"Are you crazy?" I yelled at Derrek as we walked into his apartment.
"No but I will be if you keep on nagging me." Derrek replied, tired as he crashed down on the cream coloured leather couch.
"I'm not nagging! I'm simply telling you that this is a bad idea!" I clarified, taking a seat on the coffee table opposite where he was seated.
"We are having dinner with Seun and Chioma and that's final." He stated firmly and I scowled at him in annoyance. I was too annoyed to even laugh at his funny British pronunciation of the names 'Seun' and 'Chioma'.
I got even more annoyed by the pain in my ankles and instinctively kicked off my shoes, breathing a sigh of relief once they were off. I felt a bit more relaxed.
"Chioma hates me! We've been rivals since secondary school! She's too nosy and before the night is over, she's going to figure out that we're not really engaged!" I tried to explain but he wasn't paying any heed to my words, instead groaning at every sentence I made.
"Chioma is lovely, Tiara. Seun's an excellent judge of character." He pointed out, turning his face to me. "If Chioma was as evil as you so put it, he would've known and wouldn't have married her." He referred to the statement I made about Chioma being an evil person on the way here.
"I knew her throughout secondary school. She's a manipulator. She only lets you see what she wants you to see, she would never show her ugly side to Seun cause she wouldn't want to send him running to the hills." I tried to reason with him but he wasn't interested in what I had to say, shutting his eyes and turning away from me.
I groaned out loud and glared at him. He was driving me crazy.
Why couldn't he just believe me? Chioma's evil was written all over her face. I couldn't get how anyone could miss it.
"Are you going to stare at me all night?" Derrek voiced as he got up to his feet.
"I'm not staring, I'm glaring. There's a big difference." I pointed out, crossing my arms in hostility.
"Alright then." He let out a yawn, nodding. "Feel free to glare at me while I sleep cause I'm going to bed now." He spun around on his heels and walked off in the direction of his room.
"No! I have to go home. I can't spend the night here." I followed after Derrek who dragged himself lazily into the room. He could barely stand up straight with his back slouched and his head tilted down to the ground.
"It's pouring outside. You can't get anywhere in the rain." He said as he walked over to his wardrobe and straightened up his posture before taking out a hanger and setting it on his bed.
I sighed, knowing he was right.
It had started to rain heavily right before we left the party and the traffic jam was just terrible.
We'd managed to get to his apartment after an hour in the traffic and there was no way I could've gotten home on time, so, Derrek decided it was best I slept over at his, although, I wasn't at all excited about it.
"This is all your fault! If you hadn't forced me to go to the premiere with you, I wouldn't have had to see Chioma or her evil minions and I wouldn't be stuck here with you." I complained and I heard Derrek sigh as he took off his jacket and set it on the bed.
"I'm not holding you hostage, Tiara. You could walk home if you'd like. I'm sure you can handle yourself in the streets at two in the morning." He said with a lazy tone as he took off his shirt, revealing his bare, muscled back to me and I gasped, covering my eyes with my palms.
"What are you doing!?"
"Getting undressed." He said like it was no big deal. "You don't expect me to go to sleep in Armani, do you?" He asked but I could tell his question was rhetorical.
"You could've at least warned me before you started stripping down. I don't need images of your nude self in my mind." I felt flustered as the words left my mouth. The thought of Derrek nude—No! I should not have been thinking about such things.
"You shouldn't have walked into my room if you didn't want to see me nude." Just as he said so, I heard a zipping sound and I was so sure that was the sound of Derrek unzipping his trousers.
I needed to get out of here.
"G-Good night." I mumbled before turning around and walking out of his room.
"Sweet dreams!" Derrek called, chuckling right after and I scoffed. He was making fun of me now.
*
After almost an hour of forcing myself to fall asleep, I finally did.
I was so bothered with everything. With my friends, with my rivals and with my family.
I was lying to everyone I cared about and even those I hated. I felt so dirty. I felt so despicable and disgusting. I felt like a lying piece of shit and I hated feeling that way.
My mom had been so happy, Chioma had been so jealous. That was all I'd ever wanted but I couldn't feel happiness cause this wasn't even real. I wasn't really engaged and I was scared I might've never pulled this off.
In movies, they always got caught.
What was I going to do if I got caught?
It would've been too humiliating for me, for my family.
I wished I could take it all back and just face the fact that my life sucked. I wished I had never lied to everyone but I already had. I couldn't back out now.
My eyes snapped open the moment I heard a loud thud. A clatter followed a few seconds later.
"Shit!" A masculine voice swore and my heart jumped. That voice sounded nothing like Derrek's voice.
Was there a thief in the apartment?
My eyes widened at the thought and I carefully got out of my bed, tiptoeing to the door.
I hadn't locked the door when I came in. If it really was a thief, he could've gotten in here and who knew if he was armed.
Slowly and gently, I turned the key in an attempt to lock the door without making any sound but that was impossible to accomplish as the sound of the lock echoed loudly breaking the recent silence.
"Derrek, is that you?" The voice called and my eyebrows furrowed, confused.
He had known Derrek, so he probably wasn't a thief but if he wasn't why did it sound like he was creeping around and knocked something over?
"JESUS!!!" I heard the same voice scream and my heart pounded in my chest.
What was going on?
I stepped away from the door, ready to hide in case something went wrong but just as I was about to enter the bathroom, I heard Derrek's voice.
"Luke, what in the bleeding hell!?"
"Sorry, Dee. I just needed a place to crash." The voice which I assumed belonged to this Luke person spoke up. His words sounded slurred like he was drunk maybe.
Knowing there was no danger, I gave a sigh of relief and walked back to the door, unlocking it.
I was curious to know what exactly was going on and even if I wasn't curious, there was no way I could go back to sleep, certainly not after this commotion.
I opened the door and walked out to see a shirtless Derrek glaring at Luke who could barely stand. I could tell he was really drunk.
Both the boys attentions turned to me and I felt slightly awkward, especially as soon as their eyes scrolled down my body. It was then I realized I was in just a large gray T-shirt that stopped mid-thigh.
Shortly after I had left Derrek's room, he'd showed up with a T-shirt and sweatpants in hand, telling me to put it on for the night instead of sleeping in my uncomfortable looking dress.
The clothes were obviously too big for me as Derrek was a lot taller than me but they were comfortable.
I'd kicked off the sweatpants a few minutes later as I'd started to feel hot underneath the very thick duvet and with everything that had just happened, I had forgotten to put it back on.
"Who is this?" Luke smirked at me, his voice sounding somewhat flirty.
The young looking boy was just a few inches shorter than Derrek and had a babyish, cute looking face.
He was dark skinned with a pointed nose, rose pink lips and dreadlocks for hair which contrasted with his innocent looking face.
He was dressed in a black supreme T-shirt, black ripped jeans, a light blue jeans jacket and white Nike converse.
"Luke, this is my fiancée, Tiara. Tiara, this is my cousin, Luke." Derrek introduced and I gave Luke a small smile while his eyes widened.
"You mean your fake fiancee?" Luke turned to Derrek and Derrek sighed, nodding. I suddenly felt embarrassed.
"What is wrong with you, Luke? You can't just creep around my apartment like a burglar! What if I hurt you?" Derrek reprimanded, ignoring his cousin's comment. He had skillfully changed the topic and I was glad.
"I didn't want to wake you up,so, I used the spare keys to let myself in." Luke spun the keys around his index finger and Derrek glared at him.
"I'm beginning to regret handing you those." Derrek brushed his hand over his face in clear frustration. "It's three in the bloody morning, Luke! What are you doing out so late!?"
"Don't act like you never stayed out partying when you were nineteen." Luke rolled his eyes at Derrek before taking a seat on the couch.
"Luke—"
"My friends were drunk driving and I wasn't going to risk my life with them, so, I walked here. You should be proud of how responsible I am, even when drunk." Luke explained, resting his back on the couch.
"You walked here!?" Derrek yelled and Luke hissed at him, earning a glare from Derrek.
"Guy, chill. The club is just a few streets from here." Luke waved his hands at Derrek dismissively. "Shout at me in the morning. I'm tired now." He basically shooed Derrek off.
"You're so lucky I'm cool or Aunt Linda would be hearing about this." Derrek scowled at Luke who blew a kiss at him in response.
Ignoring his cousin's gesture, Derrek walked towards me, stopping a few inches away.
"I'm sorry about him. He always crashes here when his too drunk, too high or it's too late to go home. His mom doesn't tolerate his lifestyle." Derrek apologized and I glanced back at Luke who was watching us with a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"It's fine. Teenagers will be teenagers." I turned back to Derrek, giving him an understanding smile.
"Cousin Derrek?" Luke called in a respectful tone which countered the tone he'd been speaking with previously.
"What is it, Luke?" Derrek sighed, turning back to his cousin.
"Do you think I can get mom off my shit if I bring home a fake fiancée?" He asked, a lopsided grin on his face and my eyebrows shot up in surprise, clearly not expecting what he had asked.
"Ouch!" I mouthed, hurt and Derrek gave another sigh, noticing this.
"Ignore him. He's drunk." Derrek said and Luke started to laugh loudly.
"Of all the things I thought you were capable of, this wasn't one of them." Luke said in between laughs. "Like deception? That's a big step for you, cousin. I don't know if I should be proud or worried."
"You should get some rest, it's quite late." He said, ignoring Luke's comment and I glanced back at Luke who was still staring at us, laughing. If he was going to continue of this path, I wasn't going to have any sleep. "Don't worry about him. I'll handle him." It was like he could tell I was worried.
"Okay." I nodded at him and turned around to head back into the guestroom.
"Tiara, your fiance's room is over there!" Luke called from behind me and my nose flared in annoyance.
I wasn't sure I liked Luke. At all.
"One more word and I'm kicking you out!" I heard Derrek warn as I walked into the room.
"What'd I say?" Was the last thing I heard Luke say before I shut the door.
______________________________
Here's a chapter for youuuuuu *sings*
What do y'all think?
I enjoyed writing this chapter, especially Luke's lines. He's quite the troublemaker that one.
What do y'all think bout him?
Would you like to see more of him?
Thanks for reading babies!
😘
Please don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT & SHARE