"By Tuesday?" Lilly's eyes widened and she scowled. "Who does he think he is? Men are such idiots."
Jordan cleared his throat. Lilly smiled sweetly at him.
"What did Adams do?" he questioned curiously.
Lilly pulled the phone away from her mouth a little. "Daisy needs to be a stay-at-home-mom. He works, she does not. Also, she said she has a boyfriend and now he wants to meet him. So now we're in a pinch."
Jordan scrunched his nose. "Actually… I might be able to help with that…"
So he told her how. Lilly addressed Daisy once again.
"Jordan says he knows someone who's single and can help," she said into the phone. "His occupation, apparently, makes the discretion have a bit of sense. What do you say? Meet with the guy and see if he's as good as my silly boyfriend thinks he is."
Daisy loosed a sigh and leaned back into the couch. “That might work… Thanks, guys,” she breathed. “Can you set it up?”
"Heck yeah we can," Lilly popped the balloon again. "You can count on us! We'll help you with the lie. Now, if that guy is stupid, too, you're free to dump your soda on him."
Daisy laughed. “All right, Lil. Thanks a lot. Let me know what the plan is, okay?”
"We will," she said in a singsong voice. "Leave everything to your wonderful, amazing best friend who saves your butt a lot."
"If I recall…" Jordan piped up, "She's the one who saves your butt."
Lilly glared at him.
[THE NEXT DAY]
ARVIL
Sometimes, it was annoying having a best friend who was in a relationship. It was annoying for numerous reasons. One, he never stopped talking about her, regardless of what it was about. Lilly this, Lilly that. It drove Arvil crazy. Two, he tried to get him a girlfriend. Uncountable times. Three, he almost never hung out with him. Some best friend he was.
Arvil sighed as he drove, taking a right. Somehow, Jordan had roped him into something that definitely would not turn out good. He had to pretend to be in a relationship with a girl because she did not want to marry a guy her parents chose for her. He was all up for choices, but he didn't have time to pretend to be in a relationship. He had a company to manage. The only time he ever hung out with a woman was if there were no strings attached. He did not do commitment, and everyone knew that.
Still, he ended up saying yes because of what Jordan said.
"It would give you inspiration for your new game!"
The guy knew how to get him to agree to things.
Parking his car, Arvil walked into the restaurant he'd told Jordan to have the girl, Daisy Riley, meet him in.
Daisy had decided that it would probably be best to dress up for this meeting, whether she actually wanted to impress him or not. She didn’t even know the guy, but she would be very grateful to him if he would play along. So, she’d thrown on a long, light gray skirt, a black t-shirt, and a dark jean jacket.
Now, she was waiting for him just outside the restaurant. She didn’t quite know who she was looking for, but she was sure she’d be able to figure it out when he neared her.
(Her outfit, but slightly different: https://pin.it/q752b6ckfwjyf3 )
When Arvil reached the entrance of the restaurant, he wasn't really lost. He didn't want to seem like a creep, but he actually researched the woman after Jordan filled him in on what he needed to know. He was good at research, so he already knew what she looked like. He knew her basic information, enough to guarantee that she wasn't power-hungry or motivated by her desires to leech him off of his money.
Yeah, he was careful about things like that. He didn't make the same mistakes twice.
Arvil easily found Daisy outside the restaurant, in a long skirt and a black shirt. She was pretty in pictures, but definitely prettier in person. Arvil didn't pay much attention to that, though.
"Daisy Riley," he said as he came to a stop before her, one hand in the pocket of his grey trousers while the other stayed by his side. The first button of his white shirt was open while his sleeves were rolled till his elbows. He'd really arrived to meet her right after a meeting at his company, so aside from his coat and the tie, he hadn't really changed.
He smiled at her politely. "Pleased to meet you."
Daisy blinked at he man who spoke her name. This must be the man who Lilly had set her up with. She had to admit, she wasn’t exactly expecting him to look so… well, attractive. Especially with his sleeves rolled up like that. What was it with rolled sleeves being so attractive on guys?
“You must be Arvil Davis, then,” she mused, reaching her hand out for him to shake. “Pleasure to meet you, as well.”
Arvil stared at her hand for a few seconds. So she didn't know who he was. That was good, though it did wound his pride a little. But he'd recover, he was sure. Still, it stung knowing someone didn't recognize him.
He took her hand and gave it a small squeeze. He pulled away first.
"I suppose we should head inside now," he mused, crossing his arms and looking around. "To talk."
That seemed rather awkward… Although, this is a strange situation, so being awkward would make sense.
“Right. Of course,” Daisy said with a nod. She took a step closer to the door, glanced back at him, then walked inside.
Arvil walked inside, eyes roaming across the place. It was a mediocre restaurant, and he was more used to the expensive ones, considering those places were where he occasionally held business talks. He usually had takeout, anyway, mostly at work.
They found a table in the middle of the room, but it was all right. Arvil didn't mind where they sat. Once they did, he jumped straight to business.
"Jordan tells me you're in a bit of a predicament," he said, sweeping his eyes over her, but merely in an observant way, his fingers tapping against the soft surface of the table. "Truthfully, I don't see why you have to resort to lies to get out of a marriage."
Daisy cringed at the words. Blunt much? Did he really have to say it like that?
“Yes, well… You don’t know my parents,” she sighed, picking up the glass of water in front of her. She took a sip and stared down into the cup before looking up at him again. “They can be very persuasive, and they would just keep pushing until I agreed.”
Arvil pursed his lips as he watched her. He did have an inkling idea about pushy parents. His own wanted him to think about dating as well, and marriage, but he supposed they wanted it for a different reason. A woman would light up his life, they'd claim. Get him to rethink his life and stop workin too much, because a family meant there would be a place he'd come back to relax.
"I'm still debating whether to agree or not," he said flatly, eyes sweeping over the menu though he knew he really wouldn't order anything. "I don't know who you are. I don't know what your agenda is aside from what Jordan told me. He's not the best judge of character. I need to be sure you are who you claim to be, and not someone who needs an opportunity to climb up the social ladder." he shut the menu and locked his eyes with hers. "No offense, of course, but this isn't the first time I've been caught up in such a situation. So tell me, Daisy Riley, why must I help you?"
Daisy huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat. Who did he think she was that he thought she had some secret agenda? All she needed was someone to cover for her and nothing more.
“It’s not that you must,” she began slowly, shaking her head. “It would be a huge help if you did. I would be indebted to you, almost. All I need is someone to cover for me. That’s all. I’m not looking for any kind of money or power.”
Arvil leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other, his one foot over the thigh of the other. He had his chin in his hand as he mulled thoughtfully. He knew Jordan wouldn't have him do something like this without a clear reason. He knew this woman from the time he started dating his girlfriend. And Arvil knew his girlfriend, too.
"Then I suppose I'll set my terms," he finally said, inhaling before he spoke. He was calm, though he wasn't trying to come off as rude. "I won't touch you beyond what's necessary, but too little touches would give us away. I won't kiss you without clear reason, but if I feel like it's important, I will. You'll need to be comfortable with occasional cheek or forehead kisses, though. Of course, if things make you uncomfortable, you have the right to speak up about it, and we'll talk it over and consider other ways.
"On the other hand, if I'm to be dating you, then I'll need to bring out of the dark and into the media's eyes," he didn't remove his eyes from her as he spoke, setting his own terms. "And of course, I'll need you to accompany me to certain dinners, parties, festivities or meetings as my date. I'll need you to keep your image clean, because I'd rather not have mine dirtied. That means we both keep a clear distance away from other potential sexual interests." he paused, catching his words, "I'm not insulting your personality or your decency, nor am I insulting your character. And I'm certainly not saying you have a secret lover, because if you had, we wouldn't be here. Anyway, I'd like to hear your terms, too. I'm sure you've prepared some of your own."
Terms? He’d already thought about terms? She’d barely had time to think about this date…
“You pretty much covered my terms, I think,” Daisy said with a shrug. “Oh, but it would be good if you would ask. I mean, if you would ask to kiss me before doing so.”
Arvil nodded once, tapping his fingers on the table.
"Obviously I'll ask before doing so, but some moments would require it out of the blue," he replied. "Which is why I'm warning you beforehand. I'd rather not have you chew off my head otherwise."
Amber frowned slightly. What would require him to kiss her so suddenly that he couldn’t warn her beforehand?
“All right… Sure. I guess this will serve for a good enough warning,” she murmured, picking up her glass again and taking a sip. “Anything else that we need to cover? Probably a backstory for the ‘relationship’ if you do decide to help me.”
Arvil took a sip of the water provided, pondering over her question. With what he'd actually said, it was apparent he agreed. He wouldn't have mentioned the terms otherwise.
"Were you there at the Fundraiser program last week?" he asked her, a lie already forming in his head.
Daisy nodded once. “I was, yes. I was writing about it for the paper,” she answered.
"So you attend fundraises," he mused. "Excellent. That gives me an idea."
Arvil looked her over, but he didn't smile. Not yet, anyway.
"We met at one over two months ago," he started slowly. "Ran into each other, which led us to talk. We got to know each other a little, and we enjoyed it, so I asked you out for lunch. After kur third time meeting, I asked you out, but also told you to keep it quiet for the time being."
Daisy nodded slowly as Arvil spoke. His plan seemed good, well thought out. He must be a rather good businessman to have thought this far ahead. She was awful at thinking ahead.
“All right, that sounds like a good plan,” she agreed, looking up at him from the menu. “Maybe you thought the media would be over it too much, so it was better to keep it quiet?”
"That, and because I wanted a quiet time to decide if I was serious about you enough to announce you publicly," he replied, then tried to think of something else. "The others will definitely question us for not being seen together, but we'll say we wore disguises, or often crashed at the other's place."
“Maybe not crashed. That seems like we got very serious very quickly. Maybe just hung out or something,” Daisy suggested.
