With each step I took towards the glass table that had nothing but a laptop on it, Chance's gaze was making me nearly trip on thin air. It was so intense that I looked away. I sat down and tried to smile at him, but I couldn't with James' words ringing in my head. They were almost like a warning. A warning that Chance had ulterior motives in being my friend. He said I shouldn't get fooled like he was. What was he talking about?

"Hey," I said, scratching the back of my neck sheepishly.

His eyes were on me, studying me. Studying every awkward move I made. Where his eyes lingered was like I had an itch that needed to be scratched. My face felt like that, so I ran a hand down it to lessen the intensity of his staring.

"Hey," he said back, a smile never surfacing. He was always smiling the last couple of weeks and never, ever looked this serious.

"So... What's up?" I let the question hang in the air.

He shrugged, leaning against the backrest of his chair and folding his arms over his chest.

"Nothing," he replied, "I'm just wondering what you and James were talking about 'cause what I saw was not entirely apologies being thrown at each other. What I saw was you two having an interesting conversation... about me."

I nearly choked on my spit. I coughed to pass time so I could think of something to say and fast.

"Honesty is very important in any relationship, Jones. Even in friendships. It's very important," he said, making me feel guilty.

I sighed, making up my mind to just be honest. What's the worst that could happen?

Oh. James could get fired because of me. Maybe I could convince him not to fire James.

"He said that you... He said that you have ulterior motives in being my friend and when you’re bored with me, you will forget all about me. Is that true?" I asked. His eyes were wide and mouth agape in disbelief.

"Please don't fire him. He was just advising me like any person would," I quickly said when I saw anger radiating in his eyes.

"That son of a bitch!" he snarled like a crazed animal that was out for blood. His fists were clenched so tightly that I could see veins popping out.

"Calm down, Chance. It was harmless," I tried to defend James like I've known him for a while. What he told me seemed so honest that it was hard not to believe him.

"What did he say next?" he asked me, his teeth gritted.

"He also said that the friend bullshit you are feeding me is just a façade to hide what you are thinking about me. That you'll fool me like you had fooled him," I finished, breathing out a sigh at the redness of his face. It was flushed in anger that I was afraid that he would blow up.

"That's all lies. He was lying to you. You don't believe him, right?" His eyes went from angry to helpless. He was begging me to say that I didn't believe James. To him, my silence was not golden. It was pure betrayal.

I think my face said it all. It said that I believed James.

"So, you believe him," he said it like a statement. Not a question or anything else. He looked defeated when he ran his fingers through his jet-black hair. He pursed his lips and rotated his chair to look out the huge glass window that had a view of all the tall buildings and the sky.

Silence was all that seemed to take over. I felt guilty that I had upset him. It was never my intention. I even forgot what I was doing in here in the first place. I cleared my throat and stared at his back when I asked, "I believe that you called me up here. What did you want?"

He was still staring out the window when he replied, "Nothing major. I was just going to ask if you wanted to have lunch with me."

I frowned a bit at his request because he never asked in a million years to eat lunch with me. All he ever knew was to barge into my office with brown paper bags that had our lunch in them. Asking was never his thing. Being polite was never in his blood, but it seemed I had judged him too quickly.

"Does the offer still stand?"

He craned his neck to glance at me shortly. "Really?" He raised a brow and looked back out the window. I managed to catch a ghost of a smile on his lips. That made me smile in relief that he was no longer somehow disappointed in me.

"Yes. Really."

He turned back around, a grin decorating his lips with his perfect and straight white teeth on full display.

I mirrored his grin because, why not?

*************

"Let's get to know each other. I ask a question, you reply and vice versa," Chance said, stealing a fry from my plate. I pretended that I didn't see him.

I nodded and picked up my burger, taking a huge bite. Nowadays, I had an appetite like a pregnant woman. The effects of the new medication had worn off and now I was finally getting back to my old self.

"You go first," he told me, taking a sip from his drink.

One thing I've always wanted to know about Chance was his age. My Mother said that it was rude to ask a person their age, so I was always skeptical in asking that.

"How old are you?"

He raised a brow at that. One thing I picked up from Chance was that he always raised his brow when something weirded him out or ridiculous. A smirk took over when he placed the glass of orange juice on his lips and took a sip. He then placed the glass back on the table and asked, "What do you think? How old am I?"

I snorted in disbelief and said, "You don't know your age?"

"It's not that I don't know my age, Mr. Jones. I just want you to guess my age."

Him referring to me as Mr. Jones rubbed me off the wrong way. It was starting to sound a little weird because he didn't call me that very often now. Taking a few fries and shoving them in my mouth just to avoid answering his question, I chewed them slowly. Why should I answer that? It's my turn to ask him a question.

I swallowed with difficulty and quickly grabbed my juice and drank. "Why should I answer because I'm the one who asked you? It's not your turn to ask me questions. How old are you?"

He stared at me like I've grown another head. I matched his stare, forcing away my smile that threatened to surface.

A small smile grazed his lips as he said, "I'm 30."

Thank God I was not drinking or eating anything because I would have chocked.

That's not what I was expecting. I thought he was maybe 27 or my age 26. What is up with people not looking their age nowadays?

"Close your mouth. You're going to catch flies."

I closed my mouth and covered it with my hand.

Rolling his eyes, he asked, "How many siblings do you have?"

I removed my hand from my mouth and raised one finger.

He nodded and said, "I have three brothers and two sisters. You should meet them sometime."

He said that casually like it wasn't a big deal. It was a big deal! I shook my head frantically, receiving stares from the people in the place. I stopped and embarrassment was murdering me.

"No," I whisper yelled at Chance. He was staring at me in amusement and something else that I couldn't pinpoint.

"Why don't you want to meet them?" he asked me, the smile still dancing.

"Because there is a possibility that they will not like me!" I exclaimed, horror-stricken.

He chuckled and stole another fry from my plate. This time, I slapped his hand away and took the fry from his hand, eating it.

Wait! Was he pouting? Was Chance Hughs pouting? I couldn't believe my eyes. I decided to say nothing and just smile.

"But you are not sure that they won't like you! Give them a chance."

"No. I am not meeting them. They will find me weird and they will just hate me," I mumbled against my hands that were covering my face. I am not meeting his family!

Now he was laughing, all the attention attracted to our table. His laugh was contagious that chuckles escaped me too. I joined him and the stares that were on us couldn't even bother me.

Well, that was until the manager came to our table and told us that we were disrupting the peace. That if we didn't get our act together, we will be banned.

"What are you even laughing at?" I asked him when I've calmed down from my laughing attack.

He shook his head with a grin, saying, "You said that my siblings are going to hate you. That just killed me because they will like you no matter what,"

"How do you know?" I challenged him, putting on a defiant look.

He wiggled his brows, playfulness radiating off him in waves. He quickly snatched my fry and popped it in his mouth. "Because," he stole another one, "they like what I like."

"Really?" I asked in disbelief.

He stole another one, but this time, I snatched it away from him and ate it. He didn't order fries, yet he's busy stealing mine. He only ordered a Greek salad because he said it was healthy. That my burger and fries were unhealthy.

He nodded his head to my question and said, "Yep! They will like you because I like you."

"Okay, Mr. Hughs. But I'm still not meeting them. Never happening. My turn. Do you have anyone special or what?" The air was still playful. Thank God because it took all my willpower to ask that.

"Why you asking?"

"Because you said we should get to know each other. So I'm getting to know you, you know. Answer my question." I was embarrassed for asking that the longer he stayed quiet. He rolled his eyes and nodded his head.

"What about you?"

I shook my head no. He raised a brow at that and commented, "Why?"

"Why should I?" I asked back.

He sighed in exasperation. "You are so difficult to deal with."

"Well, you should have known that before befriending me," I snapped, but regretting it afterwards when I saw the look on his face. He was sad. It's not about what I said, but how I said it.

"I didn't mean it like that," he assured me. I knew that he didn't mean it like that, but I still took it to heart.

I ran a hand down my face and apologized. I offered him my fries as peace offering. He laughed at that, but nonetheless accepted my apology and fries.

At least we were getting somewhere.