Chapter 28 - Human Lie Detector

Bryan had never felt so irritated or ill-tempered as he felt right now as he sat by his penthouse balcony, with a glass of whiskey in his hand while he just looked ahead of him. They had returned from Heden after his shoot earlier that day, so he was back to his home in Sogal, another part of the country. He couldn't understand why Sonia had disappeared without a trace, without even giving him a chance to end things officially.

He couldn't believe the number of congratulatory calls he had received already from most of his colleagues in the industry. A crazy fan had gone ahead to upload the engagement photo on the comment session of his fan page, and by the time they arrived at the airport, they had met some of his fans who were upset, protesting at the airport, while some others stood there bearing congratulatory gifts.

How was he supposed to get out of this mess without her? He couldn't even step out of his house at the moment because journalists were gathered at the front of his house waiting to see him and ask questions about his engagement and supposed scandal with Sophia.

He rubbed his hand over his face and gritted his teeth in annoyance when his phone started ringing again. If he so much as laid his eyes on Sonia, he was going to strangle the life out of her for putting him in such a difficult position.

He picked up his phone, ready to snap at the next person to congratulate him, and groaned when he realized it was Jade his baby sister. It was difficult lying to her because she was like a human lie detector. How she managed to always spot a lie be it in person or over the phone was still a mystery to him. He contemplated ignoring the call, but decided to just talk to her and get it over with, so he accepted it.

"Hey!"

"Hey? Why don't you don't sound like a man who just got engaged to the love of his life as the gossip articles say?" She asked as he knew she would.

"I'm just exhausted. It's been a long week, and an even longer day."

"So shouldn't my soon to be sister-in-law be massaging you or something?" Jade asked in amusement.

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"She isn't here. I already traveled back to Sogal. She lives and works in Heden, and couldn't leave her job..."

"Cut the crap Bryan. We both know that's bull**. Tell me what's honestly up with you and why you did something like that," Jade said, cutting him off.

"Something like what? What is so wrong in wanting to settle down?" Bryan asked with a scowl.

"That's something someone like Tom does and I won't be surprised. Not someone like you. Last time we spoke you weren't even ready to have a serious girlfriend, so how come you flew from being the mingling single not wanting a committed relationship, to being the lover boy who suddenly wants forever?" Jade asked in a tone he suspected she used a lot in the courtroom.

"Well, things change. PeopIe change." Bryan insisted.

"To the best of my knowledge peopIe like you don't change so easily. Anyway, I can see you're bent on carrying on with the lie. I will let you be and get back to work." Jade said in a resigned tone.

"You're always so busy with work. Don't you ever do anything else?" Bryan asked with a worried frown.

"Maybe I will do other things after I start my own law firm. I'm counting on you and Tom as my first major clients."

"No boyfriend yet?" Bryan asked curiously.

"Nope."

"Still mourning Todd?" He asked even though he knew she probably was going to deny it.

"I don't have time to think about anything outside work." She said with a sharp edge in her voice which told him it was still very much a sore subject.

"Take things easy on yourself. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight." Jade said before disconnecting the call.

Done with the call now Bryan thought about what Jade had said about people like him being unable to change easily, and he remembered Sonia saying he was shallow. Am I really shallow? He wondered.

***********

Sitting down across from Harry at the lounge bar, Tom nursed a glass of wine as he listened to his friend talk about the stock market and cryptocurrency.

"By the way what was it you said you wanted to tell me about the staff?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"First of all I want all the offices closed and the building shut down once it is closing hours. And no one is permitted to take any paperwork home." Tom said, making Harry raise a brow.

"Why?"

"I don't want them overworking themselves when I'm not."

Harry looked like he was going to argue, but he gave a nod, "I will do that tomorrow."

"Thanks. Also, I'm thinking about providing lunch for the staff in all the branches." Tom explained.

"We are already doing that. Isn't that why there is a canteen where they can easily get their free lunch?" Harry pointed out.

"I forgot about that. Okay then, just have someone go around the offices tomorrow and find out the number of those who might be interested in having their lunch delivered directly to them." Tom explained.

"Why do I feel like this about your neighbor? Or maybe I should call her your boss?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at him suspiciously.

"Can you just do as I asked?"

"No. Everyone is going to figure out something is off since most of the staff are already aware that they can easily order their preferred meal up to their office. The only person who doesn't know this is obviously you and your boss."

"Really?" Tom asked curiously. He had never really been interested in how his staff spent their lunch hour, so he had no idea they usually had their food delivered to them.

"Yes. So you can make the suggestion to her, or if you want to soften her up even faster, you can become her lunch delivery man." Harry suggested with a grin.

"You think that would soften her up? I'm trying to be a bad boy, and I don't want to ruin it."

"Bad boy?" Harry asked with a slightly raised brow wondering what had come over his friend.

"Yeah. Jade says good girls like bad boys, so I'm taking the bad boy approach." Tom explained.

"You mean your younger sister Jade? You told her about this madness and she actually supported you and is even giving you tips on how to go about it?" Harry asked with a shake of his head.

"Yeah. I don't see why not."

"Well, you could be a bad boy lunch delivery man then. How about I get you hair dye, earrings and nose rings to suit the title?" Harry asked sarcastically, and then one look at Tom's thoughtful expression he shook his head, "No! Don't even think about it. I was just kidding!"

But it was too late, Tom was smiling already with a determined look in his eyes, "I don't think that would look bad on me."

"For crying out loud you're thirty years old not eighteen!" Harry reminded him in alarm when he saw Tom considering his offer.

"Well, since I spent my teenage years being a genius and trying to make money, I can as well spend this time living like a teenager. Thanks for the suggestion, I think I'm going to try that out." Tom said with a grin, tapping his friend's back lightly.

He was going to get a bad boy makeover.

Chapter end