F E I G N E D | elounor

~ t w e n t y f o u r ~

~ E L E A N O R ~

"He seems to be doing much better."

I jumped, Jay's voice slightly startling me as she joined me at my side. I smiled at her statement and we both admired the sight of Louis playing with his little twin sisters, and his other two just watching and laughing along with them.

"I'm not sure what you mean." I responded, sipping my cup of tea.

"Well for once, he hugged me and acknowledged his father. I'd say you've brought out a soft side in him maybe." She said and smiled.

"Oh I wouldn't say that. He's still a grump most days." I told her and she chuckled.

"My son is very difficult. How's marriage treating you?"

"We're only fake married."

"Fake married is still married is it not?" She asked with a smile and I nodded my head.

"I suppose. . .we get along better now. We communicate." I informed her.

"So no romance at all?" She asked.

"Romance?!" I asked, and Jay laughed as I tried to hide my blushing.

"Honey there's only so much living together and communicating you can do before someone falls for someone. It's bound to happen. Always happens in the movies." She said with a cheeky grin, sipping her cup of tea.

I chuckled. "This is far from a movie." I said and looked back to Louis, genuinely smiling and laughing with his sisters. "Besides, I gave my heart to someone else a long time ago. I think Louis did as well."

"You mean Danielle?"

"You know?" I asked in shock.

"Darling, the whole world knows. They were on and off for years, pictures of them leaving fancy restaurants, and clubs would come out all the time. Headlines of cheating, scandals, ugh don't even get me started on that toxic relationship." She said her tone laced with disgust.

This was all new information to me. Being one of London's Elite, I avoided reading magazines, and articles because sometimes they were about me and almost all of it are lies. But the more I heard the more I was curious and wanted to know.

"Toxic..?"

"She was always leaving him for that other guy that passed away. Always playing with his feelings, making it out to always be his fault when the truth is she would just get bored. She would get bored of the security guard then go back to Louis, and when she was bored of Louis she would go back to the security guard. In my opinion she loved the security more and genuinely but an actress like her marrying a guard? Never heard of such a thing." Jay said and scoffed.

Like an Elite and a market boy. . .

"Louis was just too blind to see it. She made him all these promises, broke them all. . .sad really. But you can't tell Louis what to do with his life can you? That's why he's so guarded now. He's so cold and mean. She broke him." Jay said, her tone indicating she would say no more on the subject.

I nodded my head and looked to Louis with his sisters. He looked nothing like the cold mean boy now.

"Tell me about your special one. I hope he was better than Dani." She said.

I gulped. Knowing how Jay felt about the security guard, I'm sure she would throw a fit about a marker boy, tell my mum, and everything would be a mess.

"Hun?" She called again as I began to overthink about it all.

"Oh erm, he was no one special really. . ."

"I must say, I had never seen you in the papers with a partner. Let me guess, a model?" She guessed.

I shook my head no, even thought Harry looked like a model to me in my eyes.

"Wow. You two must've stayed very private and lowkey. Come to think of it, your mother never told me you even had a boyfriend. Very hard to stay private nowadays."

"Yes. . ."

"Was he nice?"

"The kindest."

"Cute?"

"The most handsome. . .he had these brown curls that just hung over his green haze eyes. . ." My heart began to melt as I pictured Harry in my mind. "He's got these dimples that just make you want to smile til your cheeks hurt, and this laugh. . ."

"Easy now. You are married to my son." She teased and I immediately brought my mind back to reality.

"Right, right. It doesn't matter. We ended before the contract happened." I lied. Harry and I ended because of the contract and I will never forgive myself.

"Can I ask why?"

"Huh?"

"Well if he was Mr. Perfect why did things end?"

He worked in a market. . .

"We wanted different futures." I lied. She nodded her head.

"Ah, yes."

My heart felt heavy in my chest thinking about Harry, and the day I told him I was leaving him. Only for him to find out I was engaged to a different man a week later.

"Excuse me, I need to use the loo." I told her quietly.

"Oh yes of course, you know where it is?" She asked me and I nodded my head excusing myself and walking into the large mansion.

While in the restroom I looked at my phone, and saw a ton of social media notifications. But a text message from Harry as well.

Harry
Hope you're enjoying yourself up there, -H x

I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket. I don't know why he still talks to me considering what I have done to him.

The day my parents told me I would be a part of a contract, I was crying and throwing a fit like a baby and my parents looked at me like I was crazy. They couldn't understand why I was so against it. After all, Louis was rich, handsome. . .but they didn't know I was already in love. I felt sick to my stomach for days, I didn't even contact Harry for a week because I didn't know how to tell him, how to act, I felt like I couldn't breathe.

Harry was so worried, and when I finally saw him he held me as if he never wanted to let me go. He started rambling about how he thought I had died, or that I was sick, or just plain mad at him. He meant it all in joking ways but when he saw I wasn't laughing he knew there was a problem.

I could still see his hurt and confused eyes in my mind when I told him we couldn't be together anymore. I told him we were from two different worlds and it would never work. All the while breaking my own heart as well.

I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and freshened myself up before exiting. Louis's phone and coat were on the table and as I passed by I heard Louis's phone start ringing.

"Oh.. Louis! You're phone—"

DANIELLE

What? Why was Danielle calling his phone?

The call went to voicemail, and I had to break myself out of a confused trance as I made my way back.

"Hey where did you wander off too?" Louis asked me taking a break from playing.

"Um, the restroom." I said. Louis did a double take on my face.

"What? What's wrong with you?"

"Your phone was ringing." I said and he looked immediately annoyed.

"Ugh, it's probably work. I told them not to call me all afternoon for personal reasons but they always find a reason to call—"

"It was Danielle."

Louis looked to me with wide eyes.