(Edited)

I found Amanda standing in front of the mixing bowl; she looked like she was in her element, enjoying herself.

"What's the occasion?" I asked her, moving a few things around, trying to lessen the awkwardness.

She smiled up at me and shrugged. "No specific occasion, its just something I do whenever I get a chance." She turned the mixing bowl off and handed me the cupcake cups. She indicated me to place them in the pans and continued talking. "With my work schedule being crazy, I dont get to spend enough time with May-C, so I make sure to seize every moment."

"I admire that, its incredibly sweet," I couldnt help but feel a bit envious; wishing that I had someone like her.

I had seen Amanda at the hospital a few times before, on my regular visits, so I knew what she meant when she said she had a crazy work schedule, being a doctor that is.

"You're a doctor if I remember correctly?" I asked, trying to be as smooth as possible.

She looked a bit taken back but covered it with a smile. "That's right, yes. How do you know that?"

I shrugged. "I think Michael might have mentioned it." I lied through my front teeth. I finished the last of the cups and looked at her. "Anything else?"

She smiled at me and poured the batter into the cups. "I'm just about done. You could help May-C with the icing though. Just be careful she decorates herself more than the cupcakes."

I chuckled and opened my mouth to give her a replay, but something pulling at my shirt stopped me. I looked down and found the tiny human standing next to me.

"Hey, munchkin."  She giggled and extended her arms for me to pick her up. I did and placed her on the counter, poking her nose.

Amanda took the first batch that was already cooled down and sat it in front of May-C and me so we could start icing it. She grabbed the strawberry flavour, handing me the chocolate and the both of us got to work.

"You know I'm curious about something," Amanda said, taking the second batch out of the oven.

"What would that be?"

"Well, I heard your name come up in a few conversations over the past couple of weeks. I didnt pay much attention to it at first, because they usually talk about girls." I rolled my eyes, making Amanda chuckle. "Boys will be boys, sweetheart."

I gave her a very perplexed stare. "I'm sorry. I don't seem to be catching on."

"You see they usually talk about girls, but they never bring one around." She stared at me, expectantly.

I caught onto what she was saying and feigned innocence. "Well, I'm not sure Amanda, maybe they really like me?"

She smirked and placed the cupcakes that already had icing on, on the tray. "Yeah, I definitely saw that one of the boys liked you more than the rest." I gave her a sceptical look. "I didn't miss my sons hand on your thigh, sweetheart." She pointed out with yet another smirk. It seemed it was a family trait.

I blushed and looked anywhere but at her, embarrassment clear on my face. "It's not what it looked like, I promise."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Oh honey, don't try to deny it, I've heard them talking and now this." She squealed like a schoolgirl and picked May-C up, spinning her around. "I'm so excited." I sighed and slumped down against the cupboard behind me.

There, was no use trying to explain myself, she wouldnt believe me. What did she mean by she heard them talking about me? Oh, my goodness, does this mean that Michael has an interest in me? Oh, my goodness this was going to be the death of me.

***

A few days had gone by since I visited Michaels house. I haven't seen any of the boys yet and to be truly honest, I had been missing them something senseless. I received a few text messages from all of them, excluding Michael, asking if I was okay; which I was.

I felt a bit embarrassed. How on earth was I supposed to face Michael after what his mother shared with me? It scared me; I had been struggling to process the entire situation, but from what I gathered, Michael liking me couldnt be possible. We almost kissed once, but I blamed that on the hormones. When he placed his hand on my thigh, it was an act of gratitude. Other than those two times, we havent really been intimate, with each other. If you ask anyone, they would say that we hate each other. So where was Amanda getting her information?

'Maybe directly from the source,' Lilly pointed out cheekily.

I rolled my eyes and groaned out loud, keeping myself busy with my job. I took extra shifts because I was running low on cash, and well it kept me occupied; code word for away from my friends, away from Michael.

After Emily and I made up, I explained everything to her and naturally, she freaked out like she just got a new shipment of shoes. She was so excited when I told her that we almost kissed and what his mother said, but when she saw that I wasnt sharing her excitement, she got on board and helped me keep my distance from him. Only until I figured out what I wanted to do with this information; which wasnt much, because I couldnt go down that road with him, with anyone. Maybe his mom was just grasping at straws.

"Autumn, you can take your break after attending to the gentlemen at table six." My employer, Linda, instructed me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I gave her a small smile and grabbed my notepad heading towards him.

I put on my fake-smile and pressed my pen on the paper. "Good-afternoon sir, can I take your order?" I asked him, being as polite as possible.

"How much would it take to turn that fake smile into a real one?"

His question took me by surprise, and I took a step back, shocked, looking up from the notepad, I frown at him. It was the first time that anyone saw through my façade. My fake smile usually looked real enough for people to leave me alone.

'The handsome stranger says what?' Lilly said curiously.

I shook my head and ignored her. I stared at the guy before me and realized I had never seen him before, but he looked strangely familiar. His wavy beach hair laid messily on his shoulders, framing his face. He had a killer jaw and pretty smooch-able lips. To sum up his entire handsome look, his eyes were clear blue, the kind that stared into your soul. They were more hypnotic than Ashton's.

'Michael who?' Lilly drooled, and I smiled inwardly.

He raised his perfect eyebrows; asking me a silent question and smirked. That smirk pulled me out of my stupor, and I scowled.

"Well if you would be so kind as to order so that I can be done with you and go on my break, Ill be smiling non-stop."

The young man chuckled; not bothered by my attitude. He gestured at the empty chair in front of him. "How about you spend your break with me, and I'll order something." He negotiated, his smile never faltering.

I looked at the empty chair then back at him. I scrunched my nose and glared at him. The nerve of this guy! I didnt answer him, instead turned around, not missing the smirk that replaced his smile.

Linda gave me a questioning look when I stepped behind the counter, and I sighed.

"He won't order anything unless I sit down with him." I scowled, looking at him out of the corner of my eye; he was already looking at me. "He can go flirt with some other floozy because I'm not one of them." I pointed out, angrily.

Linda looked at him, shaking her head with a smile on her face. "Well Im sorry for doing this to you sweetheart, but he seems very interested."

I opened my mouth to argue with her but closed it back down when she gave me that, ' I'm an old lady don't argue with me glare'. Thinking about it, Linda didnt look past forty. She still had a nice athletic figure and not one grey hair visible, but we both knew the truth she was just about to turn sixty.

I sighed, my shoulders slumped down, and I gave her a pout. She chuckled at me and urged me towards him. I knew I wasn't going get out of this.

I took two coffee cups and filled them; I left the one milk-less without sugar, and the other one with mild and sugar, and I made my way over towards him. I stopped in front of him, his head shot up, but he didnt say anything. I placed the two cups down and sat across from him.

"For the coffee." He smiled boldly at me and placed ten bucks under the napkin tray.

"Milk or no milk?" I asked, casually and extended both out.

He scrunched his forehead, making a decision, and I couldnt help but think it was incredibly cute. Stop that! The nameless stranger reached-forward, taking the black one, leaving me with white coffee. He took a sip and stared at me. His stare became so intense that I was getting uncomfortable.

I cleared my throat. "Is there a reason I'm sitting here, or are you just some creep who likes to stare at girls?"

He chuckled. "I'm James, and you are?" he extended his hand out for me to shake.

I looked at his hand like it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. "I can't decide if you're pretending to be stupid or if you really are?" I questioned, being very rude. He pulled his hand back when I didn't shake it.

"Why?"

"My name is on my name-tag."

He smirked to my utmost surprise. "I saw that, but its considered good manners to introduce yourself." He stuck his hand out a second time. I stifled a groan and shook it.

"The name is Autumn."

"Surname?"

"Just Autumn." I couldn't help being rude because I didnt want to be here. Besides, who on earth tells a stranger their entire lifes story.

He smiled, warmly, and it was really irritating me. "Well just Autumn, its really nice to meet you."

"I would be lying if I said you too," James smirked at my attitude.

This time I gave him an entire once over; he ran his hand through his blonde, brown hair messy it up some more. This action made his arm flex, and I realized he was well-build, but not very muscular. He had the body of a fighter and the only way I knew that was because I had spent a lot of time with guys like that back in Australia.

"We should play twenty questions when you're done checking me out," He said, adjusting his white shirt. I blushed but didn't feel one ounce of regret.

"No thank-"

"Great, I'll go first." He said, interrupting me. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously, that's your first question?"

He shrugged winking at me. "I don't flirt with taken girls."

"Even if I dont have a boyfriend, how about you dont flirt with me?"

James grinned, taking a sip from his coffee, mine still go touched go touched . "Feisty, I like it."

I sat with James for my entire lunch break. He kept asking me silly questions that actually made me smile. It made me happy to know that there was someone who seemed slightly interested in me. I even asked him a few in return letting my guard down, just a bit. Then he started getting a bit serious; asking me personal questions, which I answered to the best of my abilities.

'So, complete lies?' Lilly questioned with a chuckle. I ignored her and listened to his next question.

"Do you have any siblings?"

It was such a mundane question, but for some unknown reason, it made me utterly sad. I couldnt pinpoint why.

I kept my face emotionless. "No, I dont."

Something flashed in his eyes, and I couldnt help but stare. My mind was trying to tell me something about him, but it seemed to be blocked. He looked so familiar. James had this attitude about him that reminded me of someone. Someone I couldn't remember.

James opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted, the wheels in my head turning.

"Whats your deal, James?" I asked, all the pieces were falling into place.

He shook his long hair. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

I smirked. "Well, here you are trying to get information out of me, for what or whom I don't know. He opened his mouth, but I continued. At first, you had me fooled, kudos for that. Its a very clever approach, pretend to be interested in the girl so that she will warm up and sing like a canary."

I leaned forward on my forearms, ignoring the pain in my stomach. He adjusted himself in his seat, but he was clearly getting uncomfortable.

But unfortunately for you, I've been in this game way to long. Clearly, Im rusty, but usually, I can spot someone like you from a mile away.

He leaned forward, giving me a challenging look. Someone like me, elaborate.

I smirked. Gladly. "The most common term would be a lapdog. Youre either doing it for your own personal gain or getting paid to interrogate me."
He stayed quiet, the vain on his forehead pulsing. "Behind that lovely mask is a face carved from pain, the busted knuckles indicates that you're a fighter. I'm guessing your stress-reliever. You have the most attractive eyes, but boy are they guilty; you probably don't agree with the things that you get  to do." I stood up and leaned forward, our faces inches apart. "Need I say more?"

The look on James face made me feel empowered; I felt a bit like the better part of the old me. He looked astonished; he knew that there was nothing that he could say to talk himself out of this.

"Do yourself a favour James and go back to whatever hole you and your employer crawled out of." I gave him my politest smile and walked away.

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