"Who the hell is Lily Lawson?" Lisa asked for the tenth time that evening.
She had decided to take Ariana out to try and cheer her up and possibly get her to say what had been eating her up but nothing seemed to work. The only thing she was able to get was a name, Lily Lawson.
"I thought you said you knew all the Lawson's?" Ariana asked as she shoved a large spoon of ice cream into her mouth.
"I know who Lily Lawson is," Lisa said with a roll of her eyes. "I just keep asking who she is because it makes sense to ask. They do it all the time in movies..." She said.
Ariana gave her a questioning look and the straight face Lisa had been trying to keep broke into laughter.
"Okay, fine I admit that makes no sense. But tell me, what happened. What did Lily Lawson do to you? You have been sulking since Monday! Its been four days and it's starting to eat at me too!" Lisa complained.
"Lisa, I don't know what to think... So how am I supposed to even explain it to you?" Ariana asked as another large spoon of ice cream went into her mouth.
Lisa shifted closer to her and held her free hand. "Aria, a problem shared is a problem solved. Tell me from the start, maybe we can think of a solution together." Lisa convinced her.
Ariana dropped the spoon into the huge bowl of ice cream in front of her and relaxed into her chair. "The dinner with the Lawson was horrible..."
Lisa frowned. The situation seemed to be even worse than she thought. "...okay, what exactly happened?"
"They all have doubts about me. Someone even brought up the video posted about Ethan and I. Someone asked about my education." She sniffed and folded her hands across her chest.
"Lisa, they even asked how I was able to afford an education abroad like people like me where not meant to study abroad! I felt so embarrassed. Lisa, I-" she stopped to hold her hair back and held back the tears that were threatening to drop on her face. "I wished I could disappear... What was I thinking?"
"They literally made seem like I was a pauper and I just went after their son because I needed money..." Ariana cried out.
"To make it even worse! Lily Lawson came to the office on Monday to threaten me. She told me to stay away from him and she called me a gold digger!"
"I am not a gold digger Lisa. I just... I thought we could be something you know... But now I don't know. His family is too difficult..."
Lisa stayed quiet. She let Ariana say all that was troubling her without interruption. She inky spoke when she was certain Ariana had said it all.
"Ariana, what did Calhoun say when all these comments and questions were thrown at you?" Lisa asked calmly.
Ariana took a deep breathe and dropped her hands on her laps. "He got really mad at all of them. He held my hands and he took me away from them. One of his aunts even tried to beg him to stay but he refused..." Ariana said dreamily.
This was what scared her. After everything that happened and the ones still happening around her, she still found it impossible to stop smiling whenever she thought about Calhoun. He was this tough person to everyone but when it came to her, he was a sweet little warrior that protected. He made the hairs of the back of her hair stand up, just the thoughts of him.
"Hmm, this means, the problem isn't Calhoun but his family. Aria you shouldn't be worried about it this much. It's Calhoun you want not his family!" Lisa said with a shrug. She felt no threat at all from the family. Everyone knew that Calhoun Lawson cared less about what his family thought of his decision or his life. Except maybe his aunt Bianca and his grandparents. But even their opinion hardly mastered.
Aria hissed and took another large scoop of ice cream and shoved it into her mouth. "That's the problem! For how long!?"
"Aria, you should read the entertainment columns sometimes..." Lisa said picking up her spoon as well.
Aria glared at her from above her spoon. "And what good will that do me?"
"At least you will get to know that Calhoun doesn't care about his family's opinion. He said he wants you, that's all you should think of. Because Calhoun Lawson gets everything he wants," Lisa retorted
Ariana swallowed the ice cream in her mouth and flashed Lisa a pout. "If that's true, where is he now?"
Lisa raised her brow, "now? I should be asking you, you are his personal assistant and heart rob, no?" She asked wiggling her brows.
"He went for a meeting on Monday and I haven't heard from him ever since! I have checked his schedule a hundred times but I found nothing. He has meetings here but he isn't available neither is his phone! I even asked Sarah, the secretary and Zion, but they say he will be back!" Ariana replied with shrug. She didn't want to think the worst but her mind was slowly thinking up the worst.
"Come on, Aria, Calhoun is a president. A CEO. A fucking multi billionaire! Do you think he makes that much money by sitting around?" Lisa asked her.
"But he should at least call me! He claims he loves me and all that crap but I am in the middle of a crisis with this aunt of his and he is nowhere to be found!" Ariana spat.
"Just relax!" Lisa said waving her worries off. "As soon as he returns he will reach out to you and you can talk about this aunt of his! I am sure he will take care of it."
Ariana focused on her ice cream. She didn't want to think at all because it seemed each time she tried to think, she got the worst scenarios only. She had to stay strong or she would get crushed.