I'M NOT HERE | s.stan

008. the contract

I should have figured Sebastian wanted to talk about the plan. It was probably stupid of me to think he actually wanted to spend time with me. We're seated at this cute little cafe, it's just outside the mall. Being here makes me feel like I was in Paris.

"So, we'll say that we 'fell' in love during this trip." He chuckles to himself at what he just said. I furrow my brows, feeling a bit defensive.

"What?"

Sebastian shakes his head and sighs. I notice what he's wearing and it's different from his usual outfits. It's a grey sweater with black accents on the shoulder. He catches me staring and waves a hand at my face.

"Hello? Earth to Kay?" He chuckles again, teasing me. I snap out of my thoughts, realizing that I had drowned his voice out.

"Oh! Sorry, what were you saying?" I politely say, tapping on my vanilla milkshake.

"I was saying," He started as his eyes playfully narrowed at me, "We should make a contract of some sort."

I tilt my head in confusion, "For?"

Sebastian shrugs, and takes a swig of his water. "I don't know, just so we know we're both on the same page about some things."

My mouth is slightly agape as I nod along to what he says.

"Like for starters, we could start doing things that the other wants. Umm...so I want you to make me cookies every now and then."

I scoff at his words, "Oh, please. You just want me to do it because you love my snickerdoodles."

Sebastian hold up both his hands in defense, "It's not my fault you make it so good!" He brings his hands down, "But for real, Kay, I do want you to do that. It'll make Josh real jealous too, since you're not making them for him like you usually do."

I sense a little venom in his words at the last bit of his sentence, but it was probably nothing. I'm amazed at how vulnerable he looks right now. Sebastian looks down and his eyes flicker to me every now and then.

"So? Where's the piece of paper to make this contract in?" I ask, feigning impatience. Sebastian looks a bit guilty.

"I was kinda hoping you'd have it. Since you're like Book-nerd Kay, or whatever."

I am genuinely offended that he thought I was boring enough to be carrying around a full book. But he was partially right, I had a pen and a notepad on me. I tut and take the notepad and pen out of my bag. He grins immediately when I hand it to him begrudgingly.

"I feel like I'm in 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before' I say to myself, scowling a little.

"What?" Sebastian looks up, distracted. He's already started writing.

"Oh, it's nothing."

I wait for him to finish whatever he was doing. To be honest, I expected his handwriting to be pure chicken scratch. But I was wrong! His handwriting was really beautiful and it felt like therapy to watch him write.

"Okay, one, you have to bake cookies for me and me only! Sometimes." I nod at his negotiation.

"Two, you have to be affectionate with me." My eyes widen at his request, "Seriously? We barely know each other!"

I immediately regret saying that as a flash of hurt crosses over his eyes. "I'm kidding, sure we can be affectionate. Just not too much." I say, sighing. It's not that I didn't like him. But the thing about me is that I would fall in love with someone, even if I knew it was fake. I wasn't exactly a player, and I've only had one boyfriend.

"Lastly, we have to hang out at least three times a weeks." He finally says. Three days were a lot, especially if I had to fake it. It took me four business days to recover from an outing with a group of friends, so I wasn't sure what to do. In the end, I say yes.

"What about you?" He asks, "Any specific things you need me to do?"

I pause for a moment. The cookie thing will definitely make both Josh and Joane jealous, since Josh is clingy and Joane still wouldn't be able to cook if a gun was held to her head.

The others were important as well, being affectionate would show that we were actually a couple and not just faking it.

Even if we were...

"Well, I do have one thing.." I trail off. "And it's important, I guess." Sebastian almost jumps from his seat, dying from the anticipation.

"We never ever tell anyone about this. EVER!" I tell him, my face leaning close to his as I jump to my feet as well in a playful manner. His face falls, I guess he was expecting something more exciting.

"Oh, of course!" He says, as if it was obvious.

"Okay, it's settled." I say, signing my name on the makeshift contract and sliding it towards him. He signs it as well and sticks out his hand, "Alright, girlfriend." He playfully says. I control the urge to bite my lip and blush. I hope I wasn't getting too attached, it's just a temporary thing.