Chapter 278: I Have A Proposal
"Hey? What are you doing here?" Lauren asked when she was sure he had rembered who she was.
Instantly, Steffan drew a veil over his mind. He didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone related to Kathleen.
As a matter of fact, she was the reason he was here in the first place— to forget about her for good.
Why continue to cry over spilt milk. He knew he was no match for Shawn in fighting for Kathleen’s love, moreover he could tell that Kathleen only had Shawn in her heart despite making things difficult for Shawn all these years.
Not only that, but if his family finds out that he deliberately wants to break apart a family who was trying to find ther bearing, Shawn’s anger and alienation would be a child’s play compared to what he would get from his family mbers.
As a matter of fact, they might even force him to get married to Benita to save themselves the embarrassnt he would have caused them.
He sighed inwardly, "Look, I’m here to clear my head, so I’d rather be alone."
Lauren, not fully understanding Steffan’s words, leaned in,. "Oh, perfect! I was hoping to run into soone I know. Mind if I join you?"
Steffan hesitated, contemplating how to politely decline, but Lauren had already taken a seat beside him.
"Actually, I’d prefer so alone ti," he said bluntly, no longer trying to sugarcoat his intentions.
Lauren frowned, genuinely puzzled. "Is everything okay? You seem like you’re avoiding ."
Steffan sighed, realizing he couldn’t escape the conversation. "It’s not about you. I just wanted so ti to myself, you know?"
Steffan hesitated, then decided to share a bit of his struggles. "Just dealing with so personal stuff. Needed a break from reality."
Lauren’s expression softened, and she nodded understandingly. "I get it. We all need an escape sotis. Sorry for barging in."
Appreciating her understanding, Steffan managed a small smile. "No hard feelings. It’s just one of those nights, you know."
He extended his hand for a handshake, "I’m Steffan, Steffan Rosse. As you already know, I’m a doctor at dstar Hospital."
"Nice to officially et you, Dr Steffan," Lauren smiled. "I am Lauren Hols, I run a little coffee shop, sowhere in this town."
"I bet it’s not as little as you made it out to be," Steffan said, returning the smile.
Judging from the fact that she was a friend to such a renowned personality like Kathleen, he could imagine how "little" her coffee shop would be.
"So why are you here?" he asked. She doesn’t look like the type that frequent places like this.
"Long story," she replied, emptying her glass of drink in her mouth.
"That’s why I’m actually here— to decongest my head."
"Take it easy with that," he said with concern as he watched her drown the beer in one go.
"I don’t plan to go easy on it tonight," Lauren responded as her eyes, which seed to be dancing to the pulsating beats of the music scanned the crowded room and settled on the dance floor where people were moving sensuously to the music.
"Do you care to dance?" She asked all of a sudden.
Glancing at the energetic dancers, Steffan shook his head. "I don’t think that’s a good idea. Dancing isn’t my forte."
Lauren laughed heartily. "Who cares, I’m a terrible dancer myself. It’s just for the fun anyways, not for us to win any competition."
After a mont of contemplation, Steffan chuckled. Wasn’t it also a way of ridding his head of those haunting thoughts?
"Co on, Let’s hit the dance floor," he said, causing Lauren’s eyes to sparkle with excitent. "Let’s see how bad we are at this together."
Lauren removed her coat and flung it over her chair as the heat in the club was a far cry from the cold air outside.
They made their way to the dance floor, the music pulsating through their bodies as they began to sway to its beat, initially awkward but soon finding a rhythm of their own.
Their laughter filled the air as they moved in sync, not caring about perfection but reveling in the spontaneity of the mont.
Surprisingly, despite their claims of being terrible dancers, they fell into a rhythm that seed almost natural.
As they twirled and swayed, Steffan couldn’t help but notice the smile on Lauren’s face and for a mont he found himself captivated by her beauty,
It was as if the music had cast a spell on him as he stared at those two dimples gracing each sides of her cheeks.
He suddenly snapped out of his daze when Lauren mistakenly stepped on his feet. After an apologetic laugh, he got back into the dance. As they danced, the energy between them was so infectious that it ended up drawing smiles from other onlookers.
After dancing to two songs, they returned back to their seats in high spirits.
"That was damn exciting." Lauren said as she tried to catch her breath.
"You can say that again," affird Steffan. "It’s been long I enjoyed myself this much. Thanks to you."
"Nah.. I did nothing,"
As they engaged in their little banter, Steffan couldn’t help but notice the way her dress hugged her figure, accentuating her beauty.
"I have to say that your dressing looks amazing," Steffan complinted with genuine admiration in his eyes.
Although she hadn’t paid much attention to what she had worn since she had angrily left the house before changing from her work clothes, she still smiled, appreciating the complint.
That morning, because she was working at Hudson corporations, she had dressed a bit better than the way she normally does if she was going to her coffee shop.
She had worn a knee-length, navy blue pencil skirt that hugged her curves with tailored precision. Although the crisp white button-down shirt was slightly ruffled now, the simple ensemble still carried an air of casual sophistication.
"Thank you!," she said amidst smiles. "I must say that your taste isn’t limited to just dicine, doc?" She added jokingly.
It was the first complint she was receiving from the man her heart had chosen, so doubtless, it ant a lot to her.
Steffan chuckled, "Seems like it extends to fashion as well. But seriously, you look stunning," he complinted, against his better judgnt.
’What is happening to
tonight? My mouth seems to be having a mind of its own," Steffan lanted inwardly. ’Maybe it was the drink and the infectious atmosphere of the nightclub," he concluded.
But as the night unfolded, he couldn’t help but marvel at Lauren’s ability to bring a sense of lightness to the night, distracting him from the troubles he had hoped to escape from by coming there.
As his mind was eventually distracted from Kathleen, he discovered that he could actually flow with Lauren’s chatter.
Her laughter was infectious, weaving through the thumping music, creating a bubble of warmth around them.
Her genuine and carefree spirit added a special effect in the midst of the pulsating beats, that made the night more morable than he had anticipated.
As they shared a few drinks, the conversation flowed naturally and Lauren discovered that Steffan, like her, was also facing pressure from his parents to settle down.
At that mont, a realization dawned on her.
Since they were in similar situations, they could potentially help each other, right?
She looked at Steffan with a spark of mischief in her eyes.
"I have a proposal, Steffan," she said without thinking too much.
"I hope it is not a marriage proposal," Steffan joked.
Lauren nodded. "Sothing like that," she said causing Steffan to almost choke on his drink.
"What! I don’t want to get entangled so soon," he spat out after recovering from the shock.
Lauren arched an eyebrow. "So soon?"
"Forget it." There was no way he was going to tell her that he was trying to get past his feelings for her friend who already had a husband.
Seeing that Steffan was not ready to explain what he ant, she proceeded with her own thought. "Anyway, it’s not really a marriage proposal," she began.
She had only tried to test his reaction towards that.
"What do you an," Steffan asked in a cautious tone.
Ignoring the suspicious look Steffan was giving her, Lauren said,
"What if we pretend to be in a relationship? It could take the heat off us."
Steffan raised an eyebrow, considering the idea. "You an a fake relationship to get our parents off our backs?"
Lauren nodded. "Exactly. We set so ground rules, make it believable, and hopefully, they’ll stop pestering us about finding soone."
Steffan chuckled, "It sure is a crazy idea, although it sounds like great fun."
"So are you in on it," Lauren asked expectantly.
As Steffan stared at her he sohow felt if he refuses, Lauren might not really be cool with it although she has made it sound like it was an afterthought but he was not a kid.
He understood when a woman was interested in him and he could tell that the one before him was, but what surprised him was the fact that he was not repulsed by that knowledge.
"Hey! It shouldn’t take you that long to co up with an answer," he heard Lauren say as she waved her hands in front of him.
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