The CEO's Pretend Lover

Seven: "Let me hold your hand"

Jéan had googled a lot of questions beforehand, thanks to Jules and his over-intrusive nature. She didn't know what to ask though, there were a lot of serious philosophical questions and there were funny and casual ones.

I should keep the questions in between. Jéan thought as she fished out her phone from her pocket and opened her bookmarked page. Scanning a lot and committing them to memory, she closed her Galaxy Z Fold and placed it back in her pocket.

"So I didn't know what to ask." Jéan rubbed the back of her neck and continued. "Pardon me for my lack of creativity since I searched for them online."

Elizabeth smiled at the woman who seemed to be trying so hard. "It's okay. We can both answer them, I'm open to any type of question."

A smile broke out on her face and she coughed before asking the first question that came to mind. "Have you ever dated anyone?"

Elizabeth, who was gulping the glass of water that was placed on their table earlier, choked and picked up a napkin to dab her mouth. She didn't expect that was going to be the first question, but she should've expected it. It was going to be known either way.

"No. I've never been with anyone. Or even kissed anyone." Her cheeks were red under Jéan's stare. "What about you?"

"Well, I dated someone in sophomore year." Jéan looked away. "I can't believe you haven't been with anyone."

"Believe it or not, that's how sad my love life is."

"But do you believe in true love, Elizabeth?"

The female smiled to herself, "I'm a sucker for romantic stuff. I've read a lot of books and I want what the main leads have. I want to have that feeling of being with someone that gives me a rush and probably leaves me breathless."

The waiter brought their food and Elizabeth's mouth watered at the delicacy in front of her.

"Thank you!" She beamed at the waiter and glanced at Jéan's plate. "Wait, let's take a picture. Elena is going to be green with envy."

Jéan watched in amusement as Elizabeth fumbled with her phone and aligned the plates so they could be in the camera focus.

"Here, let me hold your hand." Jéan took Elizabeth's free hand and the female flinched at the sudden gesture. She looked at her boss questioningly and the female only shrugged.

"What?" Jéan chuckled. "So it would be more authentic that it's a romantic date, don't you think so?"

Elizabeth only nodded and adjusted the camera focus so their hands would appear and click on the shutter. After taking a couple of shots, they proceeded to eat.

"Oh wow, this is amazing." Elizabeth moaned out in amazement after taking a bite of her pasta. She never expected less from Jules' restaurant.

Jéan snapped her fingers and the waiter brought the wine and poured it into their glasses.

"Leave the bottle." Jéan instructed the waiter and he dropped it in the middle of the table. "And tell my brother to stop spying on us."

Elizabeth glanced around, and locked eyes with Jules, who flashed her a thumbs up before walking away upon his sister's request. She didn't notice his presence those past minutes they had been there. How did Jéan know he was there?

"So Elizabeth, what's your favorite thing to do?" Jéan tried to keep the conversation going so that there wouldn't be silence.

"Reading novels, watching movies and club nights." Elizabeth tried to list just a little. She had so many interests and if she mentioned them all, Jéan would get bored.

"I doubt you love these things Jéan." And Jéan nodded. The only thing she did outside the office was to hang out with Jules and sleep.

"We'll change that soon. I'm sure you'd love a lot of things." Elizabeth smiled, eager to welcome Jéan into a new world that wasn't filled with documents and meetings.

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Dinner ended well. Jéan was proud to say she had learned a lot of things about Elizabeth. Like how the last thing she does before sleeping is eat a bag of chips from the stash under her bed, and the oldest thing in her closet is a sweater her grandmother knitted before she died.

According to Elizabeth, it wasn't something she liked to wear but she kept it as a fond memory of the woman who stuffed her stomach with food each time she visited.

"Where do you want to go next?" Jéan asked as the duo approached her parked car.

"I wanted us to have fun so I planned we'd go to the fair." Elizabeth smiled with glee. After searching for what to do after lunch, she finally settled on a suggestion she saw online. The only reason why she agreed was because she wanted to see Jéan's aura in a fun place.

"I'm sorry?"

"We're going to the fair. Don't tell me you haven't been to one." She knew the answer already, she only wanted to tease her boss.

"Fine, just give me the location so I'll drive us there." Jéan rolled her eyes as she opened the car door but Elizabeth shut it.

"We're going to walk, it's not far from here."

Jéan stared at the female. It seemed like she was getting too comfortable for her to be acting this way. Did Elizabeth forget that Jéan was her boss? She was acting like they were that close to each other.

Jéan had taken note of the times Elizabeth referred to her by her first name, instead of the regular 'Ms.Romano' she was used to. She understood Elizabeth was trying to ease the tension between them but it felt strange after two years.

Elizabeth glanced back and saw that Jéan was following behind her closely and she paused. "We have to walk beside each other."

"For someone who doesn't have romance experience, you sure know of all the little things we have to do." Jéan got to her side and matched the stare of the woman who was shorter than her today, unlike how she used to be on workdays.

"Like I said, I've read a lot of novels, Jéan." She took Jean's hands in hers and pulled her along like a happy kid wanting their candy.

Jéan could tell they were getting closer. She could hear the music and people shouting. She wasn't sure if it was from happiness or fright.

"We're here!" Elizabeth gestured to the bustling crowd and Jéan took in the amount of rides her eyes could take in. There were food stands, souvenir shops, games stands and photo booths.

"Let's take a picture first." Elizabeth pulled her towards the nearest photo booth on their left and pushed her in.

Jéan was not familiar with this. She looked around the rectangle she was in and questioned how anyone would take a picture inside this cramped space.

"So we'd put the coin inside here and wait for the countdown." It seemed Elizabeth was talking to herself and Jéan couldn't understand as she stared straight ahead, trying to figure out what she was supposed to look at as her eyes danced around.

The shutter went off and the light blinded Jéan for a moment. "The f**k!"

"The first one was good. Here, make a peace sign for the next one." Elizabeth put up her peace sign and Jéan followed her actions as the shutter went off again.

Jéan was getting the hang of it, and they took multiple photos before stepping out and picking up their photos at the side of the booth.

"You look really good. Your tattoo really came out well." Elizabeth handed Jéan some of the printouts and kept the rest in her purse.

"I really do." Jéan replied curtly and stuffed them in her pocket. "What is next?"

Elizabeth smiled in a weird way and Jéan didn't like that look on her face. She hoped it wasn't something bad or irritating.

"We're going on the rides, of course." She let out a laugh. "Before the night ends, we're doing every activity in this fair."