Chapter 172 - Stars Are Falling

Edward was quieter than usual. He tried his best to compose his inner self when he heard that Alicia wanted to invite that cute junior over to join them for lunch. The madwoman mentioned that Scarlet had a shy streak and warned Mike to watch his mouth.

On the surface, Edward looked like he was having a bad day. On the inside, he was full of many emotions. One side of him was thrilled to finally meet his texting pal and secret crush. A small part of him still wasn't keeping up with reality. The spy side of him knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to get closer to Scarlet so that he could watch over her better. Then again, the wolfish side of him wanted to use his mission as an excuse to get closer to Scarlet. He wanted to flirt with her just to watch her reactions and pretend to be a different person just so that he can protect both his texting buddy identity and his spy identity by hiding behind the new identity he had as Alicia's friend.

Edward knew that he wasn't being fair to Scarlet by pretending not to know her but he couldn't help it. Even though he was a great spy, he was still a coward when it came to his feelings. If it weren't for Elfie's warning last night, Edward would have gone straight for it. However, the hacker reminded him exactly how fragile Scarlet was when she wasn't putting up a strong front. It might not be obvious to many people but Edward trusted Elfie's judgement when he said Scarlet had PTSD and depression. It took one to know one after all.

"Sorry guys! This is Scarlet, the cutie I mentioned."

Scarlet blushed when Alicia referred to her as a 'cutie' but was unable to say anything. She could only look down in embarrassment but Mike didn't notice it. He grinned and introduced himself in a loud voice while offering a handshake. Scarlet accepted the handshake and Edward burned with jealousy on the inside even as his expression remained neutral. Instead of acting friendly with Scarlet, he maintained the character of a silent and emotionless jerk that he had around Alicia and her gang.

The writer didn't know why but she felt that the silent guy who simply nodded at her made her feel more comforting than the overwhelming characters in Alicia's gang. She had barely placed her bag down, choosing the seat beside Edward when Alicia dragged her away by the arm.

"W-wait! I haven't gotten my wallet..."

Alicia laughed. "You don't need that, it's on me today. Congratulations on surviving your very first class. Now, tell me all about it! Also, I hope you're not allergic to tuna melt sandwiches."

Edward's eyes followed the girls as they left and Mike was about to join them when he noticed Edward not moving from his spot.

"Bro, are you coming?"

The spy blinked. Was he spacing out? That wasn't good. As a spy that was totally unprofessional. He should be more careful about it but the way Scarlet walked up to place her bag beside him even in such a brief moment made such a deep impression on him that he lost his mind. In their brief encounter, Edward knew that he was a fool in love. He practically saw stars falling all around her with everything she did. He could still remember the smell of her shampoo and recognise the clothes she wore from the Golden Frost collection. Still, he insisted that he recognised them only because he was busy looking through everything that could possibly concern CEO Zhu and Golden Frost's collaboration for a hint on Pineapple Group's link to Anastasia.

Edward shook his head and told Mike that he would get something later. He offered to watch the bags for them and Mike raised a brow.

"The queue is going to be long by the time you get there. Why don't I order for you?" the jock offered and Edward considered it.

"Then, please get me tuna melts and a black iced coffee," he said and passed Mike some money.

The jock grinned and jogged to beat the queue. The lunch rush was always the worst and usually, Edward hating jostling with the crowd. However, today he felt slightly blue about not joining in with the crowd. It would have been a good excuse to loiter around and observe Scarlet from a closer distance without getting spotted for it. Still, he didn't mind. There would be plenty of chances in the future if he played his cards right. For now, he was perfectly content with watching Scarlet from his seat as Alicia shoved drinks into her arms and walked to the cashier as Scarlet toddler behind like a lost duckling.

He couldn't help but chuckle and was glad that none of his friends were here. If they saw such a sappy expression on his face, he would never hear the end of it. It took them fifteen minutes to get food and return to the table so Edward took that time to compose himself and fix that aloof mask in place before Scarlet returned.

For the first time in his life, Edward was thankful for Alicia's existence. Scarlet was easily distracted with the girl asking her many questions so Edward could steal some glances in Scarlet's direction to see how she ate. He didn't know if it was Alicia's recommendation that influenced Scarlet's decision for lunch but his heart did a little somersault when he noticed that they ordered the exact same things.

"Do you like black coffee too?" Edward asked after a while.

The group fell silent when Edward spoke. It was rare for Edward to initiate conversation and even the person who spoke seemed a little taken aback by the words that left his lips. Scarlet didn't notice the difference in atmosphere and nodded absent-mindedly while chewing. She had some cheese stuck by the side of her mouth and everyone had to look away to not blush at how much Scarlet resembled a child holding the tuna sandwich with both hands while eating messily. Edward didn't know what possessed him but he grabbed some tissue and helped to wipe the mess off Scarlet's face before going back to his meal.

Alicia held her breath and held onto Beatrice's hands while Mandy smacked Mike excitedly. The jock's mouth was wide open with Edward's bold action and was about to say something when Mandy stuffed his mouth so that he couldn't ruin the moment.

"You like black coffee as well? My sister hates it but I think the bitter taste is refreshing. I don't get to eat a lot when I work so black coffee is one of the things I can enjoy on the set."

Edward raised a brow. "On the set?"

Scarlet froze and realized that she had said something wrong. She had gotten so used to talking about her work with Alex that she forgot who she was supposed to be in the university. Nervous, Scarlet waved her hand to explain herself and come up with an excuse. Edward couldn't hold himself back and chuckled at how fl.u.s.tered Scarlet had gotten, bringing a new shade of red to Scarlet's face.

From the sideline, Alicia glanced between Edward and Scarlet with furrowed brows. For the icicle king to laugh and initiate conversation, it was a first for anyone. Her matchmaker senses were tingling the more she looked at how Edward looked at Scarlet.

"I'm going to the ladies. Beatrice, Mandy you wanna come?" Alicia asked and gave them a strange look that made Scarlet wonder what that was all about.

When the girls were gone, Scarlet found the silence a little hard to handle. Edward was strangely comfortable to be around with his lack of conversation that Scarlet couldn't join. She didn't know much about university life to join in the gossip so she appreciated the temporary peace and ate quickly. Still, her heart was racing with what Edward did earlier. his actions seemed very natural as if he was used to caring for someone younger when he cleaned her face, embarrassing the writer when he did so.

Mike yawned and got up. "I'm going to get myself some coffee before the next class. "Scarlet, where is your next class? We can take you there before we leave for our lecture."

Scarlet cleaned up quickly and pulled out her phone to check through the timetable. Edward leaned over for a look, taking the opportunity to catch a whiff of her shampoo. For some reason it smelled like strawberries and Edward might get addicted to it if nobody stopped him. He tried not to be creepy and quickly pulled back.

"It's in our old criminal psychology tutorial classroom. There's still time so you can get coffee first."

Mike grinned and gave Edward a thumbs-up before disappearing, leaving Scarlet alone with Edward who checked his phone. With nothing better to do, Scarlet started checking her phone as well for a certain text buddy.

Edward almost jumped out of his skin when Frost texted him. Quickly, he peeked up to Scarlet who had a faint smile as she texted Jedd77. While Scarlet was on cloud nine, Edward was sweating bullets as he tried to figure out if Scarlet had discovered his identity.

Frost: Guess what?

Frost: I met that nice senior and her friends today for lunch.

Swallowing, Edward composed a reply and tried not to let the nervousness show on his face.

Jedd77: Really? How was it? Where were you having lunch?

Scarlet grinned and took a picture of the atrium before sending it to Edward. The spy quickly set his phone on silent mode so that Scarlet wouldn't figure it out. While it was a nerve-wracking experience texting Scarlet beside her, he couldn't help but keep up the risky game until Alicia and the girls returned from the bathroom.

"Sorry for the wait! Where's Mike?" she asked.

"He went to get coffee. What time is it?" Edward asked.

Beatrice checked the time and gasped. "We have ten minutes to scoot. I'll find Mike, you grab his stuff and head to the lecture to book us seats."

Edward refused. "You girls do it. I'm escorting this lady to her class before I join you."

Mandy blinked. "Oh yes, maybe that's a good idea. Give me your bag then, I'll carry it over."

Edward shook his head and cleared the table before getting up with Scarlet following his actions. They carried their belongings and bade the girls goodbye before leaving for Scarlet's lesson venue.

Once they were gone, Mandy couldn't hold back her smirk and Alicia squealed. "See? I called it! He's got a crush on her!"

Beatrice scowled. "I hope she dumps him. How dare that jerk fall in love first and leave us old hags still single?"

Alicia laughed. "Who cares? I need popcorn. Also, we should set up a group chat without Mike to add Scarlet in with Edward. I bet he won't quit this group chat if she is inside."

The other girls agreed and quickly got to work while they hurried for their next lecture.