Cage growled something under his breath and glared at his friend. Damn the man for torturing him. "We wouldn't have been late if you had taken the other road!" he said.

  "The traffic is bad everywhere. I couldn't have rerouted and made it in time anyway. You are crazy if you think that is possible." Stephen scowled. "And I don't want the cops to get me for disobeying traffic rules."

  "It's just a fine. It's not like you are bankrupt. You can pay a fee," Cage rolled his eyes.

  "Hey. I don't want a black mark on my license. I want to be a model citizen."

  "Tell me that the next time you get a booty call and you speed off to whoever called you." Cage was pissed. If he didn't make it in time to stop her from going out on the date, he would be mad beyond belief.

  "Hey, now no calling out my activities. I have needs!" The man whined.

  "And I don't want to know anything about it," Cage stopped him from explaining further.

  "Then shut up and let me drive the car. Get some sleep. The traffic is going to put us back a lot." Cage gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Damn him, he would not get any sleep under such circumstances. There was no chance his nervous heart could calm down enough to let him relax into sleep. But he still closed his eyes.

  The days caught up to him and he found himself flitting in and out of sleep as his friend drove the car to his girl's house. He imagined all possible scenarios, things out of a movie… screaming, shouting and whatnot, things he hoped wouldn't happen. He just wanted a civil conversation with her. Was that too much to ask?

  It was some time before they reached the location and Cage put on his hood. It was not a fancy apartment building, but he could see that she did well in her life monetarily. She wasn't broke, she was doing quite well. They walked up to the apartment they had been told would be hers and waited.

  "Nervous?" Stephen asked.

  "I want to turn back right now," Cage groaned.

  "Bad luck. I am knocking." He followed it up by knocking on the door. It took some time before they heard the shuffling of feet from the other side.

  "Who is it?" the person from the other side asked.

  "We spoke on the phone this morning?" Stephen called out. There was a quick 'oh' heard from the other side, before the door swung open. Cage moved to the side and hid behind the wall so that he could see what was going on but not be seen himself.

  "Tell me the truth. Are you the one who broke my friend's heart?" Angelina sneered.

  "Hi. Angelina, right?" Stephen extended his arm. The other took it hesitantly, but one could see that her grip was strong.

  "You look familiar. Have we met before?" she asked, her eyes lowered into slits. "Did you dupe my friend?" She was protective. Others would see her relationship with Katherine and think that the two were enemies but when it came to protecting each other, these two would become fierce. Angelina was the tsundere kind who liked to do things her way, but here she was defending her friend when she was hurt herself. It took major gut to be able to stand up like that.

  "No. I am Stephen Luther. I am the criminal's friend. You may know me from television. I am Cage Cavanaugh's manager." Her eyes widened comically and she looked behind him wildly to see who was there.

  "Come out!" she shouted. A man from the next apartment was coming out. He startled and scurried down the stairs before he could face the wrath of Angelina.

  Cage came out from his cover to come face to face with the woman. She was indeed beautiful like Katherine had said, but she looked like the model that she was. Cage felt no attraction to her.

  "You have got to be kidding me!" she threw her hand into the air and said in a sarcastic voice. "I cry over a man and he comes to my doorstep and asks for my friend. Fan-fucking-tastic." It was then he noticed that the woman's eyes were red and swollen like she had been crying.

  "I am surprised that you didn't pounce on him and say that you had met the love of your life, though!" Stephen said in a joking manner which was not appreciated by either Cage or Angelina.

  "I already know that I had no conversation with him. I am not delusional," she snapped back.

  "That's not what I hear," Stephen retorted.

  "What? Did Katherine tell you that I was going crazy over some teenager? Did you have fun laughing at me? What a fucking wild week it has been in this household." She sounded tired and resigned.

  "No. I knew of it and…" Cage didn't know how to continue, so he changed the topic of conversation. "Is Katherine here?" he asked softly, praying to the gods that by some miracle she would have canceled the date.

  "Yeah, she went out on a date just like you did, jackass!" She couldn't believe she was saying such things to the man she had thought she was in love with, but then she remembered that she had liked a thirteen-year-old boy who had pretended to be the man. Now she felt stupid for believing that she had Cage Cavanaugh.

  Had Katherine known? She doubted.

  "I wasn't out—" Why did he have to explain himself to this person? Why did he feel obligated to look good in front of her friend? "Just let it be. Let's go, Stephen." She was turning when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glared at the man. It was all his fault that they were late, to begin with… If only they had taken the other route.