What A Lie Looks Like | ✓

2.07: hayes

Sephine's voicemail picks up for the second time in a week, and I frown, turning the phone off. Walking back into the living room where Grayson is sitting on the couch, setting his bottle of beer next to the coaster on the coffee table instead of on it. "Dude, use the coaster," I point out grabbing my own off of the coaster I made sure to put it on.

He rolls his eyes scoffing as one of the soccer teams on the television scores a goal, "I'll buy you a new one if there's a water ring. Who were you calling?"

"Shut up, Gray. I don't want a new one; I like the one I have, so use the coaster. I was just calling to check on Sephine." I take a swig trying to focus back on the game, but he's making it hard when Grayson mutes the television.

"Wait a second-are you talking about like the Sephine from high school?" Grayson asks me to clarify, and I want to unmute the television and just ignore him, but I don't do that.

"Yes?"

Grayson's eyes are so full of shock that I'm surprised they haven't popped out of his eye sockets, "Like the Sephine. The one that left you standing in the airport after you two hooked up?"

I definitely shouldn't have told him about that. "Yeah, that's the one."

His jaw drops, "I didn't even realize that you guys were communicating again?"

"She's the one that was in the magazine with me. They recognized me, but not her, which is why she wasn't named." Grayson was my roommate at Stanford, and I bargained for him to be the new company lawyer once I took control of the company last year because he might be the smartest person I've ever met. It'd be stupid not even to try to get him on board with the company. "Well, you remember Ollie, right?"

"Wait, the one we hung out with like two months ago?" There's a look of confusion as he tries to piece it together, but is failing. It's quite amusing to see him so lost. "What does he have to do with it?"

I rub the back of my neck and set the bottle on the coaster making a point to stare at Grayson while I do it. "He's kind of her best friend and has helped me keep tabs on her of sorts."

"You didn't." He's shaking his head at me, and I rub my temples.

"I know it was stupid to do; I guess I just wanted to make sure she was okay after everything that happened."

"I sincerely hope that you realize how insanely creepy that is."

I send him a flat look, "I know that it's creepy, but if you knew her, you would understand. She was and still is one of the most infuriating people I know, but I don't know. I guess I just didn't realize how much I missed having her as a friend."

Grayson is trying to figure out how to respond, but then he responds in a way that only he could, "Well clearly you knew that you missed her; otherwise you wouldn't have been a creepy-ass stalker all these years."

"Shut up," I snort, looking for something that I could throw at him, but to my dismay, there's not a single thing out of place from where it should be.

He yawns loudly before grabbing the remote to hopefully unmute the television so I can catch some of the first half, but then Grayson sets the remote down and looks at me. "You didn't tell her about Sutton, did you?"

I tense before shaking my head in a reluctant admission. "I'm still trying to find a loophole, and I'm starting to think that there might not even be a loophole for me to find."

"You're an adult, you could always just tell your dad no." Grayson points out, but I wish it were only that easy.

"It was in the contract I signed when I took over the company, but I didn't think Dad would slip something in there like that. I skimmed over the pages, not realizing that he had slipped it in there." I feel stupid even admitting it because I should have had my company lawyer look over it. However my lawyer is also Dad's lawyer and probably helped him with the clause.