Guessing Sparkles (WA 2013)

Two Turtle Doves And Eleven Bruises

Dedicated to one of my amazing readers, Ceebear. :) 

"Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending." - Jim Henson

Chapter 11: Two Turtle Doves And Eleven Bruises

 It was a sunny day. The bright morning star was shining like a sparkling diamond in the sky. The weather was somewhat in accordance with my feelings. Peter and I were walking down the street, acting oblivious to the fact that there were eyes staring at us. He asked his bodyguards awhile ago to leave him alone for awhile since he wanted to feel what normal people do in NYC— and that was to walk down the street. But it wasn't that easy to make them agree with that. It took a lot willpower for them to back off and leave us alone. We just finished talking at Martha's and Peter wanted to visit the Central Park Zoo. A few minutes ago, I made it pretty clear to him that holding hands while in public was a no-no for me. He promised to keep that in mind, but as soon as we got outside the coffee shop— he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. Trust me, I wanted to elbow him right there and then. It just so happened that we were in public and people would find it quite peculiar to see a "couple" elbowing each other. Needless to say, I went along with his act and pretended that I was a loving girlfriend. Not.

As we continued to walk down the street, two lovely couple approached us and asked for a picture. Peter might have read what was going on in my mind and he took the liberty to answer the request. The couple jumped in joy when they heard that he didn't decline the invitation. I tried my best to act in love, so that the camera won't see that I was just pretending. We took three, amazing photos. Sarah even showed me the first picture, and I analyzed how I looked there. Peter's hand was wrapped around my shoulder, and we were both looking at each other in the photo. Funny, but we do looked like a lovely couple. 

"Thank you so much again," Sarah said and smiled once more. "This is like an early gift for our upcoming wedding. We'll definitely show these pictures to our friends and family members."

"Oh, congratulations!" I said and smiled broadly.

"You guys look so great together," Chris said as he wrapped an arm around Sarah's waist. 

Trust me, I was very aware of the fact that my cheeks turned red because of what he said. My head automatically looked up at Peter and his eyes met mine. Believe or not, but I could definitely get used to this kind of act from now on. His gaze made me feel like I was indeed the only girl in the world for him. The kind of look that could melt your very soul. It was so breathtaking and would definitely make you fall in love. Sadly, this was all a play. As much as I wanted it to be real someday, I just couldn't. But then again, I could always savor every moment of it while it lasts.

Peter squeezed my hand, drifting me off of my thoughts. I blinked and realized that I was zoned out for a few seconds already. 

"Did you hear what I just said, sweetheart?" Peter said and winked an eye at me. 

Trust me, I wanted to slap him across the face because of what he just called me. I never liked being called as sweetheart. That name reminded me so much of my parents's relationship, which I didn't like. But then again, I couldn't tell my thoughts out loud. Sara and Chris were too sweet to hear my childish opinion. Instead, I smiled at him sweetly and pretended like I was so in love with him. Ew.

"I'm sorry, pumpkin pie, but what did you say?" I said and smiled at him.

The kind of smile that people would find sweet in the outside— but could definitely kill Peter mentally already by just looking at it. He smirked and moved his face closer to me. If Sarah and Chris weren't there, I would have slapped him across the face already a minute ago.