said anything, but, umm, she's been gushing to me about Juliet since last night. You guys went to some party and they caught up, right?"

Oh. I feel my heart physically ache. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I care about both of you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Okay," I breathe out.

"You all right?"

"Yeah," I lie. "Maybe they're just trying to be friends? You know, catch up?" I ask hopefully.

She chuckles humourlessly. "Juliet's her first love, honey. You can never beat someone's first love. Anyway, I got to go. I'm driving. I'll talk to you soon over coffee? I'll tell you all the details then."

I swallow hard. "Okay. Thanks for telling me, France."

"Anytime. Don't tell her I said anything," I hear her say before she hangs up.

My heart starts racing and my mind formulates several negative scenarios involving Alessandra and this ex of hers. Don't overthink. Alessandra wouldn't flirt with Juliet. She loves you. Trust her.

"Lauren?" Alessandra's voice brings me back to the present.

I face the door, and see Alessandra entering my room and sitting behind me on my bed. She places a gift-wrapped box in front of me.

"Someone mailed it to you," she says.

"Who's it from?" I ask as I unwrap it.

"I don't know," she says. And I sense a little hint of jealousy in her voice. "Why do random people still send you gifts? We've been dating for over two years already and you've been rejecting all of them. Can't they take a hint?"

I finish unwrapping the anonymous gift, and find a cute stuffed bear and an envelope. I open the envelope and find a handwritten letter.

Hi Lauren. It's Chloe. I don't know if you still remember me, but we dated a while back for a few weeks and

I stop reading immediately. I can't deal with this right now. I roll my eyes, place the letter and stuffed toy back into the box, and toss the package in a half-full moving box that contains letters and gifts that I have received in the past week.

"Are you all right? You seem... think-y," she asks as she wraps her arms around my waist and rests her chin on my shoulder.

I not-so-subtly shake her off me as I pretend to read my papers scattered in front of me. Should I ask her about it? We should always talk about things that bother us in relationships, right? "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

"I'm sorry I was a b***h during brunch, baby. I just... I finally got booked for Bazaar and I got really excited—"

"Oh s**t. Really? Congrats, babe. I'm so proud of you," I say with a genuine smile. Maybe I don't have anything to worry about. Breathe, Lauren. Breathe.

She attempts to hug me from behind again, and this time, I let her. "What's wrong, Lauren? You seem out of it." she asks with a hint of her French accent showing, which happens only when she's either genuinely worried or angry. s**t.

I sigh. "Something's bothering me. I'll tell you later, okay? We'll celebrate your Bazaar booking tonight."

"Okay. But if it's my fault that you're off, I'm sorry." I can hear the sadness in her voice and it's killing me.

I turn my head towards her and kiss her cheek. "Alessandra, come on, cheer up. I'm sorry. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

"Over sushi and ramen?"

I nod and turn around completely to face her. "Sure. Anything for you."

"Take off your top," she commands out of the blue. "And your sports bra."

"Someone's horny." I comply.

She chuckles, and I'm happy again. "I want to paint on you while you study, p*****t. And we'll talk when you feel like it." She brings out her box of painting materials and she sets it behind me. "Anyway, do you want something super cliché or something underrated?" she asks, bringing me back to the first time she asked me the same question.

Two days after Alessandra and I had lunch together for the first time, Alessandra had randomly texted me quite late in the evening to 'get dressed in 5 minutes or miss out.' And of course, being madly infatuated with Alessandra, I complied instantly. In less than 5 minutes, I finished fixing up. Thankfully, I hadn't removed my makeup yet.

I heard her distinct knocking pattern on my door, sending my pulse to the roof as I opened the door.

I was met by Alessandra in a beanie, a pair of joggers, and a loose shirt folded at the sleeves, which made her look extra attractive and gay. I took a few seconds to take in her presence and get my mind out of the gutter, which took a while. You can't blame me though. She looked absolutely stunning.

"Hi," I nervously greeted her.

Surprisingly, she looked as nervous as I did. "We're going on a date," she blurted out as she gripped the bottom of her Sleeping At Last shirt.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "Yes, yeah, sure. Of course, yeah, I'll just—I'll get my wallet—" I stuttered and mentally kicked myself.

She chuckled, showing that she was loosening up. "I'm paying for everything. No worries."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled. "I asked you out, so I pay."

It finally sunk in. She just asked me out. Alessandra Lévesque just asked me out.

I stepped out of my apartment and followed her to her car, a gorgeous black BMW. I didn't even know she was rich.

She opened the car door for me, and my heart pretty much burst. I finally understood what those cheesy songs meant when they talked about butterflies in their stomach.

"Where are we going?" I asked as she started her car, which, may I add, looked spotless and very well taken care of.

"Do you prefer somewhere cliché or somewhere underrated?" she asked as she drove.

"Anywhere with you, to be honest," I said nervously and I swear her cheeks turned pink.

"Just pick one, loser," she said with a chuckle.

"Underrated," I replied.

"Have you had dinner?"

"Yeah."

She smiled. "Good. We're going ice skating."

The odd thing is that it didn't bother me that I haven't gotten as close to kissing her even until after than evening, when it took me usually less than a few hours to get a girl in bed. It took quite some time before I got to even hold her hand, and all the waiting didn't even bother me. That's when I knew that she would have me whipped. But that's a story for another time.

"What's got you smiling there, beautiful?" she asks, interrupting my thoughts.

My cheeks warm up when I realize she's been staring at me with an adoring smile on her face. "Just... you," I admit.

"Me?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Memories. We've gone so far and I still can't believe you're mine."

Her face softens and she smiles one of those genuine smiles that make my heart funny. "I love you. Only you. And I'm so lucky to have you."

"I love you, too," I say to her. "You still remember our first date?" I ask.

She giggles. "It took me literally 2 hours before I sent the message asking you out, you know."

"You didn't even ask me out! You just told me to get dressed in 5 flippin' minutes and I was freaking out!" I replied with a laugh.

"Shut up, I was scared of rejection!"

"Me? Reject you? Baby, I was so infatuated with you that I would've done anything you asked. Imagine how I feel now when I'm actually in love with your bitchy ass!" I tell her, making her laugh.

"You were so cute though! You always acted so tough and s**t when I wasn't around, but you were an adorable mess when I was with you."

"Nothing's changed, huh?"

She leans in and kisses me softly. "Mhmm."

"You always paint underrated stuff, so let's try cliché," I reply, remembering her question.

"Okay. Turn around."

I obey, then I feel her place gentle kisses from my upper back up to my neck, causing my breath to catch in my throat every time our skin come into contact and I can barely breathe.

"Th—that's—that's not a paintbrush," I say shakily.

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" she mumbles.

I automatically shut my eyes and bite my lips at her words. When she says things like that, I seriously melt into a puddle and she could make me do literally anything she wants. "You're lucky I'm all yours."

She quite aggressively grabs a fistful of my hair and tilts my head to the side, giving her lips better access to my sensitive neck. "You're all mine." She starts sucking on my skin, undoubtedly leaving huge and lasting hickeys. "And those desperate thirsty bitches better know it," she practically growls. f**k.

"Screw them. I want only you and no one else. Always."

"And I'm all yours," she whispers as I turn around again and kiss her deeply.

But of course, the universe hates me today, so a phone vibrates loudly on the bedside table, ruining the mood. Alessandra groans and flops down on the bed, leaving me sitting between her legs.

"Is that yours?" she asks with swollen lips.

I glance at the table and see that her phone screen is lit up. "Yours."

"Can you read it for me?"

I reach for her phone and see this on the lockscreen:

Juliet:

Backkk! Is this Wed. ok? Can't wait 2 see u again!

My heart drops. I silently hand the phone to Alessandra, who's confused with my sudden change of mood. I put on my top, turn away from her, and get back to my notes.

"That's what's been bothering me," I say out loud and hope she hears.