Author's Note:

Hi (: OKAY so, wow! It's been over a year since I last updated this baby. Where the hell does time go? So much has changed in that one year span, but one thing hasn't changed! HOW MUCH I LOVE MY READERS.

Seriously guys. You guys are the best. I sincerely hope that you all would still remember this story and read this update.

| ~ | ~ | B l u e . Ersatz | ~ | ~ |

14

"I Knew You Were Trouble"

-SuzieQuaKes-

"I knew you were trouble when you walked in, so shame on me now. Flew me to places I'd never been. Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground."

"I know, I know, I know . . . I'm sorry, Dawn. But—"

"Don't you 'but' me, May Maple! Do you have any idea how worried sick I was? Do you? I guess you don't! And seriously, it has not been easy covering at Blessed Blue and I expect a little call from you in return telling about where the hell you are and what the fuck you have been doing!"

I had to hold the little red cell-phone away from my ear, wincing as the loud shrieks protruded from the device. Had I already mentioned how incredibly dramatic Dawn Berlitz could be? Probably had. I meant, really. It only had been one day since I left. Sometimes it really made me wonder how I ever had been her best friend for like, half of my life. Then again, Dawn did have her good moments. Obviously this was not one of them.

I sighed as I dropped my head into my palm as Dawn continued to shout into the phone at like, ten thousand words per second. What a way to start the morning. To rewind a little bit, I had just woken up a few hours ago in a bed that was too large and spacey for me. Which only meant one thing: Drew was gone. Seriously, after our heartfelt moment last night, I would have thought that he would've stuck around a little bit—at least until after breakfast. But I guess he had other stuff to do and hey, he was Drew Hayden. Not exactly the type to stick around for cuddles and breakfast after a one-night stand. Thank God that I had enough conscious in me to not have sex with him the day before.

That wasn't the point. I found that he left a little note by the bedside table explaining that he went out early to take a look around the casino to know what he was up against. He also told me to feel free to order some room service—something I, of course, took him up for. For the record, the breakfast at this place was totally scrumptious. What a surprise, right? The moment I finished eating was also the moment when my phone started buzzing and ringing and seeing Dawn's number on the phone, I knew what I was in store for. You could only imagine the 'fun' that ensued afterwards.

"Are you even listening to me?"

I snapped out of my thoughts quickly enough to answer her. "Yes, yes, I am. I'm sorry for everything, okay? Sorry for not calling, sorry that I left you and Laura there at the shop during the busiest time of the year but come on. It's only been a day! I can't report back to you every second . . ."

I heard a large intake of air followed by an even larger exhale before Dawn replied, sounding a little calmer. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let that out on you . . . it's just work and Paul and . . . You wouldn't believe how much of a jerk that he's been to me—"

"Dawn, he's always a jerk to you." I was fast to interject, rolling my eyes. "It's all part of this whole 'I love you—I hate you', weird-ass sex tension that you two have. Just sleep with him and get it over with already."

"Well . . . I did but . . ."

"What?" I burst out in shock. "You two have already . . .?"

Dawn sounded a little embarrassed as she whispered: "Yeah . . . It was one night, after an office night out and we were drunk and . . . Just, whatever! Tell me about you! You're with Drew fuckin' Hayden. How did that ever happen anyway?"

I laughed a little as I dangled my feet off the bed. "Oh, you wouldn't believe it if I told you. We're currently in La Rousse. In a hotel room. Together. And he's a jerk—a different kind of jerk than Paul. End of story."

"Whoa, what? Slow down there! In a hotel? In La Rousse? What, are you out of your mind? What are you doing there with him?"

I opened my mouth to answer but before I could speak, the sound of the front door unlocking was heard followed by footsteps that got louder with each second. Before I knew it, there he was: the said-jerk. In all his glory brown hair. I could not help but laugh as he entered the room. That hair would get some time to get used to. Hell, I didn't think I would not find it funny even after seeing it every day for months.

"I'll call you back later, Dawn." I said into the phone and before she could say another word, I clicked it off.

"Was that Dawn Berlitz?" Drew asked as he leaned against the doorway of the bedroom. He rolled his eyes at my snickers and brushed away his brown fringe haughtily. "Crazy as ever, I presume?"

I shrugged my shoulders briefly. "Can't say you're wrong." I brushed away my own black hair (uck) from my face before looking at him again. He was dressed pretty casually, in a hoodie and sneakers. I didn't know if those clothes were supposed to act as a camouflage in any way, but I had to admit, it wouldn't draw a lot of attention either. "Where have you been, anyway? Oh and don't be mad if I totally maxed out on the room service. Too many items on the menu and I couldn't choose."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." He retorted back before entering the room and seating himself on the chair in front of the bed. Quietly, he surveyed all the papers in front of him and scribbled something with a pencil before thoughtfully sighing. I frowned a little.

Okay, so it was true that when Drew was being a smart-aleck bastard, it was annoying as hell, but he was being a little too quiet. And it was never good to see him out of the ordinary. I sat up a little in bed and crossed my legs together as I tilted my head a little to get a better look at him. He had his head in his hand as he stared at the papers in front of him. The same papers that showed a detailed framework of the casino and all its different doors and exits. He was working, I gathered that much—but it didn't seem like he was seeing anything in front of him. Like he was totally lost in thought.

"Hey . . ." I called out softly. "You okay?"

Drew didn't look up or turn towards me as he continued staring down and flicking the pencil between his fingers. "I'm fine, May."

I wasn't so easily convinced. Call me petty or annoying or interfering, but he was totally not feeling okay and despite how much of a total asshole he was, I still cared, I guess. Well, cared enough. He was my friend, to say the very least.

"Drew, come on. You may call me dense or whatever, but I know you. And I know that you're not acting yourself."

He turned his head with a little smirk on his face as he looked at me. "And you're the one who says I'm an douche-bag when I'm myself." I smiled a little back in return and he took a deep inhale before shrugging his shoulders. "It's nothing. I was exploring the casino and . . . God, he really changed that place up. It's nothing it was in the past anymore."

I guessed that the 'he' that Drew was referring to was probably his uncle. I got up from the bed towards him and crossed my arms over my chest as I stood next to him. "We're going to get it back, okay?"

He shrugged his shoulders again, nonchalantly before his face softened a little. He didn't look at my face, staring down at the papers. It took him a while before he said anything. "When . . . when my Dad owned it, it was so different. The casino meant everything to him and he worked so hard on it." A smile crossed Drew's face as his hair fell into his eyes. "When I finally turned legal and could go inside, I was amazed by it. It was the place for fun, for adventure. It was classy and it was just . . . a haven. You know? Somewhere you could go and forget about everything bad that was happening in the world, in your life." The smiled dropped. "Now it's just a scam."

I couldn't help but sympathize with the pain that he was feeling. I leaned a little on the desk and bent a little to level with his face. He still wasn't looking at me. "Hey . . ." His eyes flickered a little as they hesitantly met mine. "I know . . . I know that this casino, your Dad's legacy—it means everything to you. And we're going to get it back, okay?" He slowly nodded and I smiled. "I'm sure your Dad is so proud of you, wherever he is."

Drew's green eyes, bright as burning flames, gazed at me and his lips slowly curved into a smile. A pure, genuine smile. Goodness, he was capable of it, after all. "Thanks, May."

I felt my heart kind of skip a beat at his words. I diverted my eyes from his face to keep the blush from spreading on my face. So wrong, so wrong . . . yet so right. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and stepped away from him. I couldn't do this—couldn't let myself give Drew Hayden another chance to break my heart. I was sure that this time, there would be no healing. This time, there would be no moving on.

I could feel his eyes on me but I kept mine low to the ground as I walked back to the bed.

"No problem."

Drew called a meeting in our room a couple of hours later. After our heart-to-heart, he had resumed working on his desk—occasionally talking to George on the phone for strategies and advice. Apparently Posy hadn't been heard from yet but George had gotten in contact with the pilot from the jet that she and Danny took. They had already arrived on the island and were probably having a ball.

I rolled my eyes at the news. How was it possible that Danny and Posy—two people who had known each other for like a week, at the very most—end up in a fairytale romance while I was still struggling with mine? Life was just too unfair.

I spent my time on the bed, browsing the Internet on his laptop. I was no Bonnie Parker and I was of no help to plan this entire business. I phoned my parents while I had the free time. They still believed that I was having a romantic getaway with Danny and were not worried about me at all. I could only hope that I wouldn't surprise them with my picture in the paper under 'Arrested for Casino Heist'.

Anyway, our room was soon filled with "the Gang": Molly, Jonno, Vanya, Gary, Allie and David. I hadn't seen the last two at dinner the other night, but I guessed that they were busy with their own things. They were the technology experts and knew how to hack into any computer they wanted. It was going to come in handy if we wanted to bypass the security system installed in the casino.

Everybody scattered around the 'sitting room' of the suite. There were enough couches for everybody to sit comfortably but unfortunately, I was returned to the role of Drew's wife and so I had no other choice of sitting next to anybody else but him. I wasn't entirely comfortable with that, but there was nothing that I could do about it.

Drew rolled out a huge whiteboard and already stuck on it were plans of the casino and a very basic sketch of all the different entrances and exits on each floor. It was a six-storey casino and security was tight as hell. Needless to say, it wasn't going to be easy . . .

"As you all know, we only have three days to plan." Molly assumed the role of the leader, as always. She stood up beside the whiteboard, in her shiny new blond hair. "That means three days to fill out every possible loophole, to come up with the most foolproof system of action. Drew and I have worked on some basic outlines of who is going to be doing what." Her eyes lay on the man beside me. "Drew, you wanna come up?"

He nodded his head and left my side, walking up to Molly. "So the most important thing that we want to do is simple." He smirked and his green eyes flashed. "Not fail." The room chuckled a little and his smirk deepened before he resumed talking. "The casino is equipped with the best possible security system there is. There are cameras everywhere—literally everywhere. There are going to be security guards and snitches all around. They are in the crowd and you never know who they are until your shoulder is tapped and you're robbed out of all your winnings. Don't be fooled by all the glitz and glamor. It's a place where money is ripped off of millions of innocent people every day." Drew's eyes hardened. "It's a place where my uncle's dexterity comes to shine."

I swallowed. I wasn't getting cold feet, it was just . . . The entire mission seemed so huge. It was so overwhelming to be involved in such an affair, especially for a girl like me who had never done anything bad in my life. Nonetheless, I returned my attention back to what Drew was saying. He looked so serious as he talked. "Okay, so when my Dad owned this place, he placed a safe in the basement of the building. It's very underground and there were a lot of security features you had to get pass to access it. It can be assumed that my uncle keeps his money in the same place. Our goal is to reach it." He turned his head towards the two techies. "Allie and David, I want you to see if you can access the security system on your computers. See if there's any way that you can hack into it, break it down."

"We've been trying since we got here." David answered, pushing his wild mop of frizzy hair to the back. "There are a lot of firewalls and we've been able to get pass two of them. Even if we can hack in, there's no assuring how long we can keep it down. The system is very advanced and your uncle will be notified about it in a few minutes, if not immediately."

Drew took in the information and nodded his head. "I expected as much. A few minutes is enough, just try to keep it down for as long as you can." He then diverted his gaze to me. His green eyes sparkled and just that was enough to make a blush spread onto my face. Stupid me. "Posy and I will be at the roulette table. It's where the most money is made and where my uncle's attention is most at. He will take the bait and come onto us."

I swear the color dropped from my face. Bait? Drew and I were to be the baits? But why? I bit my lip from speaking out in protest. Drew smirked a little at me. "Posy can act as my 'lucky charm'. Sit on my lap and all that."

A couple of chuckles rang out again and I narrowed my eyes at him. Lucky charm? Was he kidding me? No. He was torturing me. He was an evil bastard.

"How come she gets the best role?" I heard Gary say. Laughter followed suit and I looked up to see Gary smirking at Drew. Drew just looked very annoyed.

"I'm sorry to crush your dreams, Oak." He shot back. Damn, it was so good to see Drew meeting his match.

"Come on, guys. We don't have time to be bickering." Molly cut in before anything got really serious. Aw, the fun was over; I found myself thinking.

That was just too bad. It was all time for business now.

Author's Note: Okay, I know. It's a shitty place to stop at. But hey, it's an update! :) Please reviews, guys. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Love,

-Suzie x