The Pretend Girlfriend

Chapter Twenty Two~ Surprise

Beatrice wouldn't answer her phone, neither calls nor texts. Gwen kept leaving messages, each more pathetic than the last. She needed to make this right.

"Come on, just answer," Gwen said, hitting redial. Rather than ringing, her calls started going straight to voicemail. She hit the lock button on the phone and then tossed it on her bed.

Then she planted her elbows on her desk and buried her face in her hands. Did I really just alienate my best friend? Gwen kept thinking. For the millionth time in the last hour since she'd gotten home from the bar, she wished she could just wake up from this. And, what was worse, she also kept wondering whether Beatrice would actually tell anyone the true nature of her relationship to Aiden.

And that got her wondering if and when she should tell him about... Letting the cat out of the bag wasn't strong enough. It was more like unleashing an entire pride of lions from their cage. And then what will he think of me? Gwen wondered if there was a job anywhere for immense screw-ups, because she was the perfect candidate. And she also did her best to ignore her laptop, with the essay still only partially written. She didn't even want to think about the pile of books and notes she hadn't even started going through to study for the midterm. Nothing in her life was going right. It was like she kept finding her way out of one maze only to discover that the exit to one was the entrance to another.

And then someone knocked at the door. Could it be Beatrice? Gwen thought. She rushed over, ready to yank it open. As she reached for the handle, she thought about how much trouble just jumping into things had gotten her into lately. Taking a breath, she stood up on her tiptoes and looked out through the peephole. It wasn't Beatrice on the other side of the door, but Aiden. The fisheye lens made him look strange, but she thought there was something off about him. Trying to steady herself as best she could, she undid the locks and opened the door.

"Hi," she said. Aiden pushed in past her. He had his suit on again, the tie loose around his neck.

"Come on in..." Gwen said, closing the door behind him. She might as well get this over with. "There's something I need to tell you."

"It's not important," Aiden said. He paced back and forth along her entrance hall, running his fingers through his hair. Gwen picked up on his anxiety. What was wrong now?

"I've been thinking," Aiden started. A cold ball of fear formed in Gwen's stomach. He's going to call it off, she thought. We're done. Although a contrary thought occurred to her as well, that if he was calling it off she didn't need to tell him about spilling her guts to Beatrice.

"What is it?" Gwen said. Then Aiden reached into his jacket and pulled out two folded glossy pieces of paper.

"I can't be near him anymore. I keep thinking about what we talked about today..." he said.

"Aiden, what are those?" Gwen said. He looked down at them as though not realizing that he'd pulled them out.

"They're tickets."

"What kind of tickets?"

"Plane tickets... Gwen, They're tickets to get on a plane tonight, you and me, to go to London. Just the two of us. We'll be there tomorrow morning. Well... it won't be morning there, but you get what I mean."

Gwen knew she hadn't been thinking clearly as of late. She thought she understood what he was asking, but just had to make sure. "What are you asking me to do?"

Aiden stopped pacing. He came and stood in front of her, putting his hands on her hips. A corner from one of the tickets poked at her ribs. "I'm asking you to get on a plane with me tonight to go to London, England. I know you want to go; I saw that poster in your room. We can go and be away from all this. Just the two of us, figuring all of this out."

She stepped away from him, backing into the door. The chain lock rattled. "Aiden, that's crazy. You have your charities and Carbide Solutions to look after. I have schoolwork to do. There's a paper due soon, and an exam I'm definitely going to fail if I don't start studying, like, yesterday..."

Still, it had a certain appeal, a certain allure. Get away from everything. Leave an ocean between her and her real life. And to visit London, a place she'd always wanted to go, with Aiden! Was he ready to acknowledge his feelings, finally?

"I know," he said, "It is crazy. But the best ideas are the crazy ones, the risky ones. Come on; let's do this, right here and now. Trust me."

He held out his hand. The words stung, made her think of Beatrice and how she had violated Beatrice's trust. But Beatrice was angry with her, and Gwen didn't know if her friend would ever trust her again. And if she went away, she definitely wouldn't get that essay done, or do any studying. But what if getting away from everything for a bit really was the best idea? If she really did want things to work out with Aiden, they needed to be able to trust each other.

"Well?" Aiden said, "I need to know now."

Gwen looked down at his outstretched hand, and she flexed her fingers...