Page 25 of The Fake Dating Plan

She was about to say something else when the waiter came to take our orders. We gave them to him. I ordered the salad. I didn’t think my stomach would handle digesting meat while I was in her presence. Her elegant and well-put-together image always made it hard for me to relax around her. Even now, I had to stop myself from glancing down to check if my blouse wasn’t askew. And I kept feeling that there was snot on my nose, even though I had secretly checked my face using my face powder mirror when she wasn’t looking. My anxiety was even made worse by the fact that this meeting, whatever it was, couldn’t be good. How could it? The entire family must hate me for cheating on their golden child.

When the waiter went away, she said, “It’s been a while since we’ve last met. Or spoke.”

“It has.” I didn’t want to mention when it was, lest it reminded her of my apparent betrayal of her son.

“You’ve become something of yourself since.”

“Thank you.”

She lifted her hand, and as she did so, her sleeve slid down and revealed a chunky gold bracelet.

“I love your pieces, by the way. I wear them all the time.”

“Um, I wasn’t expecting that. Thank you.”

“Why not? You’re a talented designer.”

“You must hate me for cheating on your son.”

She waved her hand. “Oh, please. A simple mistake should be forgiven, no.”

This was going in the opposite direction from what I thought. “Ms. Busquets.”

“Please, call me Francesca, everyone does.”

“Francesca, why am I here?”

She took a deep breath. And just when I thought she was going to say something, the food arrived. How was this gourmet restaurant faster than a fast-food chain?

“We should eat!”

I gazed down at the plate before me. I wasn’t a salad girl, but even I couldn’t resist the beautifully plated dish. I took a forkful. It was just as delicious as I expected. I was about five forks deep into my salad when she said, “Axel is very special to us.”

There it is.

“He went through a lot after you two broke up.”

They all seem to say this, but his tabloid exploits soon after showed a different picture. I still couldn’t get the image of him walking out of a club with the girl-next-door actress of that time. Five days after we broke up, he was with someone else.

“I’m sure he did,” I said.

“And I don’t want the same thing to happen to him again.”

“Ms.—Francesca. Your son is doing well and I don’t think you should worry about him.”

“But he still likes you.”

I burst out laughing. I took a sip of water to avoid choking.

“It’s true.”

“Whatever he may be, trust me, he’s not hung up over me. I don’t know what makes you think he is.”

Her hand crossed the table, and she took mine in hers. “What you must understand is that, Ax,” she paused as if gathering her thoughts, “Ax can be a tough person to work out. He has this veneer, a mask he uses to hide his true feelings.”

I knew all about the mask. Getting Ax to show his true feelings was difficult.

“But I know when he’s in love and he was in love with you back then.”

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