The Experiment © [Completed]

Chapter 33 - Fierce

It was Christine.

She was wearing a little black dress that showed off her perfect curves and her long black hair was pushed back from her face in a sexy mess. Dei couldn't help but be in awe at how she could look like a supermodel so effortlessly.

"Hey, Christine! Wow, it's... it's nice to see you!" Dei greeted her with a small smile. She didn't know why, but Christine's presence there was making her feel wary.

"Oh, it's nice to see you!" Christine responded. "I'm staying at that condo across the mall so I hang out here a lot. And wow, I'm so happy to finally see someone I know. It's getting sad here."

"Oh." was all Dei could say. James was still sitting stupefied on his chair.

"Who's the hottie?" Christine asked, finally looking at James, and he blushed.

Okay, dude. You may have transformed into a hottie now but you still act like a complete nerd, Dei thought to herself, kinda annoyed that Christine had that kind of effect on her friend too.

"Uh, he's my friend, James. He's a trainee at TrendBuzz . James, Christine. She's currently my editor." Dei said, elbowing James.

James cleared his throat. "Hi," he said, extending his hand. Christine shook it, smiling at him fondly.

"I've been watching you two earlier and you look so cute together." Christine said with a teasing smile. "Are you guys here on a date?"

"I'm sorry?" Dei said, narrowing her eyes at her.

"I'm kidding!" Christine exclaimed, laughing.

Dei bit her lip and sighed. "Do you have somewhere to go, Christine?" she asked, trying to keep a friendly tone.

"Actually no, I have nowhere to go. Do you mind if hang out with you?" Christine asked.

"Uh yes, we actually-- ," Dei began.

"No, not at all," James said quickly, already pushing a chair towards Christine.

"We have friends coming in a short while--," Dei said looking at James pointedly.

"-- but they won't be here until about 30 minutes or so, so please stay." James said staring back at Dei.

"Cool! Thanks, James!" Christine said, taking the seat and looking at Dei. "So how's RJ? Why aren't you two together?"

"Uh, it's our time out." Dei answered simply.

"A time out? You mean the one for the project? You still take that even though you're a couple now?" Christine asked, her eyes wide in fake surprise.

"We figured it would be a good idea, since we're already living together." Dei answered evenly.

"Hmm... Interesting." Christine said, taking a huge sip from her Dark Mocha Venti Frapuccino. "Well... You're right, it could be for the best. But you better watch out, you know RJ's reputation." she added, taking another sip and looking innocently at Dei.

"What's his reputation?" James asked suddenly. Dei almost forgot he was there.

"Your friend doesn't know?" Christine asked. "He's a fuckboy. Before he met Dei he actually played around with a lot of girls." she said, facing James.

He raised his eyebrows at Dei.

"Yea, that was before he met me, James." Dei said, smiling at both of them.

"Well you know what they say about cheaters," Christine said, shrugging.

"Of course you would know, wouldn't you, Christine? Being a cheater yourself?" Dei said, grinning and looking at her squarely.

Christine laughed. "Oh Dei, dear. You don't have to antagonize me, I'm not an enemy. I'm just stating a fact. And it's actually quite interesting to find out that you only know half of the story." she said matching her gaze. "Just so you know, even before I cheated on him he had already cheated on me multiple times. Your man is never satisfied, Dei."

Dei swallowed hard. "Well I don't think that would be the case this time around. He seems pretty loyal to me. He didn't even want to take this time out, to be honest. Unfaithfulness was never an issue between us, Christine," she said, shrugging as well, although her voice lost its conviction. She gulped again and masked her sudden uneasiness by taking a sip from her coffee too.

James, on the other hand, was looking at them from one to the other, as if watching a tennis match as they threw their statements at each other.

Christine scoffed. "How long have you two been together, two weeks? You don't know what else could happen..."

"Well it's a good thing I trust him. And he trusts me too." Dei responded, giving Christine the friendliest smile she could muster.

Christine took a deep breath and smiled coldly at her. "Well it's nice chatting with you both. I forgot I needed to get something at the grocery. Thanks, Jake." she said as she stood up and left.

"My name's James," he muttered as Christine walked away. He turned his gaze to Dei at once, and he was sporting a dark look on his face. "He was a fuckboy?"

Dei sighed. "You know nothing, James."