The coffee shop we're sitting in smells of vanilla and cinnamon. The girl working the till has a Santa hat flipped over her head haphazardly, and a bright green 'Happy Holidays' sign adorns the wall behind Christian's head.
"Thanks for being my girlfriend for a few minutes," Christian says, blowing on his coffee to cool it.
"Oh, it was no problem. I have a new photo so it wasn't a total waste." I'm still laughing at myself and finishing the last bites of my sprinkle donut when my phone buzzes from my pocket. "Those girls move fast."
And of course the news from this afternoon has reached my mother and her name is already lighting up my call display.
Christian's mouth is full of apple fritter so whatever he tries to say comes out more like a muffled sound than an actual word.
I assume he wants clarification of some kind. "My mother is calling me to ask why I didn't tell her we were dating. So that should be fun to explain."
"You could avoid answering." Christian's face is now mercifully free of food but I still feel like everyone in the restaurant is staring at us.
"If I avoid answering, she'll just call more and more frequently until I pick up. Or she'll show up at my house. And then Elodie's. You underestimate the amount of free time that woman has now that Gerard is moved out."
"Here." He holds out his hand. "I got you into this mess. I'm sure I can get you out of it."
A camera flashes from the corner of the dimly lit room. He really was hard to be around sometimes. I hold up one finger to make him wait while I pick up the call. "Hey, Mom."
"Julie Lynne Kendrick. You never told me you had a boyfriend! You let me go through all that trouble last night only to embarrass poor Benjamin."
Yes, because I encouraged her to invite Benjamin at all.
"I'm sure he'll live," I say, brushing some stray sprinkles into my hand and walking them over to the garbage. "But I'll reach out and apologize if you think that's more appropriate."
I have no idea why I said that, but as usual with my mother, stuff was slipping out my mouth without consulting my brain first.
"Julie, that will not be necessary. But you should have told me. I don't do this for my own health, you know."
Really? Then why do you? You really really don't have to. But here we are, me sitting in a coffee shop watching the employees bustle around making coffee as the crowd grows slightly larger than it would on any other day because Christian Xie is here.
"... so I really think you should have let us meet him before we have to rearrange all of our plans for Christmas and--"
"Mom, what plans for Christmas?"
"Well, there's a nice gentleman your uncle knows. Owns a little chain of shops in Quebec. I think he would be so good for you, Jules."
Her use of my nickname makes me feel physically sick and I decide to take Christian up on his offer of help.
"Hey, Mom. Do you want to talk to Christian now? He's here and wants to say hello."
I don't wait for her answer, sliding my phone into Christian's waiting hand. "Hello, Mrs. Kendrick. So sorry to be meeting like this, but we've been very busy with work lately."
That's a face saving lie, but propriety will mean my mom has to at least pretend to accept it. Smooth.
My heart races in my chest as Christian nods and smiles and interjects some agreements with my mother. I can't help but pick at the edge of my thumb, bouncing my leg under the table as I wait for the fallout from her finding out the truth.
"Well, yes, Mrs. Kendrick. I think Julie was just trying to arrange a time for us to meet in person first so you didn't have to meet me like this. I assure you I'm much more interesting in person." He flashes me his customer service smile I've seen far too many times before and the thought of him managing my mother causes a giggle to bubble out.
More pleasantries are exchanged and Christian butters up my mother by asking about her charity work. I've seen him do this to media and fans often enough to know the hammer will come down on her in the next few sentences.
And then my mother proves her masterful self and out Christian's Christian.
"Well, yes, I am with Julie. I would love to come with you all for Christmas but--" His eyes dart to mine, searching for help I couldn't provide if I wanted to. Mom has got him.
"Yes, of course. I'll discuss it with Julie. See you."
Some of the colour drains from his face and he hands my phone back to me. "Oh, she's good."
A knot forms in the pit of my stomach, but I try to focus. "We have to call her back. We have to fix this."
"We can't. I think I accidentally agreed to go with you for Christmas vacation."
"But we aren't dating!"
"I know!"
"Well, don't you think someone ought to tell her?"
A draft of cold air shoots through the restaurant and a small bell dings to announce the arrival of a new customer. For a moment, I almost believed it was my mother come to seal the deal, but it was just a young man and a little boy. Probably a father and son looking for some soup and donuts.
"Well?" Christian asks. "How on earth are we going to tell her we aren't dating?"
Another camera flashes from the corner booth.
"Or maybe a break up would work better? If we break up dramatically right before I leave, maybe she'll leave me alone?"
He pauses and pulls his lips in between his teeth. "Jules. Isn't that what happened last year?"
Where is he going with this? I just stare back, arms folded across my chest.
"Well, did she leave you alone last year?"
He's right. My shoulders slump forward and I rest my face on the probably dirty table. Groaning, I lift my head to peek over my arms to face him. "And she has a local guy lined up, too. There's no way that will fall through if we break up now."
My head makes a thud as it contacts the table once more. A small pain shoots around my head. "How am I going to get out of this now?"
Christian pauses, picking up his tea and taking a sip before responding. "Well, have you considered just telling her the truth?"
"That's what you were supposed to do!" I protest, throwing my hands into the air. "You were supposed to tell her we weren't really dating and I was just helping you avoid them all asking for your number or whatever and that I'm just such a nice person or something. Maybe sent a fruit basket to apologize."
"I got flustered! Your mother is very persuasive."
Well, he has a point there. Got to give that to him. But what do we do now? The rim of my tea cup becomes very interesting as I ponder how to escape my mother's match making clutches. I'd asked her before. I'd tried a big messy break up. I even tried running away. That one worked the best out of all of them, but it was a mess to come back from. Plus, Pierre and Meabh don't deserve their engagement party marred by my antics.
There's only one way out of this.
"You have to come."
"I guess I could go." Christian speaks at the same time.
"Not where I saw you taking that," I laughed.
A small green light on the string adorning the front window goes out. No one makes a move to fix it, so I just stare at it, wondering if it's representative of my chances. It's a little hard to find a guy to date when no one notices you exist. Or when people think you have a boyfriend.
"I'm serious, Julie. It would get me out of my family thing. You'd be rescuing me, yet again. And I'm sure I can find something to do in Quebec. It's supposed to be nice."
His face seems honest. He's not doing that little smirk where he pulls up one corner of his mouth. That's what he usually does when he's joking. I stare a few seconds longer and he doesn't crack. Still serious as a heart attack.
"You're serious."
"I thought I mentioned that."
"Why?"
He raises his eyebrow. "Why what?"
"Why would you do that?"
"I just said I could avoid seeing my family and explore a new place."
"You have the money to see a new place. You aren't my parents, but you can easily see Quebec on your own."
He shrugs. "It's more fun with a friend. Especially a photographer with an eye for the beautiful, like yourself." He pushes his hair back with his hand and his mouth pulls up on one side.
"Yes, well sometimes it's not about beauty. A girl has to pay the bills." I take a sip of my tea to avoid showing him my face. I can't believe he suggested coming to Quebec on my family vacation. But I have to admit it's an enticing offer. I'd been trying to get mom to let me bring a friend for the last three trips. Well, three of the last four. And I'd never been successful. This way, she doesn't have to know. I mean, I can get what I want and she never has to know. We can dramatically break up when Christian finds the next girl he wants to date or whatever.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Okay, it's definitely a bad idea, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it.
❅ ❆ ❅ ❆ ❅
A/N: And thus, Julie's mom strikes again.
Christian crumbled like sugar cubes in coffee and the game is afoot!