Chapter 6: The Pretend Lover
2389 Words
THE next few days have been fairly routinary for me. I went to work then to the gym after, then had dinner with Jake. I have become comfortable with spending time with him because most of the people who see us thought that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. We make sure to correct them accordingly. In the beginning, I was adamant about it, but lately, I’m just letting it go. It’s just not worth the trouble of denying it. We don’t know these people who assumed that we were together anyway.
The day before Gabriel’s wedding, Jake and I travelled to Batangas and tried to book two rooms in the hotel where the reception will be held. Unfortunately, every other guest had the same idea and there’s only one free room left. We decided to book it and told the receptionist to inform us in case another room becomes available, which we realized were highly unlikely.
I was waiting in the reception area while Jake visited the men’s room for a while. I was wearing shorts and a tank top. I’ve removed the cardigan I had on since I was starting to sweat. It’s the summer and we are near the ocean so that was expected. I was fanning myself with my hand while looking around when I saw Gabriel with a woman in a short sundress. He had her hand hooked around his arm. This must be his bride. I smiled as I saw them and waved enthusiastically.
Vanessa: “Hey boss.”
Gabriel: “You made it.”
Vanessa: “Yeah. We thought we’d get a room so we won’t have to drive here tomorrow. You know how traffic could be. We don’t want to be late.”
Gabriel: “Great thinking. This is my fiancé, Monica. Honey, this is Vanessa.”
Monica’s smile suddenly disappeared as soon as she heard my name. I’m not sure what Gabriel told her about me but I’m sure it wasn’t good.
Monica: “So, you are Vanessa. My fiancé’s ex.”
Vanessa: “I’m sorry. You must be mistaken. Gabriel wasn’t my ex. He’s just my boss.”
Gabriel: “It’s okay Vanessa, I told her everything.”
Vanessa: “I’m not sure what you told her, but you must have lied to her. We never had a relationship.”
Monica: “How dare you deny it? You must have plans to ruin my wedding. Is that why you're here?”
Vanessa: “Excuse me. I don’t plan on ruining anything. Your fiancé invited me to come, and I didn’t want to be rude so I accepted.”
I made sure to emphasize the word fiancé to mock her. By now, some people are already looking at us trying to get a glimpse of what is happening. I know it’s her wedding and the polite thing to do would be to just back down, but she’s accusing me on something I didn’t even have the slightest inkling of doing.
Gabriel was holding on to his fiancé in case she decides to attack me. I had no plans of backing down in case he does. Luckily, Jake arrived and he put his arms around me.
Jake: “Hi babe, what’s going on?”
Gabriel: “Who are you?”
Jake: “I’m Jake, Vanessa’s boyfriend. And you are?”
Vanessa: “Uhm, babe, that’s my boss, Gabriel. He’s the one getting married tomorrow.”
I called him babe back because I kinda get what he’s trying to do. He wants us to pretend that we’re together so as to pacify the jealous bride.
Jake: “Oh, hi nice to meet you. Congratulations, man.”
He reached his hand out to Gabriel to shake it. Gabriel took his hand but his face looked surprised.
Gabriel: “I’m sorry, you’re her boyfriend?”
Jake: “Yeah. This is our first trip out of town.”
Jake put his hand around my waist and pulled my face towards him and gave me a kiss. I kissed him back and even ran my hand on his chest. When I pulled back, I looked at Gabriel’s fiancé who seems to have calmed down.
Vanessa: “Oh, and this is Gabriel’s fiancé, Monica.”
Jake just nodded at her and said “Nice to meet you.” Monica seems to have been mesmerized at the sight of Jake. I couldn’t blame her. He’s very good-looking.
Monica: “I’m sorry, is this you?”
She then held up a magazine open with a picture of Jake holding a basketball without a shirt on. This must be one of the print ad campaigns he has done.
Jake: “Yes, ma’am.”
I looked at the ad and I couldn’t help but be impressed with Jake’s body. I have seen it, all of it, and it is more impressive in person as it is on print. I almost squealed when he had me face him.
Jake: “Babe, you want to go up to our room so you won’t have to look at my photo? I can show you the real thing.”
Vanessa: “Okay. Let's go.”
With that, Jake took my hand and pulled me towards the elevators but not before saying “See you guys, later.” I waved goodbye and acted as if I was excited to see Jake’s body. Well, I am, but we were just pretending to show Monica that I don’t plan on ruining his wedding and that I don’t care about his groom at all. I brought my own man.
When we got to the room, I laid down on the bed right away and screamed into a pillow.
Vanessa: “The nerve of that girl. How can she accuse me of trying to ruin her wedding. If she only knows how many times I’ve rejected his groom. Grrr. She infuriates me.”
Jake: “Babe, your boss still wants you.”
Vanessa: “I don’t want him. In fact, he repulses me.”
Jake: “Who do you want?”
Vanessa: “Julian.”
Jake: “Ouch.”
Vanessa: “I can’t get him off my mind. For the past few days, You’ve helped me forget about him, but at the end of the day, when I’m lying in bed, my heart still yearns for him.”
Jake: “I get that. I felt that way towards my ex for the past few months after we broke up. Maybe you should do what I did.”
Vanessa: “I’m not sleeping around. I’m not that kind of girl.”
Jake: “I know. Why don’t you just sleep with me?”
I looked at Jake who is now lying in bed next to me. He’s smiling sheepishly and is raising his eyebrows up and down.
Vanessa: “Come on, be serious.”
Jake: “I am serious, babe.”
Vanessa: “We can’t. It’ll ruin our friendship.”
Jake: “Ouch again. I just got friend zoned.”
I smiled at Jake and he smiled back at me. We are friends but we have kissed and even seen each other naked. Well, I have seen him naked. I didn’t want to go any further than that. I don’t want to cheat on Julian despite his absence.
I suddenly felt sad getting reminded of Julian. Jake must have noticed the change in my mood and he pulled me towards him for a hug.
Jake: “Come here, babe.”
I leaned into his chest and put my hands on there too.
Jake: “You like feeling my chest, don’t you?”
Vanessa: “Just shut up and let me use your body for comfort.”
Jake: “You can use my body however you want, babe.”
I hit his arm, which elicited a fake “Ow!” from him. After chuckling, we remained cuddling for a while. I felt myself getting hungry so I asked Jake if he wanted to order room service. We decided to eat and just hang out in our room for a while. We’ll be heading to the beach after lunch.
Jake: “So, you want to continue pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend for the whole weekend?”
Vanessa: “Yes, please. If you don’t mind.”
Jake: “Of course not. Just as long as we can display our affection as much as possible.”
Vanessa: “Don’t push your luck, mister.”
Jake: “We should stay in character even if we don’t see the bride and groom around. Who knows, he might have eyes and ears everywhere.”
Vanessa: “Yeah, whatever.”
What he said actually made sense. When we went out of the room and headed to the beach, I pretended to be Jake’s girlfriend and didn’t skimp on the affection. I didn’t even care who could see us. I just went full method.
We ran into Ross, who came with a date too. He was surprised as he saw me with another man. He was the perfect gentleman, though, and even invited us to join him and his date in their cabana. His date seemed sweet too, although a little shy. When we saw Hannah, we invited her to join us too, and just like every other woman who saw Jake, she can’t help but swoon.
We had a great time just hanging out and talking about things at the office. Jake couldn’t keep his hands off me and Hannah can’t stop smiling and looking at him. Ross eyes seem to be following his hands as they move around my body.ro
Ross excused himself to go to the restroom and Jake took the opportunity to whisper in my ear.
Jake: “Babe, is there any man here who doesn’t want you? That guy seems like he wanted to rip my head off every time I touch you.”
Vanessa: “What are you talking about? He does not.”
Jake: “Has he asked you out before?”
Vanessa: “Yeah, but that was a while back. And he came with a date so I’m sure he’s over me now.”
Jake: “Oh baby, you are so cute.”
Jake proceeded to give me a kiss. I just let him and I proceeded to kiss him back. We heard someone clearing their throat as we stopped kissing.
Hannah: “Hey boss.”
Gabriel: “Hey guys. It’s nice to see you all here. Would you mind if we join you?”
Hannah: “Not at all. It’s your wedding. We can’t really refuse now, can we?”
Hannah chuckled as she said that. We moved to make room for Gabriel and his bride. Just then, Ross came back to the circle and greeted Gabriel.
Ross: “Hey boss. Is she the lucky lady who finally made you want to tie the knot.”
Gabriel: “Uhm, yeah. This is Monica.”
Monica: “Hi, guys. It’s nice to meet you all.”
Ross and his date, Gabriel and Monica then had their own conversation while Jake and I stuck with Hannah. We stayed there until it got dark, and Jake and I left the group to have some dinner. He was getting bored with the company as well since he didn’t know any of them, and he kept getting looks from both Gabriel and Ross. We invited Hannah to join us but she begged off saying she’s tired and wants to go to sleep.
We went to the hotel restaurant and were looking at the menu when a familiar voice called me out.
Jerome: “Vanessa?”
Vanessa: “Oh hey, Jerome. What are you doing here?”
Jerome: “I’m vacationing with my family. How about you?”
Vanessa: “We’re attending my boss’ wedding tomorrow.”
Jerome: “Who’s this?”
His eyes went towards Jake. He looked curious as he looked at him.
Vanessa: “I’m Jake. I’m Vanessa’s boyfriend.”
Jerome: “Boyfriend? Does Julian know about this?”
I suddenly got worried as I looked at Jake and then Jerome.
Vanessa: “It’s not what you think.”
Jerome: “Sure. I’ll see you around, Vanessa.”
We looked at him as he walked away. Jake was confused as to what happened.
Jerome: “Who was that?”
Vanessa: “Uhm, he’s one of Julian’s basketball teammates. He knows about our situation. He must think I’m cheating on his friend.”
Jake: “You’re not doing anything wrong. Let him think what he wants to think.”
I couldn’t help but be worried. What if Jerome tells Julian about Jake. But then again, he said they don’t have any contact so how could he. It’s also possible that he actually had contact with him but didn’t want to tell me.
Despite the delicious food, I didn’t enjoy dinner that much because I couldn’t get my head around the thought of Julian thinking that I forgot about him. I haven’t forgotten about him, in fact I don’t think I ever will. I am going to wait until he comes back for me.
- Writer
