"Take the rest of the day off, we will unpack your stuff," he said. I was thinking about it, but since it was just my second day, I was not entertaining that thought. But definitely, my apartment was a mess, and having no time to unpack was a real problem.
"Hmm.. why are you so concerned?" I asked with a light chuckle. "Well, you can't question my intentions after that pact, doesn't it?" He did have a point, I thought; I winked in response and got up from my seat dialing Jeffrey's number. He picks up in three rings, "Hey Jeffrey! It's me, Megan. I think I should head back home as I haven't done any unpacking yet, and it's getting messier every day. Would it be okay?"
He takes a moment and answers, "Of course! You did a good job today, I am happy with your selection. You can go home and unpack, and rest well!" It was nice to hear some compliments from a boss that I worked for the first time. I smiled broadly and turned to look at Dylan who was paying our bill; our eyes met at the exact moment, making me go blank for a minute.
"Umm.. Thank you so much, Jeffrey! You're an amazing boss." I answered; Dylan smiled at me seeing me smile; maybe he understood that I am getting a day off. "Oh! Thanks, Meg, by the way, call me Jeff! Have a goodnight," he said. I smiled in response and said, "Goodnight, Jeff!" As I disconnected, it hit me, wow, is he trying to be all nice for something specific! I brushed it off as I knew this wasn't the time to think about it.
I walked back to the patio where Dylan was waiting for me; he got up from his chair seeing me. "Shall we go?" he asked. I nodded, and we walked together to his car to proceed to my place. For a fact, I understood that this was like slow torture. Having a man like him around and not to taste him even once. As we were walking, his hands gently touched mine, making me retract immediately.
"We are not high schoolers, babe! He will have to do a lot of affectionate touching when my family's around, so get used to this!" He says and takes my hand in his and kisses it softly, making me almost faint then and there. This is going to be way harder than I thought. I look down in embarrassment and look for something to change the subject and get over my awkwardness.
"You still didn't tell me; where were you going?" I asked as we approached his car. He sprints to the shotgun side and opens the door for me, extending out his hand to help me get in. He closes the door and runs to the other side to get into the driver's seat. I sat there, stunned for a few minutes to get my head around the way he was treating me. "I had only a few patients scheduled today; residents were busy at a conference so, I was just going home, but then you fell from the sky in front of my car." He answers as he starts the ignition with his big smile.
I could see his laugh lines around his mouth, eyes. I was in utter admiration at a man like this, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself. "You okay?" he asks, turning to look at my face. I peel my eyes off his face and turn to look at the road. Before I could answer him, my phone started chiming, breaking my trance.
I look at the screen and see 'Carol calling...' Dylan looks at the screen and looks at me expectantly. I pick up and turn to him and gesture to keep his mouth shut. "Hi! Where are you? I thought I should come to your apartment and help you unpack tonight. Sorry, but I was busy yesterday, couldn't call."
"That's okay, and you don't have to come. I will manage it." I said, trying to hide my panicking voice. Dylan was trying to hold in his laugh seeing my expression and the struggle that I was going through; I scoffed at him in response.
"Hey! Carol! How are you doing?" Dylan shouts into my phone without any warning making me almost jump in my seat. "Oh my god! You're with Dylan? You fucking didn't tell me? Bitch!" I was sweating already, not knowing what to say to her now. "I will call you later, okay?" I said nervously. "You better do!" she said and disconnected the call.
"Why did you do that?" I turned to Dylan as soon as she disconnected. "Okay, I told you that there are few things that you will need to know; one of them is that my family is pretty spread out around NYC, so if we do this, we cannot afford to be discovered by anyone."
I narrowed my eyes at him; I didn't quite understand where he was going with this. "What does any of that have to do with you shouting into my phone while I am on a call with my friend?" He nods thoughtfully for a second; and said, " Well, that means, it is going to be a little secret between just us, but for the world, we are as real as any sexy, amazing couple could be, did you get it?"
I lean back into my seat, pondering over this whole thing in my head. I needed to know more. "Listen, I haven't agreed yet! So that was not cool. Besides, I need to know each and everything before I agree. Plus, we need to have a proper contract, stating everything that I will be entitled to after you succeed." Dylan looks at me with an evil grin and begins repeating, "Impressive! Very impressive!"
We were almost close to my apartment street, my head kept rolling through every scenario, and if this is something I should do. Any sane woman would just run as fast as she can and date someone who will just be normal. Then I turn to look at him, my heart skipped a beat, and a feeling of peace grows over it as if it knew; if the future holds pain, then be it, but I want him, at least while it lasts.
We entered my apartment; he looks around and counts the boxes we had to unpack, "Woah! Seven boxes? What do you women carry around so much? Even your bags are heavy!" I roll my eyes and retort back, "the essentials, sexist!" He chuckles and walks into the kitchen, "let's have some coffee first!" And get the kettle and start making the coffee. It was oddly satisfying to see him act like he owned this place.
I joined him in the kitchen after changing into my lounge shorts and an oversized hoodie; I didn't want to hint at him in any way that I wanted to break the pact. "So, where do you want to start?" I ask; he was pouring coffee into two mugs; he looks over his shoulder for a second realizing I was right behind him.
"Well, first is, we need to establish our dating scene!" He said, lifting both mugs and handing me one. "How?" I said as we both walked to the couch. "Well, that's how this is going to work. I won't be telling my family, but they are just going to know." I was still confused as we both sat down facing each other.
"See, it's pretty simple. We will do things that normal couples do, as in going out on dinners, vacations, couple spas, and whatever that couples do. Except what we do in the bedroom, of course!" His evil grin was back on his face, and I made a disgusted face at him in response. " So, by doing all this, how is your family going to be convinced that we are a couple?" I asked.
"Instagram, of course! I have a pretty good following, and since Michael is a celebrity, it won't take long that all of NYC to know, we are together." I look at him questioningly, "what does Michael have to do with any of this?" I asked.
"It's pretty simple, he is my best friend, and we make a lot of appearances together on his YouTube channel and his Instagram page. I will ask him to do a Collab with us together," he shrugs. I was confused with the whole scenario; it sounded almost like playing with fire, as I knew this means; I am going to be known around the city or probably across the States, and being part of a hoax, all this could backfire.
"Hold it right there; I am not sure about going that far. First, tell me more about your family, and what all dramas I will have to be part of?" I asked because I wanted to cut to the chase. He picks up a phone as if he was going to give me a family tour. I lean over to him to look into his phone as he opens his gallery.
"So, this is my family. That's mom, dad, sister, and grandma. Mom is sweet, she will like you a lot, and even dad will. They both are not much of a problem. But you got to be a little wary of my sister here; she can sniff my mischief from afar, so she will need more drama to win over. The villain here is grandma; she is the one who can see through me and say, she doesn't trust me with her husband's estate." I sigh as I look back at him.
The photograph looked lovely, such a beautiful family, they must have been on an expensive dinner or something when they took this picture. I remembered how my family uses to be; they never liked having dinner together and just ignored each other's existence altogether. He's so lucky, and he doesn't even realize it!
...to be continued.