forum “I can’t love you...” Reposting this here (O/O|Romance|Closed|)

Started August 10, 2019 by @Toxic_Persephone group

tune

He chuckled softly. "Alright then. I'm going to have breakfast, you're welcome to join me if you wish." He said, slipping out of the bathroom.

She grumbled to herself some more, but dressed and readied herself quickly and followed after him. She had put on a light face of makeup, hoping it would hide how lifeless and tired her eyes really looked. It helped a lot, actually. She was back to her full beauty with the help of makeup. Arabella was a fairly pretty young women. Of course she wasn’t stunning or breathtaking but she was enough to at least catch the eyes of some men. A lot of good that did her, however. She was taken. No pining after men for her.

She slipped into the kitchen in silence, her steely eyes searching for something to eat.

Asher started making breakfast. "I'm making scrambled eggs, you want any?" He asked. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea for him to be cooking in a suit, but none of the servants had arrived yet, and he was hungry.

“Yeah, make me a plate please.” She flopped down into a chair and held her head. “I am not looking forwards to today…” She snarled, scowling. “Do we really have to put on a show for those other business partners at dinner?! I don’t feel like loving on you… it seems inappropriate for our current situation.”

He nodded, then sighed. "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you not want our faces in a gossip magazine? Because if we don't pretend, it will get out, and then we'll have added publicity, and have to make extra public appearances, and likely have to amp everything up so we look madly in love."

She shivered at his words and scowled deeper. He was right. She hated that he was right. “Society and the media can go shove a-“ she stopped herself there, taking a deep breath. “I would rather not have to go to more public things.” She snarled. She was really not having it today.

He kept working on the eggs. "Well. We have to. So deal with it. I go to public things all the time, and lie through my teeth saying how much I love you. So you can deal with it." Asher spoke in a matter of fact tone, no aggression in it.

Arabella shot him a look, huffing as she covered her face with her hands. She groaned and flopped down onto the counter, growling. “Ugh…”

Asher kept working on the eggs, humming softly again. When he finished, he put them in two plates, and handed her one, starting to eat his own. "It won't be that bad." He said, eating.

She slowly sat back up and took the eggs with a small, curt ‘thanks.’ Her eyes focused on his face. “It’s too much for today. I just wanna sleep. All day…”

He sighed softly. "Then sleep. I'll wake you up when I get home." he replied, eating his eggs. He watched her for a moment, a few strands of his black hair falling into his face.

The grumpy female shook her head childishly and whined again as she shoveled eggs into her mouth. “Sleep all day…” she complained, looking up at him and tilting her head. “What? Why are you watching me?”

He shook his head, looking away. "You're just acting differently than usual, that's all." he replied with a soft smile, nearly finished with his eggs. He grabbed a glass of water, drinking about half of it in one go.

“I’m tirreeed.” She retorted, flashing him a small smile. “I’m grumpy when tired.” She leaned back and finished up, watching him through narrowed eyes.

"Water?" He offered, gesturing to an empty cup. He put his plate in the dishwasher, and finished his own water, putting that in the dishwasher as well.

“Oh, sure… water would be nice.” She leaned back and closed her eyes, sighing softly. Maybe she was a little more angry about having to pretend with him than she let on. She just hated the idea.

He nodded, and gave her some water. "I'm going to get ready to go." He said slowly, standing up straight. "I'll see you later." He left the kitchen.

She waved him goodbye and laid back to sip on her water with a grumpy sigh.

This wasn’t fair, was it? His mother knew they didn’t love each other, shouldn’t she have told their business partners? Well, maybe not if they blabbed to the news networks…

Asher got ready to go, and left the house. She wasn't very happy today…but that's okay. She doesn't have to be happy all the time.
(Do we want to timeskip to when he comes home?)

Arabella slid around the house, cleaning what she could and trying to distract herself from her moodiness. It wasn’t working too well.

(Yeah lets do thT)

(alright)
A few hours later…
Asher arrived at the house, closing the door as he came in. He set his keys in his pocket, and headed up to the bedroom. He changed out of the suit into more semi-casual clothes; a button up shirt, and slacks, then went to look for Arabella. "Arabella?" He called.

Arabella was currently looking around her new art room, a paintbrush covered in black paint in hand. She was staring up at the ceiling, which was halfway painted black. A ladder was set up in the corner, along with all of her art supplies. “Yes?” She called back, frowning.

Asher knocked on the door. "May I come in?" He asked. "I have a phone for you, if you want it." He offered. He was holding it in his hand. It was brand new. He hadn't done anything to it except charge it, and he would let her set it up however she wanted.

“Come right in,” She murmured, pulling the ladder over and climbing it to paint a spot that wasn’t quite there. “Oh a phone?” She smiled and scurried back down the ladder. Her face was splotched with different colors of paint and the clothes she wore were in a similar condition.

Asher smiled slightly, and came in. "Wow. Looks good already." He said with a small smile. He walked over to her, and handed her the phone. "I haven't set it up yet. So. You'll need to attach it to your email account, if you have one. Or if you would rather, you can attach it to mine. It's up to you."