Celebrity Undercover

21. Harper

"From the beginning of time,

in childhood, I thought

that pain meant

I was not loved,

It meant I loved." -Louise Glück.

I groan when the annoying sound pierces through my ears. I flinch my eyes before rolling towards my bed stand to grab my phone.

With my head still on the pillow and my eyes closed, I pick up the phone and place it on my ear.

"Hello," I mutter.

"Summer I hope you're not still in bed. I woke you up half an hour ago! I'm five minutes away, I hope you're ready," I hear Alec's voice through the speaker, making me sit up straight.

Shit, s**t, s**t!

I scramble out of my bed sheets quickly, "um yeah I'm ready, bye!" I mutter quickly over the phone before hanging up.

I rummage through my closet and got a pair of black tights with a baggy t-shirt. I grab them together with my underwear and sprint towards the bathroom.

Why oh why do I love sleep so much?

I open the shower tap and let the cold water pour on me. No time left for me to actually wait for the water to become warm.

After I'm done showering I wear my clothes and run downstairs two at a time to grab breakfast but Alec was already in the kitchen eating a sandwich.

My heart skipped a beat when our eyes meet. I slowly made my way to the kitchen island and grab one of the sandwiches.

"You know you're the one who insisted to go shopping at nine in the morning," Alec mentions as he looks at me. I shrug in reply, taking a bite from my breakfast.

"Did I complain?"

"It's ten thirty."

"It's not my fault someone wanted us to talk all night long," I reply him with a frown. He grins at this, "we had to plan for Alexis' birthday."

"Sure," I reply sarcastically.

Last night, I stayed up until 4 AM talking to Alec. He called at 10 PM saying that we should plan the whole thing.

Let me tell you one thing.

We did not talk about Alexis' birthday at all.

After taking the last bite of my sandwich, I stand up from the kitchen chair and head outside. "Let's get going, it's going to take us the whole day."

I hear Alec groan and I turn to face him with a stern look on my face.

"What? I know my legs would be detached from my body by the end of today," he defends himself.

"Your lack of health saddens me," I reply to him, imitating him from the other day. He scowls at this before he opens the door to his car. I chuckle at his expense before riding on the passenger seat.

He drives out of the driveway and into the main road. I flick over the radio channels trying to find a suitable song when an old song I liked started playing.

You could roll around the globe

And never find a warmer soul to know

I grin while increasing the volume. Alec looks at me with a grin mirroring mine, "hey I know this song!"

I start singing loudly.

With your eyes that looked like ice on fire

The human heart a captive in the snow

By this time Alec had joined me and we were both singing loudly along with Elton John.

Oh, Nikita, you will never know

Anything about my home

I'll never know how good it feels to hold you

Alec turns to face me at the last part of the chorus with a grin on his face.

Nikita, I need you so

I let out a giggle and we continued singing until the song finished and another oldie came up. We went on belting out to the music until we reached the mall.

I unbuckle my seatbelt and jump out of the car, Alec following behind.

"We should start with the gift first," I tell him, making my way to a clothing shop. I look around for dresses and find a cute short turquoise dress. It was loose and long sleeved, open in the middle of the sleeves only to close at the end. It was pretty and I knew it was Alexis' style.

"You think she'll like this?" I ask him. He nods his head. "That would look so good on you," he replies, making me blush.

"Alec I'm serious," I roll my eyes. He shrugs in reply, " I'm also serious. You should buy that for yourself."

"Well too bad I don't wear dresses," I reply him sarcastically. I leave the dress and walk over to the accessories.

I feel hands encircling my waist making my heart stop. "You wore one on our date," he whispers in my ear, his breath fanning my neck.

My heart does somersaults at this. He never referred to our date before, this is the first time he is talking about it.

"I-I," I stammer.

"And you looked so good in it," he goes on, actually groaning. He turns me around to face him, taking me by surprise. I hold his chest for support looking at him.

"I'm buying you that dress," he tells me.

"Y-you should buy it for Alexis."

"I'll get her something else."

"But I still don't wear dresses so you shouldn't buy it for me either."

"But I want to buy it for you," he whispers, making me shiver.

"A-alec."

"Yes?"

"We're in public."

"So?"

"We shouldn't be doing this. There's a kid watching us," I whisper, trying to shrug off of his grip.

"Are you Alec Armstrong?" The kid, who is a girl of around five years old asks, making Alec lose his grip on me. We both turn to face her with worried looks on our faces.

Alec shakes his head and clears his throat, "um no I am not. A lot of people mistake me for him. I just look like him," he lies easily. I look at his disguise. He wore the blonde wig again with black lenses.

How did a five-year-old notice it? We really need to change our disguise.

"I'm Caleb," he goes on, taking out his hand to shake hers. She smiles toothily before hugging him. She only managed to hug his legs.

"I heard her call you Alec. Don't wowwy, I won't tell anyone I saw you," she says, not letting go of his legs. Alec smiles and carried her, "thank you?"

"Harper."

"Thank you, Harper, would you like an autograph?"

She nods her head happily, giving Alec her bag. Alec signs it after putting her down and she skips away happily to her mum.

"Now do you want to wear the outfits I chose for you?" I ask him with a stern face. He gives me a questioning look, "why would I want that?"

"Um because a five-year-old recognized you," I point out the obvious. He shrugs in reply, "she just happens to be a clever five-year-old and it's not my fault you're loud."

I gape at that, " I'm not loud!"

"Sure you aren't," he answers sarcastically, slinging his arm around me.

We walk around the shop until my eyes land on a charm bracelet. It was silver with four charms in it; A lady in a long dress, a lipstick, the nail polish emoji, and a high heel. It represents her personality somehow and I liked it.

I smiled as I take it in my hand, I knew that this is the gift I wanted to buy for her.

"I'm getting her this," I announce, making my way to the counter to pay for it. I asked the lady at the cash register to wrap the box for me with a ribbon and accepted it after I paid for it.

"What are you getting her?" I ask him as we make our way out of the shop. He shrugs in reply walking to the next shop. "I wasn't going to buy her anything in the first place."

I give him a look.

"What? I'm just being honest," he says, taking out a shirt from a hanger. "Hey! This would look cute on you."

I blush as I look at the top. It was black with a V neck. The material was light and black in color. There was a long gold necklace with a feather at the bottom, hanging in front which came with the blouse. I'll admit it's pretty but I can never wear something like that.

"I can't wear that."

"What? It's not even an ugly top," he protests, hanging it in front of me.

"I know it's not."

"Then why won't you wear it?"

"It's not mine."

"I'll buy it for you."

"We are here to buy Alexis a gift, not me. I'm not having this argument again," I tell him with a huff.

He gives up but doesn't return the top, he walks over to the cash register and pays for it, earning a glare from me.

"I told you not to buy it."

"Consider it as a gift from me," he tells me as he accepts the bag. I let out a sigh, he can be really stubborn when he wants to.

"You can choose a gift for Alexis I'll just pay for it," he tells me with a content smile when he realized he won this little quarrel.

I give him a look before making my way to the Mac store.