"Boss, this just came for you," Tris said and opened the door as she knocked. He looked up a little shell-shocked, surrounded by his papers, which made her chuckle a little. "Looks like you might need this to distract you for a minute," she added, handing the box over to her boss. Luke frowned as he took it from her; he hadn't ordered anything, and he wasn't expecting anything from anyone.
"I have no idea..." he said as he took the tape off and started opening it. He laughed out loud when he realized it was a small fake Christmas tree and some simple decorations, so it wouldn't look pathetically bare. "I was telling Becca last night that I never put up any decorations in here, so she got me this," he started telling his secretary, as he took the tree out of the box to show her.
"Last night?" Tris focused on that piece of information, rather than the tree.
"Oh yeah, we went to the movies last night and then back to hers for a few drinks," Luke nodded, not thinking it was a big deal. "I need a break from these," he gestured to the papers on his desk, "fancy helping?"
"It's such a small tree, you'll manage," his secretary told him cheekily and headed back to her own desk. He rolled his eyes as he chuckled, seeing what else Becca had included in the box. It had a small string of lights, a few small, differently colored baubles and a few small ornaments.
"Tris, can you get me the phone number for a florist?" he called as he started setting the tree up on the cabinet of drawers in the corner. It would leave his desk free, but he could still enjoy it when he was snowed under in work.
"Anything specific you'd like me to order?" Tris asked, holding the number on a post-it as she leaned against the door opening.
"No, I think I would like to do this one myself," Luke said, taking the post-it and dialing the number. She smiled knowingly as she sat back down at her desk to continue the typing he'd given her earlier. "Hi, I would like to place an order for a delivery of a dozen red roses, for today please," he started, pacing back and forth into his office and back out towards his secretary. "Oh, and a poinsettia as well," he added, making the order a little more Christmassy and longer lasting than just the roses. "They're for Becca Swindell," he answered, turning back towards Tris's desk and feeling the satisfaction of seeing Derek's annoyed look as he overheard what Luke was doing. "Nothing fancy, just have it say 'thanks for a wonderful night. Love, Luke," he told them now, noticing his colleague crumple up the piece of paper he was holding before storming into his office to get away.
Becca was staring at her screen blankly. After the good start to the article earlier in the week, she was now stuck on how to continue. Plus, Clara and Moira had been texting her non-stop, despite being on holiday, wanting to know what had happened and who the guy in the photos on Facebook was. She wasn't sure yet if she should tell them the whole truth, but she told them his name and that he was a divorce lawyer.
"Eh... Becca, there's a delivery for you?" her work, or lack thereof, was interrupted by the receptionist. She stepped aside for the delivery man, holding a dozen roses and a potted poinsettia.
"Are you sure they're for me?" Becca asked a little embarrassed, especially when she saw her colleague Janine, sat opposite her, look at her jealously.
"Becca Swindell?" the delivery man said gruffly, seeing her nod. "Then they're for you," he put the poinsettia down on her desk first, followed by the roses. "Sign here," he instructed her, holding his delivery note out to her. As soon as she'd signed, he followed the receptionist back to the main door as her colleagues turned their attention to her and the flowers.
"Those look expensive," Janine commented a little jealously, looking at the roses and trying to catch a glimpse of the card attached to them. Becca was just about able to grab it and pull it off before her colleague could read it.
"Who are they from?" another colleague, Betty, asked curiously.
"No one," she answered as she spotted his name on the card, a blush on her cheeks that she had no control over.
"Oh, oh, was it that handsome man that picked you up for your date yesterday?" a third, Pennie, said as she came over from her own desk. Becca tried not to grimace: Pennie was the gossip of the office and she would hear of nothing else for weeks if she confirmed the flowers were from Luke. Then again, a colleague of hers might be friends with Kirsty and it could get back to her; it's such a small world and you never know who people are friends with or have connections with outside of work. So, in front of her colleagues, she opened the note and read it.
"Yes, they're from him," she sighed with an enamored smile, tucking the card into her bag so no one else could read it. They would assume that Becca and Luke had done a whole lot more than just the movie and talking. Of course, that could be a good thing to get back to Kirsty or Derek, but she wasn't sure she wanted people to think she couldn't control herself that soon into a new relationship and so quickly after ending the first. "But you know I'm not going to tell you anymore, so let's get back to work huh?" Becca told them now, rearranging her desk to make space for the roses and poinsettia. To prove her words, she then ignored the flowers and her colleagues to concentrate back on her computer screen and the article that had two paragraphs and a title. Pennie and Janine continued talking to each other for a few more minutes, trying to catch their colleague's eye and to see if Becca would give anything more away by texting or ringing her apparent new beau. It took them over an hour before they finally backed away and started focusing on their own work.
Becca took a quick peek through her eyelashes to see where Janine's attention lay, before picking her phone up and taking a quick picture of the flowers. 'So I received a bit of an embarrassingly impressive bouquet of red roses at work đ thank you x,' she sent to Luke along with the picture. She also posted a picture of it on her Facebook page, just simply tagging him and adding a little heart emoticon.
'You deserve them. Thank you for my little Xmas tree x,' Luke responded quite quickly, with a picture of his little decorated tree.
'Looking good! x,' she texted back before putting her phone away and getting back to work for real this time.
"Becca, call us back! We need to talk to you! What's going on with you? First you break up with Derek and now you keep tagging this Luke. Tell us everything!"
Becca grimaced as she listened to the voicemail her friends had left her after posting a picture of the flowers and a selfie of the two of them at Santa's Ranch, after they'd run into each other at the North Star Mall. They'd both gone to the Salvation Army, separately, to pick a wish list from their Angel Tree for a local child in need and, when they'd run into each other, decided to go visit Santa's Ranch afterwards. It was a little outside of San Antonio, but they had the best light displays around and, though they both wanted to go anyway, Luke thought there was a good chance Kirsty could be there or be jealous if she heard he'd gone with someone else, as it had been their tradition the last few years. Becca was particularly excited about the giant Snoopy, dinosaur and penguin light displays, which Luke placated her in. They had a lot of fun walking around, taking pictures, drinking hot cocoa and just having fun as friends; they were both surprised at how easy it turned out the other was to talk to and how at ease they felt around each other. Apart from when they were playing up to the camera for the odd couply-looking photo, it felt like they were like any other friend. It didn't feel like they were faking it.
Becca hadn't really had a chance to talk to her friends since she'd first told them he was a lawyer a few days ago, the day he'd sent her the flowers. She was actually dreading telling the truth, and she still wasn't sure if she was going to or not. She took a couple of deep breaths before dialing Clara's number, curling up in her armchair.
"Becca!" her friend shrieked in her ear.
"Hey Clara," she said slowly, having held her phone away from her ear.
"Finally! Tell us everything," Clara instructed her, putting her phone on speaker so Moira could hear their friend as well.
"You're the ones on holiday. What have you been up to? Are you having fun?" Becca tried to put off telling them about Luke.
"Never mind that," Moira set her straight. "We want to know about you. So we get why you dumped Derek, you're well-shot of him," she continued now, making her friend frown; Becca had always thought her friends liked Derek. Hopefully they were just trying to be supportive now, rather than never mentioned not liking him before. "But where's this Luke come from? And so quickly?" the questions kept coming before she could get a word in edge way.
"I actually already kind of knew him, but I met him last week at 502 Bar," Becca started now.
"Wait, how did you already know him?" Clara interrupted.
"He is a colleague of Derek's," she admitted, slowly and guiltily.
"As in your ex-boyfriend Derek?!" both of her friends exclaimed.
"Yes but..."
"Oh Bexx, what are you doing?"
"It's not like that," she interrupted them this time.
"Then, what is it like? You don't normally not tell us things," Moira asked, having exchanged looks with Clara. They were on their hotel room balcony, enjoying the warm and sunny afternoon, having already discussed how, in a way, their friend had been lucky to not have come with them. If she had, she would have never seen Derek come home with Gina and therefore still been oblivious that he was a cheat. But having said that, if the time line was as it appeared she'd only met or started dating Luke a few days after she'd broken up with Derek. And that didn't seem healthy, or indeed like her usual self.
"It's not what you think," Becca said with a sigh, preparing herself that she was going to have to tell them. "His girlfriend declined his proposal just over a month ago and, as we got to talking and drinking, we agreed to..." she started, not sure how to say the rest.
"You agreed to...?" Clara prompted her.
"We agreed to get back at Kirsty and Derek by... pretending to be dating," she said quickly to get it over with. Her explanation was met with silence. "Guys?"
"Let me get this straight," Moira said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes. "You are pretending to date your ex-boyfriend's co-worker, in order to get back at both your exes?"
"Yeah... pretty much," Becca nodded, pulling her knees up against her chest as she sank back into her chair. She was settling herself in for the lecture she knew was coming.
"Becca, that is such a bad idea!" her friend told her. "How do you know this Luke guy isn't just using this as a rouse to have sex with you?" Moira said.
"Oh, come on, I'm not that stupid. We're only pretending and only kiss, in public, when strictly necessary," she responded. "There's no sex involved, at all."
"But how do you mean, you pretend?" Clara asked now, it made no sense.
"We go on one public date a week with not too much touchy-feely, but hand-holding when needed. We've only kissed twice, when Derek was around to see. He's sent me flowers, I sent him a small Christmas tree for his office. It's all mostly public stuff," Becca explained, going into a few more details in the hope of sounding a little less crazy.
"I still don't see how this is going to end well," Moira commented after a few seconds.
"We've got an agreement. It'll be fine," her friend answered with a shrug they couldn't see, mostly to convince herself if she was honest. But she was choosing not to think about how this could end badly for her.
"I'm guessing you don't want to hear you're being silly or stupid?" Clara asked, getting a "uh huh" in response. "In that case... good luck and be careful," she wished, seeing their third friend sat next to her give her a worried look.
"Thanks girls," Becca smiled, thinking she would tell them about going to Chicago with him some other time. That was a different kind of stupid and could wait. Her friends would be back before she left but she would probably not tell them in person, so they couldn't talk her out of it: a deal was a deal. And she and Luke were going to book the tickets after their next date.
"Bowling?" Becca asked surprised as she got out of the car. Her date hadn't said what they were going to do tonight, just that she'd need to be comfortably dressed. She'd chosen her comfiest pair of jeans, a black strappy top and a comfy and bulky but stylish jumper. "Why didn't we go to the Bowlero?" she continued, knowing there was a bowling alley not too far from either of their apartments.
"This is more in Kirsty's side of town," Luke started to answer, knowing that would explain it for the most part, as he closed the car door once she'd grabbed her bag. "And the food here is quite good too," he added, holding his hand out for her to take if she wanted. She didn't hesitate as she comfortably slipped her hand in his, as he led the way towards the bowling alley. He too was wearing jeans and a dark blue, fitted T-shirt, currently still hidden under a black leather jacket.
"Okay, sounds good," she nodded with a smile. Their arrangement had to work for both of them and, so far, it had mostly benefited her. She liked going bowling, even if she wasn't great; she usually managed to still have fun because her friends weren't that good either. Derek had given up on going bowling with her quite soon into their relationship, as it frustrated him too much to put up with her low scores and gutter balls.
"Food first?" he asked. You were able to order snacks and drinks during the bowling, but it'd be hard to eat properly with just the two of them playing.
"Yes please," Becca said, feeling quite hungry. He hadn't booked the lane for another hour, so they should have plenty of time to eat. "You've been here often then?" she asked, as they now waited in line to be seated and to check in for their lane.
"I wouldn't say often, but a couple of times," Luke shrugged. "How's your article going?" he asked now, trying not to look around too much to see if his ex was around. He was torn between wanting her to be there and not wanting to see her. Not for the first time, he thought to himself that he didn't want to waste too much time thinking about Kirsty anymore, especially as he was on a date with a very beautiful, funny and kind woman.
"So-so, it's easier to find Christmassy things to do than it is to find non-festive things to do and survive the season," she answered with a similar shrug and a similar thought that she was kind of hoping that they wouldn't run into his ex, even if it was a little unfair as he had obviously had to put up with her ex a couple of times already. He'd shown her one picture before they went to Santa's Ranch earlier in the week and Becca had thought Kirsty looked the complete opposite of what she thought Luke would go for. Kirsty had very pale blonde hair, model looks and a kind of hippie vibe going on. She sounded a little hippie too, but she was probably just judging her a little harshly based on what Luke had told her about how the relationship had ended.
He paid for bowling before they were taken to one of the side booths where people sat down to have a proper meal. "Oeh, shall we share nachos?" Becca suggested when she spotted them on the menu, making him laugh.
"Sounds good."
They continued to have a good conversation, getting to know each other better. They also first broached the topic of the office Christmas party, which would be in two weeks' time. It was always a big deal for the firm, as they loved Christmas and used the party to announce who'd be making partner, and they loved getting to know their lawyers' partners. This meant Becca was of course already known to them and they would need to spin it so that it wouldn't go against Derek professionally. This agreement was never supposed to jeopardize his career, just to get back at him personally. They agreed that the simplest story would be least likely to go wrong; Becca and Derek had grown apart and broken up on a consensual basis. Derek had then started to see Gina and Luke had asked Becca out on a date. Simple.
They were just about to head over to their lane when Becca noticed that her date froze in place. She looked around her to try and figure out what had him spooked. She was just about to give up when she spotted the blonde who she thought looked like a hippie; she was dressed like one too. "Is that her?" she asked softly, seeing him nod.
"Sorry, I've not really seen her since I found out she's engaged," Luke answered in the same tone.
"Hey... it's okay. I get it," Becca assured him, stepping up closer to him as she took hold of his hand. "You have nothing to apologize for," she continued, leaning into him a little to comfort him. "Come on, it's our turn to bowl," she said a little louder now, seeing his eyes finally settle on her. He smiled a little, thinking she was pretty awesome.
"Let's go," he agreed, giving her hand a squeeze as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you," he said softly before he led the way to their lane. "So... how good are you at bowling?" Luke asked as he started typing in their names on the computer to set up.
"Not very..." Becca answered honestly. "Please tell me you're not horribly competitive," she added hopefully, seeing straightaway that hope was in vain.
"I promise not to lie about it," he offered with a chuckle, but that was as far as he was willing to go. "I'll even let you go first," he said with a gallant bow. She tried to give him a fake smile back, but it was closer to a grimace; she didn't want to put him off. Becca tried a couple of balls to check their weight before finally picking one up. "Good luck," he tried not to sound too taunting.
"Shut up," she muttered, only making him laugh, as she stepped up towards the start of the lane. She took a deep breath and threw the ball down the lane. It went straight for a little bit before tailing off to the right and into the gutter just before it would've hit the pins. "Oh, come on," she whined before going back to get a second ball.
"Your swing back is too wild," Luke commented simply, getting a confused look back before she decided to ignore it. This time she managed to clip two of the side pins. "Watch me, okay?" he advised her as he picked up his heavier ball.
"If you're trying to get me to ogle you, you really need to come up with a better line," Becca commented teasingly as she passed him to sit down. He looked surprised for a second before giving her a wink and lining up for his throw. She grimaced when he threw a spare: this could be a long night for her.
"Want me to help you?" he offered as she got up to pick up a new ball.
"Oh, that's so cliché," she groaned, making him laugh again before he stepped up behind her.
"May I?" he asked as he put his arms around her, his right hand gently taking hold of her right lower arm. She barely nodded, surprised at the heavy feeling in her stomach, blaming it on the nachos and burger she'd had. "Bring the ball up, so you're just looking over it at the pins," he started his instructions softly in her ear. "Aim for the middle of the front pin. Take a slight step forward with your left leg," Luke continued, using his left hand to put some guided pressure on her hip. She was glad he couldn't see her face, because she could've sworn she'd started blushing as his hand stayed there. "Swing this arm back, in a straight line, keeping your eyes on the pins," he said as he gently pulled her arm back. Becca couldn't help glance at him, his face so close to hers. "Eyes on the pins," he teased her when he noticed, her green eyes quickly shooting back to the front. "Extend back and bring it forward before releasing," he added, bracing himself for her to just drop it. But she ended up keeping hold of the ball, not thinking it would have enough speed on it now to even make it close to the pins. "Bring your leg back and we'll do the whole thing faster," Luke said. The woman in his arms nodded slightly as she did so and let him guide her through the movements. Because they were throwing the ball together, it didn't go down the lane very fast, but it did go straight and it did hit the first couple of pins over.
"Oh yeey!" Becca squealed happily, turning around to hug him.
"Well done," he chuckled, hugging her closer.
A tentative, "Luke?" made them let go of each other, to see Kirsty stood by their computer.
"Oh hey, Kirsty," he said a little awkwardly, caught between wanting to let go of Becca because of his ex-girlfriend and wanting to grab onto her tighter to show her off. The blonde gave her ex-boyfriend a stellar smile, at which the woman in his arms was surprised to feel a jealous twinge. "This is Becca, my..." Luke remembered to introduce her, but not sure what to introduce her as.
"His new girlfriend," Becca helped him out, giving the woman who used to be in his life an approximation of a friendly smile.
If Kirsty was surprised to hear that word, she managed not to show it. "Nice to meet you," she nodded. "Have fun," she added before continuing on to her own lane where she was playing with her fiancé and his two friends.