Convincing her

Laura had hoped that James would have come to pick her up to attend the company dinner but he had called her last minute to tell her that he was going to be late so she had to go with Jason instead.

She had been disappointed by the news but was immediately soothed when he said that he would meet her at the party. Laura got dressed to the nines as she knew that she was going to meet James. She could only lament that it was winter now and she could not dress up as she normally did. 

She ended up wearing a long-sleeved green cocktail dress that served to further enhance the vivid colour of her green eyes and didn't forget to adorn herself with jewellery and even got a professional makeup artist to come and do her makeup at her home.

Because of her effort, she ended up losing track of time, therefore, forcing Jason to wait for her for half an hour, something that he grumbled about while waiting in his car since it was too cold outside and he felt weird about going into her house.

As he groaned in frustration for the 500th time, he finally heard a knock on his car window. When he turned, he saw Laura's beautifully made-up face and her long red hair that was bone straight cascading down her back. He quickly unlocked his car for fear of her getting too cold and helped her open it from inside.

"Hooo, it's freezing," Laura said as she quickly jumped into the car and closed the door after her. Jason turned up the heater to accommodate her and watched her rub her hands together.

"Are you good?" he asked, and Laura nodded with a grateful smile.

"Seatbelt," he reminded as he pulled out of her driveway. Laura quickly fastened her seatbelt and made herself comfortable. She had gotten much closer with Jason in the past few months since they were both being managed by James, but they hadn't spent enough time together to be categorised as 'close friends' yet.

So she felt a bit awkward meeting in a setting that was not at the office. Jason was comfortable to be around with, but there was always a distance he maintained, especially with the girls that date his friends. He would joke around but if you thought about it, you realise that there wasn't much you know about him.

"Sorry I made you wait for so long," Laura apologized. She felt bad for delaying him for so long, even though he was not obligated to do so.

"It's no problem, you look beautiful by the way. I see why you were late" he said good-naturedly.

"Really? Thank you! I never thought I'd meet my idol one day, much less receive a compliment," Laura said as her smile became even more dazzling, Jason laughed at her words as he was reminded that Jen's friends all seemed to be his fans.

"As long as you don't tell my brother. Otherwise, this brother-in-law of yours will be in trouble," Jason joked. Laura was suddenly reminded of how James had almost drowned him in the pool at Rachel's housewarming party and couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her lips. 

"Are you already laughing at my expense?" Jason asked with raised eyebrows.

"Hahaha, do you plan on keeping your hair black?" Laura asked, changing the subject spontaneously.

"I'll probably dye it another colour once I'm done filming the series I'm working on. I'm thinking maybe blue this time? Or silver?" Jason asked for an opinion.

"You can do copper," Laura suggested after thinking about it.

"Hmm, I've never tried it before. I'll let my stylist know," Jason answered after some thought.

"It's a bit more normal. You need to get a girlfriend, you can't just go around calling other people's girlfriends sister-in-law forever," Laura said thoughtfully.

"It'll happen when it happens," Jason answered, sounding like a free spirit.

"Heh, you don't want to be the weird uncle later on right?" Laura asked with narrowed eyes.

"Where am I weird? I will obviously be the cool one," Jason answered while laughing, making Laura roll her eyes.

"I have a junior in the industry, she is very beautiful. I'll make sure to introduce you to her," Laura said after some thought.

"Are you one of those people who want all their friends to start dating when they are in a relationship?" he asked with feigned shock.

"Goodness, no!" Laura answered with the same energy. 

Just like this, the two of them joked around until they arrived at the venue of the party. Jason got down from his car and opened the door for Laura and stretched out his hand to help her down. She gave him a grateful smile before taking his hand and getting off the car.

They did not linger outside for long due to the low temperatures, so they immediately went into the hall where the event was to take place. The two of them walked into the venue together, making the place grow silent. Laura was not even paying attention to the crowd and instead was busy looking for James.

"He is over there," Laura said, her voice tinged with excitement, but she had enough sense not to dash across the room. Jason also spotted his brother and showed him a foolish smile. James resisted the urge to roll his eyes before his gaze returned to Laura. 

The two of them walked towards where James was and when they arrived in front of him, Jason handed Laura over to him. 

"I've handed her over safe and sound," Jason said with a smile, and his eyes immediately started wandering around.

"Thank you," James said and Jason nodded nonchalantly.

"Mmh, well. Have fun you two, I've seen an interesting person over there," Jason said and turned to leave while waving at them absentmindedly.

"You look stunning," James said once he was alone with Laura. Laura smiled from happiness at hearing the compliment. She felt like her long day was worth it just from it.

"Thank you," Laura said and directly hugged his arm.

"Drink?" he asked as he slowly started walking around with her.

"Definitely," Laura said and started looking around for a waiter to take a glass of wine from. 

"Here," James said and handed her a glass of wine.

"Thank you," Laura said and took the glass from him as her eyes widened from surprise as he had suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist

"I haven't seen you for a couple of days," James said as he moved her in -front of him. Laura nervously looked around to see if they were being watched, only to notice that they were standing behind a pillar. She didn't even know how they got to be in such an inconspicuous area.

"How-" Laura started to ask but quickly shut her mouth as she was nose to nose with James. She furiously blinked her eyes as she was feeling flustered from the sudden close proximity.

"I missed you," James said and took one step forward, trapping her between him and the wall. Laura nervously swallowed as she tried to stay as still as possible. She felt his nose brush the side of hers before he kissed the corner of her lips.

"You've gotten quieter," James said as he pulled away from her while stroking her reddened cheek. Laura was out of words momentarily because she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest.

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