C24 When push comes to shove

Leila runs back to Dexter. "Sorry," she said, "I hope I didn't leave you waiting for too long."

"It's fine, but are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You looked a bit worried back there as you were answering the phone call."

"Oh, don't worry about that. It was just my mother," she froze, yet again. However, she quickly relaxed. She realized that she already told him about her mother before, "yeah, she's quite overbearing."

"I see. Your mother must be really worried about you."

"Yeah."

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Hmm?"

"You had a confession to make."

"Oh, I did! Uh..." He was right. She was going to confess to him everything. That she was just 16 and lied on the app.

"In fact," Dexter said, "I didn't get what you said last time. What was it that you told me? Something about the app?"

Leila stood there for a moment as she realized that Dexter had perhaps forgotten what was said earlier. In fact, Leila couldn't remember what she said either. All she knew was that she was attempting to tell him the truth before being interrupted.

"It can wait," she responds. "Let's just enjoy dinner, okay?"

Dexter nods in agreement and they both enter the restaurant.

They took a seat in the middle of the place. There were few people in the restaurant, which made Leila relieved. The last thing she needed was people staring at her. She had a feeling that she could only fool so many people.

"I wanted to get to know you better," Dexter said, "and figured a classy restaurant may be distracting. But I promise you, I'll take you someplace really nice if things go well... and I hope they do."

That feeling again in Leila's chest. What was it that she was feeling every time Dexter said something so sincere?

"Thank you," she said, struggling to get the words out. She puts her hand on her chest as she starts breathing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks.

"Yes. It's just that... it's nothing. I'm fine."

Leila's thoughts were still on her mother. She was so worried about what would happen when she came home. Her mother would yell and scream for sure and she would never hear the end of it. She was so controlling, Leila couldn't stand it. But there was hope. Her friend Tomi's mom knew Marigold. They had a strange relationship. They weren't friends, but Tomi's mother knew how to handle her. Looks like Leila was confiding in her mother once again.

So for now, she'd try to calm down and continue the date.

She had a bit of a plan. She wanted to learn more about Dexter, this man who was the new CEO of a car company. The thing was, she had a strange feeling in her gut. This was the man she rescued from the fire and he confessed that he had fallen in love with her. But was that really it? She had a hunch that there was more to Dexter than what he was letting on. She couldn't explain it, but as she thought back to the accident, as she pulled him out of that burning car, she can recall he briefly looked at her. Dexter even confirmed that was how it went. Leila couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something suspicious about all this.

"So, Dexter," she starts, "you found out I was the one who rescued you."

"I did. I was kind of certain for sure before, but when I saw your face, that's when I truly knew it was you. But why did you run away? Why did you hide the fact?"

Oh no. She was the one who was supposed to be asking questions, and now she was the one being asked. And there's no real explanation other than she needed to run home so her mom would not yell at her. She couldn't keep mentioning her mother, he might end up getting suspicious enough to find out her identity. How was she going to answer this question?