As Long as You Love Me (Previously Kiss and Tell)

Chapter 11 ♔ Good Samaritan

Kiss and Tell will be published as a paperback and e-book from W by Wattpad Books under the new name "As Long As You Love Me". The book is available for pre-order now: https://a.co/d/bV1ARdt

***

Saturday morning, a week since the terrible party, I sat in bed scrolling through my phone. I was on a mission and it was to find a reliable mailing service to get some essentials to my family. A Facebook group made recommendations and as I read through the reviews, I jotted down on a piece of paper what the pros and cons were for each. Some could do the shopping for the customer and take it directly to the recipient's door, but those tended to be higher priced than the services where I would have to do the shopping. Of those there were some that picked up the parcel at the sender's home and others that I would have to drive considerably for, in order to consign the shipment.

I tapped on my phone's calculator, estimating how much I'd be able to spend on the entire operation, when a phone call appeared. Unable to stop my finger in time, I pressed on the green button and the call went through.

I screamed, for the caller was none other than Not My Babe.

"Good morning, Kitty Cat," his tinny voice said after I'd flung my phone away.

After picking it up I answered, "What?"

Nonplussed he asked, "What are you doing?"

"This had better not be a booty call, if that's how you start all of those."

He laughed. The gall.

"Definitely not, I don't want to die." He cleared his throat, which indicated that a nefarious purpose was still afoot anyway. "The question still stands, though. Got plans today?"

"Of course I do." The lie was blatant but I pushed it through. "Who do you think you are?"

"Great, I'll pick you up in half an hour."

"What?" I shouted once more. "Didn't you hear what I just said-"

"Yeah," he drawled out. "I could practically hear you crossing your fingers, too. You have nothing interesting going on today and we both know it."

I spluttered but I couldn't come up with a defense. Yes, there was something very important I had to do and I'd been working on it when he rudely called me, but it wasn't the kind of thing that would take me all day. Even so I wasn't just going to say yes and when I recovered from the initial shock I confirmed as much. I shifted my phone to my other ear and said, "Regardless I'm not going to agree just like that without knowing what I'm getting into."

"Our first appearance as a couple is tomorrow. My family's making a cookout to celebrate Chris's engagement with Ellen, which means we have one day to turn you into a convincing girlfriend of mine."

I let the silence speak for itself for a long moment until finally I couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. "Impossible."

"What? Don't tell me you have plans tomorrow." Again his voice came with a nonchalance that was grating.

"No but-"

"Cool, I'm on my way."

And he hung up.

I blinked as my phone's calculator came back to view, before I reacted by texting him that I was busy. He didn't respond to any of them but a couple of minutes later Maya strolled in, looking like a million dollars even in her pajamas, and said, "Why is Gabe calling me this early and asking me to make sure you're ready?"

"Bastard," I spat out, tossing aside my bedsheets and running to the bathroom to get ready. I called out to her just before shutting the door, "And how the hell does he have your number?"