"Signorina Sofia? (Miss Sofia?)" A familiar voice fell over the silenced room, causing my eyelids to flutter lightly in an attempt to find the face that belonged to the whisper. Against the sun rays that shone through the unveiled windows, I saw the timid smile that waited for my pending response.

I rolled over and groaned, pushing my face further into the pillow under me. "Five more minutes, Carmen."

"Ma signorina Sofia, si ha un ospite al piano di sotto. (But Miss Sofia, you have a guest downstairs.)" Her gentle statement came with more hesitation.

"Tell Jack I'm not home and to go away." My muffled words were enveloped in a tone mixed with drowsiness and annoyance, accumulating to a gargling sound that I wasn't even sure she could understand.

"I'm right here, dumbass." Jack's voice came from under me.

Stray strands of hair messily framed my face as I lifted my head and looked at the floor, seeing only the faint lines of his body contour under a heavy comforter.

"Esso è sangoria Nicole. (It's Miss Nicole.)" Carmen said hastily. "Ha detto che lei è qui per il brunch mensile. (She said that she's here for the monthly brunch.)"

"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about the brunch." My hand moved around the bed, feeling for my phone that was nowhere to be found. "What time is it?"

"Esso è di già dieci quarantacinque. (It's already ten forty-five.)" She answered.

"Perché non mi ha ti svegli? (Why didn't you wake me up?) My dad's gonna kill me if I'm late. Tornare al piano di sotto ed essere sicuri che Nicole non verrà qui. (Go back downstairs and make sure Nicole doesn't come up here.)"

Carmen nodded intently before shutting the door behind her. I unwrapped the sheets that seemed to be intertwined with my body then jumped down, instantly regretting the action as soon as I remembered that I wasn't alone in my room.

"What the fuck?" Jack groaned as my foot came down on what I hoped to God was his stomach.

"Get up, you have to leave. Now." I ushered him, hurriedly walking over my closet and grabbing the first dress I saw. "Nicole's here and she can't know you're here."

"Who was that?" He tugged the blanket off his body and pointed his thumb in the direction of the door.

"Carmen." I answered with evident irritation, wondering if he was even listening to me. "Our helper."

He opened his mouth but then closed it soon after, tightly pressing his lips together to forcefully stop whatever thoughts he was on the verge of verbalizing. "And who's Nicole?"

"My best friend." I angled my body so that the closet door shielded me from Jack's view as I stripped off my night clothes and slipped into the white dress. My arms bent behind me and I arched my back, doing my best to fix the crossed straps that were tangled within each other while scanning the floor for the pair of rose gold heels that would piece my outfit together.

"So why can't she know I'm here? It's just your best friend." He shrugged, casually tucking his elbows behind him while looking at me.

"Jack." I spat his name off my tongue like wasabi sauce. "I don't have time to play twenty questions, just get up and leave before she sees you."

"Alright, alright. I'm leaving." He got onto his feet and stretched his arms upward, causing the shirt he was wearing to simultaneously raise with the movement.

My eyes unwillingly stopped searching for the shoes and were now fixed on Jack's newly exposed area of skin. However, my feet didn't seem the get the memo and continued to move blindly, causing me to trip over exactly what I had been looking for.

"Sofia, whose shitty Jeep is outside?" Nicole's familiar voice came from the other side of the door before it quickly swung open with Carmen's panicked eyes following closely behind.

"Mine." Jack answered bluntly. "Thanks for noticing."

I internally groaned and quickly slid on the stilettos before knotting the ties around my ankles a little too tightly. Knowing fully well that I could sprint in heels, I mentally debated making a run for it and avoiding this situation entirely, but I also knew that if I didn't deal with this now, it would only be worse later on.

"Jack Gilinsky?" Nicole's eyebrows raised in surprise before shifting her attention to me. "Sorry, Sof, I didn't know you were having a sleepover."

"There was no sleepover. Jack just came over to drop off my purse." I laughed, recognizing a gold chain that peeked through the scattered sheets on my bed. My hand reached out for the shiny metal and slung it over my shoulder, the black bag lightly swinging against my thigh in the process. "I left it in his car the other night and I needed it today, you know, to go with my shoes."

They both looked down at my feet to confirm my words. Thankfully, the random bag coincidentally did match with my Tom Ford's, causing my little white lie — and outfit — to tie together nicely.

"Thanks for bringing it, Jack." I smiled, walking toward them to try to initiate our exit.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll head out now." Jack gave me a nod before turning around.

"Wait, stay." Nicole's hand reached out and grabbed his arm before he could actually make it to the door. "You're already here, why don't you join us for brunch?"

"No!" My mouth was wide as I practically shouted in their ears, earning a weird look from both of them. "I mean, no, he can't. He has to work today."

"Come on, just for a little bit." She turned her body to Jack, blocking my view of him. "You're already on this side of town and Calma is right by the freeway, so you can easily head downtown after getting something to eat."

"I really can't. My boss is expecting me at twelve." His unapologetic tone was so fake that I doubted even Nicole would believe it.

"There will be tons of people there; Francis Cronin, Emmanuel Harrelson, even Hans Weston." She turned her head to the side and, although I couldn't see, I knew she was plaguing him with her infamous puppy dog eyes.

I had seen her do this trick multiple times and watched it execute perfectly nearly every time. It was something about her emerald eyes that made people wrap themselves around her finger and cling onto it for dear life.

"Why would he care about those people?" I interrupted, stepping in between them. "He's probably never even heard of them. Right, Jack?"

"I don't know, some of them sound familiar." He answered indifferently.

"Of course he's heard of them, they're in the newspaper everyday and constantly have spreads in local magazines. Don't you wanna meet them?" Nicole urged, flashing a smile.

"I guess staying for a while wouldn't hurt."

I snapped my head in his direction, a confused expression lining my face. My eyebrows pulled together and I mouthed a 'no' while discreetly shaking my head.

"Great! Carmen, can you get Jack some clothes to wear for the brunch? We're leaving in five minutes." Nicole asked as Carmen looked at me, waiting for my approval to her request.

"Sì, per favore di farlo e assicurarsi che sia veloce. (Yes, please do it and make sure it's fast.)" I waved my hand in defeat, wanting the brunch to already be over with.

I watched the two of them walk out of the room and down the hall, most likely heading to my dad's closet for some kind of dress shirt and pants that would blend in with the rest of the men's attire there.

"Nicole, why would you do that?" I whined shamelessly.

"Come on, Sof, these brunches always bore us to tears and you know it. It's time we make our own entertainment." She walked out of my bedroom and I followed closely behind, turning off the light and closing the door before turning back to face her.

"How is Jack entertainment?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

"You'll see." She smirked, walking down the stairs

*  *

( a/n: hey guys!! sorry for the delayed update pero it's my birthday today :))) since i'm not doing anything, i decided to post and i'm currently in the midst of writing the next chapter. i don't have school until wednesday, so i have some time to work on it before reality interrupts again lmao!! this chapter isn't much but ya if you enjoyed it, please comment and vote thanks love you guys :)) )