forum Pretending Hearts [RESTART (O/O CLOSED)]

Started November 15, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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"Darling, I'm a fabulous company," Arvil chuckled as he settled himself on his bed. "You'll be blessed. Now, I need to get my beauty sleep, so…"

“Whatever, Arvil,” Daisy chuckled, snorting. “Goodnight. I’ll talk to you later.”

"Goodnight," he replied, eyes crinkling. Once he hung up, he flopped on the bed, curled up, and sighed.

Daisy chuckled before setting her phone down. She looked at the screen of her laptop and sighed.

I should get to bed, too… It’s getting late…

She closed her laptop, making sure to save her work before she did. It didn’t take long for her to clean up and get ready for bed, and once she did she laid down and sighed again.

It was going to be a long meal when she finally met with her mother.

[TIME SKIP: THE WEEKEND]

It was finally time to meet with Daisy Riley’s parents. It wouldn’t have been something to be worried about if it was a normal occasion, but it was. If you hadn’t gotten the memo, Daisy wasn’t Arvil’s girlfriend. Not exactly. He and the woman had struck up a deal that benefited both of them. Daisy would get her parents off her back about her getting married to this douchebag named Silas, whereas Arvil found a chance to better his company.

The hard, and the easiest part, would be lying to her parents. Arvil could do it just fine, but could Daisy lie to her parents straight in the face? Today, they were going to find out at the lunch they’d be having at a fancy restaurant. Arvil was already not looking forward to it.

ARVIL: Leaving work. Wbu? U there yet?

The fact that Daisy was nervous probably wasn’t a good sign. She could act a little, but she really hoped her parents wouldn’t see through her. As long as she could keep that from happening, she should be fine.

As she was just grabbing her purse to walk out her front door, her phone buzzed in the pocket of her pale pink skinny jeans. She fished it out to see that Arvil had texted her and shot back a quick response.

DAISY: Just walking out the door. Should be there before you.

Arvil had just taken a seat in his car and buckled himself up when his phone buzzed. He grabbed it, quickly read the message, and then snorted. She was too proper, wasn’t she?

ARVIL: Do u need me 2 pick u up?

Daisy put the keys in the ignition right as her phone buzzed again. She started her car before pulling it out and seeing another message from Arvil.

DAISY: No, I’m already about to leave. I’ll see you there.

Arvil checked the message, then instead of responding, he simply set it aside and began to drive.

He trusted in his abilities to keep up the lie, but could Daisy? He didn’t want to mess this up. Not when a lot of things were on the line.

Daisy pulled into the driveway of her parents’ house and sat in the car for a minute. She should probably go inside before Arvil just to appease her parents for a bit. But she really didn’t want to go inside yet…

Just as she was opening her car door, her mother appeared in the front doorway. She waved Daisy inside and waited until she began to walk up.

Arvil ran a hand through his hair, huffed, and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. With another huff, he unbuckled his seatbelt and exited his car, closing the door behind himself and locking it.

His eyes looked over the restaurant he was supposed to meet Daisy at, and finally, he entered, his posture calm and relaxed.

His eyes caught the back of Daisy’s head before anything else. Without waiting, he began to make his way over to the table.

At least they should be tamer while in a public place… I hope, Daisy thought as she sat down across from her parents.

“So… Where is he?” her father asked as soon as she was in his sight, causing her to sigh.

“He’s coming. He should be here any minute now,” she replied dryly before casting a quick glance toward the door.

Arvil rubbed the back of his neck as he approached their table, but quickly, though calmly, slid his hands in his pockets. Daisy looked back just now, but she’d missed him—or completely overlooked him, but he didn’t blame her.

No, he was dressed quite differently from the times she’d always seen him. Usually, he was in business clothes, though they were rumpled and messy. This time, however, he decided to dress better.

He wore jeans, along with a button-up shirt that was tucked in. The first two buttons were unbuttoned, and his sleeves were rolled back like always. To be fair, Arvil didn’t always remember when he did that. It just happened.

When he finally reached Daisy, he pulled on a fond smile and set his hand on Daisy’s head.

“If you’re looking for me, beautiful, I’m right behind you,” he said adoringly, though with a hint of tease in his voice.

The look of relief that crossed Daisy’s face at the sight of Arvil didn’t need to be faked. If anyone could convince her parents that they were actually together, it was the suave Mr. Davis.

She pulled on a passably happy smile and reached up to pull his hand down in front of her. Giving it a gentle squeeze, she turned back to her parents.

“Mom, Dad, meet Arvil Davis,” she introduced him calmly.

Arvil looked at Daisy’s parents and smiled politely, bowing his head slightly in respect.

“Hello. It’s an honor to meet New York City’s astounding doctors, as well as the parents of my girlfriend,” Arvil said, though he didn’t reach out his hand. Not unless Daisy’s father did so first. “I apologize for my tardiness, and I hope I didn’t make you wait for long. Work was hectic today.”

Daisy’s mother looked very intrigued by the young man before her, while Daisy’s father just looked slightly impressed. The woman herself had to fight hard to keep from smirking at them, knowing they at least believed she knew him now. And very well, at that.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Davis,” Mr. Riley greeted him, pushing himself up slightly to extend his hand. “You’ve built your company quite well.”

Arvil shook the man's hand and gave it a hard squeeze, the polite smile still on his features. He took his seat afterward, leaning over to kiss Daisy over the cheek softly, and then folding his hands on the table.

"Thank you," he said. "Of course, I wouldn't have accomplished what I have without the brilliant minds of my employees."

“Yes, but it is your company. You shouldn’t be afraid to take the credit for it,” Mr. Riley commented, sitting back down. He took a sip of his water as he looked across at the other couple.

"I take credit when it is due, yes," Arvil nodded. "How is your work going? With your status, I don't suppose you have it easy."

Mr. Riley shook his head. “No, we’re both very busy these days. Both work and trying to give our daughter the best life—“ Daisy scoffed at her father's words, knowing he just meant that they spent too much time trying to set her up with rich men. “—have taken up a lot of our time lately.”

Arvil kept up his smile, but lightly kicked Daisy’s leg when he heard her scoff.

“I’m sure Daisy appreciates that,” he said softly. “Though Daisy and I haven’t been dating for long, I do hope to keep her happy with the best of my abilities.”

It took all of Daisy’s self control to not glare at Arvil. Instead, she plastered on a smile and gave him an adoring look.

“And he does,” she assured her parents as her mother gave her a somewhat disbelieving look.

Mrs. Riley hummed, nodding slowly. “And how long have you two been together, again?”

"We've been together for a few months now," Arvil replied calmly, though he kept his hands to himself. "I wanted to keep her away from the media as long as possible, so we kept it a secret."

“Where did you meet?” Daisy’s father asked, leaning back in his seat.

“A charity event he was hosting,” his daughter replied before taking a sip of water. “I was covering it for the paper.”

"She spilled wine on me after my speech," Arvil snorted, though he gave her an adoring grin, "after we ran into each other. Literally."