Collateral Damage

chapter 16

The place where we were having dinner was the associate's house. It was more of a mansion which screamed opulence. Mr. Went and his wife welcomed us warmly. And after a little talk where I ignored Alexis, we sat down for dinner. The Wents had two daughters and a teen son. One daughter was a few years younger than me and the other few years younger than her.

We settled on a large dining table and a legit servant came to serve the food. Mr. Went sat on the head of the table with his wife on one side and his older daughter on the other side. Alexis sat beside her and the younger daughter sat on the other side of him. I wanted to laugh at the way he was sandwiched between the two. I sat across him and on my other side sat the teenager who couldn't stop gawking at me.

I was utterly bored with dinner and had no interest in their conversation. At least, the food was delicious. I zoned out and instead, my mind wandered to what Alexis said to me. How could he say that to me? Even jokingly. He was perfectly aware of what a sensitive topic it was for me.

'Gen?' a voice said and my head snapped up. Everyone was looking at me. It made me utterly uncomfortable.

I gulped.

What did I do now?

Alexis was giving me a look. A look that said something, but I couldn't decipher it for the life of me.

'I'm sorry, what?' I said politely.

'Mrs. Went wanted to know how our wedding plans are coming along,' Alexis said.

'Wedding?' I said, my eyes a wide. What was he talking about?

'Yes, Genevieve. Our wedding,' his tone implied I should go with whatever he was saying. So, I did.

'Oh right,' I said. I turned to face Mrs. Went. 'They are coming along nicely,' I smiled at her.

'Where are you planning on having it?' the younger daughter, Paris asked.

'We haven't decided on a specific place yet, but I want it to be outside. In the open,' I said.

All three ladies threw questions at me repeatedly. And I answered them like I'd been planning this wedding for months. In reality, all the answers I gave were how I wanted my dream wedding to be. Which never happened, of course.

Alexis looked at me with this look on his face. Rapt attention. He listened to me just as carefully as these women did, even though he was having his own conversation with Mr. Went.

He had asked me to marry him several times, but he couldn't stand the idea of having me as his girlfriend. The level of hypocrisy.

An hour ago, he was saying he wouldn't be able to stand me if I were his girlfriend. He thanked God that I wasn't. Now, who had to sit through me making wedding plans? The irony almost made me laugh.

It wasn't too late when we left the mansion after dinner. My mood had returned to being sour and I still wasn't talking to Alexis.

Good thing we didn't have to stay in the cold for long and were soon in the car. I wasn't ready for another shivering episode.

'You're quiet,' Alexis observed.

I didn't say anything.

'What's wrong?' he tried again.

I still didn't say anything.

'Are you giving me the silent treatment?' he asked, a little bit incredulous.

My silence gave him the answer.

'This is ridiculous,' he muttered.

He didn't try to speak for the entire ride back. When we got back to the hotel, I disappeared into the bathroom with my bag of toiletries and got under the covers as soon as I got back.

I listened as Alexis changed and got in his bed. He retired early tonight. Usually, he stayed up late.

He turned off the lamp, but the curtains weren't completely closed so faint light came in, bathing the room in a silvery glow.

It was eerily silent and I started counting my breaths. Which usually helped me sleep. But sleep wasn't coming tonight. So what Alexis said those things? I sure was acting like a brat. I shouldn't hold that against him.

'Are you awake?' It was Alexis' voice, whispered in the darkness.

I hummed.

'Did I do something?' he asked.

'Nothing,' I said softly. I turned on my side to face him and found him facing me.

'Then why aren't you talking to me?' Both his hands were pressed beneath the side of his face and he looked adorable. I had this strong urge to leave my bed, get into his and wrap my arms around him.

I smothered that urge.

He was a taken man.

And it was against my every moral to steal something that wasn't mine.

I didn't want to answer him so I asked my own question. 'What made you pretend that we were engaged?' I asked.

I thought back to it and felt a relief that they didn't question our lack of engagement rings.

He let out a breathy laugh. 'Went wanted to arrange a marriage between his older daughter and me,' he said.

'What? Seriously?' I let out a chuckle.

'Seriously,' he said in a deadpan voice, but he seemed more amused than anything.

'So, you had to pretend you were marrying me,' I said.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the way I spoke that.

'You say that like it's a bad thing,' he said. 'Thanks for it, by the way,' he added as an afterthought.

I lay on my back so that I was facing the ceiling and sighed. 'I found it ironic,' I said.

'Ironic how?'

'Well, you were saying you could never stand having me as a girlfriend but then only an hour later, you had to pretend to be my fiancé,' I said. Maybe it would be better if I hadn't brought that up.

I heard a heavy sigh. 'So, that's why I was getting the silent treatment,' he said. 'I was kidding. I didn't mean that.'

'No, I know. It doesn't matter,' I waved him off.

I heard some movement and turned my head to see that he was getting out of bed. 'Where're you going?' I asked.

'Nowhere,' he said and slipped into my bed before I could understand what was going on.

'What are you-' I was cut off when he put his hand on my cheek. There was still a lot of space between us, none of our bodies touched, except for his hand on my face.

'I didn't mean that. I had the most fun I've ever had with a person this evening,' he said, looking into my eyes. The soft glow illuminated the darkness in his eyes. The more I spent time with him, the more depth I saw in those eyes. The closer I got to him, the more he opened up to me.

I stared back in his eyes, completely transfixed.

'And that's saying something. You'd be the best person one could ever ask for spending their entire life with,' he said so sincerely that I could not think of words to say.

He smoothed over his thumb across my cheek and I held my breath as his eyes roamed over my face.

'You're going to light up someone's world one day,' he smiled at me.

I stared at him. The way his smile seemed to light up my world. Just as abruptly as he had come, he stood up and went back to his own bed.

Just not yours, I didn't say the words out loud.