7 Vol 1 : Agreement ⭐ (R)

When they get inside, Faye checked the floor downstairs to see if Claudia didn't follow what she said, but there was no sight of her, which means she was still upstairs. 

"Fay, where are we going?" Denis who had been silent finally asked Faye. 

"You will know." Still holding Denis' hand, Faye went upstairs where Claudia was busy making phone calls alone.

"It's about 'that' right!?" seemed like Denis remember the matter when he saw Claudia's face, "What are you planning to do?" he asked, started to get annoyed when he found out Faye's real motives. 

Faye just folded her arms and coldly said, "I failed to convince my Mama, so you take care of the problem." 

"Faye …" Denis tried to speak again. 

"No, not Faye again!" Faye said, the emotion that had been hidden all this time finally burst out, "It's not just my fault! It's your fault too! You were the stubborn one who showed your face on the phone this morning, and I tried to fix the problem by myself while you enjoy your reunion with your sister!"

"Don't bring Starla into this," said Denis coldly. 

Faye rolled her eyes. Of all the words he said, he only cared about Starla? "Okay, I won't. Where were we? Ah yeah, and then because my Mama is very enthusiastic about our wedding which doesn't even exist, she hired the reporters to announce our wedding in my restaurant's opening. Now, you are here. Go try to convince my Mama." 

Denis looked down, "I'm not sure, Fay, I'm just a stranger, if she doesn't even listen you, how could I succeeded convincing your Mama?"

"You have two choices, convince my Mama or does a marriage contract with me," said Faye sharply.

"What?" Denis frowned, displeased with the choices.

Unfortunately Faye didn't care, closed her lips tightly.

"I know you don't like to do a contract marriage with me, but that's the only other option," said Faye calmly, "do you think I like it? Don't get your hopes up. I also think marriage is sacred. If you want to, we can just register the marriage without holding any celebrations and such."

Denis thought for a long time.

"So?"

"I'll convince your Mama," said Denis, and walked over to Claudia.

Faye face palmed, she swore that Denis was the most stubborn guy she ever met, don't forget that he liked to flirt as well. She couldn't imagine living together with Denis and hearing all of his tease and sleep with him, "My dirty mind," she sighed and went after Denis. 

"Good evening," said Denis warmly. 

Claudia glanced briefly, as soon as she knew it was Denis, she covered her phone using her hand, "Wait a second, Pa," she said, "Denis, you come!" she exclaimed excitedly and without warning she hugged Denis tightly, "Welcome to Grace family."

"Uh ..." Denis was confused.

"Did Faye tell you about your marriage announcement?" Claudia asked.

"Honestly, about our marriage—" Denis tried to speak.

"Oh, sorry Denis dear, I have to continue the call with Papa," Claudia interrupted.

"Uh ..."

"Do you both want to calm down in here before the event starts?" asked Claudia again, cutting Denis's words without any pause, "I am going downstairs then, bye," she continued, and without waiting for Denis or Faye's answer, she headed downstairs while continuing the phone call, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Pa."

Faye laughed dismissively at Denis when Claudia was out of their sight, "Good Job, Mr. Denis~"

"Oh, shut up," said Denis coldly.

Faye shrugged her shoulders indifferently, "I've been trying to explain it to her since this morning up till now, do you understand how frustrated I was to face my Mama now?"

"I took my words this morning, your Mama is not an enthusiastic person, she just doesn't want to listen to others," said Denis while exhaling deeply, "Can't you replace me with someone else?"

Faye laughed out loud, "What a nice joke, I'll try it if you don't show yourself on the phone, so yeah, sorry if it disappointed you honey, you can't be replaced, you definitely wouldn't be here if someone else took your place, honey~"

Denis exhaled and glanced to the next direction, "I was wondering if jumping into the building next to this will be safe …?"

Faye's eyes widened, "What!? You want to run away?"

"Just kidding," said Denis.

"It's not funny," said Faye coldly, "So, what's your decision?" she asked again. 

Denis looked down.

Why did Denis feel like it was such a big deal? Faye did too, but not as much as Denis. 

After struggling with his thoughts for so long, Denis finally looked at Faye and said seriously, "OK, let's get married."

Faye let out a sigh of relief, "We'll talk about that later."

Denis didn't answer, he ducked his head down, thinking about the marriage. It is something he had been avoiding since he graduated high school. 

Faye glanced at Denis, wondering whether his outfit is suitable for the event or not, "I'll get you a suit and tie."

"Eh? You don't need to," said Denis.

"Don't get in my way, you'll know how angry my Mama is to find you dressed like a punk at an official event like this," Faye preached. 

"This is casual, Fay," said Denis, feeling offended of Faye's judgment about his outfit.

Does Denis even know about parable?

"Just sit here, I'll take it for you," said Faye, "sit down, will you?" she repeated, emphasizing the word sit because she knew Denis was going to play around downstairs.

Denis is a man who doesn't like to stay quiet, especially since the restaurant has lot of pretty employees. 

Denis just waved his hand dismissively and sat down on the chair. 

Faye went down to find Mia who was still busy in the kitchen, "Do you have a tie?"

 "For what?" Mia asked back.

"Denis."

"Deni—" Faye hurriedly closed Mia's mouth before she might create a mess, she only pulled her hand away after Mia nodded and wouldn't be panicked, "I didn't bring it."

Faye thought about how she could get the tie. Coming back home would be too far, and there wasn't enough time, "Ah, Oliver, did you bring a suit and tie?" she asked Oliver, the Sous Chef, with eyes filled with expectation. Oliver has similar physique to Denis.

Oliver is also a disciplined and tidy person.

"Yeah, I have it, but what do you need it for?" Oliver asked back. 

Faye's eyes were sparkling, she knew it wasn't wrong to ask Oliver, "I only need it for a moment, Oliver. Please, will you lend them to me?" she begged, putting her hands together as she did so. 

"All right, you even begged like that, how could I refuse the request of the restaurant owner?" said Oliver, "Follow me."

Faye nodded, following him from behind to the dressing room which was fused with Oliver's room. He did separate Oliver and Mia's room so that nothing wrong might happen remembering that both of them have some histories happened between them. 

Oliver opened his cupboard. He took his black suit and tie then handed it to Faye, "This is it, Boss. I hope it stays as clean when you returned it to me, Boss."

Faye took the coat and tie happily, "Thank you, I'll take care of it, get back to work Oliver."

Oliver nodded and returned to the kitchen. 

With the clothes in her hands, Faye hurried back to where Denis was. He was still sitting on the chair, looking bored as he stared at the night sky when Faye arrived, "I got it, put them on," she said glancing at the watch in her hand, "hurry up, the event is about to start in a while."

Denis, who was still wearing Oliver's tie around his neck, replied indifferently, "Hm."

Faye saw that Denis was having a hard time wearing the outfit, helped him swiftly, "You are just like a child, have you never wear tie during school?" she asked while folding the tie into a triangle shape. 

"No, I only wore it during the ceremony," said Denis, "the last time I wore one was when I graduated, and Starla helped me with that."

Faye patted Denis on the chest after finishing the tie, "And you here mock me for being Mama's girl when you're just a spoiled little brother."

"Okay, sorry for that," said Denis which sounded like a satire instead of apology. 

"Come on, the event will start, let's go downstairs," Faye asked and when they were walking, Denis took her hand out of nowhere.

"I should at least hold your hand so that people won't be suspicious of us," said Denis shyly.

Faye didn't answer because what Denis said was true, no one knows about this except Mia. When they arrived, the host has started the event—"Mama!?"

Denis grinned, "Your Mama is very excited about us, isn't she?"

Of course Claudia was excited. She was so happy about this fake marriage. The MC that Faye had hire for this event didn't even work, he was just standing behind Claudia.

Faye shook her head.

How could this be?

Faye stared blankly. She was only half listening to what Claudia said.

Just because of a video call and a pair of rings.

Ring.

Video call.

Faye felt like burning the ring lingered in her finger.