"Please don't think anything about what I am saying in the wrong way?" Andrew said. His tone was as neutral as it could be. It was as if he had no feeling of wrongdoing.
Was he planning this for a long time? I thought as I looked at the man. The calmness and the composure he showed right now was something that can only be achieved if one had thought about things very thoroughly.
'Was it the reason he picked me up in the morning because he wanted to talk about this? Did he wait for me for a long time in the evening as well for the same reason? Should I just leave this place and walk out? I should not be having dinner with this man at all.' I thought as I was about to act on them but Andrew's words stopped my moments.
"I'm not telling us to date for real. We just need to act or pretend. My family wants to see a girl beside me. Although I have been dodging the questions for a long time, they are persistent and from the looks of it, if I do not show my girlfriend to them they will make someone of their choice to date me with an intention of marriage. And I can see that even you are in the same situation as myself."
"I'm not saying that we need to be in love." Andrew continued with a smile. The smile showed that he was confident that it would work. "All we need to do is pretend in front of our family. It will be a matter of 2-3 days. Your mother wants to meet your boyfriend on Valentine's day and so do my parents. It is a good day to pretend we are a real couple."
Andrew leaned forward with a smile, "I will meet your family with you as your boyfriend and you meet mine as my girlfriend. Maybe we can go to your place in the morning and mine in the evening. It's just for a day and then we'll be on our way, nothing to do with each other, no entanglement at all, you'll be busy with your work and so will I."
"And if anything unusual came up?" I asked in a small voice. I was afraid to process it further. What if something came up? What if my mother or father wants to meet Andrew again. It was a possibility.
"If ever the situation calls for it, we work in the same company. We can always meet up to find a middle way. Think about it as a deal rather than being emotional right now."
I can understand what he was saying. My mind was processing it as well. I cannot deny the fact that I had to come up with a solution soon if I wanted my mother to get back from my back, but was this the only way there was to solve all of our problems?
"I need some time to think about it," I said honestly. "We have not known each other for a very long time."
I knew that the man would understand me. At Least I knew that much about Andrew.
"Let's get along with each other first. So that when we meet up with the parents we will not be too awkward." Andrew suggested making me irritated.
"But I haven't said yes?" I said as I raised my eyebrows. How can the man make plans all by himself when the other part is not ready?
"Yes, but let's just in case."
I was about to say something when the waiter came in with the food.
"I'm not saying that you cannot think about it. You can think about it while you eat?" Andrew said with a smile on his face, making my eyes burn with rage.
I've always felt that Andrew was a very sweet guy, smiling all the way, understanding what I was going through but now at this particular moment I feel like he was the most unreasonable man there was.
I should have known that handsome guys are usually like that. I rolled my eyes as I dug into the food. No matter what, the food was tasty. It felt like it could make my soul reach heaven.
I could taste all the flavors of the spices in them. It was my type of food, something I love to enjoy, but did Andrew know my taste? I was confused as I looked at him.
"Do you always order food like this food?"
Andrew nodded his head as he ate elegantly in front of me. "Yes, I like the taste of the food here. It satisfies my taste buds and my friend knows how I like them."
I hummed. I was surprised that my taste was not so different from Andrew's.
I could tell that Andrew was ambitious but our tastes were similar. Should I just have a word with him? Should I just accept his offer? That was the main point that revolved in my head.
I looked at the man, who ignored me completely. He did not even ask me if I liked the food. Andrew does change from time to time. Sometimes he is sweet as honey and at times he's as spicy as pepper.
"Do you know Jane?" I asked as I saw Andrea's face stiffen a little. "Jane told me something," I said as I observed the change in Andrew's. His lips twitched but his expression did not give him away. "She told me to be careful of you. That I should stay away from you."
Andrew smiled as he put his fork in his mouth. "Are you both close?"
"Yes, we are close. You see, we're almost like best friends." I said with a smile on my face.
"But haven't you just joined the company? You became best friends so soon?" I can feel the ridicule and judgment in Andrew's tone. "How long have you known each other for? A month or two?"
The irritation came back, "It doesn't matter how long we have known each other. What matters is the feeling that we get from one another. Sometimes people just connect and they do not need anything else and there are times when people stay together or have known each other for years and yet cannot trust one another."
Andrew nodded as he asked, "So you trust Jane's words?"
"Yes, I do trust her. There must be a reason for her to not like you, but I would like to experience it myself. I want to find out whether I should trust you or not."
Andrew smiled as he looked into my eyes. "Why don't you try and find out?