"That..." Alex had dug a hole for himself. Now he had to come up with an excuse quickly to get out of this mess. If he took more than necessary time to come up with an excuse, Margaret was not going to believe it.
"That...?" Margaret crossing her arms across her chest, stood in front of Alex, waiting for his response. Her arms under her boobs gave them an unfair boost.
With those big, perky boobs in his sight, it was hard for Alex to think straight, "Tits," He blurted out accidentally.
"What?" That came even as a surprise to Margaret. She hurriedly put her arms over her chest, hiding her cleavage from Alex's prying eyes, "What are you looking at?" Margaret asked bashfully and took a couple of steps back.
"Test..." Alex realized what he said and changed his words, "I said tets... Ughh... I mean test..." Alex said, "I was testing you. Whether you were really angry with me or playing it hard to get. This was what I was after. Yeah... that's it..." Alex was very smooth in telling his lie. And to some extent, it was convincing, “And see, I found out. You were just playing hard to get. I mean come on, it doesn’t suit you.”
"But why do I feel like you are making this all up?" Margaret, still a considerable distance away from Alex, asked. If what he was saying was true, his acting was good enough to convince her that he really meant whatever he said.
"Why would I make it all up?" Alex asked, "You know me. Am I capable of telling such lies?" Alex asked, trying to sound innocent.
Margaret didn't reply right away but continued to stare at Alex, pondering over the facts. Alex, on the other hand, was quite confident of her reply. The image he had built for such a long time would surely come in handy at this time.
"No," Margaret shook her head.
"See, even you don't feel that way," Alex was elated to hear Margaret.
"No, I meant no, I don't believe you. No, in that sense," Margaret was quick to pour water on Alex's happiness, “I feel that you are really making it all up.”
"Oh... C'mon. Use your brain," Alex said, pointing his finger toward her, "You are smart enough to see the truth. Why would I send those flowers if all I had in mind was to put a full stop to whatever was going between us? It doesn't make any sense, does it?" Alex asked, bringing the gifts he got Sam to deliver into the conversation. Alex was glad that he was considerate enough to buy those flowers for the last time.
"Well... That... Was... Well, that's true, but..." Even Margaret had no reply to Alex's question.
“See. It was just all a play I put together to confirm my suspicion,” Alex didn’t let her think much into it. He was not sure, but if she thought much about it, she might find some loopholes in his story.
"Now, leave that aside. I need to get going," Alex said as he tried to wear his helmet but was stopped by Margaret.
"Not before you clear things between us," Margaret said and pulled out the key from his bike.
"Not, now. I have a lot on my plate, and I am already very late," Alex extended his hand and tried to snatch back the key from Margaret, but she was quick to back away.
"Alright, we will talk it out after I am done handling the mess I am taking care of," Alex admitted defeat and proposed.
"Why? What happened? Did anyone trouble you at the office?" Margaret asked seriously. When she saw that Alex looked really in a rush, her playful vibe was gone, and she was back to her mature self.
"No, it's nothing like that," Alex refused, shaking his head, “it’s just some work I need to take care of.”
"What is it? Tell me," Margaret was keen to be of help to Alex.
Alex gave it a thought as to if it was right to let Margaret in on his problems. But if he were to get close to her over time, he needed to get her involved in his life a bit more often, "I don't know if you know that, but..." Alex opened his mouth to say. After that, Alex told everything to Margaret.
"So that's the case. I kind of heard about this news floating around. Do you want any help from me?" Margaret nodded as Alex finished.
"How can you help me?" Alex scoffed at Margaret's words. Well, he was welcoming to every help he could get but was not sure if Margaret could be of any.
"You will be surprised, Mr Rutherford," Margaret said and then asked, "Tell me the details about what happened with Abir first."
When Alex saw the confidence on her face, he decided to give it a try, "I haven't got the chance to talk with Abir yet, but from the statements he gave to the police, Abir dumped his manager after rehearsals and went to hang out with his friends," Alex began to narrate what was written in the documents he got from Daniel.
Margaret nodded.
"Abir with his friends went to this club. And according to Abir, he just ordered some juice. Though he dumped his manager, he was trying not to get wasted," Alex told Margaret, "And here comes the twist. After that, he does not remember a thing. When he got back to his senses, he was pinned down on the road by a police officer while the crowd gathered around him took his snaps," Alex told Margaret everything he knew.
"That's it, nothing else?" Margaret asked.
"Well, this is the gist of it," Alex nodded, "Aahh... There is also a small mention of him having some flashes. You know, like it is shown in the movies when they have a blackout after drinking heavily, and then they remember it in pieces the next morning. You must have experienced it a lo...t."
Alex tried to make a joke, but when he saw Margaret looking at him, not very amused, he knew he fucked up.
"Well, he kind of remembers his friends helping him get on the taxi," Alex tried to get back at the topic, "But this is not of much help. I was going to suspect the involvement of all those with him anyway," Alex said.
"What was the name of the club?" Margaret asked. She chose to ignore Alex's comment. They had just reconciled minutes back, and Margaret didn't want to get back to avoiding each other. She liked him and wanted to have a chance to know him better. It had been close to a year since she knew Alex, yet they knew almost nothing about each other.
"If I remember right, it was 'Club Rosaro'," Alex told her after thinking for a while.
"Are you sure?" Margaret had a faint smile on her face as she asked, trying to confirm.
"I mean, yeah. I am sure. But why are you smiling?" Alex asked.
"If it's 'Club Rosaro,' then you are in luck, my darling," Margaret said with a smirk on her face.
"What luck? Darling?" Alex was confused and a bit surprised. He didn't know they were on that stage of calling each other darling, honey, baby and the other nicknames out there. He wasn't really into it.
"I mean, you are lucky. I own that club," Margaret said with pride, "And since we have officially put a stamp on what we are. Shouldn't we be more affectionate with each other?" Margaret looked at him with hopeful eyes, “Huhh? Darling…”
"Really? You are an angel," Alex was all smiles, hearing Margaret, "I can't believe you own that place. I have to say you are quite a rich lady. You even own that mall we went to that day." Alex gave her a thumbs up after hearing such exciting news, "I wouldn't mind resigning from my job and living off you..." Alex laughed as he said, but he conveniently decided to bypass the darling issue. He liked Margaret, he truly did, but the recent encounters with her have sprouted some doubts as well in his heart. He needs to get to the bottom of it before taking any step further.
"... Now that everything is set. Let's go," Alex said.
"Wait, just give me a minute. I will get changed," Margaret said. She was still in her sports bra and track pants.
"Here, take my jacket," Alex said as he took off his jacket. The weather was starting to get chilly, but for the time being, he could manage, "We don't have time to lose. C'mon, hop on," Alex said, patting his motorcycle.
"On your motorcycle?"
"Why do you look so surprised? It's not the first time anyway," Alex said and wore the helmet, leaving no room for discussion. His motorcycle has been a fair share of women over the last one month or so.
Margaret hesitated for a while before she finally nodded. She took the jacket from Alex, wore it and sat behind him as the two of them zoomed away to their destination, 'Club Rosaro.'
* * * * *
(A/N: And it's a milestone. I never knew writing was so hard. Kudos to those with 1000+ chapters.
Guys, I know the updates are not very regular, and the story is slow. So, I would like to know your views on the story. Commenting on the chapters is a good way. If you haven’t left a review I would appreciate it if you do it.. And you can also join the discord server.)