Be Mine

Chapter II

  "I'm sorry I don't think I understand. You want what?" I can't believe what I am hearing. I can bear all the new ideas my parents have every other week and even their need to interfere in my life in some aspects but this? This is too much.

  "Now Abby, that is not the way to treat our guests. We are merely suggesting that you two could get along if you gave it a shot" My mother has a way with her words, always trying to not hurt anyone but always ending up doing the opposite.

  "Besides the fact that we are young, what other aspects are compatible between us?"At this moment my dad feels the need to interfere:

  "Well I don't think this is an appropriate conversation to have right now"

  "I think she deserves to know" The boy, Alex, says in a voice that I wouldn't be able to hear had I sat in a farther away chair.

  "Deserve to know what?"

  "I don't think that is necessary"

  "Deserve to know what?!" I'm getting angrier at this situation.

  "Both of our families could benefit from a merger. And you two could help with that."

  "So this an arranged relationship where only the both of you benefit. Are we in the 1800 and I wasn't told?"

  "Abigail Miller enough with the attitude" When my whole name is said I know better than to shut up (despite being completely right in this situation).

  "How about we let you both alone for some time? You talk to each other and then make a decision." Mr. Grant suggests. Even though I can feel my parents getting angry by the second they agree.

  "Sure" is all I manage to get out.

  Alex does his signature small nod.

  "We will leave you to it then." My mother says, not daring to define the decision of a future business partner of my father. As she exits the room I hear her whisper "Be nice, for once".

  In just a second the room that hosted a heated discussion was left in silence with only me and Mr. Nodder filling it. In the silence, I was able to get a clearer view of him. He had dark hair, a silver piercing on his left ear and what looked like a tattoo on his neck. He was wearing a black shirt and some black pants as well, I couldn't tell if he was tall or short since he hadn't gotten up. After a while I regained my senses and realised we had been sitting in complete silence, so to help I tried:

  "So, are you..."

  "Stop."

  He talks? I'm amazed and also confused that the first word he directs to me is this.

  "I'm sorry?"

  "There is no need for chatting around. I have no interest in having a relationship, especially with you" There was a pause. "I believe that this ... idea both our parents have will pass. So we can just pretend we had a pleasant conversation and get back to our lives"

  I was lost for words. Yes, I had the same feelings as him towards this situation but I seriously doubted that this would simply go away this easily. Thinking about it, I am not sure if there is anything I could do or say for my parents to let this go. A trait well-known about our family was our stubbornness, it could either be very helpful or the worst thing ever. In this case, it was the latter option.

  If it was any other person I would have accepted this offer in a second. But it wasn't. It was weird, even though I did not know him, I felt something pulling me towards him. I had no desire to finish our interactions so suddenly.

  "That isn't going to work. I know my parents, if anything they will continue to set up gatherings with the two of us and only stop when there is a marriage proposal"

  "So what do you suggest?"

  "We could say we had a good conversation but that wouldn't be enough. They need to believe it. If we pretended for a couple of months to get along and then say we were too different, we could be able to convince them"

  "I see..."

  He got up and walked towards me. Stopping close to me he put his hand outward, toward me.

  "If you believe that is going to work, then fine. For a couple of months, we will pretend to have something going on but afterwards, I hope to never hear from you again."

  I didn't understand the amount of anger he felt towards me but I nodded whilst shaking his hand.

  What did I get myself into?