Page 29 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"I hope it's worth it." Aria dabbed at her lips with a napkin. "Especially because that Jared guy sounds so annoying."

"He's the worst. He literally makes me want to pull out my hair. I swear to God he lives just to annoy me."

"But he sounds like sometimes he can be sweet," Astrid said. "Like he made sure you got home okay the other night. He insisted on staying late with you and brought you dinner that night too, right?"

Leave it to my kind-hearted sister to see the positives in Jared. "Yeah, I guess so," I grudgingly admitted.

I looked past my two sisters onto the street and, lo and behold, as if we'd summoned him, there was the man himself... fucking Jared.

"Oh, my God," I gasped, slumping down into my seat. "It'shim."

They both started to turn until I made a hissing noise, effectively stopping them. Grabbing a dessert menu, I slouched behind it and peeked over the top to see Jared talking to the hostess outside, two ladies standing near him.

"And he's with his mom and grandmother," I breathed out in an urgent whisper.

Astrid and Aria both stared at me, none of us sure what to do.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," I chanted as the hostess began to lead them through the tables. In a path that would lead him straight past us.

My heart rate skittering like a hummingbird, I frantically tore off my wig as they moved closer and closer, Jared bringing up the rear of the slow procession. Aria yanked out my tight bun and smoothed down my hair while Astrid stuffed my brown wig inside her purse.

"You should have kept your wig on," Aria whispered.

"I know! I panicked!"

"Keep hiding behind your menu," she ordered in a low voice.

They took forever to get to us, every second turning into an eternity, making my pulse throb in my ears. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his mom and grandmother walk past. And then Jared as well.

Just as I was about to exhale with relief, he stopped abruptly and turned around, glancing straight at me, his eyes locking onto mine over the dessert menu. A slow, knowing smile spread across his face.

"Dee!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

His mom and grandmother drifted backwards to stand beside him, the whole crew staring down at me, Jared's gaze going to my sisters and then back to me.

The menu trembled in my hands as I took a deep, steadying breath while slowly lowering it. This was happening, and I needed to suck it up and deal with it the best I could.

"Just having lunch with friends, Jared."

"So this is Jared?" Aria asked with a smirk, even though she knew full well this was Jared.

And now, this bitch was dead to me.

Jared's eyes lit up, his grin growing. "Dee's been talking about me?"

Aria had the nerve to laugh. "We've heard all about you."

"Only good things I hope."

I nearly snorted, but of course Astrid had to make nice. "Of course."

"M— Jared, have you forgotten your manners? Aren't you going to introduce us?" Jared's grandma asked.

He at least had the grace to flush. "Right. Of course. I just got so excited to see Cordelia out in the wild, I forgot."

His eyes danced with amusement as he made the introductions, and I miraculously managed to gloss over actually giving my sisters' names. He might not know Astrid, but Aria's name and face had been plastered all over the internet lately.

Thankfully, Jared's grandma saved me when she began to speak. "Well, we've heard all about you too, Cordelia. Jared talks about you all the time. Every night at dinner, we all talk about our days, and it's 'Dee this, Dee that.' And then later, when I'm trying to watch all my true crime shows, whenever I pause it, well, he usually interrupts me to talk even more about you. And—"

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