Invisible to My First Love (Harper and Maddox) novel Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Harper

1 flinched out of my sleep at the sound of an incoming call. As my vision adjusted, I reached for my phone on the bedside table, looked at the screen and noticed the time. It was 8 AM and Maddox was calling me. I wondered what was up with him since he knew I’d gone to bed quite late.

“Hello?” I said in my morning voice, my head still on my pillow.

Judging by that voice, it looks like I woke you up,” he unapologetically said from the other end of the line.

“Yeah, this better be important.”

“Uncle Sebastian wants to meet you right now.”

“What?” My eyes grew wide as I quickly sat up. “Can’t it be some other time? I look like shit. I still feel so exhausted because I had so much work to do and –“

“Relax. I’m just messing with your pretty ass.”

My eyes narrowed like I could see him. “Seriously?”

“I just had to, okay?” He chuckled with amusement. “The truth is that he does want to see you today, but that’s in the afternoon. And this morning is quite busy for me. Did you forget that I headed to London yesterday to make sure all my stuff was brought back to San Francisco?”

I sighed, the realization hitting me. “Look, I just woke up from my sleep, so I’m a bit slow.”

“A bit?” He scoffed. “Anyway, I’ll spend this morning at home, making sure everything is in its previous place. I’ll pick you up at 1 PM.”

“Cool.” I dragged it out as I was still sleepy.

“You have like two more hours to get some more sleep, but afterwards, you’re going shopping.”

“What?” My forehead creased. “Didn’t we already do that on Wednesday?”

“Yup, but that was just for some dresses. By the way, I can’t wait to see you wear that purple one the day you decide you wanna go out at night.”

I thought about the red dress he got me among others and while it was extremely pricey, it was so sexy that I felt like walking over to my closet just to try it on again.

“So, what’s this whole shopping thing today then?” I asked.

“Our pictures were plastered everywhere because I took you shopping. It was such a big deal that even Margot had something to say about it. She believes I shouldn’t be spending that much money on you and taking you to some of the most luxurious stores in town. I simply told her I was just getting started and she can’t tell me what to do. You’re going to get yourself some pairs of shoes and as many as you want.”

My eyes narrowed in disbelief. “You just told me you’re going to spend the morning at home. How am I supposed to do this without you?”

“That’s easy. You can go with Ella and Zoey, if they’re not doing anything.”

I smacked my lips. “Yeah, that’s nice and all, but I don’t even have the money for that.”

He chuckled confidently. “I’ve got you covered. Check your doorstep.”

I was so curious that I didn’t even question it. I got out of bed, making my way down the stairs with my head tilted the entire time.

“What will I find out there?” I asked.

“Come on. You only need to take a few more steps and then you’ll find out.”

He still had so much confidence as he waited for my reaction that it only made me anticipate getting to my doorstep even faster.

When I opened the front door, there was a small box neatly wrapped up with a ribbon on it. I crouched down to pick it up, bringing it closer to my face as I closed the door.

“Do you have it?” he asked.

“Yup.” I held my breath as I sat down on the couch.

When I opened the box, I lifted the foam sheet to reveal what was underneath and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe what had actually been delivered to my doorstep.

“What the hell?” I blinked rapidly. “Why would you-

He chuckled with satisfaction, like that was the exact reaction he had hoped for. “I can’t wait to see everyone’s face when they see you using it, especially Margot and Tiffany.”

“I…I…but-”

“Relax… this is all part of the act. Now, get on the phone with your friends and tell them about the shopping spree. You can even get them a few things if you like and none of that low quality shit. That’s why I specifically gave you that.”

I gasped. “Really?”

“Yup.”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For what’s in the box and this whole thing. This is huge.”

As soon as the call came to an end, I quickly texted my friends. They were so excited that they were ready to go shopping right away and I was so pumped that I no longer felt sleepy.

For as long as I could remember, they wished they could step into some of the most luxurious stores and not just to look around.

The first few minutes of the ride to the mall were filled with loud music and cheers as Ella and Zoey sang along while in the backseat. That’s how excited they were.

“You two just made it seem like you were hoping he got in touch with me.”

“And then came Maddox, who made you fall for his charm and that fucking changed everything!” Zoey clapped gently “Tim glad he even set some boundaries with Grayson. I still can’t believe he showed up to your place at LAM just because you let it happen.”

“Me?” my tone got defensive.

“Come on. That only happened because you make it too easy for him. I’m just glad that now, it’s a thing of the past.”

“Yeah, a thing of the past.” My voice was low as I thought about how hard I needed to fight all my feelings so I could turn things around.

I hadn’t heard from Grayson since that night he’d come to my place and made me feel like I meant so much to him.

The next time he was going to call me or text, I told myself not to be that girl that gets so excited that she responds right away.

Ella and Zoey’s eyes practically popped out of their heads as they scanned the racks in the luxurious store we had stepped into.

“Damn, look at all these price tags!” Zoey whispered in awe. “Just one pair can cover my rent for the whole year. And we get to leave this store with a pair of these heels?”

1 proudly nodded, lowering my shades a little with a smirk. “Yeah, now look around.”

“Harp,” Ella said, placing her hands on my shoulders. “If you and Maddox ever get into an argument, I’m gonna take his side.”

“What?” I chuckled, pushing my shades back up in place.

“Me too!” Zoey chimed in.

1 knew they didn’t mean it and were just excited, which was what made it amusing.

The three of us split up to look around, tried on a few pairs, then met up again. Each of them had a pair and I had four. I could see the envy in their eyes.

“Why can’t we just switch places? How about I become Harper? Hmm?” Zoey pouted, gently bumping the front of my wide hat.

Ella chimed in, wishing she could switch places with me as well. I was glad they played along when I teased them that they could never be me.

Suddenly, the playful moment was ruined when Kate’s annoying voice cut through the air.

“Security! There they are!” She pointed a finger at us.

The three of us looked at each other, wondering what she was talking about.

Three buff security guards that worked for the store charged towards us. Because we didn’t do anything wrong, we just stood in place and watched as they surrounded us, wondering what was going on.