Stuck With You
"Well then, what if I do the same?"
That was really a shock. It was hard to look at Richard when he was leaving my home. What was harder was when my parents just announced to us at the dining table that we would be meeting the Brown family this evening for dinner. My heart had almost stopped when my mother mentioned that I better behave myself tonight, as well as warning my sister and me not to pull any tricks this time like we did that day. I guess that I am really about to get married to my editor, although it could be a good thing for me as I would really need to be near and around him always, the reason being that he is the reference model for my male lead character, Alondré.
A knock came to my door as my body sprang up on the bed. I am certain that that was my sister. Her blue hair came into sight, all gathered into a ponytail as she was leaning against the wall, and her brows almost met. Akisha and I are identical twins, and both of us got sick of those people who could not tell who was who. That was the main reason why we dyed our hairs into different colors—mine was pink and Aki's blue. Our parents were not against this idea, as they knew how problematic it had been for the both of us to be mistaken for the other twin. Especially when we got into college, almost all of Aki's friends would always accidentally bring me along to their get-togethers and eventually feel that it was not Akisha that was with them.
Her arms were crossed over her chest. I leaned against the door frame and waited for whatever it was that she wanted to say to me. I have a guess that she is here to talk to me about the dinner that will happen later tonight. Akisha moved her index finger underneath her chin, and I resisted the laughter building up inside me. "You're looking like a private detective, sis, and it does not suit you. What are you standing in front of my room for?"
"I was thinking," she whispered as her thumb brushed against her moisturized lips, and then her eyes turned to me. "Are you really going to get married? At this age? Would you really want to get tied to that man?" Akisha entered my room as she spoke, while my eyes were following her. "Although it's true that he's beautiful, isn't it a waste? And don't you want to get married with the man that you love?" She gasped, making me jump. Her hands came up to her chest, and she glared. "Perhaps you're after Mr. Brown's body only?" My sister, who was only born thirty minutes before me, earned a beating when she said that ridiculous idea.
"Get out of my room, Aki, if you're only going to say nonsense!" I heard her laugh, which totally sounds like a witch's, as I pushed her outside of my bedroom.
"No, seriously, sis. Think about this before you say yes, okay? Once you decide to go with this, you can never go back."
I know that, and it was clear that my sister was only worried about me. Perhaps she was feeling guilty since it was mainly because of her that I was in this situation. If she had not asked me to pretend to be her that day, things would not have gotten this far. I remembered what Richard told me—how he had only let his mother do this because she was worried that he might never find himself a suitable wife considering how much of a workaholic her son was—and if he did not like the candidate for his wife, he'd reject her.
"But that was my problem!" I exclaimed. My fingers were pulling on my hair when I did. My sister's words are getting into me, and it is affecting my decision to marry Richard right now. I am starting to reconsider; however, given his personality, I know that I will definitely lose the chance of using him as my reference model for my second novel, and it would make my writing job more difficult than it already is. I am afraid that he might become evil towards me as my editor and tell me to get my book done in a month.
I decided to go out for a bit to free my mind of all the things that I needed to think about. I would only end up worrying about them, although I knew I had control over them; however, it was hard to make the final decision on this one as my personal life and my job would both be affected. The mall was packed; a lot of workers must have gotten their pay today and thought about going shopping while they could. Well, I would do the same if I had also received my pay for this month, but since it was only the 20th, I would still have to wait a couple of days.
My eyes landed on a takoyaki food stall, and I could see all the way from here how stretchy the cheese was. My mouth was watering as I quietly approached the stall like a weirdo; the person who was manning it almost had a heart attack. And it was the right choice to buy, as the cheese was melting into my mouth and the octopus balls tasted perfectly fine! It was the best treat I've had since I started working on my new book!
"I'm scared of you." I jumped on my seat when someone took the seat in front of me and let out a breath of relief when I realized that it was only Richard. "As far as I'm concerned, you should not approach people the same way you did with that man—it was really creepy." I continued munching on my first meal of the day while he crossed his legs and arms, looking like a perfectly sculptured statue right there. "I'm pretty sure you've heard from your family already about the dinner."
My eyebrows were raised up and then down to answer him. "You must be stalking me." The drink, which he had stolen from me, spilled on the table. It was a good thing that I was born with good reflexes; I was able to save my takoyaki. Richard wiped off his pink lips with a napkin and glared at me.
"What the hell are you saying? Are you hearing yourself?"
I shrugged and swallowed my food. "Well, was it a coincidence that you're here as well?" Richard regained composure as he pulled on his dark-colored blazer. "Don't give me excuses like you've had an appointment at the top floor with somebody and then you saw me while you were on your way out of the mall—that is so typical. You'd better give me a good alibi."
"That's the mind of a writer for you, huh?" He let out a little laughter. "I know you wanted to experience some bit of romance in your life, Bethany, but I apologize. I've come here because I needed to meet Mr. Evans."
"Mr. Evans? That man who looked like a celebrity? The CEO of our company?" Richard nodded his head. My fingers combed my pink hair and put on some lip gloss, just in case he was still in this mall. My actions made the man in front of me giggle, and I chose to ignore his existence.
"You're making it too obvious that you'd rather marry him than me; that's hurting my feelings." I rolled my eyes and leaned forward towards him. Richard raised a brow.
"Didn't you say that you'll divorce the woman you'll marry if, in the end, you cannot like her?" Richard nodded his head, and a smile crept onto my face. "Then we do not need to go so far as getting married, right? I'm certain that you do not like me."
"That is true." I could barely hold the happiness inside me when he answered that. Good thing I resisted the urge to jump in glee and throw my hands up in the air as an act of victory. "But I'd rather get stuck with you than have you ignore all of my calls and messages like you did before. If you became my wife, you'd have no way of escaping your job." He ended his statement with a teasing smirk. Richard stood up from the seat and messed up my short hair. I pushed his hand away. The smile on my face was soon replaced by a frown. The next thing he did almost made my heart stop—he brought his face close to mine, and he was looking into my eyes.
"See you later, darling." He winked and walked away.
I punched and kicked the air. What in the world did I get myself into? I got carried away when I decided to base my Alondré off of him, and now I might get stuck with that devil for the rest of my life! I don't want to go to that dinner tonight!