[Time skip: Saturday]
Daisy had cleaned up her entire apartment in preparation for Arvil coming over. Not that she was a necessarily messy person, but there were a few things here and there that had needed tidying. At least his coming over gave her reason to do so.
She’d thrown her hair up in a ponytail and opted to keep the glasses for the day instead of her contacts. Her shirt was just a simple gray sweatshirt with “Harvard University” on it in maroon letters, something her father had given her, and she’d decided to wear plain black leggings under it.
Arvil had simply worn a maroon shirt along with sweatpants, deciding it was too much of a hassle to get dressed formally. True to his word, he had eaten breakfast. He knew she would grill him alive if he told her he forgot.
So now here he was, in front of her apartment door. He knocked, and then waited.
Daisy looked up from stirring the chicken into the pasta and glanced at the door. She sighed and turned the heat off, glad she’d decided to cook the chicken first and then add it to the pot.
“I’m coming!” she called, moving the pot onto a cool burner before making her way over to the door. She opened it with a small smile and stepped aside to let Arvil. “Hey, I’m just finishing up the food.”
When she opened the door and smiled at him, Arvil smiled back. He stepped inside and looked around before his eyes landed on Daisy.
“What, no greeting kiss?” he teased her, a twinkle in his eyes. “It smells wonderful, by the way.”
Daisy rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind him. She gently pushed him toward the kitchen, where she then went back to stirring pasta.
“I didn’t realize that it was required,” she drawled. “And I’m glad. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. It’s chicken Alfredo.”
Arvil grinned when she pushed him, and then leaned against the kitchen wall as he watched her.
“Of course, it will,” he assured her. “Anything I can help with?”
“Not really, no. I already set the table. Unless you want to get the cups from the table and fill one with water and the other with whatever you’d like to drink,” Daisy mused, casting him a quick glance over her shoulder. She blinked, turning away before he could see her blush. Why did men have to be so attractive when they leaned against a wall or doorway? “You can help yourself to whatever you find in the fridge.”
“I’ll just have water,” Arvil said as he pushed himself off and did as he was told. He began to fill water in the cups, humming to himself. “How are you, Daisy?”
“I’m fine. Nothing really to push me one way or the other lately,” Daisy said with a shrug as she pulled the pot off the stove and poured the pasta into the large bowl she’d already grabbed. She picked it up and set it on the table before looking back at Arvil. “What about you? How are you?”
“I’m good,” he set the cups on the table, turning to look at her the same time she looked at him. “I ended up being bored through the day, so I started redesigning a game we’ve already released. It’s a kid’s game.”
Daisy blinked when their eyes met, but she refused to flush. It was just their gaze, nothing special. People made eye contact all the time.
“Really? What’s it like?” she asked, setting a utensil in the pasta to scoop it out.
“It’s a puzzle game,” he explained, his palms resting on the table. “You have to pass levels, but it relies on your knowledge of solving riddles and finding clues.”
“Ah. Sounds stimulating,” Daisy mused, nodding slowly. She sat down and gestured to the chair across from her. “You can sit if you want. Dish some food up for yourself.”
“Right,” Arvil nodded, taking a seat and a plate as he poured some food for himself. “So… I guess we should get straight to the point, huh?”
Daisy paused, her hand halfway to the dish of pasta. She sighed, then began piling some onto her plate.
“Right. I just… wanted to talk about what, exactly, we are doing,” she murmured as she finished. “We’ve discussed boundaries, but not our plan.”
“Well… we’re not going to stay married for long,” he rubbed the back of his neck, the thought dampening his spirits a little. “And people will be expecting children, so we can pretend we’re trying for some. And obviously we’re in love, so we’ll be expecting to spend lots of time together.”
“Right, right. I knew all of that,” Daisy agreed with a slow nod. “We’ll need a house, too. My apartment is too small for the both of us, and… Actually, I’ve never seen your place?”
Arvil rubbed the back of his head, realizing that she really hadn’t.
“It’s… not a place I bring people,” he admitted. “It’s a bit… luxurious. It was a gift from my father to me when I took up the position of CEO and did considerably well.”
“Ah. Well… If you don’t want me to move in there, we should probably go house hunting. And soon,” Daisy mused, twirling pasta around her fork.
“You could check it out,” Arvil shrugged. “Might be better for two people.
Daisy hummed, nodding slowly as she glanced up. “If you’re okay with that… Sure. We should set up a day for me to come over, then.”
“I guess so,” Arvil shrugged. “Also, I don’t really want to ruin the lunch, but…”
He took out his phone, unlocked it and began to type. After a few seconds, he slid the phone to Daisy. There was an article opened with the title, “ARVIL DAVIS & DAISY RILEY: PARENTS?”
There was a picture of Cameron on his shoulders. Arvil had been holding his legs, and while one of Cameron’s hands were in his hair, the other was holding Daisy’s hand. He was laughing and so was Daisy, and Arvil looked content.
Daisy’s jaw dropped at the photo and the headline that went with it. Parents? They really thought they were parents? That she could have a kid as old as Cameron already?
“What the heck is this,” she breathed, staring down at the phone in her hand. “Who wrote this? What incompetent person would think that I could have been pregnant and had a kid and hid it as long as this?”
Arvil rubbed the back of his head with a sigh.
“They think we had a one-night stand,” he explained slowly. “Because they’ve never heard of us before, or about Cam, they think my family hid the truth about you with money and all. And now that Cam’s old enough… you came back.”
“Seriously? Someone would have found out that I was pregnant somehow. It’s kind of hard to hide a large belly. I mean, even celebrities have a hard time with that,” Daisy huffed, tearing her hand through her hair. “We need to contact them and tell them not to print any more of these. And to correct it somehow.”
