Lies, Lies And More Lies✔️

9: It Was Love At First Sight

Stupid Derrek had offered to give me a ride to the restaurant and I didn't get a chance to decline as my mom had literally pushed me into his car.

I wasn't mad at him anymore but he wasn't my favorite person at the moment and I didn't fail to let him know that as I crossed my arms in hostility the moment I got into the car.

"Don't tell me you're still upset." Derrek scoffed as he noticed the sour look on my face.

I stared at him blankly for a moment before turning my attention to the window.

"Now, you're not talking to me?" He let out a laugh which made me angry. He thought this was funny?

"What's so funny?" I turned back to him, glaring just as he started the car and he briefly glanced at me before stepping on the accelerator.

"You're what's funny." He answered as the car was set into motion and it was my turn to scoff.

"I'm funny." I gave a humorless laugh. "I'm funny!?"

"Yes, you are, Tiara." He nodded.

"How so, Derrek? Please, enlighten me." I turned in my seat so I was facing him. I needed to be in the right position to smack him if need be.

"I can't believe you're still mad at me. I told you I was sorry." He said, never taking his eyes off the road. He didn't even look bothered by the fact that I was upset. He looked more interested on the road than on me.

"Sorry is not enough!" I yelled. Derrek was so infuriating. "You were supposed to come through for me but you didn't. Why shouldn't I be angry?"

"It was just dinner, Tiara. It's not like I left you at the alter on our wedding day or something." He still didn't get it. He didn't see how he'd offended me but I wasn't going to point it out to him. If he was too blind to see his wrong, I wasn't going to help him see it. He was completely hopeless.

"You know what? Just forget about it." I dismissed the conversation. "Let's just get this dinner over with and go our separate ways."

"You still want to end our engagement?" He glanced at me with an arched eyebrow. Now, he glanced at me.

Pathetic.

"You haven't helped me in anyway. Things are even worse off than they were before, so, yes, I want to end it."

Derrek was quiet for a few agonizing minutes and I could tell he was upset seeing as his lips had been pulled down into a frown. I had wanted to say more but I advised against it. He wasn't worth it.

It wasn't long until we got to Luigi's and I was thankful that miraculously, the roads were free of traffic. I couldn't have stayed so close to Derrek for too long, not when all I wanted to do was hit him.

As soon as we found an empty parking spot, I unhooked my seat belt and proceeded to get out of the car but Derrek stopped me.

"Listen," He started after giving a sigh and turned to look me in the eyes. "I'm really, really sorry, Tiara. Your anger is justified. I should've been more considerate and shown up for you yesterday. Meeting your family was a huge deal for you and I screwed up big time and I'm sorry. I promise I'd be a better fake fiancé from now on, so, please, don't end this. I need you and I know you need me too."

My anger faded immediately after Derrek had given a heartfelt apology. He had sounded so genuine and his eyes were sincere and they were—dare I say—beautiful.

Shaking off my last thought, I averted my eyes from his.

Derrek was right that I needed him. I didn't have the heart to tell my family that I had lied to them. I didn't want to disappoint them any more than I already had.

"You're right." I nodded in agreement, glancing at him once more. "You do need me. I'm the best fake fiancée you'd ever had."

Derrek laughed, "The bestest even."

"The bestest-est." I laughed along, only stopping when Derrek stretched his hand out toward me. "What?"

"Partners?" He gave a warm, charming smile. A smile that made me smile unconsciously.

"Partners." I took his hand in a firm, business-like shake.

*

"So, where did you two meet?" My dad asked as we awaited our dinner.

I froze immediately, thrown off guard by his question. I'd been so mad at Derrek that I'd forgotten to make-up a story of how we'd met.

This should've been the first thing we planned but of course, it had slipped our minds.

"Well, um," I started, thinking of what to say next. I glanced at Derrek as I felt his hand wrap around mine from under the table.

What was he doing?

I realized a moment later that it had been his way of telling me to let him take the lead on this.

"Tiara and I met about a year ago when I visited Nigeria. It was at a fundraiser and a mutual friend had introduced us." Derrek said so effortlessly, like he'd already planned out what he'd wanted to say. "As cliché as it sounds, it was love at first sight." He glanced at me so lovingly, staring into my eyes and for the second time today, I noticed just how mesmerizing his eyes were.

"That's beautiful." Mom said and we turned towards her. "It was love at first sight for your dad and I as well."

I held back a groan, knowing she was going to tell the story of how she and my dad had met. I'd heard that story a million times now and although it was a very sweet story, I wasn't interested in hearing it once more.

"We were in the university at the time. University of Lagos and we were in our final year. I had an exam coming up that I was under prepared for, so, I decided to study overnight.

It so happened that sometime after midnight it had started to rain and NEPA took the light shortly after, so, students had started to leave the hall. I'd forgotten my umbrella and I was surely going to get wet if I went out under the rain. I, also, couldn't stay back in the hall as it was dangerous for a young girl to be all alone at night, so, I was torn and contemplated my next step. I soon concluded that it was better to go with the crowd even if I was going to get beat by the rain and just as I stepped out of the hall, I spotted a very handsome young man walking in my direction with an umbrella in his hand. Our eyes met and it was sparks flying everywhere—"

"Mommy oh." Benjamin shook his head at my mom's dramatic explanation and she eyed him.

"Don't interrupt me jor!" Mom hissed at Benjamin who put his hands up in surrender after as he muttered a 'sorry'. "So, as I was saying, I broke the eye contact first and started to walk under the rain but Tolu stopped me and offered to walk me back to my hostel. That was the beginning of our epic love story." She stretched her hand towards my dad's and placed hers atop his, smiling at him and his emotionless face morphed into a smiling one.

I gave a low sigh as I watched them. They had loved each other so much, they always had. I'd grown up praying to find love like theirs but as it turned out, I was very unlucky in that department.

I hadn't noticed Derrek had still been holding my hand until he squeezed my hand a little.

I couldn't tell if he could see the hurt and disappointment on my face as I glanced at him cause he gave me a small smile that seemed to say everything was going to be okay. 

A moment later, he let go of my hand and turned back to my parents who were now reminiscing the good old days.

"The food's here! Thank God!" Adiola announced and I gave a sigh of relief. I was starving.

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