"We're all familiar with the phrase 'no strings attached' but what happens when the strings are attached?"
Chloe is 17 years old. She's shy but talkative once you know her, she has one dream - to become a chartered accountant. There is, however, on...
"Is it? Okay let's see, he's attractive and he's got the best voice, he can sing, he can cook and not to mention his body but you still have no feelings for him?" She asked like that was the most ridiculous thing ever.
Wait, why did Tina observe all those things about Paul? And his body? Seriously? Was she always checking Paul out?
"How do you know about his body?" I finally voiced out.
"Jealous, are we?"
"No!" I replied quickly. I wasn't jealous, was I? No, I wasn't. I mean, Paul did have an inviting body and it was quite obvious that girls checked him out so it was no big deal.
It is, to you.
Lord, I hated that tiny voice. "Chloe, admit it. You are jealous. You like him," I was about to argue when she continued, "You care about what his parents think of you and that says a lot, especially since you're supposed to be fake-dating."
"Well... um," I was thinking of something to say.
"My point exactly," she smiled to herself. I carried on with mixing and I was putting it in the oven when Paul walked in with Luke.
"Hey, sweetheart." Paul greeted me only and I liked that. I liked the attention that I received from him. He came up to me and pecked me on the cheek while Tina gave me a knowing look. Luke and Tina both stood there awkwardly. "Wait, aren't you guys supposed to be pretending or something?" This question came from Luke.
"Yeah, of course we are," Paul answered.
"So you guys pretend even when the person you're supposed to be pretending for isn't there?"
Paul and I shared a worried expression. I didn't exactly know what it was that we were worried about because we really were pretending.
"Well, yeah," I replied awkwardly, I didn't know what else to say.
"Oh, okay." Luke said while nodding his head slowly. I could still sense that he believed none of what we had said to him. When I turned to face Tina, she also had that disbelieving look on her face and, for some reason, I also didn't understand why Paul and I would pretend even in the absence of his parents. One other thing that I failed to understand was why I had no problem with it. I actually liked pretending to be Paul's girlfriend and that worried me. I wasn't supposed to like this. This was supposed to be strictly professional and, at that, I remembered that final clause of the contract.
There is no commitment or promise that the relationship will develop into something more. Therefore, there are to be no attached strings between the two parties.
Who else hated that last part?
I knew I did. And why was that? When I first read that clause I was both glad and disappointed. Here's why; I was glad because I could finally have something that would act as a boundary between the two of us and I was disappointed because, to me, this clause suggested that Paul never saw me fit to be his real girlfriend. The fact that he knew that our professional relationship would not develop into something more kind of disappointed me. Not that I had high hopes for being his girlfriend someday but still....
"So, are you excited about today's dinner?" Paul enquired. Tina and Luke were chatting in the living room and it was only Paul and I left in the kitchen. I was excited about the dinner but I was nervous, too. Of course I would never admit that to him so I told him that I was excited and left the "nervous" part unsaid. I didn't want him to know that I was nervous about dining with his parents at their house.
I was done making dessert. I went to take a much needed bath. I needed to relax if I wanted to be calm at dinner. I didn't know why I was so nervous about going to Paul's house. I mean, it was not like I hadn't met his parents before and they did like me - if I do say so myself. There was this funny feeling of wanting to be accepted by them and I didn't really need their acceptance because, let's face it, I was just his fake girlfriend.
When I got back from the bathroom I found Tina lying on my bed. We started searching for a proper outfit for me. We needed something decent but classy. We decided to go with my white long sleeved dress that was not too short, just above the knee. I wore it together with a pair of black heels. My makeup was not that much, although Tina had painted my nails orange and I also wore orange eyeshadow.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
We stepped out of my room and found Luke and Paul talking in suspiciously low voices. As much as I wanted to ask what that was about, I figured I should give the guys their privacy. With the bouquet of flowers and the dessert, we all left the apartment.
No, Tina and Luke were not coming with us.
They both went into Luke's car and Paul and I were in his black Camaro. The drive to Paul's house was quiet until he broke the ice. "No payback surprises tonight, yeah?"
"Yeah. Our scores are settled, we are even now."
"Well I'm glad to hear that, sweetheart."
I didn't know what else to say to keep the conversation going. Luckily, he spoke again: "Did I mention how much orange suits you? It makes your eyes bluer."
I blushed at that.
"You're beautiful, Chloe." He said more to himself while looking straight into the distance before us and I doubted that he knew that I'd heard him.
"Are you okay?" He was concerned.
"Yeah, why?"
"You're awfully quiet."
"I'm fine," I told him. I was not fine and neither was I okay. I had a lot on my mind. I was thinking of all the points Tina had made earlier and how true they actually were. The truth of the matter was that I did like Paul but I was trying not to. This was due to my knowledge of how he'd never date a poor, orphan like me and also the clause on that contract.
In a matter of time, we had arrived and my nerves started kicking in.
A/N: Hi guys. Sorry for this very late update but writer's block is a bitch. Please don't stop supporting me, love y'all.
