She always worried that none of them had any sense. If things kept going like this, she'd have no choice but to get her dad involved and let him deal with Latham directly.
"Just keep your mom in check. That's all I'm asking."
After hanging up on Mabel, Lance dialed Octavia right away.
"What's up, son?" Octavia answered, a little surprised. She still didn't know what had happened. Lance had been ignoring her for a couple days, clearly mad, which she understood. Now that he was calling first, she figured maybe he finally realized she meant well.
“Mom, have you been bothering Mabel these past couple days?” Lance didn't have the energy for small talk.
Octavia immediately bristled. Bothering? Was that really how her own son talked to her?
“I just wanted her to understand that you and Claire will never work out. You're willing to give Mabel a shot, right? If our families could come together, wouldn't that be great for everyone?" Octavia didn't think she'd done anything wrong. She was just desperate. She never knew when that person behind the scenes might send those photos to Latham again. She just couldn't relax until her son's situation settled down.
"You're only making things hard for Mabel. Is it really worth it?" Lance honestly couldn't wrap his head around his mom's thinking.
Octavia frowned. "She complained about me to you? I just told her to get to know you. How is that causing trouble?"
To her, Lance was a catch. If Mabel could be with him, she was the lucky one. Now Mabel was acting like her son wasn't good enough? Of course Octavia wasn't happy.
"Just let it be, Mom. If she wants nothing to do with me, then drop it."
He softened his voice, trying again. "Mabel's family isn't some small operation. If you make them mad, they could make trouble for Dad at work. The whole company could pay for it."
Their family's company had gone all in on the Westside project. They couldn't afford even the smallest mistake. Making enemies with Mabel's family now would be a disaster.
"It can't be that serious, can it?” Octavia's heart skipped a beat. Mabel's family really did have power. If they wanted to mess with batham out of spite, who knew how bad things could get.
"Are you sure she really can't stand being friends with you, or is she just putting on an act?" Octavia thought maybe Mabel was just being dramatic. Lance had rejected her before, after all. Any girl would want to save face with a little resistance, right?
"She has no shortage of guys to date, Mom.” Lance could barely keep his cool. If
this wasn't his own mother, he would have lost it already.
“Okay, fine. I hear you," Octavia said, already thinking how she could talk to Henrietta and Mabel without being so obvious about it next time.
Once she promised to leave Mabel alone, Lance finally let himself breathe and set
his phone down. The final exams were over, yet he couldn't help but wonder what Claire was up to.
After debating for a while, he picked up the phone again and called her.
Claire had spent days buried in the lab, and today she'd finally wrapped everything up. As soon as she got home, she flopped onto the couch, exhausted, not wanting to move at all. If it wasn't for her plans to go out with Sophia and the others she wouldn't have pushed herself so hard this whole time.
The moment she saw Lance's name on her screen, she honestly didn't feel like answering. Still, she picked up.
"What's up?"
"What are you so busy with? Didn't you just finish your exams? Why do you sound so beat?"
For once, Lance actually sounded like he cared.