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“Keep yourself out of this,” Alex said laughing.
I walked her back over to Valerie, eyeing the buffet. The cakes looked extra phenomenal, cinnamon raisin and vanilla strawberry according to the labels in ornate holders. My stomach would growling soon if I didn’t feed it something. I stared at Alex and sighed. We'll be setting up a pretend engagement party at this rate. She didn’t seem to realize it yet but, both of our moms were whirlwinds. If they ever combined forces, they would be strong enough to get us to do anything.
***
Alex’s POV
I stepped into the heavily air-conditioned room. Like most people in Miami, Valerie kept her space freezing.
“Bitch, this room feels cold enough to store dead bodies in,” I said shivering.
“This is a medical facility, Alex. Please don’t make dead body jokes,” she said laughing.
Valerie was seated behind the desk in her doctor’s whites, her hair in a high ponytail. She’d called me and asked me to come over. Apparently, she wanted to have a “little talk.” That was code for an hour-long conversation in which Dr. Valerie stated your wrongdoings while you listened intently and promised to redo your entire life.
I couldn’t guess what on earth I’d done to deserve the talk, but it had to be terrible if I was getting it in the office. Sophie at least made it to the house when she wanted to lecture me. I settled into the chair in front of her desk, crossing my legs and folding my arms across my body.
“Give me a moment,” she said.
I groaned inwardly. Valerie did this all the time. It was a way of giving you time to rethink all your inadequate and inappropriate life choices.
“Come on Val, get on with it, what’d I do now?” I said, whining. I didn’t want to have to deal with this.
She placed her pen on the table, stacked up her files, and put her elbows on the table, clasping her hands and leaning forward, like a judge about to pass judgment on a lowly criminal.
“First of all, forget the fact that you never even bothered to inform me about your engagement,” she started accusingly. “Actually do not forget that. We’ll revisit it in a little while,” she said with a wave. “Have you told Christian you’re with him to win a bet?” she asked.
“That was your idea, Val, but to answer your question, no, I haven’t,” I heard myself saying. I could’ve been honest I guess. This was Val. But for some reason, I wanted to keep up the charade a little longer.
“The man’s about to fall in love with you, and he doesn’t know it’s all about a bet?” She sounded unhappy about the whole thing. I stared at her for a moment.
“Love?”
“I saw the way he looked at you at the wedding. That was the look of a man on the edge,” she said.
"He has his own reasons for this engagement, and they do not involve love. The very thought is ridiculous. Christian hates my guts, Val,” I told her.”
“Not anymore he doesn’t and come to think of it, you don't hate his anymore either, do you,” she asked, a note of triumph in her tone.
“Don’t try to play Cupid, Val. The role’s been taken by my mum, and she won’t be happy to share,” I told her, shaking my head.
“Stop, Alex, and listen to me. You know I wouldn’t say it if I wasn't sure. And if you’d think about it, you’ll realize I’m right. That's why you were able to get him to date you in a day. That was too easy,” she said.
Too easy! If only she knew.
“That was my luck, and besides, I worked hard on it,” I mumbled looking away from her at the cabinets set into the wall.
“If you’re not certain about where this is going, you should leave him. Someone will get hurt, and it might not be him, Alex,” she said, her voice raising on my name.
I couldn’t believe this conversation. The idea of Christian in love was unbelievable, and the idea of Christian in love with me was impossible. Besides, we were only together for the bet, nothing more. We were just waiting for the right moment to tell our parents and friends that it wasn't going to work out. Then we could go our separate ways. It would be a relief to not have to lie.
Then why are you so mad the engagement announcement was only pretended? I asked myself.
“Back to your engagement," Valerie intruded into my thoughts. Is there a reason you didn’t call me first? And where’s the ring?” She couldn’t be reading my mind. That was supposed to be impossible, although, with Val, you really couldn’t be certain of anything.
“It was really very sudden, Val, I didn’t expect any of it. Christian didn’t even get a ring. We’ll be choosing something together,” I said smoothly.
“I did tell you the man’s in love,” she said nodding sagely.
