Avoiding Commitment (Avoiding 1)

"Lexi you know I do."

"No, no I don't," she said pulling herself away from him and slamming into her car door.

"You're just lying to me."

"I'd never lie to you again. I've told you that so many times. Just let me straighten things out so we can work this out."

"I don't want to work it out," she said numbly staring at him. She was still shell shocked and saying the first thing that came to her mind. How could he say those things to her? After everything he said only a couple hours ago about wanting to be with Kate, and having no desire to let her know about what happened, how did he expect her to react? Did he think she was just going to roll over for him? She had made a decision in that coffee shop with Clark and she was going to stick by it. He couldn't just come in here with his sweet talk and think everything would just go back to normal. He wanted her now, maybe, but that wasn't good enough. He had to want her all the time. He had to need her. He had to put her first. If he loved her, that's what he would have done from the beginning. But Jack had never put anyone first in his life. "I want to be with Clark. He wants to take me back."

The look on Jack's face hurt more than Lexi ever thought would be possible. "Fine. Go be miserable with your little lap dog. Forget what I said. Just forget it," he said turning away from her pushing aside the lone tear that had managed to seep out of his eye. "Forget it all."

But she would never forget.

* * *

K.A. Linde

Interview with the Mistress Pt II

Lying here on the couch

With my heart in my mouth

I realize you were right, I was wrong and

I'm in pieces and bits but that's nothing you can't fix

Cause baby you're still my addiction

- O-Town "Craving"

* * *

Chapter 15: Present

Finding a town car pull up in front of Ramsey's place the next morning with breakfast and coffee wasn't exactly the type of hospitality Lexi had been expecting to receive from Bekah. When they had last parted it hadn't exactly been on good terms. So far, everything had officially gone completely opposite of how she had planned. All she had wanted to do was tell Bekah her story and get over Jack. Instead, she had stayed at his house, nearly been seduced, met Bekah's entire family, started a near brawl with the girl, made out with her brother, and went on a date with him. None of these things had fit into the master plan. By now she was supposed to be sitting on the back porch of her parents' house sipping on a margarita and enjoying the remaining week at home. Instead she found herself being whisked off to some boutique to go shopping for Jack's birthday party. A birthday party that not only did she have a date for, but it was with the aforementioned brother.

She sighed and took a long sip of the black coffee hoping the caffeine buzz would addle her brain back to its proper mode of functioning. If she could get out of this situation sooner rather than later that would be better for her rattled nerves. The only problem was she wasn't sure what to tell Bekah.

Things with Jack had never been simple enough to put a label on.

For some reason everything had to be explicitly complicated when it came to Jack. If they had just dated and got bored with each other like normal couples, then maybe she could just go to Bekah and tell her a very simple story. But under the circumstances, Lexi thought it did their relationship a disservice to reduce it to such simplicity.

How she felt about Jack crossed lines that she wasn't sure how many other people had ever experienced. The way he looked at her and touched her and just seemed to understand her made the whole scenario much more difficult to explain.

And it's not like she could tell Bekah the entire story. No one had ever heard the entire story. She was all but certain that Jack hadn't confessed anything. After all, he hadn't even mentioned a word about Lexi to this girl he had been dating for nearly two years. No way was he going to tell anyone else about New York. And Lexi never had the heart to reveal all the details to anyone else.

So that just left her back at square one. What should she tell Bekah?

What to tell Bekah did seem to be the biggest issue at hand. One, that at the present moment, she would just have to play by ear. If Bekah dug too deep into the past, she could always close off conversation. If she played it safe and just stuck to the briefest of details, and things somehow relevant to the inane reason she had flown her down here, then perhaps they could work things out.

Lexi had expected to pull up in front of some swank boutique. To her surprise Phipp's Plaza appeared before her eyes. The mall parking lot was already swarming with expensive cars bustling to feed their owner's shopping desires. Lexi hadn't been inside since high school and the only reason she hadn't returned was because she hadn't been able to spend a dime in the place. It wasn't a Manhattan boutique, but it wasn't like Lexi could afford this either.

She pushed her bangs off her forehead as she entered through the overly air conditioned sliding doors. The stench of wealth that had permeated the parking lot didn't end upon entering the building. She felt out of place in her loose fit purple tank and running shorts compared to all the fake princesses clicking along the marble in their four inch Manolos and swishing their tiny butts in professional garb.

When Lexi had received the message from Bekah, she had just been about to go out on a morning run. Thus she hadn't had much time to do anything but throw her hair into a slicked back ponytail and add the tiniest bit of lip gloss to her swollen lips. Bekah probably wasn't going to approve of her choice, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She hadn't let Chyna persuade her into five hundred dollar t-shirt, and that was her best friend. No way was she going to let this be any different. Lexi dealt with high end, wealthy people every day of her life. She was almost certain that there was nothing Bekah could send her way that would throw her off track.

Bekah's nose turned up ever so slightly as she watched Lexi approach the entrance to Jimmy Choo. She placed a fantastic pair of brown leather boots back on the stand and sauntered up to the tiny girl. Bekah had never been one to put much effort into her appearance. She had always been the beautiful Southern Belle with long flowing blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a clear complexion. She always stood out from the crowd and the wealth her parents bestowed her only helped with her wonderful wardrobe.

Under differing circumstances she could see why Jack had thought she would get along with Lexi. She had the same no theatrics beauty, and carried herself as if she owned the world. She looked just as beautiful if not more so than any of the other women who spent millions every year trying to achieve the flawlessness that came to these two women naturally. But Bekah couldn't like her. She wanted to. After all she would only be here for a week. Jack wanted them to get along. Ramsey seemed to like her. Well that wasn't a real reason for her to like Lexi. Usually she was disgusted in Ramsey's choices in females. But that wasn't really his fault. This girl obviously had charm.