Hello lovelies,
I hope you guys had fun reading this chapter because I had fun writing it. Now let's answer some of your questions.
Safrena, Babe thank you for the review. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well.
SereneCalamity, thank you so much for the review, hot scenes are not my forte but i'll try to keep them coming. PS if Olivia's in one of my stories than Jason clearly isn't a douche.
Anon 1. How should I answer it politely? If you didn't like the way I wrote Noel and Ezra so far you are going to hate me when I'll update the next chapter.
Liss, love thank you XO
Pigua, I'm excited about the new episodes too. We have to wait only 7 more days until the special. Allison is somewhat a bitch in this story and you'll see more of it in the next few chapters. Noel is a person that keeps to themselves type in this fiction and also a good guy so don't worry about him.
Atramea, ciao cara, grazzie mille per la recenzione, spero che ti piace anche questo nuovo capitulo.
Pllover13 i recently wrote some Spoby related scene that will make you happy. Stay tuned.
Pandasrcool22, thank you for reviewing.
I'll leave you guys to enjoy this chapter now. Have fun reading.
-"Caleb, thank God you made it. Mom has been terrorizing us ever since we set foot here. And you must be Hanna. Hello I'm Luke Matheson, Olivia and Caleb's brother, and this is Remy, my wife."
Luke was a tall, strong, built young man. He had the same eyes as his sister and the same hair color, but his hair's curls were something Hanna could see he had clearly inherited from their mother. .
-"Hello it's a pleasure to meet you." Luke smiled as he moved aside, allowing Caleb to pull Hanna's chair out for her. As they took a seat an irritated Olivia showed up at the table. She sat down in one of the empty chairs and sighed in relief. Jason appeared to be nowhere in sight.
-"So Liv what number are you up to now?" Luke asked his sister, his voice filled with amusement as Hanna raised her eyebrows in surprise. She turned her head to Caleb who explained the inside joke to her.
-"Every time our family throws a party Olivia gets dragged into planning the event. Each time it happens she threatens to kill both Luke and I if we leave her to go through it alone so she's actually counting how many ways she can kill us, aren't you sis?"
Caleb grinned at Olivia, who had poured herself a glass of wine and then proceeded to mumble something about Caleb and Luke soon being unable to have kids. Luke took a sip from his glass of wine and chuckled at his sister.
-"You don't mean that Liv. I mean think about it. If you neuter both Caleb and me then you'll be stuck with facing mom's constant complaining about the lack of grandchildren." Olivia gave them both the middle finger, causing everyone at the table to laugh.
-"423. And this time I stayed focused on TMU. " Both Hanna and Remy exchanged a surprised look as even the two men seemed at a loss about that abbreviation. Caleb cleared his throat before turning to ask her what she meant. " TMU as in The Mothers Unit."
-"We should all start using it as code name." Jason took a seat next to Olivia at the table. Once he did so, she leaned into him and gave him a small kiss on the lips. Jason wrapped his arm carefully around her before turning his eyes to the rest of the occupants at the table.
-"So it's just the six of us at the table?" He looked down at Olivia's hand resting on his thigh before he studied the way the ballroom was arranged.
-"Just be grateful about it. We could have ended up staying at the same table with your sister and her date." Olivia mumbled under her breath as Jason raised his eyebrows, confused.
-"Are you angry at Spencer? Why should sitting at the same table be a problem?"
-" God Jas, I was talking about Allison. Speak of the devil. You wont believe who her date is." As Olivia said that everyone at the table turned their heads towards the door where Allison had just arrived.
Hanna felt the air leave her lungs as she took in Allison's date. Panic filled her entire being until Caleb's hand grabbed hers. She turned her head to face him and he gave her a small, encouraging smile.
-"I'm right here with you so don't worry about this. He can't hurt you anymore." Caleb then turned his head to Jason and gave him a small nod of his head. Jason leaned back in his chair and waited for his sister to come say hello.
Remy watched everyone at the table, not understanding why they were all suddenly so tense. Luke pressed his lips to her head in a small reassuring gesture as Olivia took a sip of wine from her glass. Soon enough Allison, having said hello to her mother and Rochelle Rivers, arrived at the table, a small triumphant smile playing on her lips.
-"Hello everyone. How are you all doing? This is Zack Akimi, my date for the evening." Hanna felt herself shake as she took in her ex's presence near her at the table. She started shaking slightly as he studied her with a satisfied look on his face.
-"Darling, these charming people here are Jason, my brother, and his girlfriend Olivia. Over here you have Luke, Olivia's twin brother, and his wife Remy and last but not least this is Caleb, my ex-husband, and Hanna, was it? I'm terrible at names, sorry."
-" You don't have to worry about introducing us. Hanna and I go way back and we know each other rather intimately, don't we Hanna?" Allison watched Akimi with a calculated look on her face. She was very intrigued about the scene unfolding in front of her.
-"You are right, Akimi. We do know each other intimately as you so politely have implied, but I'm afraid it's nowhere near as intimate as Caleb and I know each other. Isn't that right, babe?" Hanna smiled sweetly at Caleb while Akimi's cheeks reddened. Allison looked as if she had been slapped.
Olivia bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as Jason grabbed his glass and took a sip. Remy watched Allison's reactions, clearly amused by it as well, and Luke watched the dance floor, faking not being interested in the scene going on in front of him.
Allison grabbed Akimi's arms and, excusing themselves from the group, they quickly left the table. As soon as they were out of ear shot Caleb chuckled, looking proud of Hanna. Remy giggled and pretty soon they were all laughing at the unexpected turn of events.
-"So Hanna, inquiring minds are dying to know. Just how well do you and Caleb know each other?" Luke grinned at her while Hanna smiled sweetly at him.
-"Luke, that's for me and Caleb to know and for you to wonder." Laughter erupted from Caleb's mouth once more as he saw Luke's shocked expression. Olivia gave her brother an amused look, which clearly said, "don't say I didn't warn you."
Pretty soon, after the main course was served, everyone attending the party was invited over to the dance floor. Hanna watched amusedly as Toby and Aria walked out on the dance floor. Her friend was clearly interrogating poor Toby about something. Across the room she saw Spencer and Noel talk about something, both of them laughing.
Hanna could also feel Akimi's eyes studying her. Olivia and Jason rose from their chairs and headed to the dance floor as well. Caleb turned his head from watching them dance and extended his hand to Hanna in a silent invitation. She took it and followed him on the dance floor.
Once they reached it, the band started playing an instrumental version of the song "It All Comes Down to You." Caleb and Hanna danced slowly, their bodies in total harmony with each other. They made some small talk before Caleb leaned in and kissed Hanna on the lips.
A sigh escaped Hanna's lips when he finally released her. She watched him with glazed eyes before they returned to their table. Remy smiled at them while Luke grinned wickedly. He had taken a picture of them kissing on the dance floor and was just about to tease his brother about public displays of affection when Spencer walked over to their table and sat down.
-"Your ex is not a happy man, Hanna, I just heard him say something to someone on the phone about ending their contract. He was definitely complaining about the way that person failed to reach his target before." The two women exchanged a nervous glance as a clearly agitated Aria made her way to the table and sat down next to Caleb.
-"Aria, what's wrong? You've completely lost all color." And indeed Aria was deadly pale as she nervously looked around the room. Luke rose from the table and headed over to the mini bar. He returned with a coffee for her. Aria took it while her friends watched her worriedly.
-"Ezra is here." Her muffled words sent a shiver down Hanna's spine as Spencer looked over to the dance floor where Olivia and Jason were still dancing and smiling at each other.
-"Are you sure? Could you have possibly imagined this?" Spencer felt herself get in a panicked state. Luckily, Noel and Toby showed up at the table. Remy rose up and dragged Luke to the dance floor while the newly arrived pair took their places at the table.
-"Of course I'm sure, Spencer. Why do you think Noel and I risked so much to get Hanna away from Akimi? Ezra and him were friends in college." Noel noticed Aria's shivering and removed his coat and put it on Aria's shoulders.
-"Babe, calm down. We'll stop him. We did it before and we'll do it again." Aria shook her head at him.
-"How can you say that? You know why he's after me. You know what he's capable of doing. You know why he's a danger to Hanna as well." Caleb watched the conversation silently. It finally seemed that the puzzle pieces were starting to fit together.
His mind finally clicked on who Ezra was and why Spencer seemed so uncomfortable at the idea of either Jason or Olivia hearing this particular conversation. Toby seemed to have caught on as well because he slowly coughed making everyone pay him attention.
-"This is not the time or place for this conversation. I suggest we all relocate to another location after this party and talk about everything there. Keeping Olivia and Jason out of the loop is impossible. They can't do their jobs unless they know what they are dealing with."
Caleb nodded his head in agreement. Spencer groaned while Hanna shivered. Caleb noticed it and reached to remove his tuxedo jacket but she stopped him. Toby noticed Olivia and Jason making their way to the table. Gently excusing himself he went over to them and let them know of the sudden change of plans.
Olivia looked over to the table and studied Aria's panicked face. She mouthed an "everything would be alright" to her before she returned to the conversation between her, Jason and Toby. Noel sighed, but kept his arm around Aria's waist while Hanna interlocked her hand with Caleb's. As soon as Remy and Luke returned to the table Caleb let them know of the next course of action.
The group decided to wait until after dessert before leaving so that their hosts wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. Hanna excused herself from the table and walked to the bathroom. Once she reached a stall she locked it and finally let herself have the panic attack she had feared she would have ever since she saw Akimi enter the restaurant.
She exited the stall and stopped when an angry Allison stormed inside the bathroom. She looked at Hanna before she advanced until she was right in front of her, her eyes flashing with fury.
-"You stupid bitch! How dare come and steal him? Do you really think Caleb cares about you? You're just my hefty double. Or did you think I had no idea who you are? Leave him be or I'll rip out your eyes." .
Allison took a step another towards her, but Hanna was done being nice and playing the victim. When Allison tried to slap Hanna, she grabbed Allison's wrist, stopping her. And she wasn't the only one. Olivia had silently followed Hanna in the room and had caught Allison's hand as well.
-"Try that again Ali and I'll make sure you can never show your face in public. I've been playing nice so far for Jason's sake but if you think I'm going to let you ruin Caleb's happiness again then you don't know me at all. Now get away from Hanna before I remind you why you don't want to mess with me."
The two girls released Allison's arm and she rushed to the door. The look she gave them both before exiting clearly stated things were far from over. Olivia narrowed her eyes, watching her leave, and then turned to Hanna and smiled at her.
-"I owe you an apology Miss Marin. I shouldn't have judged you based on your resemblance with Allison. It's safe to say I will try not to do so in the future. Truce?" Olivia extended her hand to Hanna, who took it and gently shook it. The two women left the bathroom and returned to the table.
-"Now Hanna, this is something I heard from a reliable source. You managed to glue bitchy's lips together?" Olivia winked at Hanna while Jason removed his tie. Caleb gave Hanna an incredulous look while Remy and Luke watched her in admiration.
-"Ah that is a bit of a funny story actually." Hanna smiled and started talking."When we were at boarding school, before Spencer and I became roommates, Allison would bully me. She would say mean things to me, she gave me nicknames, and she would use my stuff without asking. I was almost at breaking point. But then my grandmother told me that the best way to get rid a bully is to stand up to them. "
Jason studied Hanna carefully, a grin appearing on his face as he remembered that particular incident quite well. Olivia sat back in her chair, her hand resting on Jason's while Luke and Remy waited patiently for the rest of the story.
-"I had this lip gloss that my mom had brought me from Paris and Allison kept on using without permission. I told her to stop doing it. I even locked it inside my nightstand, but she just wouldn't listen. So when the time came for the Christmas Ice Ball I did myself a favor and poured glue inside the gloss bottle. I hated to ruin my own gloss, but I had to teach her a lesson."
Everybody gave her an incredulous look except Jason and Caleb who burst out laughing. Olivia gave Hanna a satisfied smile and Hanna continued her story.
-"Needless to say, her lips got glued together and she got a rash from the glue. She never touched any of my stuff again. Plus she couldn't go and complain to the principal about it. Plenty of people heard me tell her not use my stuff. What was she supposed say? That I wasn't allowed to touch her stuff and because I didn't listen my lips got glued together? She never came after me from that day on."
Jason and Caleb continued laughing as Hanna finished her story. Remy had joined them while Olivia looked at Allison's table. She noticed Allison was constantly whispering stuff to Akimi. Neither of them seemed pleased to be at the ball. Olivia then turned her head towards Toby's table and signaled him with her head that they should prepare to leave.
As the group left the table Caleb sent Luke and Remy back to their home to get some rest. He figured at least one of them needed to have a clear head and stay away from the mess that they were apparently going into.
The group left the ball quickly after that. When faced with Rochelle's reluctant face at seeing them all go Olivia made up some lame excuse of them going having busy schedules. Rochelle didn't comment but she clearly didn't believe it either. Jamie however stepped in, reminding her she was a host to the rest of the guests and that she should act like it.
He took Rochelle away, their children giving him grateful looks before they headed out to their cars. Noel and Aria, who had arrived with Spencer and Toby, changed their ride and left with Olivia and Jason inside Jason's car.
Now people tell me your thoughts on this chapter aka hit the review button once you finished reading it. You guys finally saw Akimi arrive in the picture, was it a big surprise the way he appeared? How were the Haleb scenes? And Everyone else's for that matter? Spoby? Joliv? What did you guys like? What did you hate?
As a writer I feed on your opinions so please give me something to digest. XOXOXO
Nico