The rest of the week went by smoothly. Trip agreed to keep a low profile and get out of the city . I spent most of my week helping him find a nice home and then interviewed different people for the specialities I required . Of course once we had a set staff we needed them to all sign NDA contracts to make sure that not a word got out.

We were doing a complete overhaul and I was to oversee that this was a complete success . The only way to clean up his image was to clean him up completely . He fought me on a few things but I won out every time .

Philips and Wright were impressed , so far , and so they left me to do my work . Of course Trip wasn't my only client so I would be making a few visits throughout the week to his home and back into the city.

Saturday was finally here and I was happy to finally be away from work things . Alex and I texted a few times during the week, mostly him asking me how everything was coming along . Once the NDA's were signed, I told him that I cant disclose any more information to him .

Sonja hardly saw me so while I was getting ready she sat in my bed playing catch up, "So you're going on a date tonight with Alex?" She grins.

"We're going to dinner . I called him out about Penny , remember?" I remind her , "So he's going to explain everything to me tonight."

"It doesn't bother you? That he's in love with another woman?"

"Why would it bother me? He's not really my boyfriend. He's become a good friend , I suppose, but I'm not romantically interested in him," I tell her.

"That's probably because you're interested in his older, much hotter- if that was even possible, brother," she says while pressing the back of her hand to her forehead and taking a faint.

"Warren is my 'boyfriend's' brother. Nothing more , nothing less," I say .

"That's not what your body was saying," I regret telling her about that, "there's nothing wrong with fantasizing about the man."

"There is, it'll make me lose my concentration," I say in irritation.

"Concentration for what?" She goads me.

"The plan!"

Smirking, "The plan was to stick it to Dylan and Bitchny. And you already succeeded during brunch. They already expect you guys at the wedding so that's already solid."

I give her an annoyed look, "Yes but I'm also helping him . My part is taken care of but his isn't yet . Plus there's more to this Penelope story then he leads on . I'm curious."

"So you're sure it's not jealousy?" She asks .

"Positive. I have so much other stuff on my plate . Plus Trip is taking a good chunk of my time."

"Fine fine... any idea where Alex is taking you?"

"He said to dress up nicely, I'm not sure, but I hope this is okay, " I turn around showing off my LBD* (little black dress).

"It's perfect, just enough cleavage to entice your 'boyfriend'. "

I shake my head , she's definitely not letting this go.

○○○

Alex pulls up to my apartment and does the gentleman thing and comes up to our door . I was a bit surprised by the gesture , to which was not lost on Sonja . All she did was smirk .

"You look beautiful tonight," he says giving me an appreciative look.

I blushed at the compliment and returned it with , "you look rather handsome yourself," I say as I drank in his appearance . He's wearing a white button down with the sleeves rolled up , accentuating his biceps. They're tucked into his gray slacks that hug his backside in the right spot . I couldn't help but admire the vision in front of me.

"Shall we?" He opens the door for me and helps me inside his car . Something I took note of from the beginning . He is a true gentleman through and through .

"Where are we going? I thought we were going to your place , but then you told me to dress up?"

"We're still going to my place but I wanted to do this right."

And that's when it hit me, this was a date . Right? I tried to push that thought aside because if it were indeed a date, then this could only spell out disaster.

The drive didn't take long as we pulled up to this large building . Of course he would be staying in something this ritzy . He waves at the doorman and we go inside .

Alex presses the button to the second to top floor , I noticed that it requires a special key. When the doors opened I was surprised because I thought that maybe there were a few other tenants sharing a floor . I was wrong because he had it all to himself.

"Welcome to my place," he says with a smile .

I walk in , in awe of how massive it is . There's a rustic quality about it while still being quite lavish . And then the savory aroma hits me and my stomach growls.

"Sounds like you're hungry, I'll give you a tour AFTER we eat."

I give him a shy smile and he leads me to his open concept kitchen with a perfectly laid out display of food , "Alex! This is wonderful. Did you cook our meal?"

Waiting for him to correct me and tell me that he had a chef or he ordered the food he says , "I did. I spent most of the day preparing dinner."

"Wow, you didn't have to go through all that trouble," I feel a bit embarrassed that he felt like he should pull out all the stops.

"It's fine, I enjoy cooking . Besides you're helping me and my brother out. It's the least I can do."

"Well , if this is some form of payment then I'll give partial credit . Now if this is a bribe, I may have to decline," I joke around.

He laughs and we sit down . After getting some much needed food in me , I sat there looking at Alex. He surprises me everytime we hang out . But that's not what I'm doing here tonight . He said I would get answers and I will not be deterred because of some yummy food.

I decide to ease into the questioning , "Where'd you learn to cook?"

"I traveled a lot , learned culinary from different people , different countries . I enjoy it, do you cook?"

"Only the basics, although I do have a specialty and if you're good you may ne privy to it," I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

"Alright, I guess I'll be on my best behavior."

And then I ripped the bandaid off , "So tell me about Penelope."

He sighed , "I thought you'd forget ."

"Obviously I didn't, is there another layer to our plan that I need to prepare for?" I genuinely wanted to know . I liked being prepared .

"No , nothing will come out of it . It was ...," he pauses to take a moment to think , "I saw how they were together and how hard she tried with Warren . She leaned on me a lot and we grew close."

"So that's when you fell in love with her?" I finish .

"I guess you can say that . But it's been years since I last saw her."

"Did you feel that pull? That spark when you were near her?"

He shakes his head, "I felt comfort with her."

"If she said to you , Alex , I want to try things out , would you?"

"No, not right now . There's too much going on . But if it were a different situation , yes," he finally admits.

"I'm the post blocking you from pursuing her," I say outloud what I'm thinking . To which he knitted his brows together with concern.

"Not even close," he responds . And walks around the island and towards me .

"What?" Was the only thing I can say .

"Aria, when we came up with this plan I told you was in all the way . I can't hold up to my promise if I start chasing a woman that doesn't love me back," he says with conviction .

"I just didn't want you to think I'd hold you back," I begin to say to him , "we're friends and I only want to do what's best for you , just like you have my interest at heart."

"I know and I want you to feel confident about our fake relationship. We're going to be in it for a long moment."

"Can I ask you something?" I look at him.

"What?"

"Were you the reason why she left? Did something happen between you two?" What he told me only led me to think this .

He looked unsure but I told him it's okay , "One night she was crying to me about Warren. She had been pressuring him to tall about their future together. All she wanted to know was that they were heading towards marriage. When he couldn't even give her that reassurance she ran away from him ."

"Wow"

He continued , "I found her outside crying. So me being concerned I wrapped her up in a tight embrace while she sobbed into my shirt . I asked her what happened and she told me. She mentioned something he said , about Penny not being 'her'. She assumed there was another woman but there wasn't. In fact when I confronted him later about it he didn't know what I was talking about," he takes a breath , "that night Penny felt like she was being rejected and needed comfort. I did the worse thing a brother can do but I couldn't help myself so I kissed her. That kiss turned into something more. The next morning I woke up with a note saying that this was a mistake and then she was gone."

"Alex, I'm sorry . That must've stung," I said .

"I was angry at her but I wasn't nearly as devastated as Warren. She had called him to tell him that it was over . She told him between his inability to commit and her one night of indiscretion it wasn't going to work. A fight ensued after she admitted to him about cheating. She never told him it was me."

I give him a good look, "do you feel guilty?"

"I left the country because it began to eat away at me."

I put my hand on his shoulder and pulled him tightly to me , "you should tell him . He might hate you for a short while but you'll be able to clear your conscience."

"I know , will you be there as support?"

"That would be awkward," I point out .

He sighs, "You're right."

He steps back from me and we're only inches apart. Both of us suddenly aware of our proximity to each other . Our breaths become heavy and for some reason I feel like I'm under a spell. I blink slowly and see his eyes darken and that's when I snap out of it.

A nervous giggle escape my lips , "So are you going to give me a tour?"