Act For Me (MxM)

Act Like You Mean It (3)

Chapter 3: Act Like You Mean It (3)

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The following day…

“Come on! You’re so slow!” A woman seemingly in her later teens was rushing Philip though the Mall, pulling him from one store to the next one.

“Calm down, now Fiona… the stores aren’t going to magically disappear if we walk a bit slower…” Philip said in a deadpan voice. It was far too early in the morning for him and he didn’t feel in any condition to be outside at the moment.

“Brother…. You promised me you’d buy me anything I want, right? So no backing off!” Fiona said in a typical teenage spoiled daughter voice.

“I could just give you my card and you can still buy whatever.” Philip said as he genuinely showed no interest in staying in such a crowded place for any longer.

“Then who’s going to carry them?” Fiona asked, she also didn’t seem far too happy about the situation they were in. Almost as if she was hiding something from her elder brother.

“Your bodyguards…” Philip suggested but the girl quickly shook her head from side to side.

“Eh? They have more important work to do! Like protect me for instance…” Fiona said as she pointed as the guards walking behind them.

“Fine I could call you a servant-” Phillip was about to suggest but the woman shot him down quicker than the other was able to speak.

“No, I wanna spend time with you!” Fiona said as she continued pulling on her elder brother’s hand through the Mall. Finally arriving at their destination, it was an arts and crafts store.

“Alright…” Phillip agreed with the woman and they walked in. Since there wasn’t enough space for everyone it was just the two of them, while the guards stood outside, looking into the transparent glass of the store to make sure everything is alright.

‘Honestly if it wasn’t for mom and dad forcing me to take you out on a puppy I would be here with my friends instead... Brother… you better hurry up and marry that person parents send you, or I’ll be annoyed…’ Fiona thought to herself as she looked through the different type of canvas they had, then to the paints and finally she took a look over at the brushes, carefully picking out what she needs.

“Are you starting a new painting?” Philip asked as he tilted his head to the side, he leaned slightly forward to be on eye level with the crouching girl.

“What is it to you?” Fiona asked in an almost angered voice as she was trying to focus on choosing brushes.

“I like your paintings… so I was just wondering if you’re making another one…” Phillip said with a faint smile on his face. ‘Has talking to her… always been this difficult?’ He wondered to himself. He wasn’t sure what to say or do so he started up a conversation but now it was headed either nowhere or in a bad direction.

“You don’t need to give me empty praise… I already have plenty of that from competitions…” Fiona remarked as she stood up again, having picked put five brushes and put them in the basket her brother carried.

“The only reason they praise you is because you’ve earned it.” Phillip said with a rather serious voice as he followed after the woman that went from one corner of the store to the next one.

“…don’t be silly…” She replied as she turned her back to the man again. ‘As if our family name has nothing to do with it.’ Fiona thought to herself. No matter how hard or how little she worked on a peace of artwork, she would always get the same responses. ‘It’s brilliant.’ Or ‘Great work’ it was never anything genuine that came out of people’s mouths.

While Fiona would go to all kinds of competitions trying to prove herself, it was still no use… She would see the other talented artwork displayed there, she knew in her heart hers wasn’t as good but in the end she always won those competitions. Bringing even more praise to the family name Monte… but… but it was never because she was a good artist…

“…….” However Philip didn’t have any words of encouragement to say to the woman. All he could do is silently watch over her in that instance. After all… he too didn’t feel like he was much more than his family title.

“Ah, if you’re thinking of using these paints you should probably get a thicker brush… the lines will become smoother as well…” A male voice sounded as he handed the girl a brush he’d selected. It was a bit different than the one the woman was holding.

“Thank you so much… I was contemplating on it.” Fiona said as she turned to look at the man. ‘Ah… he’s quite handsome… wait… is he flirting with me?’ She wondered to herself. Even though the other seemed quite a bit older than her.

“I draw quite a bit myself and those are my favorite paints… oh but these ones are cheaper here… and they do pretty much the same work.” Owen said as he smiled at the girl, pretending like he didn’t know her. When in truth he already knew of the woman, of course they’d never met so Fiona had no idea about any of this. He also in advance spoke with the servants as to where the two of them would be. It was all going by plan…

“What… are you doing here?” Philip asked as he pulled his sister aside and stood in front of her to speak with the man. ‘This guy… is he following me? No… he couldn’t have…’