It had been a blast from the plast, that much was sure. Though he and Camilla never dated, they always got along. Unfortunately Adonis was drawn to the types others labelled as bitches. It was what got him in this situation in the first place. He closed the door, forgetting to lock it behind him. Looking around to see if anyone noticed him, as if summoned by the smell of a clandestine affair Lauren was staring right back at him with a wicked smile.
He did his best not to react but Lauren could read him better than most, all he did was dull his reaction. Resisting to take the bait and engage with her, he let her walk right past him and into Erin’s bedroom where Camilla was. He considered following but stayed put. Camilla was more than capable of handling Lauren on her own, and honestly Adonis would just be a liability. There wasn’t much else he could do except walk away. He went to turn into the living room when a pretty figure stepped in his path.
“Adonis, hey.” Robyn said, obviously annoyed - though seemingly not at him. “Have you seen Lauren?”
Adonis furrowed his brow in thought, considering at first just telling Robyn but deciding against it. Robyn was sweet but soft. If she were to be around while Camilla was tearing Lauren a new one, Lauren would somehow manage a way to manipulate Robyn to come to her aid. It was her savior complex, always having to tend to the victim something that Lauren would surely play to her favor.
“I think I just saw her on the balcony.” Adonis lied, pointing in the opposite direction. “I dunno though, I’m trying to avoid her.”
“Okay, thanks.” Robyn huffed off in the direction of the balcony, leaving Adonis scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish expression of guilt.
He wasn’t really sure what he should do at this point, it seemed he was out of options. As much as he’d enjoyed his time with Cam, now that the moment was over he was still left in the same situation. Even if it was out of his hands, he couldn’t help but to feel like he should be doing something about it. There had to be another way, and it had to be tonight. Who knew when he’d see Lauren in person with witnesses who’d believe his side of the story?
As he walked to the main entrance, a rogue hand grabbed ahold of him pulling him back. Expecting the worst Adonis turned with a hostile expression, softening when Gabriella’s face was staring back. She put up her hands defensively, laughing under her breath.
“Woah there, was calling your name you didn’t hear me.” Gabriella joked, playfully punching his arm.
“My bad,” Adonis shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “What’s up?”
“You seen Evie?” Gabriella asked, knowing Adonis was bound to be keeping tabs on her.
Adonis looked around, Evie nowhere in sight. It had been a while since he last seen her. Hopefully she had managed to avoid Lauren but he should probably check in on her soon. He shook his head, turning back to Gabriella.
“Not for a while, I bet she’s in the kitchen or the bathroom or something. . .” He said absently, his mind still on the call he needed to make. “Do you mind finding her? I gotta step out.”
Gabriella nodded, motioning for Adonis to go ahead and turning back into the house as Adonis stepped out. He took a few paces from the door, dialing his lawyer as he lit a cigarette. Surely he had smoked nearly half a pack tonight alone. The shots he took before his encounter with Lauren were already wearing off, and his high was definitely starting to crash. He was scarily sober, adrenaline continuing to burn up any substance he consumed.
“Hello?” Said the gruff voice from the other end of the line.
“Hey, it’s Nis.” Adonis mumbled, looking around to see if anyone was watching him.
“What’s up kid? It’s the middle of the night.”
“I spoke to the mom,” Adonis answered quickly, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He could hear his lawyer move on the other end of the phone, presumably somewhere she could talk to Adonis in private.
“What happened? We need to send a clean up crew?” She asked.
“Nah, nah - nothing like that.” Adonis almost laughed, ashing his cigarette onto the sidewalk. “Though maybe, night’s still young.”
“Well don’t hold out, tell me what happened. Strike that, tell me only what I need to know about what happened.”
“I mean, long story short - she’s not talking.” Adonis looked back to the party, as if he could still see Lauren. “She said she’s got some relationship with the boss.”
There was a loud silence for a beat, he could hear his lawyer thinking what to say next. The thing that made them such a great lawyer is that they knew what questions not to ask, better to have deniability. If Adonis’ was dealing with one of the bosses’ play things, they’d need to tread carefully.
“Here’s what you’re going to do - you’ve already shown your hand so we’ll have to do some damage control.” She started, Adonis nodding along. “Stick around, maybe you can get her to let her guard down. A few drinks, maybe she finds something like a pill or something that gets her feeling loose. Not too much, we need her to appear lucid. Get her on video admitting everything, maybe then we can make it work.”
Adonis sighed, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t like the idea of having to hang around Lauren any longer but he was desperate at this point. To be honest, he rarely saw Lauren drunk enough to lose control like that - but maybe he could help with that.
“I might have to slip something in her drink, but I can make it happen.” Adonis said, his lawyer immediately talking over him.
“Woah, woah - I don’t need to know the details. I just need the video.”
“Got it - video.” Adonis said, noticing that Julian was standing nearby. Unsure how long his friend had been there and what he’d heard, he gave a nod of acknowledgement doing his best to play it off. He added to his lawyer, turning from Julian momentarily. “I gotta go, I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Turning back to Julian, Adonis slipped his phone back into his pocket pretending that he hadn’t just talked about slipping something in someone’s drink. Even with context, it didn’t make Adonis look all that good. He offered Julian a cigarette, taking a hit of his own.
“What you doing out here?” Adonis asked. “Only the fuck ups and exiles hang out by the stoop.”