Fox Life

There were a couple appointments Elise had scheduled for the day, but she canceled all of them. It would be too weird to leave Gale alone in her apartment. What if he woke up and she wasn't there to explain herself?     

'Not like anyone would really dare to drug him again,' Elise thought with a laugh while scrolling through a shop's perfume selection online. 'I think I've heard of at least a couple women trying it and ending up worse off than dead.'     

Around five, she ordered lunch. She had hoped that Gale might wake up and wanted it to be warm for him, but her stomach was already complaining about all the snacks and demanding real food. There was no way she could wait any longer.     

Once the delivery man left, the door to her bedroom opened as if after being called. Gale stepped out, yawning. His hair was mussed delectably, but Elise's eyes were attracted by the open shirt. A small part of her mind wondered if he'd undone it on purpose, but the majority was admiring the toned muscles and the six-pack.     

The cursed man had too many things going for him.     

And he knew it. Noticing her wandering eyes, he leaned against the doorway, posing for her. "Done, or need a few more minutes?"     

Elise rolled her eyes, finding the act of looking away a tad harder than it should have been, and focused back on the food she had been unpacking. "I was in disbelief you should try to seduce even your savior."     

"Savior, sure," Gale said in a drawl, and Elise knew the smile had to be back on his face.     

Strange sadness stabbed her in the heart, but she didn't let it show on her face. It wasn't her place to care if he was acting or not. But her mood dropped.     

"Want to explain to me why I'm here?" he asked while coming over. He picked the other box of take out like it was the most normal action, but Elise could sense the tension in the air.     

She considered letting him stew in it for a moment, but then thought better of it. She didn't want to write down a death sentence for herself. "You should thank me on your knees for being so nice. You blacked out before we reached your place and the driver just wanted to leave you on the street, but I was kind enough to save you from the title of hoodlum."     

"What a good samaritan," Gale threw back as his brows scrunched up in thought. Elise guessed that he was trying to recall what had happened, but she wasn't worried.     

She started eating her food while it was still warm. From the corner of her eye though, she still watched Gale. He had relaxed a little, but was still thinking about something.     

Before he could come to any conclusion, the doorbell rang. "Liz, open up now! Liz! How was I not the first to know? Liz!"     

"You asked someone to find us together?" Gale asked in a low voice.     

In any other situation, it would have been bedroom speech, but Elise felt a chill run down her back. Gale's eyes were flashing with dark emotions, even if a smile was still on his face like he hadn't just threatened her.     

"Shut up," Elise whispered back to him as she rushed to her feet. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into her bedroom where she pushed him deeper into the darkness. "Stay here and not a sound. Understood?"     

Not giving him time to refuse, she closed the door and ran to the table. There was no way Jeanne would miss the two dishes on the table, so she quickly took one away into the kitchen and then rested a moment to not look out of breath.     

Her heart was racing though. What was Jeanne doing at her place? It wasn't common for that socialite to be anywhere but out where people could see her. The two of them always met up in cafes, restaurants, and various shops, never at home. It was a surprise for Elise that Jeanne even knew where she lived.     

"Welcome, what are you so excited about?" she asked upon letting her friend inside.     

Jeanne looked around the house, her eyes instantly taking in everything. "You should redecorate," she said before going straight for the bedroom.     

"That's not the living room," Elise said with a straight face, pulling her friend in another direction. "Come, let's sit and speak." Although decor required for Elise to offer some warm drink and snacks, she didn't want for Jeanne to stay. Who knew what Gale would come up with if left alone for long?     

But Elise soon forgot all about that. Jeanne told her the news that had just hit the social circles—Gale had finally found a girlfriend! The words hit Elise like a brick dropped on her head, but she forced out a smile nonetheless.     

"Who is it?" she asked in a false nonchalant manner. For some reason, she felt like her heart had dropped to her feet and was bleeding there dejectedly. It was good that she was sitting at that moment.     

Jeanne looked at her with stunned disbelief, then burst out laughing. "You of course! Why else would I be here? I'm so annoyed, I can't believe you didn't tell me you hooked up with him. It's like first class news!"     

"Or rumor," Elise said in a dismissive voice, but her heart slowly rose back up. It was still a little wobbly from the shock, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. "Why would you think I'd have anything to do with him?"     

"You little minx, it's already out. You can't hide it anymore!" Jeanne whipped out her phone and found an article titled something about shocking reveal.     

Elise scanned it without delving deeper into it, since it could all be nonsense. Instead, she found herself staring at the photos at the end. One of them was of Gale sleeping on her shoulder in the taxi and another of her opening her apartment's door. Gale wasn't in it, but it served as proof for the driver's words.     

Fury surged through Elise when she read his testament. She had trusted that man and he took secret pictures and sold them for a pretty sum? "Can we talk about this later? I need to make a few calls."     

"Are you seriously going to hound that man for earning a bit of money?" Jeanne asked in disbelief. "It's not like you could've kept it a secret for long. Don't be petty."     

"I'm not."     

Normally, Elise would have just ignored it, but this time it involved Gale. He was hard to deal with on a good day, and she was afraid to imagine what he would do if he thought she had pushed him into a play he didn't like. The day before he had said he didn't want to act out a relationship with her, and now it seemed that she had thrown it upon him anyway.     

And he couldn't push her away in public because it would make the good relations between their companies even more suspicious. Everyone knew that she was the center of Mark's world and that he would not hesitate to destroy anyone that even looked at her the wrong way.     

Elise called the taxi company and demanded to speak to a manager, which wasn't hard with her identity. She then demanded for reparations for their driver's actions. The woman tried to calm her down, saying they'd look into it, but Elise didn't let go. She didn't speak about whether the man had reported the truth or not , but that her privacy was violated, and threatened to bring the whole company to court.     

After fifteen minutes or so, Jeanne decided to leave. She told Elise once more that she was overreacting and walked out. Gale pushed the bedroom's door open then, but Elise ignored his thunderous expression. She knew what was on his mind, but she could do little about it when he didn't trust her at all.     

"Any last words before I leave?" he asked when she finished with her call. He had dressed up and looked as usual if not for the dark bags still under his eyes.     

Every explanation that flashed through Elise's mind seemed wrong. She didn't know how to make him believe that she hadn't done anything.     

"Are you still coming to Mark's today?" she asked instead.     

"Why should I?" Gale asked while walking to the door. "I was ready to give you a chance to convince me, but you clearly didn't care."     

'But if I let you leave right now, I feel like we'll never see each other again.'     

Elise rose to her feet and went to block his path. "Let's talk here then." She gave him a smile just as fake as his. "Why bother Mark when we're both adults here? He'll support whatever decision I make."