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Performance
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Chapter 34: Performance (Jules's POV)
"Do you think you'd get an invite to their wedding then?" Alex asked Callum, nodding towards Christian and me.
Dinner began barely fifteen minutes ago and Alex was crossing the line now. So far, he kept instigating conversations that would force Christian and Callum to butt heads or start arguing. Callum wasn't any better, he was entertaining all of Alex's remarks, saying all the wrong things to Christian in an attempt to make him snap. Christian had kept quiet so far but this was pushing it.
"Well, I don't know. That depends on Jules, doesn't it?" Callum replied, shooting me a cheeky smile.
"It won't be just my wedding, will it?" I replied, taking a breath and trying not to lose my temper. "Plus, we're here for yours and Naomi's wedding, Alex," I said, shooting him a glare.
"Why don't we focus on that? The spotlight is on Naomi." I grinned at her, sighing and then downing the rest of my Chardonnay before taking Christian's glass as well. I felt his gaze on me until he asked a waiter to get two more glasses, nudging my knee with his beneath the table. Turning to him, I lifted my brows and took a sip from his glass. "Yes?"
"It's okay," he whispered, "just let it slide. He's trying to piss me off."
"I don't know how it's not working because it's certainly infuriating me."
"Well, your hand in mine is a great distraction," he smirked.
I smiled and leaned in closer to him. "Don't get on my nerves when everyone else already is," I said through gritted teeth before pulling my hand out of his while he chuckled, staring at me. I felt him moving nearer to press a faint kiss to the side of my head. Turning to him, I watched him act as though nothing happened and go back to eating.
"Other than getting engaged, how've you been, Jules?" Callum asked, diverting my attention.
"Good, Callum," I replied, nodding. "You?"
"Great... So," he cleared his throat and focused on Christian. "What is it that you do again?"
I leaned back in my seat, folding my arms across my chest, waiting for this dinner to end so I could murder Alex myself. He was the one responsible for setting this fire and adding all the unnecessary fuel to it. He was egging them on and I wasn't going to tolerate it for much longer.
Christian glanced at me before taking a sip of wine and then putting the glass down, clearing his throat. "I own a multi-billion dollar real estate company, Callum. What did you think I do?" He lifted a brow, his lip quirking up into that smug smirk of his that I detested the most until this very moment. "Better yet, what do you do?"
I lowered my head as a laugh threatened to escape me, one that was cut short by a gasp caught in my throat as Christian braced a hand on my thigh, his thumb stroking my skin over the fabric of my dress.
"Christian," Alex warned.
"Oh, was that rude to your guest? My bad," he smiled and then looked at me, caught me staring. I bit down on my bottom lip to suppress a grin and he winked at me while grinning, his dimple out on display.
"You two have been together, what, two years now, right?" Callum questioned, still persistent.
I shot him a warning glare but he ignored me.
"No... bumps? No hiccups along the way?"
"Callum," Alex mumbled, watching him in confusion.
"You both must tell each other everything. Jules and I had that problem. We weren't always honest with each other. Not the same for you two, is it? I certainly hope not," he added before sipping on wine.
"It's not," I ground out sharply.
But it... is.
"We don't have a reason to lie to each other," I lied.
"So you wouldn't lie to him, Jules?"
"No," I huffed.
"What about you, Christian? Ever lied to her?"
My jaw clenched as I glanced at Christian out of the corner of my eye before grabbing his hand on my thigh.
"No," Christian answered, lying yet again.
I threw his hand off and moved forward, taking a big gulp of wine. Still the liar he always was then.
Putting this performance on was ten times harder when I remembered our past. And it would continue to be impossible if I didn't accept the fact that Christian and I were done. We would never be able to go back to the way things were, no matter how hard we tried.
Our performance might convince everybody around us, but never us. We couldn't just keep pretending and slowly slip back into love. It was tainted. Ruined. Christian and I argued. A lot. It drained everything from me and I couldn't go through any of that again.
I sat upright on the couch, startled to hear the front door open. Grabbing the TV remote, I turned it off and stood up, running a hand through my hair as Christian walked in after an extra long day from work it seemed. "Hi," I grinned, fixing the pillows on the couch and then making my way to him.
"Hey," he mumbled, setting his car keys down in the bowl by the front door.
"How was work? I thought you weren't staying back today, you said this morning you'd be back by seven."
"I was supposed to be," he replied.
I glanced at the clock while walking to him. "It's nine o'clock, Christian. Were you at the office?"
"Yes," he answered and then stood in place as I planted myself in front of him.
"Are you okay? You look... upset," I guessed, reaching up to undo his tie like I normally do.
"I'm fine, Jules," he said, grabbing my hands and gently lowering them. "Just tired." Brushing past me, he started heading upstairs.
"Were you at the office?" I asked again.
"Yes," he repeated, "I just told you I was."
"Christian," I huffed, causing him to stop before he climbed up the stairs.
"I'm tired, Jules. Can we do this later?"
"Do what?" I asked, reaching him and climbing up a few steps until I towered over him. "I'm just asking where you were so I know everything was okay," I chuckled, falling forward and looping my arms around his neck.
With a soft huff, he caught me, holding my waist as I kissed his cheek, keeping my lips there for a moment. "Is that why you're asking?" he questioned, pushing me to stand up straight.
I frowned, "Why else would I ask?"
He held my gaze. "To see if I'm cheating, what do I know?" he shrugged.
"Cheating?" I laughed in disbelief. "Why would I accuse you of cheating when I don't think you're cheating on me? Have I said something? Or done something to make you think that I doubted you?"
He sighed, "Jules, I just want to freshen up, okay?" He walked right past me.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked, turning to watch him.
Ignoring me, he continued heading up and then turned the corner towards our room.
I stood still for several minutes in confusion, trying to rack my brain and figure out if I had done anything wrong to upset him. Spinning around and jogging upstairs, I walked into his room, closing the door as he walked out of his closet wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt in hand that he pulled over his head. "Are you hungry?"
"What did you make for dinner?"
I scoffed softly, "You say that like I'm expected to make dinner for you."
He shot me a pointed, frustrated look. "You know that's not what I meant."
"You cook more out of the two of us but I did cook tonight. I made fried rice and some chili chicken. You like it, don't you?"
"It's okay."
I blocked his way to the door when he tried leaving again. "What's wrong? Why are you being so distant all of a sudden?"
"I'm not. I just need my space sometimes," he mumbled.
"Space from me?"
"Sometimes, yeah."
"I respect that but at least tell me if I've done something wrong. We don't have to talk if you don't want to but... don't just shut me out."
"I'm not shutting you out. Just... get away from me tonight."
"Don't be rude," I said. "You need space, I heard you. Take all the space you need."
"Sleep in the guest room tonight."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You don't want me in our room?"
"Jules," he exhaled, pinning me with his gaze. "I just need to be alone. Don't make me repeat it over and over again."
"You sleep in the guest room," I snapped, "why do I have to go?"
"Then I'll sleep in the guest room," he said nonchalantly.
I let it slide that night, thinking it must have been a bad day at work. Thinking he was just stressed and after sleeping on it, it would be okay. He would wake up in a better mood the next morning, kiss me like he always does and everything would go back to normal. But after that night, it never did. That night, everything changed and started to fall apart.
Our relationship began to crack and not too long after that, it fell through.
Christian wasn't at the office that night and a part of me knew it. It was confirmed when the next morning, I got a call from a bar near the office to let me know that Christian had left his wallet there and wasn't answering their phone but they found a spare office ID of mine and thought contacting me would be best.
He started lying to me and never stopped until it ended in our broken engagement.
"Good for you," Callum said, "it's good you don't lie to each other." He glanced at me. "Jules hates liars."
I turned to Christian and I found him already staring at me. "That's true. I do hate liars," I said.
Our performance hadn't been tested or pushed so far until Callum showed up. He was the only person here who knew what I was like in a relationship. If anyone could see our ruse and catch it, it was Callum.
Christian reached for my hand again but I pulled my arms up onto the table before he could. "Excuse me. I need to go to the bathroom," I mumbled before standing up and walking back inside, exhaling shakily the first second I had to myself.
We had to get through this. It wasn't an option.
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Chapter 34
I didn't update yesterday so I'm gonna update once more tonight
next ch: happiest