Falling for my fake boyfriend

5 - So here’s the thing

“Is there something wrong?” Davies sounds almost concerned. It throws me off since it is so out of character for him. Not that I know him personally, but preceding reputation and all that.

“What? No. No, there isn’t.” I say a bit too quickly.

“Because… “ He carries on in a calm, cool way. “Jumping to kiss a stranger on a narrow corridor outside the company’s Christmas party, in a restricted area for the night might I add, kind of says there is.” Jeez, judgey much?

“No, there isn’t. All good here.” I squeak and Davies nods thoughtfully. 

“Alright then. Expect a letter after the Christmas holidays. I do believe they need to officially send it in the post in order to start the formal investigation.” He waves his hand dismissively, before turning around and starts walking. 

Panic takes over every fibre in my body and I take a rushed step in his direction. I'm not sure what exactly possesses me to do so, but I yell after him when I should have just kept my mouth shut. 

“But you don’t even know my name!” I yell out, my stupid little mind not comprehending who the letter would be adressed to.

“I’m sure that’s easy enough to figure it out, since you must have swiped your badge to get in this wing during the Christmas party. Have a good night.” The right corner of his mouth twitches a little.

“Hold up!” I practically leap forward once more and stop him by grabbing his elbow. Big mistake.

Davies stills and remains unmoving even though it’s obvious that it would take him no effort to free himself from my hold. Turning his head slightly, he proceeds to stare at the spot where my fingers had wrapped around his elbow. I’m not far from expecting my hand to burn off under his stare. 

I extricate my fingers from his elbow, thinking better than to touch the fabric of his very expensive suit. That thing probably costs more than I make in a year. Next you know, he’s going to add ruining his suit  to the list of accusations. 

“Oh my, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Davies lets out an exasperated huff before speaking.

“The kiss. Explain.” I worry on my lower lip for a second. Mostly because I have no idea how to say everything out loud and not have it sound utterly ridiculous. I’ve really f****d up this time, haven’t I? But I have no other way out of this s**t show other than to tell him the truth.

“Jessie Price.” I lean in, I have no idea why, and whisper my best friend’s name, while also looking around to make sure that she was really gone. “That’s the girl who was passing by earlier. My best friend. She works at Vauxhall also, but in the Marketing Department.” I give him a little background information. Totally irrelevant to Davies, I know, for the man gives no indication that he gives a s**t who Jessie is, nor does he show any interest in learning. 

“Jessie is” I take a deep breath and focus on the green light of the exit sign a few feet away. Because this is where the story becomes utterly embarrassing, far fetched and a little juvenile even. 

“So I was seeing this guy I met at University. Anyway, we went out for a couple of months, I really thought he’s the real deal, you know? And then I found him in bed with a fleshligh…

“A what, sorry?” Davies’ brows rise dangerously close to his hairline.

“Fleshlight. You know, the… not important. Anyway, I found him… pleasuring himself to a slideshow on his computer. A slideshow with pictures of Jessie.” I say cringing hard.

Davies remains quiet, a sign that I should carry on explaining, maybe? Maybe.

So here comes the juvenile part.

“Jessie and I have been best friends since year one at Uni. She’s the one that made sure I maintained a somewhat healthy social life, though I’ve mostly lived through what she was telling me about going out to clubs, since I had to stay home and study. Long story short, after I told her Gavin and I, Gavin is my ex, broke up and after too much wine, we made a pact not to date unless the other one is dating. 

A few weeks ago, I noticed something odd with Jessie, and after a lot of pressing her, she told me how she met this really nice guy and that he’s been asking her out on a date for a while. But you see, she keeps telling him no because I’m single. Girl code, you know?”

“I don’t.” I roll my eyes at Davies’ choice to answer my rhetorical question, and then continue. 

I’m clearly on a roll now. Might as well give him the full stories, sparing no details.

“So seeing how much Jessie really likes the guy, and how she’s dying to go out with him, I sort of said I’m ready to get back out there as well. By the way, she has no idea why Gavin and I broke up. I always tell her it’s too painful for me to talk about. And it sort of is, but not for the reasons one might expect.” I say with warning, like Davies was about to run and tell Jessie I caught Gavin fantasising about f*****g her.

“Since Jessie is one very persistent woman, she is determined to see me in a relationship before she starts one of her own, and she has gotten adamant that I have to give her cousin a chance. 

Just for context, so you have the right picture, Jessie’s cousin is almost 40 and creepy. As in really creepy, stay away and don’t engage in this kind of situation. OK, he’s not really 40, but sure looks that old. Anyway, that’s a hard no for me, I’d rather die alone and with the female version of the fleshlight.” I look at Davies.

“That’s the vibra…”

“Yeah, I got it, thanks.” He holds up a hand, looking a little embarrassed.

“So that’s why I swore to Jessie I can’t give her cousin a chance, because I’m already seeing someone. I’ve managed to keep the mystery for almost 2 weeks, but she’s like a bloodhound, I swear. So I kind of said that my mystery man will be my plus one to the staff Christmas party. Then when we got here, I said that he was late. Then I said that something came up. And then she was on to me, so I kind of panicked. She straight up asked me if I was lying to her about having a boyfriend. I ran and I came here because I didn’t want to admit it. And... you know the rest..” I vaguely motioned between us, symbolising the kiss.

My cheeks are burning and my armpits are sticky from the sweat. No amount of antiperspirant could stop my stress induced sweat production.

I run my hand through my forehead, admitting defeat after my rambling marathon.

“I didn’t really think.” 

Davies is still quiet, but I can practically see the wheels turning in his mind. There is a sparkle in his eyes as well, one that shows ideas are being born, it’s fascinating, really. But what am I thinking? 

“I just needed Jessie to believe that my date showed up, and that I really have a boyfriend, so she’ll back off and go enjoy her life.” He nods.

“So you kissed the first person you met in the hallway. It makes perfect sense.” I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole. 

“When you say it like that, maybe it wasn’t my finest hour.” I mumble under my breath.

“You can say that again.” I dare to glare at the man. What else could go wrong? He’s about to report me for harassment, anyway.

“But it wasn’t that bad either. I’m fairly certain that Jessie saw us. Which means, now she’ll think that my boyfriend showed up, and then she will accept to go out with the guy that she really likes and have a great relationship, and… Look, I’m really genuinely sorry for the kiss.” I breathe out, tired of arguing my case. I don’t know how lawyers do it, it’s hard work.

“Are you, really?” The corner of his mouth twitches again, threatening a smile. Or not.

“Please, just don’t report me. I really thought I heard you say yes to my plan. I swear I didn’t mean to… ” All of a sudden, the tsunami that is my collection of actions from the last few minutes, crashes into me.

I fully understand what I have done.

I just kissed a random guy, a man who happens to be the most notoriously unpleasant engineer, pardon me, doctor, in the whole company.

I’ve practically attacked the man in the dimly lit hallway at our company’s Christmas party and I can’t even blame it on the alcohol.

And now Dr. Adam Davies is in front of me, staring me down, looking like he’s thinking of a new, revolutionary way of using water as fuel for our cars.

Fuck my life!

It may be the alcohol which, by the way, I’m sure has worn off by now. Or maybe it’s the festive season. Or it can be the way Adam Davies is looking at the right this second because everything becomes too much. Like I’m ready to say to hell with it all and go apply for a job at the local Tesco. I don’t even care that I’ve wasted nearly six years of my life at university, and six months in this apprenticeship program. I genuinely give up.

“You know what, Mr. Davies, Sir, I mean Doctor…” I pause, frustrated with myself. After I take a deep breath I continue, my eyes mostly closed because I can’t face Davies and this embarrassment for long.

“I need to apologise again. I see where you are coming from, and if you felt in any way attacked by me, you really should report me to HR, because it’s only fair you do so. It was a horrible thing to do, though I really didn’t want to… Not that my intentions matter here, it’s more like your perception of…” f**k a duck, I’m bad at this! Wrap it up Lily, will you?

“I’m just going to leave now, OK? Thank you, and again,  I truly am sorry. And yes, Merry Christmas. Yeah…” 

Cursing the day I was born, I retreat as fast as I can back towards the party which from afar sounds like it is in full swing. 

I shake my head violently when I think I hear Davies call after me.

But I know that’s impossible, because I haven’t told him my name. So I don't stop. I don’t even stop when I reach the party. I simply collect my jacket and carry on towards the exit of the building, wondering if this will be the last time I’m going to be allowed inside of it.

It might be overkill at this point, because who’s going to chase me? Davies? But what the heck? I nearly run to the closest tube station and then jump on the first train that stops, not caring that by taking this one it means a much longer journey.

Only when I see myself in front of my flat do I dare to breathe again. It takes me all of 3 attempts to unlock the door, for my hands are still shaking. Kicking off my shoes, which terrorised my feet all night, I ran for the bathroom having only a hot shower in mind. One scorching hot that could potentially wash away this embarrassing night. Unfortunately, all I can think about now is the iron hard erection that Adam Davies pressed against my abdomen. Damn it!