HOW TO CATCH A BAD BOY

Chandler carefully set down the frame. “It must be strange to look at someone else and see your own face looking back at you.”

Elena shrugged, “People say that to me all the time, but I don’t think it is. When I look at Emily, I see Emily.” She knew their family was the same. Elijah probably was too. But she wasn’t sure about Chandler even if he’d said that he could tell them apart. Maybe it seemed strange to him, but that was the thing about being a twin, wasn’t it? They were a novelty, and honestly, she wanted him to look at her and see her. Not Emily… Her. “I guess I’m pretty used to it by now.” She concluded.

He nodded.

“Chandler,” she said gently. “What do you want? I know you didn’t come back to talk about the ins and outs of being an identical twin.”

“Well …” He paused and gave her a lopsided grin. “No I didn’t.”

Her brow furrowed. “Okay. Then why did you come back?”

Chandler nervously clasped his hands together, the words he intended to speak echoing repeatedly in his mind. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so self conscious about asking a girl out. Something about Elena just got to him. Made him feel uneasy…But not in a way that made him want to stay away from her. Instead he was drawn to her and found himself thinking about her more often than he cared to admit, since he hadn’t even known her for a long time. He sighed deeply and cleared his throat, a mixture of anticipation and nervousness gripping him, and ran his fingers through his hair before meeting her eyes, “I wanted to ask if you’d like to go out with me sometime…. For dinner… I guess or whatever you’d prefer,”

The light smile on Elena’s face faltered for a moment, a flicker of hesitation crossing her eyes before she slowly looked away from him. “You mean…. like a date?” she asked.

He chuckled softly, “I mean a date, Elena. Not… Like a date,”

She clasped her hands together, a sense of conflict evident in her expression. “Chandler, I appreciate your offer, truly. But I’ve just moved here, and I’m focused on getting my business off the ground. It’s a lot for me right now.”

Chandler nodded understandingly, a tinge of disappointment shadowing his features. “I understand, Elena. Your work is important, and I respect that, but I…. I wouldn’t interfere with that in any way. I can promise you that,”

He reached for her, but Elena moved away from his touch, and Chandler let his hand drop to his side. Her voice tinged with a hint of regret. “It’s not just that… I’ve also noticed someone else around you, and I don’t want to cause any complications or drama. I value our friendship…that’s if you already consider me a friend, and I wouldn’t want anything to jeopardize that or any relationship I might have with anyone.”

Chandler looked confused for a second, “What do you mean someone else?” he inquired, his voice laced with genuine concern. “There’s no one else you should be concerned about,”

Elena hesitated for a moment before gathering her thoughts. “Chandler, I’ve noticed you and Charlotte. There might be nothing going on between you guys as you say, but you can’t tell me you don’t know she has a thing for you,”

“That has nothing to do with me asking you out on a date, Elena.”

Elena shook her head, “It does, Chandler.”

“What does it have to do with it?” he asked her, sounding as frustrated as he felt, and not trying to hide his disappointment, “It’s not like I led her on. Am I supposed to be punished because of the way she feels about me? I have no control over that.”

“I’m not punishing you!”

“But you won’t go out with me?”

“No I won’t, and it’s not because I want to punish you. Look, forget that I brought up Charlotte, okay? Let’s put it this way, Chandler. I wanna focus on my business right now and I don’t think I want to date anyone. I’m sorry,”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Chandler watched her advert her eyes. She felt something for him too, he was sure about that. Maybe it wasn’t as intense as it was with him, but there was something between them. He could tell, and he could see that she was fighting it. He could try to persuade her, but if she was going to be with him, it had to be because she wanted to, not because he talked her into it.

“Does your agent have another place to show you?”

“What,” Elena asked, slightly taken aback by the sudden change in topic.

“When I came to see you in the kitchen earlier this evening, you were talking to someone I assumed to be your agent,” he explained,

“Yeah,” Elena rubbed her forehead. “I was supposed to see a place he said was going to be good for me, only for him to call hours later to tell me that someone else took it,”

“That sucks. You know, I could help you,” said Chandler, “I have a friend who’s an agent and he always has the best houses. He helped me find my house and I’m sure he can also find you a great space for your business. If you want, I could introduce you to him.”

“You would? Oh, that would be great. Thank you Chandler,” she beamed at him, and Chandler loved it. He wanted her to look at him like that all the time, but he’d asked her out and she’d turned him down. “I really appreciate the help. You have no idea how much this issue has stressed me out. The earlier I’m done with it, the earlier I can settle down.”

“You’re welcome. I have an idea how you feel. When I was house hunting I went through the same thing till I found this guy,” he pulled out his phone and handed it to her, “Anyways, can you give me your phone number. I will call you after I talk to him so we can figure out when you’ll be available to come see the place,”

Elena did as he asked, and watched as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “I’m sorry I came back unannounced,” he said, sounding a bit embarrassed, “I guess I didn’t think about it. I just… I wanted… Look, Elena I know you said you don’t want to be with anyone, so I’ll respect your decision but if you ever change your mind, you know how to find me. I’d be honored to take you out. Goodnight”

Elena nodded, and after he walked out and shut the door behind him, she wondered if she’d done the right thing.