I Became Her

Chapter 26 -The Proposition-

It takes me good few minutes to wrap my head around what she just said. She doesn’t need to explain or clarify anything, I know perfectly well who she is talking about.

How she knows or if she really knows the whole truth, is still to be figured out.

“Who?” I have to approach this conversation with caution because she could get spooked if I rush or push her too hard. I believe her, I believe she knows something, but I have to be sure before I get any ideas.

She looked around and then returned her gaze to her hands. Her silence becomes deafening because I need answers and she is the perfect one to give them to me. She is closest to him and probably knows him the best.

“Who is doing what?” I can’t help myself; I need her to speak, I need her to explain.

“He hurts them bad, so bad.” The tremor that laces through her words makes me believe she really knows what she is talking about. How she knows is still a mystery, but as the men start to roam back inside the venue, I guess our time is up.

“Can we talk later? Privately,” I ask before I have to leave for good. Tyler is not in sight, so I have little time left to arrange something.

“Better not. He’ll hurt me if he finds out.” And her eyes fixate on something for a beat and then she locks herself up again. Nothing in her eyes, no readable expression on her face, she closed herself like a book and shut me out before I had a chance to see if there is going to be part two.

I pivot on my heels to walk back to my table and notice that Tyler is across the room chatting away like he is one of them. But he is not. Okay, I don’t know the others, so they might be just as bad as him. But I am not placing blame on people I don’t know about crimes they might or might not have committed. I can only be sure about Tyler and his crimes since I have firsthand knowledge.

I am pretty sure I wasn’t noticed by Tyler and my tête-à-tête with Julia will stay between us. But the thing is, I need more time with her. From the state of her, I know that there is so much more she can share with me, and I need that information to hurt him, to make him loose everything and everyone he ever cared for.

“Where were you?” Talia grabs my hand and pulls me down to my seat when I reach next to her.

“Mingling,” I say calmly, trying not to ignite any interest in my whereabouts. It’s better if I keep her away from all the drama and disaster I might be creating around me.

She raises one eyebrow at me. “Interesting.” Then gives up drilling me for more elaborate answers. Hopefully for good, but I get the feeling that this is not actually over yet.

The event is wrapping up as we are now applauding the huge number they managed to raise today, so this elite group of people can keep eating the nests they swore to protect. Basically, this fundraiser wasn’t so much for the wildlife, rather for themselves to preserve not the birds, but their known and loved lifestyle. Isn’t life wonderfully simple when everything can be fixed with a single signature or a swipe of a card?

“They’ll speak about their next cause and then we are free to leave,” Isaac whispers with relief.

I wish I could feel the same relief. Instead, I realize that after today my chances of seeing Julia again are thinner than rice paper. She is slipping away, and I have no other option than to let her walk out with all the details I am after.

“I can take you home afterwards.” His casualness is something I envy. He makes everything sound like it’s no big deal or no trouble at all. I know taking me home is not a huge burden, but he is not obliged to do it.

“I came with Talia, so no need. But thanks.” He is too decent for these people here.

“Actually, I have a business proposition for you. It might be best if we discuss it in private.”

Proposition? Do I want to get involved? The curiosity is screaming at me to hear him out. I don’t have to give him an answer, or agree to anything. I just let him lay his case and take it from there.

“Fine. I’ll ride with you.” His smile says that this was exactly the answer he was looking for. I turn to Talia and knock on her shoulder to get her attention. “Isaac is taking me home,” I say, and her smile says that this was definitely something she was looking for. “Not like that,” I add quickly to drown any assumptions she might be making.

“I’ll pick my stuff up later then.” Another wicked smile before she directs her attentiveness back to Isaiah. It is actually impressive how good of an actress she is while we have been here. The giggles and gentle touches would get me fooled if I didn’t already know that they are not an actual couple. She plays her part perfectly and I can see why she is in such high demand. What is getting confusing is how she is not bumping into some of her other clients if they all circle in the same crowd? I will ask her someday.

Last applause and we are done here. I give a last quick glance in the direction where Julia was and damn myself for not being pushier. Maybe she wouldn’t have gotten scared, and I would have little more to hang on to. She walks out hand in hand with Tyler and I officially missed the best chance I had.

Isaac guides us out and while others are waiting in line for a valet, he goes to get his car by himself. The way he breaks all the rules his position has placed upon him is amusing. He is one of them, but he is not trying to fit in their mold, he is so much more by being so much simpler.

I distance myself from other guests and walk towards the curb.

“Forget about that fag, Isaac, and let me show you what a real man can do.” His breath on my neck, his hand on my hip, his cologne all around me. Dinner is definitely trying to make its way back if I don’t get away.

I take a deep breath and step out of his reach. “Go show your fiancée your real-men-moves,” I say with my back to him. He doesn’t deserve to be looked at; he doesn’t deserve to be spoken to directly.

“Jealous much?” He snickers behind me. “She won’t be around for long, little lamb.”

Isaac pulls up just as he finishes his sentence, and I am not even going to honor him with a reply. The cat-call squeezing my insides into a tiny lump, not letting me take a breath, not letting my heart beat. That night playing in front of my eyes like it is happening all over again.

I get in the car and Isaac is visibly distressed when he sees him near me and the way he speeds away is a clear sign of his frustration towards him. He doesn’t say anything though. His white knuckles gripping the steering wheel is more than words could express.

‘Breathe, don’t ventilate. Breathe, don’t ventilate’, is my current mantra not to escalate the storm raging in and around me.

After a few minutes, he loosens his grip and the tension that sucked the air from this car is slowly fading. There is still no room for meaningless words, so I just give him an address a few blocks from the gym. He is still a stranger and I feel more comfortable if people don’t know where to find me. It’s not me trying to be mysterious or hard to get, it’s me trying to keep myself safe no matter what. I can see that he cares for me, but I also thought that Duncan loved me, so my stupidity has no limits, as history has shown.

The city is already dark, and he pulls over to the curb when we arrive at the address I gave him.

“Here’s okay?” I nod and he puts the car in parking mode. “Feel free to say no. I just got an idea, and I will share it with you.” He seems somewhat uncomfortable; I can’t tell if it is from Tyler or is there something outrageous coming soon.

“I’m listening,” I give him a green light to say what he has on his mind.

“I don’t know where to start.” He is really struggling. “My father pressured you and offered money for whatever he expected you to do. Anyway, I am his only heir, and he wants me to have an heir to whom I can pass the legacy he built.” I try not to show any emotions yet, but I don’t like where he is steering this monologue. “Saying you were my girlfriend kind of gave me an idea to maybe say the same to him. That we have fallen in love and all the other smitten stuff. We attend couple of more events, and he gets off my back.” He shrugs his shoulders and I feel my face scrunching up a little.

“Fake relationship?” I ask with probably too much distaste in my voice.

“We’re not going to fake anything. We just tell him that we are in a relationship, he is not going to expect us to consummate our relationship in front of him.” He makes it sound so easy. We just lie and they’ll believe it no matter what.

“Isaac, can I be honest?” He nods. “First, I think it won’t work. Second, I think it is a bad idea. Third, be honest with him.” Not that I am the best person to give advice on family affairs when I have a father who disowned me, but I still think honesty should be the number one approach when it comes to family.

“Lex, can I be honest with you?” He repeats my own question back at me. “First, it will work. Second, I didn’t say it was a good idea. Third, telling him would leave me bare as a button. No family, no inheritance, no future.”

“He wouldn’t ditch you. You’re his only son.” Not the strongest argument, but I really believe that his father has more sense in him than mine did.

“His legitimate son. If I turn out to be a failure, then he has plenty of kids to choose from.” Another shrug.

Okay, so maybe his situation is different from mine in every possible way. Still, agreeing to his proposal is not as simple. There must be boundaries to what he can ask me to do and how to behave, because I am not capable of showing intimate feelings in front of an audience.

“Okay, I will be your pretend girlfriend,” I say and the relief in his expression is immediate.

“You will?” He asks with a very, and I mean, very stunned voice.

“On one condition.”