The Love Complex (Completed)

-18-

"All my heart is your, sir: it belongs to you and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever." -Charlotte Bronte

The day after, Dylan went about his day as he normally did. He had been given night shift for the remainder of the week, so he was unable to call his brother so they could meet once again. He was also busy during his spare time, helping Regina prepare for the fake wedding.  

It was a Wednesday afternoon, Dylan had been given the day off for Thursday, and had been able to get home early. Regina was in the kitchen making dinner.

She hadn't been in contact with Valentina, and felt a bit uneasy about the whole situation. She believed that her sister wouldn't tell their parents about the matter, but at the same time she knew how difficult Valentina could be when it came to certain things. This though, she had not dared to speak about with Dylan, mostly because she didn't want to worry him.

"Can you pass me the white sugar please," she asked him when he entered the kitchen. Dylan nodded, and took the sugar over toward her.

"Thank you, " she said, before taking the measuring cup and scooping sugar with it.

"How is the script going?" Dylan asked, he was busily searching the cupboards for a glass cup.

"It's going well; I have a few ideas. Thankfully, I've been given until my current work finishes to turn in something new and innovative." she chuckled at the last part, using air quotes.

Dylan smiled and sat down on the island chair.

He had been busy throughout most of the week and felt like rest was long overdue. Meanwhile, Regina worked on the lasagna she had been preparing since the early afternoon. She had been staying up late during the night, mostly writing notes and doing research on her future characters.

Though at the same time, she had also been looking over her old high school and university diaries. Reading the diaries often made her feel a bit embarrassed, but at the same time it also helped her a bit.

A few days before, she and Maddy had met to discuss the new work. However, things had not gotten the way that she had expected them to go.

"You look really pretty today," Maddy complimented as her friend sat down in front of her. Regina looked at her with an awkward smile. She had no ideas where Maddy's sudden compliment had sparked from. However, Maddy soon pointed at her hair.

"Your hair is loose; something very out of character for you." she pointed out before she looked at the menu.

Regina had not really understood, but then it all began to make sense.

It was true that she didn't really like wearing her hair down. It often caught on her way and she didn't appreciate it. Hair up in a bun, pony tail or with pig tails were often easier to handle.

"Gi," Maddy began, looking over at her. "Don't tell me that you are planning to enter the dating scene?"

Regina shook her head violently; something like that would never even cross her mind. She was certain that love was just not meant for her, and then there was also Dylan and the marriage fiasco.

Maddy nodded with a chuckle. "Fine, fine. I believe you." She said, throwing her arms in surrender.

"I was in a rush," Regina finally said. It was partly true. She had run out of the house late, mostly because she had been busy with the wedding documents they had to fill out.

"By the way," Maddy said, turning the subject away from her friend's hair. "How is the wedding matter going? Is the tenant doing a good job holding up the farce?"

Regina nodded. They had done their best. "He's been extremely helpful; I owe him a lot." she confessed.

"You are lucky that he's so handsome. I'm sure that any woman would die to have such a perfect husband. I mean, think about it, the man cooks, cleans and has a good job. Of course, aside from having a nice face." she chuckled.

"It's not real though," Regina reminded her.

Mandy frowned slightly, before her frown turned into a cunning smile. "For now," she smirked, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend.

Regina shook her head, " Stop it, don't even think about it." She warned.

Maddy chuckled mischievously.

"Besides, he was in love with someone else for a really long time. I'm sure that he hasn't forgotten her yet. He's just doing me a favor." A small frown spread on Regina's lips as she recalled that the girl was no other than her own sister. She knew that she couldn't compete with her at all, and she also didn't even want to try. No, Dylan Ren was off limits.

Maddy sighed and placed her hands under her chin. She felt sad for Regina, mostly because she was almost fifty percent sure that Regina liked him, and probably even more than what she could imagine.

"Do you have something to do tomorrow?" Dylan asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked at him a bit dazed before she shook her head.

"No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

"It's my day off, and I thought we could go and see your parents. You know, just so that they don't think I'm being too irresponsible."

She knew that it was perhaps all a formality. Dylan wasn't doing it because he was deeply in love with her, but somehow the fluttering in her chest didn't want to stop.

Dinner was always spent on mindless chit chatter. It was a usual occurrence for Dylan to inquire about her progress on the script, and offer some strange suggestion of his own. However, it didn't occur.

Regina had been trying to rack her brain, trying not to overthink too much and clear the 'nonsense' conversation she had had with Maddy.

"Is something wrong?" Dylan asked, when he noticed the deep frown that had formed in her face. She looked at him with eyebrows furrowed, not noticing that her spirit was unusually dark.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyes fixating on his. Dylan shook his head, "Nothing, it's just that you seem really deep in thought"

Regina smiled sheepishly and shook her head.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about work." She lied.

Dylan nodded.

A blanket of awkward silence filled the room right after, making it difficult for either of them to move on. Dylan thought of something new to say, so that he could salvage the situation, but Regina beat him to it.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Dylan nodded, feeling a bit relieved. "Sure, what is it?"

Regina bit the inside of her lip; she wasn't sure if her question would receive the answer she wanted to hear. After taking a deep sigh, she looked at him and asked, "Yesterday, when you asked if feelings ever go away...does it mean that you still --" the words stuck to her mouth and didn't come out.

Dylan looked at her expectantly, but it was in vain. She couldn't continue. Thankfully, his cellphone rang and he excused himself to take it.