Chapter 29: Unexpected.
And right now, the current situation demanded that I helped her, well to be clear, all I believed I needed to do was stop her from worrying and feeling hurt.
The source of the hurt was non other than this so called boyfriend of hers, The solution, therefore, had to involve Leo.
"Alright," I said, my voice calm and measured, projecting a confidence I was borrowing from who-knows-where.
"I've listened to what you've had to say and I believe you."
' Well not completely but who cares.'
" What he's doing to you isn't appropriate, no matter how busy he is, he should always make out time for you, after all, your his girlfriend."
" All's he's done so far is neglect you, And the way he dismisses your feelings makes it even worse."
I saw a flicker of relief in her eyes. which meant she was happy with my reply, well of course she'd be happy, there's no way she'd be happy of I decided to up and side with her boyfriend on the matter. Hearing that she wasn't the problem seemed to set her heart at ease more than I expected.
"Now, here's what we're going to do." I leaned forward, lowering my voice conspiratorially. The "we" was intentional. She needed to feel like she had an ally, not a lecturer.
"If we're going to get him to focus his attention back on you, or at the very least, get a straight answer out of him, you're going to have to give him a reason to. A reason that isn't you crying or asking 'what's wrong?' for the hundredth time."
She watched me intently, her brow furrowing slightly. "And what exactly are you implying?" The wariness was back, but it was tempered now by a spark of desperate curiosity.
I allowed a small, knowing chuckle to escape me, the sound meant to convey shared understanding, not mockery.
I met her gaze and flashed her a look that was all sly implication. "I'm afraid, my dear Veronica, you're going to have to make the man a little jealous."
" I'm not saying that you should outright cheat on him." I quickly added when I saw her expression leaning towards rejection.
" Would it kill you to smile a little..." I replied with a downcast look. I then sighed and continued.
' What a waste of cuteness.' I felt sorry for the loss.
" You said he's been avoiding you lately, so that's why I'm suggesting we force him not to, and what better way than to make him jealous."
" If he thinks another man is after you, he's sure to lose his composure and come running." At this point I noticed a hint of disgust on her face but I pressed my lips tight, forcing a light smile.
" I wasn't talking about myself... I think we've already discussed that, girls with rib cages for chests aren't my type."
" You bastard!" She slammed her hand down on the table, glaring at me openly, but when she saw the gazes of all the other shop patrons shifting towards us, she reluctantly bit her lower lip and sat back down.
" Good choice. Now, I need you to call a guy friend of your's or some close relative he doesn't know about so we can use him as bait."
" I'm afraid that's not possible because I have no such people around me." She replied plainly.
" You're kidding right... You're telling me a cute girl like you dosen't have a single guy friend?"
" No... I do but not one he has no recollection of." She rolled her eyes and said.
" I see...." I muttered, pausing to gather my thoughts. " Then let's just higher someone to play the part."
" I don't have that much money on me to spend." She shut down my idea, again.
" Then we'll just use mine."
" I'm not interested in owing you anything..." She scoffed right of the bat.
I swore she was trying to frustrate me right now because it looked like she had no intentions of complying with anyone of my ideas.
' F*ck... Why did I go ahead and accept this darn mission. This woman is as stubborn as a mule!' I cursed within my head.
" If that, then how are we supposed to get someone to play the part."
" Why don't you play the part then.."
" I thought you wanted nothing to do with a pervert like me." I said, reminding her of her previous words.
" True, but I'm afraid right now I have no choice do I. I'll just have to make do with you."
' Make do with me? Is this b*tch serious?!' I felt the urge to shoot up from my seat and give her a piece of my mind but luckily I was smart enough to remain calm. Nothing good would come from doing such and I sure as hell had no intentions of ruining our progress so far.
' it's ok, let's just calm down a bit. She's nothing but some she devil in human skin, letting her get beneath mine will mostly likely backfire than do any good.'
' At least she's agreed to the plan, all we have to do now is play the part.' I thought to myself.
" Alright then, let's make it official." I said, taking out my phone, getting up and moving to her side of the boot before sitting next to her.
" W-What are you doing!" She hissed, unconsciously shifting away.
" Well you don't expect him to be jealous for no reason. Taking a few photos together and posting them on your social media should help a lot." I said, letting out a sigh at how simple minded this woman was.
" If you're acting like this over a simple photo, I wonder how'd you react if I asked for a kiss instead." I rolled my eyes when I saw the look of apprehension on her face.
' What's with that reaction! It's not like I'd ever kiss you anyways.' I scoffed in my head.
" Do you want to do this or
not. Just because I decided to help you dosen't mean I don't have other things I need to do today."