"Hi, it's nice to meet you again, Miss Alicia," Ren smiles at her politely as he quickly stands up to his feet to greet her.
Glaring hard at him with her blood boiling in rage, she feels like grabbing the glass of wine on the desk and spilling it on his face, but that'll be too harsh. Not that he has done anything bad to her, just that she never liked him from the onset, or maybe it was because of her hatred for men trying to get close to her unnecessarily.
"Now that you're here, you can't just leave like that, right? We should sit and talk," He smiles at her politely, and she sighs briefly. Contemplating whether to sit with him or not, her phone suddenly beeps and she checks the screen 'I'm sorry for arranging a blind date between you and him, I don't mean any harm. Ren doesn't look bad, you can introduce him to your parents as your boyfriend, and sort it out later. Good luck, darling' she scoffs after she finishes reading the text that her friend sent to her. Is she crazy? Her parents will definitely find out that she introduced a fake person to them, and she will be screwed for the rest of her life.
She finally sits across from him hesitantly.
"I'm sorry I have not done a proper introduction of myself. My name is Ren Houston..."
"You said that when we met at the bar. There's no need to repeat yourself. What do you want from me, Ren?" She asks harshly in pure disgust.
"My bad..." He purses his lips and looks away. The atmosphere is awkward as the two of them stay silent. Staring at the man sitting before her, Alicia can't help but have a second thoughts about what her friend said in the text. She knows that this doesn't feel right, but she needs to do something about this before her parents get her married to some old random guy, right?
"How old are you?" She suddenly asks out of the blue, and Ren raises his gaze to look at her with a confused expression on his face. For some seconds, he stares at her beautiful face as her pair of hazel eyes pierce into his, and his heart melts slowly at the sight of those beautiful eyes. Damn! This woman is gorgeous.
"Are we doing a staring contest here?" Her voice snaps him back to reality, and he looks away in embarrassment.
"What was your question again?" He asks like he didn't hear her the first time she asked that.
"How old are you?" She asks confidently for the second time, staring keenly at him like she can see through him.
"Twenty-six..." He replies and bites his bottom lip, while she stares at him in shock. Here she was, thinking that he will be around thirty or thirty-one, because of the kind of his appearance.
"Twenty-six?" She asks to be sure that she heard him right, and she scoffs when he nods his head. Now, she can't do this. How can she possibly introduce him to her parents as her lover? That doesn't make any sense, right?
'Since you couldn't provide your boyfriend to us, I'm introducing you to a friend of mine' the imagination of what her dad would say to her later on hits her, and she sighs briefly. Looks like she doesn't have a choice at this point. Maybe giving this a shot wouldn't be a big deal. Besides, they're only going to be together for some time and there's no way she can ever fall in love with him. Never!
"I'll go straight to the point, Ren..." She pauses and places her hands on the table while staring straight at him.
"I want you to be my fake boyfriend..." She stops to observe the expression on his face, and as expected, his eyes widen in shock.
"I'll pay you any amount that you want, I promise. I'm just going to introduce you to my parents as my boyfriend, then we're good," She says to him like it's so easy to do. How can he ask a stranger to be her boyfriend, just like that? Does it make any sense?
"What do you think of me? That I'm desperate for money? That is the craziest thing anyone ever said to me," He scoffs unbelievably as he bites his bottom lip.
"Hey, it's fine if you don't want to do it. There's no need to give me that look," She rolls her eyes, and without waiting for what else he has to say, she stands up to her feet and grabs her purse from the table before walking out of the restaurant angrily. Turns out that coming here was a waste of time. She didn't expect less anyway. Her dates always go wrong. Not that she ever wanted to go, but her crazy and annoying friend would always find a way to push her to go.
She strides to her car and hops in, driving out of the place afterward.
Lilian's apartment a few minutes later...
Barging into the living room angrily, Lilian almost jumps out of her skin as she snaps her head to look at her. She was busy having all her attention on her phone.
"What the... You startled me, girl..."
"You should've just fainted. I think that'll satisfy me more," She laments, and Lilian understands immediately that her date didn't go as she has planned.
"Come on, Alicia, that was harsh. So tell me, how about..."
"All thanks to you, I was embarrassed by a little boy young enough to be my little brother if I had one," She cuts her off with eyes roll.
"That's harsh, girl. Ren is twenty-six for crying out loud and not a baby," Lilian rolls her eyes.
"You knew he's twenty-six? Oh my God, Lilian. You're unbelievable. You know what? I don't ever want to see that jerk anywhere around here. Tell him to never call me if you don't want me to spend the rest of my life behind bars for murdering someone's son," She threatens as she stands up to her feet.
"I think you'll eventually end up behind bars because he won't stop coming here," Lilian smirks at her.
"Try that then," She utters before she starts heading to the staircase angrily.
"That reminds me. Your dad was here," Hearing Lilian's voice, she stops abruptly and slowly turns to face her.
"He said that there's going to be a grand dinner at his house in three days. I guess your cousins from both sides will be coming, and according to him, he asked you to be there with your boyfriend," Lilian says to her, and her heart sinks into her stomach. What the heck is all this frustration?
Three days laterStaring at her reflection in the mirror, she sighs for the umpteenth time as she shuts her eyes tight. It's finally the day to be present at her parent's house, but she's nervous. 'Where's your boyfriend, Alicia?''Don't tell me you're still single, cousin? That's pathetic''Honestly, you need to get yourself a man. You're twenty-nine and turning thirty soon. You'll eventually get married to an old married man if you're still being like this,' thinking of the humiliation she's going to face when she gets to her parent's house later, she can't help but feel more nervous. This was the same reason she moved out of the house months ago and decided to live with her friend for the sake of her mental health, but it seems like that can't be avoided now. Taking a deep breath, she finally picks up her handbag from the bed and strides to the door, and pulls it open, striding out afterward. Driving down the road a few minutes later, her hands keep trembling nervously on the st
Mr. and Mrs. Williams' faces lits up in excitement as they glance over to Ren almost every second. Seeing their only child have a man in her life has been one of the best things that they ever wanted, and it seems like their dreams are finally coming true. While her parents are busy admiring the handsome man that their daughter finally chose, Alicia is sitting frozen in her seat and still trying to understand what's happening. The last time she checked, he didn't agree when she asked him for this, so how the heck did he suddenly show up at her dad's house? How the heck did he even get her house address? "Be careful with that, babe," Ren says when water spills on her body, and she raises her gaze to look at him, still having that confusing expression on her face. "Wow! Your fiance is cute, Alicia," Adelie commends, and Alicia just gives her a fake smile. Lisa can't just stop glaring hard at her, and her parents too. "So tell me, how long have you and my daughter been together?" Mr.
The next morning...The sound of the knock on the door pulls Alicia out of her deep sleep, and she groans tiredly as she forces her eyes open. Trying to sit up on the bed, she feels her legs heavy like something is pushing her back to the bed. "What's that?" She mutters to herself as she runs her fingers through her hair lazily. Realizing that she didn't sleep alone in the room, her eyes widen as she finally manages to sit on the bed, but she cringes when she finds Ren sleeping like a mad person with his head resting on her lap while having his hands wrapped around her legs. "What the..." She cringes angrily as she screams, snapping him out of his deep slumber. "Can you let me sleep, please?" He whines sleepily. "Get away from me you pervert!" She curses under her breath as she pushes him off the bed and he lands on the ground. "Ah!" He winces in pain, holding his butt. "That was mean, Alicia," He yawns, rubbing his sleepy eyes. The knock on the door pulls their attention, and
She paces restlessly in her room, while Ren sits on the edge of the bed having a blank expression on his face as he stares into space. "Look at me, Ren... I swear I didn't tell them to say that, OK? You have to believe me. I... I didn't know that they were going to take it this far and...and..." She sighs briefly and runs her fingers through her hair as she plunges herself into the sofa that's just opposite her bed. "What do we do? I'm not ready to get married. I'm still very young and...""It was all your fault. You could've just let me handle this and not ever show up here. Now, look what you've got me into. Shit! I don't want to get married," She laments angrily, and he scoffs. "This is not the time to blame me, Ren. My parents are going to frustrate me to death if I don't do this..." She pauses and bites her bottom lip. How the heck is she going to say this to him? "Look... I'll pay you any amount of money you want, I promise. Just uhm... Let's get married, OK? I know this is
Three days laterAlicia and Ren have been in the house with her parents for days, as they never allowed the two out of their sights. While trying to sort the marriage issues out, the two didn't stop being all romantic especially when her parents are around. Of course, they wouldn't want to stir up confusion. After dinner, the two return to their room, and Alicia heads into the bathroom to shower as soon as they walk inside the room. Sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at the bathroom's closed door, the thought of her crying some days ago flashes through his mind, and he can only get curious. Why was she crying? He was sure that he didn't do anything wrong to her, so that alone convinced him that there was more to that tears than he knows. Still lost in thoughts, the sound of the door opening pulls him back to reality, and he raises his gaze to see that Alicia already walked into the room, wearing her pink beautiful robe. For some seconds, his heartbeat stops as he stares at
Two weeks laterThe past few days have been so busy for the family, since they have been busy planning out Alicia's wedding. Her wedding is finally remaining two days, but she doesn't feel much happy about it. Seeing how desperate her parents have been over the recent days, she knew that she was in trouble. Standing on the balcony of her friend's room, Alicia stares up at the sky as many thoughts flood her mind. She has been asking herself if she's doing the right thing, or maybe she'll regret this later, but she knows she has no option anyway. "Are you still thinking about it?" Lilian's voice disrupts her thought, and she sighs briefly as she glances at her, turning her gaze away afterward. Lilian walks over to her and leans against the rail. "I told you not to let it bother you. Just let it go, and you'll be fine," Lilian assures her. "I wish I can, but it's not working. I'm still trying to, you know? This is complicated. I'm scared of everything. What if things go wrong later
After spending almost all night at the studio, Alicia crashes into the car seat as soon as she hops in. She looks extremely exhausted like she'll collapse soon. Her phone suddenly rings, and she reaches out for it. She slides the answer button as soon as she sees the caller. "Lilian, I'm going to faint," She sighs deeply as soon as she answers the call, and Lilian's chuckles echo on the other end. "I guess your mom knew what would happen when she asked you to spend the night with Ren. She already had everything planned out," Lilian says from the other end. "Yes, she already did. Because why the heck did we have to take over sixty photos for just a wedding? Who does that?" She shrieks angrily. "I'm envious of you, girl. Your mom feels so happy about you getting married that she...""Please don't finish that shit if you don't want me to curse you. That is not love but setup. I know she did this intentionally so I can be stuck with Ren for the night, because why would she do this?"
Chapter 11Alicia chuckles softly as they both head to the car and hop in. Seeing the scared look on Ren's face, she can't help but laughs more. "Stop making that face, please. It was just a doll," She chuckles softly, earning a glance from him. He's yet to get over the trauma he got from watching that horrible show. "You shouldn't do something if you're not comfortable with it. You should've admitted that you're scared of horror movies," She rolls her eyes as he drives down the road. "Who said that I'm scared of horror movies? I just have a phobia for dolls, that's it," He rolls his eyes, even if he knows deep down inside him that he's scared of horror movies. "Oh, I see..." She sighs before she checks her wristwatch. It's past 4am, and they are still out at this time of the night. "Are you sleepy?" He asks after he glances at her, and she just nods her head. Because how's she supposed not to be sleepy after staying awake for the whole night? Although she had fun out there, her