The Pretend Girlfriend

Chapter Twelve~ Lattes With Beatrice

Both Aiden and Gwen had tried to explain that they just wanted to have lunch together, as in just the two of them. But Beatrice wasn't having any of that.

Gwen could sort of understand as they walked down the street towards the Starbucks. Aiden walked between the two women, the three of them moving as one when they had to step around the knots of other pedestrians also using the sidewalk. Gwen could almost understand.

After all, B hadn't really seen them together before, so she was curious. And Gwen also got the impression that, while B had run into Aiden at parties before, she'd never really interacted with him. Still, the timing couldn't have been much worse.

How were they supposed to go over things if people kept interrupting them like this? And every time it happened, they needed to pretend they were a young, compatible couple.

To that end, Gwen held Aiden's hand. She could tell he felt about the same as her, from the way he kept squeezing her fingers every time Beatrice opened her mouth with another question or observation.

And, though Gwen didn't yet feel quite ready to admit it to herself, she also felt a little jealous. Guys always liked Beatrice. And Aiden was her type: rich and good-looking. What if Aiden made a move? They weren't in a real relationship after all... What if Beatrice made a move?
Aiden shot her a quick look, and she realized just how hard she squeezed his hand. She forced her fingers to relax. Gwen banished those thoughts.

"I can't believe I'm responsible for this!" Beatrice said.

"I beg your pardon?" Aiden said. They stopped at the street corner, waiting for the light to change. The Starbucks was just across the way; Gwen could see the line of people waiting to order, with glimpses of the display case full of various baked goods in the gaps between the bodies of the people making up that line.

"Oh? Didn't Gwen tell you? I'm the one that brought her to Astor's party. I practically had to threaten to kill her..." B started.

"How fortunate for me, then, that you didn't. Have to kill her, that is. The light's changed; come on. My treat, " Aiden said, leading the women through the crosswalk.

She and Beatrice took seats at one of the few remaining tables while Aiden went to get in line, having taken their orders. Gwen watched him go, squeezing her hand into a fist to try and get some blood back into it.

"This is just crazy!" B said.

"Tell me about it..."

"Really. I mean, I still can't believe it myself. How did the date go last night?"

"The date?" Gwen said.

Beatrice nudged her with her elbow. "Yeah, you know, skipping out on the movie and the vodka - which I fully intend to get back from you, by the way, to go out on some super romantic spontaneous dinner date?"

"Oh, that..." Gwen said, recalling Henry Manning and his interrogation all too clearly, "It was fine."

"Just fine! Just fine? Gwen, are you sure about this? About him, I mean? He's handsome and all..."

"I thought you didn't like him?" Gwen said.

Beatrice shrugged. "A girl can change her mind. Gwendolyn Gertrude Browning..."

"That's not my middle name..."

"... You're not just taking up with Aiden because he's rich and pretty, are you?"

"No!" Gwen said.

"Oh really?" B said, smiling as she leaned back in her chair, apparently able to tell she'd touched a nerve.

"Cause I gotta tell you, this is weird. I mean, what's with that contract he made you sign?"

"Contract? She knows about the contract?" Aiden said. He held three grande lattes in his hands.

"Yes, I know about the contract..." Beatrice said.

Aiden licked his lips, and they began tightening into a thin line. He stood there beside the table, the three hot drinks clutched in his hands.

Gwen's train of thought went something like this: Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap...! Working quickly, she stood. She took the lattes from his hands and put them on the table, sliding one across to Beatrice. Then she held Aiden's hand and sat down, giving his arm a surreptitious tug. He shot her a look, but sat down.

Gwen laughed, "Yeah, she was there when the courier came and made me sign it then and there. We talked about how weird it is that you need to sign a non -disclosure agreement to date someone from your company..."

"What's with that? Afraid she's gonna do some insider trading or something?" B said, removing the lid from her cup. The latte steamed, and she took a sip from it. Aiden's fingers relaxed their death grip around her hand.

"It's standard practice," Aiden said.

Practice, that was a good word, Gwen thought. Today sure was giving them both all the practice they could ask for and more in getting their act together. And then she felt grateful for B's company. Aiden sent her a sidelong glance that spoke to the earful he wanted to give her about all this, but couldn't.

"Weird, if you ask me. Thanks for the latte, by the way," B said.

"No problem. And yeah, it's weird, I agree. But if something feels right..." Aiden said, bringing their clutched hands up above the level of the table so that Beatrice could see, "... Then it's worth a little extra effort. I think you'll have to agree with that."

"Nothing wrong with a little weirdness," B agreed.

The next hour felt like an examination to Gwen, with Beatrice acting as the proctor. She and Aiden needed to keep up appearances, using little terms of endearment (Gwen grew to hate the word "sweetie" quite quickly) and, most of all, the touching. They'd stopped holding hands shortly after the conversation about the contract, and Gwen could tell that Beatrice noted. So she made it a point to hold his hand the rest of the time. She laughed at things Aiden said even when they weren't at all funny, and even leaned in to give him a quick peck on the cheek a couple times. Soon enough, he caught her drift and they shifted from holding hands to him having his arm around her shoulders, pulling their bodies closer together.

And the thing was, doing all this wasn't nearly as hard as Gwen anticipated. She liked to think it was because of their recent trials by fire proving they could act well together. And it certainly had nothing to do with that stupid dream. Or the way she could smell Aiden's cologne, held close to him like she was.