Chapter 19
"Hey Clarke, did your mom tell you that she hired someone for the Aircraft Maintenance Manager position?" Octavia asked as she sped up her pace to walk along side Clarke when she caught the blonde walking out of another meeting.
Clarke lifted her head up from the folder in her hands and furrowed her brow at her friend. "I was suppose handle that as soon as we were back in the states. How did she even find someone that quickly?"
"I don't know, maybe it's someone here in Paris." Octavia presumed shrugging her shoulders.
Clarke paused for a moment, wondering if she should be annoyed that her mother didn't include her in this decision. But she quickly shook her head and decided it was best just to let it go since it was one less thing she had to worry about.
"Maybe Anya recommended someone to her."
"Make sense." Octavia commented. "Hey, where's Lexa? I haven't seen her all day. Lincoln said that she gave him the day off."
"I haven't seen her since this morning, her schedule has been insane lately. I can barely keep up. She's probably in another meeting prepping up for the big announcement tomorrow." Clarke replied heading towards Lexa's office to check if her girlfriend was there in case she was wrong.
"I heard about that. She's got to be beyond psyched that Anya asked her to join her." Octavia retorted at her while following her lead.
"Yeah, that's why she's been so busy these last couple of days. We barely have time for each other." Clarke grumbled.
Octavia looks at Clarke with question eyes when she detects the unhappiness in her voice. "Anya's finally given Lexa the recognition that she's probably been fighting for most of her life."
"I understand, of course I understand. This is important and I'm very excited for Lexa. I just-" Clarke opens the door to Lexa's office and disappointment sets in when she finds it empty. "-miss her."
"I'm sure she misses you too." Octavia replies walking in and making herself comfortable on the small couch while Clarke sat behind Lexa's desk. "Relax, Clarke. After tomorrow, you and Lexa can go back to being inseparable."
"Am I being needy? I don't remember wanting to spend so much time with someone in any of my past relationships." Clarke wondered. "Come me to think about it, I'm usually the one craving space."
Octavia laughed. "No, you're just in love. It's sickening to watch sometimes, well most of the time. But you and Lexa make sense. You guys are perfect for each other."
"Can you believe that we both found love in Paris?" Clarke asked shaking her head in disbelief.
"Love?" Octavia forms a deep frown on her face. "I don't know if Lincoln and I are quite as far as you and Lexa. I mean maybe we will get to that point someday. Who knows? We're having fun right now and I don't want to rush things."
Clarke nods her head in understanding but before she could say anything, the door to Lexa's office burst open with a strong force that it causes both Clarke and Octavia to snap their heads towards the intrusion quicker than a blink of an eye.
"Alexandria Woods!"
Clarke stands up from her chair and furrows her brow at the agitated look on Anya's face whose eyes were darting all around the room, completely ignoring Clarke's and Octavia's presence for a moment. She snarled angrily when she realize Lexa wasn't in the room with them.
"Anya, what's wrong?" Clarke asked walking closer to the older woman.
"Do you know where she is?" Anya looked at the blonde for the first time trying to soften her voice. Her anger was towards her daughter, not Clarke.
"I thought she had meetings with you all day." Clarke looked at Anya with am perplexed expression.
She turn her attention to Octavia who just shrugged her shoulders as if she was saying she was probably more out of the loop then they were.
"Well she didn't show up. And she didn't show up to the one before and the one before that. Why should I be surprise that she's making me look like a fool in front of our board members after I asked her to make the merger announcement with me." Anya ranted.
"Okay, okay..." Clarke said in a calming voice. "...maybe something happen. Did you try calling her?"
"All my calls are being sent to voicemail." Anya replied with irritation in her voice.
This didn't make sense to Clarke and she began to grow worry about Lexa. She knew how excited her girlfriend had been about this opportunity, it didn't add up on why she was missing all theses important meetings.
"I'll try calling her, there has to be a reasonable explanation." Clarke told her already grabbing her phone.
Anya nodded her appreciation knowing Lexa would have a harder time ignoring Clarke's calls. "When she gets here, let her know that I would like to talk to her."
"Of course." Clarke replied instantly.
"Thank you, Clarke. Now if you will excuse me, I have to attend to another meeting where I have to once again make excuses as why my daughter is not in attendance." Anya turned on her heels and left the room.
"Whoa!" Octavia's eyes widen at witnessing how pissed Anya can get.
"I don't understand how Lexa can be gone all day and not tell me." Clarke said with her phone against her ear waiting anxiously for her girlfriend to pick up her phone.
"Lincoln is not with her." Octavia pointed out. "I mean, if Lexa's out of the office, especially all day, she usually has Lincoln with her."
"This doesn't sound like her. I just hope she's okay." Clarke said pacing around and biting her lip, worried that something horrible might have happen.
Clarke groans out loud when she didn't get through. "She's not answering."
"Okay, don't freak out. Lexa's fine." Octavia stood in front of her best friend putting her hands on both side of her arms. "She'll call back. Let's go grab some lunch, I haven't eaten all day. I'm sure she'll touch back with you soon."
"Yeah, you're right." Clarke said exiting the Lexa's office with Octavia. "I'll send her a text to meet us, if she can."
Being back inside her Audi R10 was indescribable. Traveling as fast as 200 miles per hour with the roaring sound of the engine in her ear and the view of the endless track in front of her, she felt unstoppable. She had missed this so much and the anger she felt when she thought about how this was all taken away from her, was more motivation to beat Finn at their race in a few days.
"Excellent, Lexa. A minute and thirty seconds. With a few adjustments, I'm positive we can it much lower than that." Titus praised her as she pulled up off the tracks. "Finn can barely make it under two minutes."
Titus, who oversees all of Lexa's race cars and races, was ecstatic that Lexa was back. He knew nothing would stop the girl from returning to the tracks. Not some silly injury on her leg and if he worked hard enough, maybe he can convince the committee to allow her back in the circuit.
Lexa lifted herself out of the car and pulled her helmet off. "It's just for one race, Titus. Don't get your hopes up."
"You proven that your leg is not an issue, I'm sure Nyko can attest to that. The Australian Grand Prix are just around the corner and if we can-"
"No, Titus." Lexa told him sternly. "As much as I want to, I can't. I've accepted that. You should too."
"You shouldn't accept losing something you love. If you truly want to beat Finn then you should fight to get back on the circuit. The way you went out is not the most ideal. Wouldn't you rather retire victo-
"Lexa!" A hollering voice interrupted.
Both Lexa and Titus turn their heads to see Ryder jogging towards them.
"What is it, Ryder?" Lexa asked trying not to smirk at the annoyed expression on Titus' face at being interrupted while she welcomed the interruption.
"Your phone has been going off all day." Ryder said handing her her phone.
"I told you no distractions." Titus told the both of them with irritation laced in his voice.
Lexa was blatantly ignoring him and was instead looking at all the miss calls and messages she's received. The ones from her mother she could care less about. She knew she was going to receive a earful when she goes back to the office but the ones from Clarke, she couldn't simply ignore them.
"I have to go." Lexa said while typing a reply back to Clarke accepting her lunch invitation.
"What?" Titus asked confused. "Lexa, wait. There is still more work and preparation we need to do in the small amount of time we have. If you expect to beat Finn-"
"I trust you can handle it, Titus." Lexa cuts him off while pulling off just the top portion of her racing suit.
"I need you here. We need to string out all the issues that may occur and we need the driver to tells us what we need to fix." Titus said exasperated knowing everything he was saying is going in and then out the other ear. Something that he was all too familiar with when he was dealing with Lexa.
"Tighten the steering wheel a bit more, it's a little loose for my liking. And we'll go again tomorrow." Lexa told him before grabbing a water bottle, taking a quick sip.
"Lexa, you haven't been on the tracks for months now. It's essential that you get all the practice you can get." Titus tried to convince her to stay again.
"I understand Titus. And we will continue again tomorrow." She emphasizes the tomorrow before walking into the small changing area and closed the curtain for some privacy.
Even though she agrees with Titus, she couldn't stay. Clarke would just worry or become more suspicious. Her plan was to tell Clarke about the race after the merger announcement. She knows that her girlfriend was going to be unhappy about it but she hopes Clarke can eventually understand why she was doing this.
Why she needed to do this.
"Please Lexa, do not get over confidant that you can beat Finn. We all know he plays dirty. We have to be one step ahead of him." Titus said on the other side of the curtain.
She knows Titus couldn't see her but she couldn't help rolling her eyes in annoyance by his persistency. She quickly threw her clothes on to make a fast getaway before Titus succeeds in making her stay.
"Is this because some girl?" Titus asked when she opened the curtains.
Lexa snarled at him. "Please don't speak as if you know anything about her."
Titus didn't back down. "It is, isn't it? She's the reason for this race. She's the reason why you're leaving now and she's the reason why Gustus was fired."
"Gustus, Lexa. " He strongly emphasizes to her. "He was the most loyal to you and only had your best interest at heart. And you just tossed him aside like he was nothing because of her."
Lexa continued walking towards her Aston Martin trying not to let Titus words affect her.
"You didn't even realize Finn had gotten close to you in the last race you were in because you were distracted by Costia's presence. Do not let history repeat itself because of another -"
"Enough Titus!" Lexa snapped turning around and stopping him in his step with her fierce gaze. "I've heard you, now hear me. Do not speak ill of Clarke again."
Titus lowers his head in defeat. "I'm sorry, Lexa."
Lexa stares at him one last time before putting her sunglasses on and opened the door to her car. "I'll see you tomorrow, Titus."
"I'll get Ryder to tighten that steering wheel for you and we can start again bright and early tomorrow."
Lexa waved her hand dismissively at him as she pulled away leaving him feeling disappointment at her early departure.
"If you look at your phone one more time, I swear Clarke I'm going to drop it in your glass of diet coke." Octavia threaten.
Clarke sighed before setting her phone on the table. "I'm sorry. Lexa said she would be here fifteen minutes ago."
"Chill, she could've ran in to traffic." Octavia said before taking a bite of her burger.
"We have to head back soon, so it just means the more time goes by the less time I have to spend with her. And what was so important that made her miss nearly all her meetings today?"
"Please eat your chicken wrap so at least something is in your mouth and preventing you from talking about Lexa." Octavia quipped stuffing another fry in her mouth.
Clarke pouted adorably. "You knew about my distress when you invited me for lunch."
Octavia playfully rolled her eyes. "And believe me, I'm regretting it."
"Fine, we'll just eat lunch quietly." Clarke grumbled. "I'll try no to disturb you with my chewing."
Octavia rolled her eyes. "Oh don't be so dramatic."
"Clarke's being dramatic? I could never imagine that." Lexa chimed in coming up behind Clarke giving a small kiss on the cheek hello before taking the empty seat on her right.
"Hey Lexa." Octavia greeted happily at Lexa's presence, hoping it would finally end her suffering of hearing Clarke's complaints of the other brunette'e absence.
"So what's the reason behind this unlikely behavior from my wonderful girlfriend?"
"You are." Octavia answered with a glint of mischievousness in her eyes. "Clarke wants to put a GPS tracking on you."
Clarke's eyes widen at Octavia's statement. "No, that's not what I said."
"It basically was." Octavia shrugged sipping on her water.
Clarke shook her head at her friend and then turn to Lexa. "I was worried about you. Anya said that you missed all of your meetings earlier today.
"And she's pissed. Like I feel bad for you." Octavia chimed in.
"Where were you?" Clarke asked softly looking into Lexa's eyes.
Lexa bit her bottom lip nervously as she diverted her eyes. She was worried about this conversation the whole ride here. She was trying to think of what to say to Clarke about her absence in the office today without lying to her.
"I just had some stuff I had to check on. I'm sorry I'm late. And don't worry about my mother, it's nothing that I haven't dealt with before." Lexa said nonchalantly before looking for their waitress trying to get her attention.
"Did you already order for me? I'm starving." Lexa said casually changing the subject.
Clarke frowned disappointed at the minimal response she received when she has been worried about the brunette for the past hour. "No. I didn't know if you were going to show up or not."
"No worries."
Absentmindedly Lexa went to grab a single chip from the blonde's plate to temporary satisfied her hunger only for her hand to be slapped away by Clarke. Lexa looked up at Clarke and was actually frighten by the look she was receiving from her. She slowly retracted her hand away from the blonde's food.
"You can have some of min-" Octavia stopped mid-sentence when she felt the death glare that Clarke was sending her.
"Or you know-" Octavia looked at Clarke with a uncertainty in her eyes. "-starve? Yeah, you should starve. For being late?... It's so rude, Lexa. Like maybe better time management next time?"
The tension at the table became very thick and Octavia was clearly uncomfortable. Having no clue what she should do, she proceeded to take her own advice she gave Clarke earlier and stuffed her face with her remaining of her lunch despite being full praying the girls would work this out.
Lexa pursed her lips knowing Clarke was getting a little upset with her. "Thanks Octavia. But I'm sure they can fixed me up a quick salad. I know the owner."
Clarke scoffed in disbelief that Lexa was acting like nothing was wrong. She had no patience for this today. "Actually, we have to get going so you're going to have to eat lunch alone. Come on, Octavia."
Lexa sighed heavily when Clarke and a reluctant Octavia stood up from their seats while the latter was ungracefully finishing the food that was in her mouth. Words failed to escape her mouth to convince Clarke to stay, instead there was a sinking feeling of regret and guilt in her stomach.
Octavia mouthed a sorry and throwing Lexa a sympathetic look, who nodded her appreciation in return, before following Clarke out of the restaurant leaving the other brunette by her lonesome.
Lexa rubbed her forehead in distress.
Upsetting Clarke was something she always hated doing and tried to make sure that she was never the cause of it. But she didn't want to tell Clarke about the race until after the announcement which means the blonde was probably going to be upset with her for another whole day.
"Did you want to order anything Miss Woods?" The waitress asked hesitantly coming over after witnessing the scene between the girls.
"I don't think I'm allow to." Lexa mumbled to herself. She was hungry but there was no way she was eating here by herself. "Just their check. I'll pay for their meal."
"You should go talk to her." Octavia said nodding her head towards the glass wall of one of the meeting rooms they were in, where she spotted Lexa walking with Anya by her side who looks very unpleased by her daughter's absence. "Save her from the wraths she's getting from Anya."
"She deserves it." Clarke said keeping her eyes on the screen of her laptop.
"They just walked into Anya's office and all the blinds are closed. It's not looking good for Lexa." Octavia informed her.
"I don't care, Octavia." Clarke mumbled, hoping she could hear the in-differentness in her tone enough to drop it.
"I don't get you, Clarke. This morning you were complaining about not being able to spend time with her and the time you did have with her was wasted. Who knows when you'll get to spend time with each other again. Especially now that she's going have Anya all over her ass." Octavia shook her head.
Clarke didn't respond but Octavia did have a point. She knew Lexa could get a little overwhelmed by work and most likely decided to take a breather away from the office. Lexa hated being cooped up and confined and surrounded by a lot of people.
She did feel bad for leaving Lexa prematurely at the restaurant and now she regrets it because she just misses her girlfriend even more.
"I can't think about this right now. Come on, we have to go see Kane and my mom." Clarke said knowing that dealing with Lexa was going to have to wait. Too many more important things were going on today.
Octavia stood up to follow the blonde's lead. "Oh, since you brought it up. Is your mom hooking up with Kane?"
Clarke had a disgusted look on her face. "God, please no."
It was late.
Very late.
Lexa had no idea what time it was but she was struggling to keep her eyes open as she rides the elevator to her suite. Her mother has kept her extremely busy ever since she's stepped foot in the building.
Tomorrow was a big day and her mother was making sure everything was in line.
Including her.
She leans her body heavily against the side of the elevator unconsciously seeking just a small fraction of some type of comfort from being on her feet all day while she waits until she reaches her floor.
Not really remembering the small walk from the elevator to her room, Lexa opened the door and headed straight for her bedroom but even through her blurry eyes, she noticed a figure with blonde hair sprayed messily on her couch.
Without a second thought, she redirected her steps and made her way towards the couch. She slowly kneels down so that she is face to face with her sleeping beauty.
A soft smile grace her features at how peaceful the blonde looked. Clarke moves slightly in her sleep causing a few strands of her hair to fall on her face. Instinctively, Lexa gently reaches out to move it away, not wanting anything to block her view of her love's flawless face. Even through her sleepy state, Lexa could still make out every detail as if she had it memorized.
She could never get tried of looking at Clarke.
Along with the insane amount of drawings the blonde has of her, Clarke would always go on of how beautiful she is and Lexa would often wonder if Clarke knew just how gorgeous she herself is.
"Mmm..." Clarke eyes began to flutter open. "...Lexa."
Lexa continued to caress her face as Clarke begins to wake up from her slumber.
"Hey." She whispered gently. "What are you doing sleeping on this awful couch?"
"I was waiting for you."
Lexa smiled at how hoarse the blonde's voice was.
"Sorry. And I'm also sorry about lunch, Clarke. I-"
"Shhh... it's okay." Clarke stopped her and blindly reached for her hand to interlock their fingers. "I know you'll tell me whatever's going on when you're ready."
Lexa brings Clarke's fingers that are intertwined with her own to her lips for a soft kiss.
"I just want you to know that we'll get through it together. Whatever it is. I'm here for you." Clarke said through a yawned.
Her heart clenched tightly as the guilt gets heavier inside her.
"What did I do to deserve you?" Lexa whispered to herself as she runs her free hand lovingly through the blonde's hair.
When she didn't get a response she noticed Clarke was starting to fall back asleep.
"Come on, let's get you into a proper bed." Lexa helped the blonde up and basically carrying her to their bedroom.
"You were distracted today."
Lexa sighed heavily taking her helmet off and handing it to Titus.
"Leave me." She said with less energy than usual as she makes no move to get out of her race car.
Titus held his tongue and shook his head before fulfilling her request and leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Her laps today have been horrendous. She was exhausted from little to no sleep plus she couldn't stop thinking if she was doing the right thing. This felt like the simplest solution. She could easily beat Finn in her sleep, so why does she have this uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Why am I doing this?" Lexa asked herself.
"Hey, Lexa. How was this steering wheel?" Ryder asked as he ran up to her car.
"It's perfect, Ryder. Thank you." Lexa said giving him an appreciated smile.
Ryder returns her smile even though he could tell hers was forced. "You know, you've got this right?"
Ignoring his question, Lexa studied him for a moment.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Ryder?"
Ryder blinked once at the unexpected question but recovered quickly. "Yes. A fiancé actually."
"Congratulations." She said genuinely happy for him.
"Thank you."
"Do you know the details of this race?"
"Umm...yeah?" He answered not really knowing where she was headed with this.
"Would you have taken the deal? If you were in my situation."
"You are one of the best drivers I know. This is a sure thing. Finn doesn't stand a chance."
"That's not what I asked."
Ryder hesitated for a moment not knowing what exactly she wanted to hear.
"Just to be clear." She said before he could answer.
"I want you to be honest with me. I'm asking you if you would put your relationship on the line even if it was a sure thing that you can't lose." Lexa asked staring him in the eye.
Ryder shifting his feet and looking down at the ground tells Lexa his answer without even hearing what he had to say but she waited for his response anyways.
"I- If there was a slight chance and I'm not saying that there is in your case. But anything can happen and I don't think I would be comfortable-"
"Ryder!" Titus calls him from afar and interrupts him before he can finish and Ryder never felt so relieved in his life.
Ryder looks at Lexa for permission and waits until she nods her head slightly giving him her consent to leave their conversation.
Before Clarke was in her life, Lexa never once second guess her decisions but now she often wonders if she's doing the right thing. She worries that a wrong decision would cause her to lose Clarke. Initially she thought that if she didn't race she wasn't protecting Clarke from Finn and now she thinks that she'll lose Clarke if she does race.
She has never been more confused on what she should do in her life.
As to be expected, the excitement radiating from the press after the merger announcement was wild. Anya, Lexa, Kane and Abby were bombarded by everyone afterwards all the way up to the celebration party.
Clarke has been trying to steal her girlfriend away from the madness to at least congratulate her but it seemed impossible to even make her way through the heavy crowd surrounding Lexa.
Just has she began to lose hope, she spots a wave of familiar light brown in the corner of her eye walking towards the bar. Clarke knew Lexa would eventually get overwhelmed and somehow find her way out of the mob.
She rushes over not willing to let the opportunity pass to have a moment with her.
"Hey, you're a popular one tonight. I'm surprised you were able to get away." Clarke said coming up behind her.
"Excuse me?"
The strange voice immediately causes Clarke to step back a little and rapidly blinking her eyes in shock when the woman she was speaking to turned around revealing her face, which obviously didn't belong to her girlfriend.
"I'm sorry. I must been drinking more than I realized, I thought you were someone else." Clarke apologized as she became flushed from embarrassment.
"Lexa?" The unnamed woman guessed, her eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Someone has made this mistake before?" Clarke asked when the woman didn't seemed fazed at all.
The woman shrugged lazily. "Once or twice."
Clarke nods her head. In the a certain angle from a far away distance, the woman in front of her does resembles Lexa with their similar hair and slim body type.
"I'm Clarke." She introduced herself extending her hand.
"I know. I've seen you everywhere since you became Lexa's new girlfriend." She said shaking Clarke's hand.
Clarke let out a small laugh. "I'm still getting use to that."
"The girlfriend part or the part where everyone knows who you are?"
"Maybe both?" Clarke joked. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Oh, pardon my rudeness. I'm Luna. An old friend of Lexa's. We went to school together. Anya found out I was in town and invited me. Lexa doesn't know I'm here yet."
"I'm sure she'll be excited to see you."
"Hey Clarke!"
Clarke turns around to see her mother walking towards her with an unfamiliar woman about her age by her side.
"It was nice to meet you, Clarke. Maybe we'll see each other again one day." Luna said before walking away.
By the time Clarke turned back around to respond, Luna was already gone.
"Clarke, I want you to meet our new Aircraft Maintenance Manager. Raven, this is my daughter Clarke. Clarke, this is Raven." Abby introduced them.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Clarke said politely shaking her hand.
"You as well. I've heard a lot about you."
Clarke playfully rolled her eyes. "It seems like everyone has."
"Oh, I didn't mean like that. I don't read that stuff, believe me. I've been there before. I know how out of hand that gets. I meant, you're mom..." Raven looked at Abby, who was smiling at the flustered mechanic. "...has talked about you."
Clarke quirked her eyebrows.
"Nothing personal." Raven quickly informed.
Abby jumped in. "I just told Raven how passionate you are about the company your father started. And how we're all working hard for the two companies to merge successfully together."
"And I'm so excited to be a part of that." Raven chimed in.
Clarke nodded and waited a beat before turning her attention back on Raven. "What did you mean about you been in my position before?"
Raven opened and closed her mouth a few times struggling to reveal to Clarke who she was. "Well not exactly your position. I had a little taste of-"
Clarke frowned.
"Not a taste. I didn't been it like that." Raven quickly said realizing on that sounds. "...I mean there was this little encounter I had with-"
"Lexa!" Abby called out when she saw her walking nearby.
Following her mother's eyes, Clarke sees Lexa making her way towards them. She also noticed her girlfriend trying to hide her shock expression when she looks passed her shoulder at Raven.
Clarke frowned as she tried to make the connection between the two.
"Lexa, this is-"
"Raven." Lexa finished for Abby.
Abby and Clarke eyes went back and forth between the two.
"You two know each other?"Abby asked.
"We have a small history." Raven answered biting her her lip nervously.
She always felt horrible about escalating the whole rivalry between Finn and Lexa even though Lexa never seemed to blame her for it.
"What kind of history?" Clarke asked curiously.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later." Lexa promised bringing her hand to lightly rub Clarke's lower back.
"Well, I hired Raven here to oversee all the maintenance issue on our aircrafts." Abby smiled giving Raven's shoulder a firm squeeze.
"I'm positive Raven will be a great asset to the company. She's one hell of a mechanic." Lexa told her.
"Yes. Welcome Raven." Clarke added. "We're glad to have you with us."
"Thank you. I'm excited to be a part of Sky Airline's and TonDC Internationals." Raven said.
"If you ladies will excuse us. I want to introduce Raven to a few of our board members." Abby said.
Lexa nodded her head."Of course. It was good see you again Raven. We'll have to catch up one day."
"I would love that." She replied before turning towards Clarke. "It was nice to meet you."
"You too." Clarke responded before her mother started leading Raven into the crowd.
Finally alone, Clarke and Lexa stood facing each other taking each other in.
"You look gorgeous in that dress." Lexa said biting her lip as she eyes Clarke from head to toe. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get away."
"Thank you." Clarke's could feel her cheeks get warm. Lexa never fails to get her to blush by the way she looks at her as if she's the prettiest girl in the room.
"And It's okay." Clarke said softly intertwining their fingers. "I know that these last few weeks have been rough. On all of us. I'm sure we'll find time for us when things calm down."
Lexa was going to wait until after the party to tell Clarke about the race but she couldn't keep this from her any longer. It's like a weight that she's been carrying and she could no longer hold it.
She tugs on Clarke's hand to bring her closer to her. "Can we go somewhere quieter, more private? I need to tell you something."
Clarke could sense from her tone that this has been something that was bothering Lexa the whole week.
"Yeah. Sure." Clarke tightened her grip on her hands, leading her to the upstairs balcony. "Let's go."
"The speech you gave was great by the way. I think everyone's very optimistic about the merger." Clarke walked into a private room and towards the balcony overlooking the party below.
"I think you shown everyone and the board how serious you are about moving the company forward. That you're capable of running things. That you are willing to take over when the time comes."
Clarke turned around and faced Lexa who was standing near the door.
Silent.
"I'm really proud of you." Clarke told her catching her stare.
Lexa could feel her throat tightening and her spine became rigid. She didn't how to even start to tell Clarke about he bet and hearing Clarke praising her made it even harder.
"I don't know if you should be."
Lexa swallowed hard as she watched the brightness fading from Clarke's eyes and turned to confusion.
"What is that suppose to mean?"
She slowly took a few steps closer to Clarke. "You mean the absolute world to me, Clarke. I need you to know that."
Clarke could see Lexa was having a difficult time finding the right words. She's never seen Lexa struggle with anything like this before. Right then she knew she wouldn't like what Lexa was about to say.
"Just tell me, Lexa." Clarke urged.
"I don't know how."
"Is it Anya? She'll calm down."
She desperately wanted to help Lexa get pass whatever was bothering her. She hated to see her so stress and so out of it. Maybe stepping into a bigger role in the company was becoming overwhelming for her. She knew Lexa can handle the responsibility, it's just the endless meetings that Lexa hates.
"No...no nothing like that." Lexa said shaking her head.
"What is it then?"
Lexa took a deep breath and just came out with it.
"Murphy came to talk to me the other day."
Clarke frowned. "Murphy? What did he want?"
"He warned me that Finn was deeply upset about us-"
"Who cares what Finn thinks?"
"-Murphy said he's been planning a way to get me back for stealing another one of his girlfriends. He's gone insane." Lexa continued.
Clarke groans loudly. "When is this ridiculous rivalry between you two going to end."
"On Wednesday."
Her head snapped and her eyes sharpened at Lexa suspiciously. "What's happening on Wednesday?"
"Seems like Murphy has convinced Finn to take a different approach on his attack on me and...he propose to Finn to challenge me to a race. He has never beaten me and nothing has irked him more." Lexa answered her.
Clarke stared at her. "You told him no, right Lexa?"
Lexa looked away from Clarke's intense gaze not able to answer her.
Clarke covered her mouth in shocked. "You're actually considering it."
"I'm not considering it. I'm doing it."
"Are you crazy? You're not doing this. It's obviously a trap. Don't you remember the last time you were on the same track with Finn?" Clarke looked at her with disbelief in her eyes.
Lexa gritted her teeth. "He put me in a wheelchair and never really paid for it. You think I forgotten that?"
"Is that why you doing this? For some type of revenge?"
"No." Lexa firmly stated. "I want it to end. This is the only way."
The tightness of Lexa's jaw told Clarke that the brunette was keeping something else from her.
Clarke took a step closer to her. "There's more to it, isn't there? There's no way Finn would just walk away simply after a race."
Lexa sighed. "It's nothing. And it's never going to happen because I'm not going to lose."
Clarke scoffed and crossed her arms.
"Let me guess, he wants you to break up with me if you lose?" Clarke glared.
Lexa walked closer to the blonde.
"Clarke, I know it sounds awful that I would put our relationship on the line but I don't know what I'm suppose to do. If I don't race him there's no telling what he's going to do. I agree to race because at least I know what I'm in for. And it's not just me to think about anymore. I'm not going to risk you getting hurt because he has an vendetta against me."
"We can deal with it."Clarke told her desperately. "Lexa, you can't race. He doesn't want to just beat you, he wants to finish what he started."
"I can't back out now." Lexa stated.
Clarke closed her eyes trying to fight the tears as her mind flashes back to that day of the horrifying collision between Lexa and Finn. She barely knew Lexa then and it still crushed her to see Lexa like that. She can't imagine going through that again now that she's fallen deeply in love with brunette.
"Please Lexa. Don't to this." Clarke pleaded.
Lexa's features soften. "I wish I didn't have to, Clarke."
"You don't."
"Clarke, you don't understand." Lexa was slightly frustrated that she wasn't getting through to her.
"Do you remember Scarlett from our trip to Whistler?"
"Miss Canada who couldn't keep her hands off you? What about her?" Clarke asked not even trying to hide the irritation in her voice.
"The little accident I had on that bike trail was meant to be bigger than it was because Finn hired Scarlett to sabotage but she couldn't go through with it. Don't you see that if I don't to this I will constantly be watching my back, waiting for his next move. I don't want to live like that."
Clarke shakes her head. She knew something was fishy about Scarlett.
"Don't you see that if I don't do this, it'll never stop. Finn will never stop. You know you have to let me do this." Lexa told her begging for her to understand.
"Like hell I do." Clarke glared at her before striding out of the room without another word.
Lexa stood frozen in her spot with a perplexed expression on her face as she watched Clarke exit the room. What the hell just happened? She was not expecting the conversation to end like that.
Most of all, she was clueless of what Clarke was planning to do.
A/N: Thanks For Reading!