Chapter 11
-MILLI
“Say something.” I said, preparing for Candice to preach about my behavior. Needing to get everything
out of my system, 1 spilled my guts on my best friend y-by-y, excluding Damian’s reason for
offering me his deal. Now she was silent. Thickshes framed her probing green eyes.
“I think you should say yes, she murmured, lifting a shoulder in azy shrug.
My mouth parted and closed, gaping like a fish out of the sea. Herment came out of the left field. I
expected her to oppose the idea of fake dating her step brother and tell me how st upid I was for even
considering his offer.
“What?” The ss of wine I’m holding almost slipped off my hands. “You were supposed to be my voice
of thought not the devil on my shoulder.
In the wake of the storm, Pwan’s white sand beach was still a picturesque view in the background.
Candice lifts her coffee canister to her lips, the soft morning pastel glow bouncing on her face.
“The world must be ending coz I agree with Draco,” she grimacel, her statement leaving a foul taste on
her tongue. She nicknamed-Damian after one Harry Potter character because he’s narrow-minded and
could be a bit of an idiot, her words, not mine. “It’s the sweetest revenge, M.
She pr ods the phone on the sand and leaned back on her palms, soaking in the sunrise before they
leave for Roslin City in a few hours.
“I’ll kill you if you tell a soul about this, but being with Draco is definitely an upgrade from Hunter.” She
curled an eyebrow, expecting me to oppose her statement.
She was right, and I’m afraid Damian was truly saving me with this deal. So why was I hesitating to
ept it? Being with him will basically solve a lot of my problems. No public apology is needed.
1 pouted, tipping my head back on the backrest of the couch. I’d been sitting here since Damian left,
nursing one ss of wine, sipping unhurriedly. Before calling Candice, 1 opened my email and was
surprised to see a few endorsement offers. And thements on our photo, I can’t even begin
describing what I feel. Confused, shocked, disbelief, or a bit of those threebined. Encouragement for
this blooming rtionship between Damian and me had shunned the issue with Natalie. “I don’t know,
Can. Lying never ends well. Besides, do you even ship us together?”
She made a pif sound under her throat, waving off my hesitation. “You saw your followers’ reaction. And
please, don’t tell me you haven’t imagined what it would be like to be his girlfriend. You’ve been crushing
on him back in high school.” She sounded scandalized and fascinated at the same time.
Stunned, I blinked at her. “I did not.”
I had to put my
out my flute ss on the table because I swear I would drop it if I didn’t. How did she know about my
crush on- Damian? All those years, I thought my diary was the only one that knew my secret.
She narrowed her eyes at me, taking an Indian sitting position; grains of sand clung onto her legs. Her
yellow bikini top and tiny white denim shortsplimented her tanned skin. She’s glowing. “If you
thought I’d get in between you and my st upid step brother, you were wrong, I was actually waiting for
you to tell me about it.”
I caved, hugging my knees close to my chest. If Candice knew, it meant I wasn’t as good as I thought at
hiding my feelings. “Was I that obvious?”
`“Ha! I knew it!” She melodramatically punched her fist in the air “I suspected, and you just plead guilty,”
she giggled
heartily.
I dropped my face to my knees. Da mn. She could be annoyingly tricky at times, but I still love her.
“I knew you were only using me to get close to him!” she feigned hurt, but theughter in her eyes was
so da mn irritating I wanted to pluck her raven dark hair.
III
M
“You know me better than that, and Damian was a yer. Even if I had a crush on him, I would never act
on it: that’s why I’ be declining his offer.”
“That’s what she says.” She wiggled her brows.
“Watch me.” I sat taller, chest puffed out as I jutted my chin, defiance burning in my system. But on a
scale of one to ten, seven against three. I’ll say yes to Damian. He was practically offering me a way out
of a wreck I caused myself.
“Oh, I will watch, alright.” I wanted to wipe that knowing grin on her face. She looked up at the sky,
closing her eyes for dramatic effect. Pouty lips stretched into a wide grin as she nced back at me.
“We’re gonna be sisters. finally
“Hey! If I agreed, it would be fake. FAKE! And we’re already sisters.” I insisted.
She giggled. “This is probably the first time something good came out from you being so drunk, M,” she
said as though she had won the lottery. “I can’t wait to see this show on the road.”
“Millie!” Andrea perched up from her table as I entered the office, surprise and hesitation written all over
her face.
“I don’t appreciate your tone,” I said, rolling my eyes as I headed for my desk.
Andrea cleared her throat, eyes following me as I set my bag on my table. I pressed theputer’s
power button. As it was loading. I went to the pantry to make coffee.
Andrea’s table was by the door. She acts as our secretary, personal assistant, and liaison when Candice
and I are swamped with work. On the far wall of the office was Candice and I’s a workstation. A small
ss room was in the corner where we pitched proposals or held meetings with suppliers.
Effortless Events’ interior was meant to offer an airy, open space where we could see each other. We
didn’t need walls since only three of us were in this office. Hence, avoiding each other wasn’t an option.
Consequently, I cannot evade the questions written on Andrea’s face.
“You haven’t answered my calls and emails,” she pointed and ambled to my side. She pulled the bread
rolls from the brown paper bag, and my mouth watered at the delicious aroma. “I got bagels,” she
chirped.
I narrowed my eyes at her. She knew I was a su cker for the bagels. A bakeshop around the corner
makes fantastic bagels. “You’re waiting for me.”
“I wasn’t.” Like a petnt child, she stuck out her lower lip, folding her arms in her middle.
1 faced her; my gaze was searing.
Andrea, wearing three-inch stilettos, was almost at eye level with me. Waist-length red hair pulled back in
a high ponytail, minimal makeup, and sporting a white polka dot top and high-waist jeans. She threw her
hands in the air. “Fine! I was hoping you’de in. I was worried.”
“I’m still breathing,” I grumbled and sn atched the bread from the te, taking a huge bite. The coffee
machine purred behind us.
Shifting from one red high heel to another, Andrea tested the waters. “So, how true is it?”
Andrea was a good friend, but until I figure out my next move, I’ll keep things to myself and Candice. If I
agree, the fewer people who know about Damian’s offer, the safer our secret will be.
“How true is what?” I feigned innocence.
She pouted. “Come on. What happened to Hunter and Natalie?”
I told her how I found Hunter and Natalie in his bed. She was seething, breathing fire through her nose.
Even offered to have her biker boyfriend f uck Hunter over. It’s nice to have friends who’d want to fight
my battles for me. Plus, I appreciate their
offer to murder Hunter.
<
“And Damian?” she pressed. What was that all about?” She tried and failed to make this appear like an
interrogation.
Once upon a time, when she was still single, she’d been crushing on Damian, too. I mean, who
wouldn’t? That guy is every woman’s
we t dre am..
“It’s nothing-” before I could spill more lies, the door to our office opened, and a delivery guy wearing a
red baseball cap peeked his head inside.
“Millicent Alejandro?”
“That’s me.” I left my coffee. The guy let himself in, holding the biggest basket of red roses 1 had ever
seen.
I stopped in my tracks. Delivery guy met me halfway, holding out a small clipboard, a pen attached to the
top. “Just sign
here”
On autopilot. I signed where he was pointing at. “Where do you want this?” he asked, looking around the
office.
“On my desk, right there.”
The base of the basket hadn’t touched my table when my phone rang. Damian’s face shed on the
screen. I almost dropped my phone, epting the video call button.
“Hi. His smile made my knees buckle.
“Hey.” My breath caught in my throat. As I savored the view the camera allowed, my chest tightened and
my head spun. Strands of his ash gray hair clung to his forehead, and beads of sweat glistened on his
skin.
He must’vee from a run or morning workout, perhaps. Damian, sweaty and rippling muscles? Da
mn. My mouth goes dry.
“Did you get the flowers?” he murmured, lifting a ss of water to his lips. He settled in his kitchen;
everything I could see through the ss wall behind him was green. Thick forest line in the distance,
perched tall, reaching the clear blue sky.
“Y.. yeah.” I nced at the flowers taking up a huge portion of my desk. The delivery guy silently slipped
out of the office. and Andrea’s brows pointed at the ceiling, eyes dancing with mischief. “Thank you.”
This is from N?velDrama.Org.
“You’re wee.” The tips of his lips curling into a smirk. “I’ll see you on Wednesday. He wasn’t asking,
but there was an edge in his tone that said I needed to confirm.
“Okay.”
He grinned, baring bleach-white teeth, liking my response. For the life of me, I can’t take my eyes off his
lips. I dreamt about our kiss, and I’ve gotten myself off thinking about him.
“I’ll pick you up at seven, beautiful,” he said, and the line went dead.
I was too busy processing his words to give a response, anyway.
Beautiful? Did he really mean that? Heat zed from my chest to my cheeks.
Maybe he calls all his flings beautiful. Whatever Damian was doing was part of this deal he wanted me to
agree with
I filled my chest with much-needed oxygen. There was a strange sensation in my belly, as though a
thousand butterflies wanted to escape from their cage.
“Ugh! Gather yourself together, Millicent! Work Focus on something not rted to Damian”
I need my coffee to get my feet on the ground.
Andrea was still where I had left her. She pinned ine with an using gaze. “Nothing, huh?”