Date Me, Mr. Archer

four | to her date

And even against all of this, the stupidest thing I'd done was let Bernard Black sit on the table with us at the cafe. I'd seen Vienna get super uncomfortable in his presence, under his touch and even though the slight use of Vienna The Virgin and the strings of hatred-filled stares that Vienna passed to Bernard did connect some dots, I wasn't sure what we were getting at. I hadn't told Bernard that we were getting lunch so him meeting us here was clear co-incidence and I was going to take advantage of it.

"What are you doing?" Vienna hissed, kicking me under the table, clearly unhappy by my choice of inviting Bernard over. Her pupils shook, a lodge formed in her throat as she placed her last bite of sandwich on the plate and washed the remnants down with water, her breathing getting uncomfortable.

"He's our client, be nice," I told her sternly. I had hated seeing her almost cry and that had nothing to do with our possible marriage but everything to do with how my heart felt. I wouldn't name what I felt so early since it'd only been a week since we met, but something about being with her thrilled me. Even her light-hearted jabs at guessing my name and quirky retorts sent my heart in an erratic lane and I was ready to explore more but first I wanted to know what the deal was between Vienna and Bernard.

"Hey man," Bernard slapped me on my shoulder, a smile lingering on his face that faded as soon as he saw Vienna on the other side of the table, avoiding his eyes. "Did I interrupt your date?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

Her eyes shot up, wide and frantic as she shook her head swiftly, her brown hair bouncing with every move. I pressed my fingers to my lips to stop myself from smiling. "No," she paused, looking in my direction for help but I tipped my chin, challenging her to go on. "Not at all. I just— we, um, are on a lunch. Like a business meeting. Right?"

My smile faded into an amused smirk and I smoothed the jacket of my three piece suit. Then, just to aggravate her more, I plucked a tissue from the box and leaned forward, dabbing the napkin on the corner of her lips. Bernard studied my movements and he stiffened, his jaw locking and palms curling into fists.

Vienna finally gained back her composure, seemingly returning from her perplexed state as she smacked my hand away, still alarmed. I laughed softly into my palm. "Right, a business meeting." Patting the seat next to me, I gestured Bernard to take a seat. "Let's discuss what we couldn't back in the morning, shall we?"

"What? Now?" Vienna asked, shifting in her seat.

I raised my brow at her. "Yes, now. Are you feeling unwell?"

She quickly blinked and took a deep breath. Her forehead wrinkled and even though she stared at me, I could tell by her eyes alone that her head was somewhere else, somewhere faraway, thinking. And when she finally blinked back, her eyes trained on mine again, she nodded firmly. "Let's get it over with."

She never once made eye-contact with Bernard and realising his stiff position from earlier when I pulled a stunt by wiping away her lips, I gathered they had been in a romantic relationship before. But Bernard calling her Viens The Virgin and her reaction to seeing him, her loathing the feel of his touch on her and the way she kept shifting uneasily in her seat gave it away. That he had done something so terrible that she hated him to a high extent.

And that was why I tensed when Bernard pulled his chair and lined it up next to Vienna, turning to her. She noticeably pushed her chair farther away from him and kept her gaze affixed on the table infront of her.