CHAPTER – 39 (As unedited as unedited can ever be)

LOVE IS... THE TRUTH

"I love you, and because I love you; I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies." – Pietro Aretino

Day – 18  

After talking to Priscilla, I had informed my parents about the new job offer last night. Theirs was a mixed reaction. After telling me to be safe and to always keep pepper spray and a pocket knife with me, Mom had asked me whether I had told the news to Ashton. My answer in the negative had her giving me a lecture about facing my fears and being true to everyone.

I lacked guts to tell Ashton about it. I was afraid of his reaction. But, I knew that I had to tell him.

"You're going away!" These were the first words that Stephanie said the moment I opened my apartment door for her to enter.

With my eyes and mouth wide open, I tried to think of what to say to my best friend, who was looking at me with hurt and disappointment clear on her face.

"I-"

She interrupted me as she barged inside the apartment and asked, "When were you planning on telling me about it?"

Shutting the door, I faced her narrowed eyes. "Steph, I-"

"You know what, Liana, I might not be as calm, sensible, and nice as you are, but I'm your best friend! Keeping such a big news from me wasn't something I expected from you. Who will I talk to at lunch and coffee breaks? Who will I go to when I'll be emotionally drained because of the men drama in my life? Who will argue with me about watching Batman movies over chick flicks? Do you have any idea about how pathetic these last two weeks have been without you in office? I have been handling Megan, the bitch, on my own and it sucks. Office sucks without you. And this is about one year. No, you aren't going. That's it!" She ranted moving her hands frantically, while I watched her with teary eyes and a smile on my face.

I stepped towards her and embraced her in a hug, which she reluctantly returned. "I'll miss you too."

"No, you won't. You'll find some English or French or Spanish or whatever new friend. But, let me tell you, she won't be as awesome as I am. And I'll make sure you'll miss me," she said with determination, while I smiled. There was no doubt that I was going to miss her terribly. Well, not only her...

I pulled away from the hug and looked at her with dead serious eyes. "Nobody can be as awesome as you are, Steph."

"I know, right?" She smiled a teary smile at me. "When do you have to leave?"

"I have approximately twelve days, but I'm not sure as I've not received the details yet."

She nodded and wiped her liner coated eyes with a tissue. "Keeping my emotional equation aside, let me tell you how super happy I am for you. This is such an amazing opportunity. Just awesome!" she gushed while I grinned at the sudden swing in her mood. She threw her bag on the table and flopped on the couch. "I'm so going to visit you at least every two months."

I laughed at her enthusiasm, which was definitely more than mine. "I'd love that."

"Oh, and you can meet new guys. New city, new guy." Her eyes shone with excitement.

I, on the other hand, grimaced. It was better to change the topic. "Who told you about my acceptance of this offer?"

"News travels fast in our office," she stated as a matter of fact. I couldn't deny that. I recalled the time when I had broken up with Nolan after his cheating fiasco, and within a week all sorts of rumors about me not being able to keep a man 'entertained' reached my ears. Courtesy – our office's gossip queen – Megan. Not everyone was as mean as Megan though, some looked at me with pity, and some congratulated me for being free and asked me to live my life to the fullest.

After getting utterly affected by those rumors for a few days, I had learnt to become prone to them.

I shrugged nonchalantly and sat opposite her on the couch, telling her that I couldn't care less about gossip mills. Ashton's truth had given me yet another reason to stay as far away from gossips as I could.

She straightened the frilly collar of her pink shirt and smiled at me. "Sometimes, I wish I was like you. I like how you don't care about gossips. I would be spitting mad if my name was dragged in such gossips." I smiled while she continued, "Megan has spread this rumor that you are actually eloping with Ashton, and Priscilla came up with this new assignment to cover up her son's and favorite employee's romance."

Laughter erupted from my mouth. "That's absurd, considering that Ashton would be here in NYC while I'll be travelling the world." I finished my sentence in a mumble as sadness tried to overtake my emotions.

"Exactly. Megan is as bitchy as bitchy can ever get. I mean, why would Ashton and you elope in the first place? It's not like you guys love each other and all." She let out a throaty laugh as I coughed in order to hide the guilty smile that was threatening to cover my face.

"I know, right?" I managed to mumble.

She nodded. "She even told everyone that she saw Ashton and you full out making out in a club two nights back."

My eyes widened at the memory. 'We had been caught!' It was all I could think.

"I really can't believe how low people can get just for gossip! And I was like, are you kidding me? Liana would never go to a club. She doesn't like the noise and sweat smells. And as far as making out with Ashton Parker is concerned, she would never mix business and pleasure. She is a strict professional. I shut them up, Liana. You don't have to worry about their blabbering mouths in this regard."

My cheeks flamed a deep red as I looked anywhere but towards my friend, who had such high faith me and my professionalism. I let out a forced chuckle in reply.

She probably noticed my speechlessness accompanied by my red cheeks and my forced chuckle as she gasped. "Oh my God! That's not a rumor. That's the truth, right?" My reddening cheeks were enough for confirmation to her suspicions. "You made out with Ashton! Holy shit! That's freaking awesome." In her excitement, she had stood up from the couch and was hovering me with a grin so huge that her face could split into two any given moment.

"Well-" I tried to think of something to say, but couldn't come up with any words. So, I just nodded and proceeded to tell her about everything that was going on between Ashton and me since last few days, other than the fact that I had clumsily fallen in love with him. I could live with that little, but vital, piece of information being a secret.

I could see that during my narration, she wanted to give her own inputs to the conversation, but every time, I motioned her to keep quiet with my hand, letting the conversation be one sided. I was glad that I did that as the first words that left her mouth after hearing the entire story made me want to fall flat in the imaginary pool of guilt around me. "So you haven't told Ashton that you're leaving?"

All I could do was shake my head in reply as no words came out of my mouth.

"Why?" she asked, looking at me with confusion.

I turned away from her, staring out of the window at nothing in particular. Again, no words came out of my mouth. I couldn't tell how scared I was about leaving Ashton. I couldn't tell her that saying out loud about leaving the City would make it real and I won't be able to create as wonderful memories as I was creating with Ashton since last few days. I couldn't tell her that I was being nothing but selfish. And the most important thing that I couldn't tell was that I was in love with the devil, whose matchmaker I was supposed to be.

My silence gave her an opportunity to draw her own conclusions, "You love him!"

I didn't affirm her statement, nor did I deny it. "Sometimes, life is painfully funny," I whispered with a little sad smile.

How ironic was it for me to fall in love with him; to fall in love with the right person at such an awful time?

I felt her hand touch my shoulder, and I looked back towards her. "You've to tell him, Liana. He deserves to know about it, with everything that has been going on between the two of you. Maybe he would choose to go there with you," the hopeless romantic in her volunteered to say while I rolled my eyes. "Tell him before he comes to know about it from someone else and it hurts him; like a freaking cliché."

I bit my lip as I imagined the consequences that cliché would bring with it. I didn't want Ashton to be upset with me. I wanted to spend the remaining days we had to be spent to the fullest, without any remorse. "I will," I told her with determination as I decided to tell him the truth as soon as I would see him.

"Good." She grinned at me, making me smile at her positive attitude. It was good to see that this time, it was her who was giving me a love advice and that too, a good one. I, sure, was rubbing off on my best friend.

My eyes widened slightly as I recalled the last time I had spoken to her, and the guilt of being an awful friend started eating me up. "What happened at your dinner with Shane?" To my surprise, she laughed at my question. I slapped my forehead and told her, "Sorry for being so pathetic. Really sorry."

She shook her head. "No worries. It's okay. I understand your situation." She smiled and I managed to pass a sheepish smile to her. "We met for dinner that night. He told me that he wants things to continue among us, he asked me to be his girlfriend, officially."

"Oh," I mumbled, feeling surprised. No wonder, she laughed at my question. She was happy about the meeting, but I couldn't say the same about myself. I didn't know whether to be happy for Stephanie or sad for Ashton's lovely best friend.

She chuckled at my reaction, and stared in my eyes. With a smirk, she told me, "I asked him to f*ck off."

"What?" A startled gasp escaped my lips. Now, I could say that I was pleased about her meeting.

"Yeah." She shrugged as if it was nothing, but I knew better. She really loved that butt faced jerk.

I nodded in response. "So are you with 'the guy who changes his name everyday' now?" She smiled at me, while I waited for her to fill me with his name of the day, like every time she had done when we had talked about him these past few days.

It took me a few seconds to realize that the smile on her face was not a happy one, it was a sad smile; the same smile that she had given to Shane when he had first dictated her the terms of being 'friends with benefits' with him. And while I had wanted to yell at Shane for being such an ignorant jerk about her feelings, she had shushed me and accepted that awful deal.

She shook her head while I waited for her to answer me in words rather than actions, which she eventually did. "He is way too awesome to be used as a rebound." I smiled at her decision as she said the exact same words I had once thought to myself when they had started dating. I was happy that she chose to be alone and leave him alone; she chose to find her happiness on her own terms; and chose not to give high hopes to him when she couldn't reciprocate his feelings.

"I called him to my apartment after my dinner with Shane. I told him about Shane, about how messy my relationship with him was, and how I was still trying to get over him. I told him that I couldn't be true to him in this state of mind and he should see someone else. I feel so terrible and unfortunate for doing that, you know, Liana? I mean, which girl wouldn't be lucky to have him in her life? But I just couldn't betray him emotionally."

I smiled at her, feeling positive about her choice. Yes, I was sad about Ashton's friend, but he deserved a lot better than being a rebound.

"You made the right choice, Steph. I'm so proud of you." I tilted my head, looking at my best friend with pride and admiration.

She grinned at me. "It's you who I have to thank for this." I waved my hand in dismissal. After a pause of half a minute, she asked with a serious face, "What about you, Lia? Have you made the right choice?"

My smile and happy mood disappeared into thin air as she asked me the same question that I had been asking myself since I had made the decision that could change everything in my life. And I answered her with the same answer with which I had been consoling myself, "If he is the right guy for me, I won't regret this decision."

She smiled at my answer. "Holy shit! We are talking such serious stuff. I feel old." She changed the topic in an instant, for which I was glad. "Oh, and you know what, if things don't work out between Ashton and you, then there is that hot photographer who has been signed for this assignment along with you. You can definitely go out with him."

Rolling my eyes at her, I pulled out the tie from my hair only to tie them in a tighter bun. "I'm so looking forward to it," I answered in a flat, sarcastic tone.

She laughed at my response. "No, don't look forward to it. He is gay."

"Oh, crap!" I muttered as if I was disappointed, even though the slight grin on my face was telling an entirely different story.

Before any of us could say anything else, the sound of the doorbell interrupted us. I asked Steph to wait up and walked towards the door in my worn out pajamas and T-shirt. I opened the door and came face to face with none other than Ashton in all his model-like glory.

Everything that I had just talked to Stephanie about came rushing back to my mind as I stared at him with so many emotions. The first thing I wanted to tell him was that I loved him. And the next was that I'm leaving in a few days. And both these things required me to be honest.

One of the most common sayings in the world is 'honesty is the best policy'. And that is exactly what was bothering me since my phone call with Priscilla the day before. The guilt of not being true to Ashton and, thereby, telling him about the job offer I had accepted, was eating me up, and that very guilt was to be blamed for my state of sleeplessness last night. I had blamed Ashton for hiding his true identity from me and had thrown a huge fit, but I was being nothing but a hypocrite as I was doing exactly that. For someone who hated lies, I sure was leaning towards them lately, and I didn't like it one bit. I wanted to be my honest self again, and for that I had to tell Ashton about my next job.

"You look like a f*cking zombie." Apparently, Ashton, as always, was his brutally honest self.

Before I could reply with an eye roll, he leaned in and kissed me, taking me by surprise. It was a quick kiss, but it was enough to make my cheeks go red. At that moment, I was glad that I had already told Stephanie about Ashton and my relationship, whatever kind it was, as seeing him kiss me would have been shocking for her otherwise. I looked at him slightly wide eyes, but then he tapped my forehead lightly, like he usually does and smiled. "That's better."

"F*ck! You two are too cute; it makes me want to puke." A familiar voice reached my ears and before I knew it, Ashton was pushed aside and I was pulled in a forced hug by none other than Ashton's best friend. Laughter erupted from my lips as I met him after days. "I feel betrayed, Elena!" He exclaimed the moment he pulled back from the hug.

I grinned. "Okay. And you are?"

"Stefan." He winked, making me laugh.

My eyes fell on Ashton, who was looking at me with a little smile on his face. I raised my eyebrows at him and he shook his head in reply. "He is f*cked up."

Laughing, I stepped towards him and teased him. "You must be Damon."

He chuckled. "I have never really watched the series. So, just tell me whether Damon is a sexy beast like me, if not, then I'll choose some other hotter character."

I laughed at his cockiness and told him with a wink, "I always liked Damon better than Stefan."

"Well, you should have said that to me in the beginning. But no, you took so many seasons to finally choose one of us. Now, I'm heartbroken!" His friend interrupted us in an over dramatic voice, making me laugh yet again.

"I missed you." I told Stefan.

He grinned and looked at Ashton. "See Damon, I told you she was missing her first love."

Ashton rolled his eyes and pushed Stefan inside the apartment. I muttered an apology for not letting them enter due to my excitement of meeting him. I shut the door once they were inside to be greeted by awkward silence.

Stephanie broke the silence by smiling a little and muttered, "Hi."

I bit my lip, cursing myself for forgetting that Steph was here, and seeing her must be nothing less than awkward for Stefan.

He smiled at her and asked, "How are you?" Such a simple question had never seemed more forced to me as it did from Stefan's mouth.

"Good. I'm good," Stephanie answered with a nod and a smile of her own. "How are you?" she asked, and I noticed that she looked genuinely curious to know.

"Great." He grinned, but again, his grin looked a little forced. I felt terrible for them. Probably, Ashton felt the same as he looked at me with a grimace on his face, telling me that like me, he didn't know what to say or do, while Stephanie and his friend were busy staring at each other.

I shrugged in reply as I bit my lower lip. "Would you like to have something to drink or eat?" I asked from no one in particular, but just to break the ice.

Stephanie was the first to reply. "I'm just leaving. I've already spent half of my working day with you. Can't afford to go any later." She was ready to leave with her bag in her hand and a smile on her face.

The men in the room didn't respond and within a few seconds, she was by my side, about to open the door and step out of it. We hugged and I whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

She shushed me as she pulled away from the hug. "Cut it out." Passing a soothing smile in my direction, she stepped away and pulled the door handle. Once she stepped out of the apartment, she turned around and whispered back, "Tell him, okay? And just remember that whatever happens, I'm with you. Always."

With too many emotions in my heart, I told her, "Thank you, Steph."

She shushed me, again. "Isn't it what best friends are for?" I smiled back at her. "I should leave now." With one last hug, she went her way, leaving me standing at the door with too many thoughts in my mind.

Seeing Ashton's best friend being quiet and not his hyper self wasn't something I liked. Was it love that he felt for her? Truth be told, I wanted Stephanie to take the decision that she had taken. She needed time to get over Shane. Once she would be over him and maybe if they meet again, they would click like two people should actually click and fall in love with one another; without using the other as a rebound.

I was brought back to reality, when I felt a pair of familiar, strong pair of hands wrap around my waist. In reflex, I leaned my body against his, melting in his strong embrace. He kissed the side of my head, making me sigh in contentment. "Love sucks."

A hearty chuckle escaped my lips and I turned around to face him. His friend broke our eye contact when he growled, "Love is such a pain in my fine and sexy a*s."

We looked towards him to find him sprawled on my lovely couch. We chuckled at his statement and I told Ashton, "I like that as the definition of the day."

He laughed loudly. "I totally agree with him on that."

I widened