Chapter 5: Disappointed but not surprised

Shoving all my textbooks and notebooks inside my backpack, I waited for the rest to pass their attendance sheets and handed mine last to avoid bumping into anyone else. Thankfully, no one has ever approached me about Aurelius or whether to confirm the rumors. The professor merely smiled at me as I waved farewell, my legs carrying me toward the exit. Hallways bustling about with students making their way to either their next class or towards the exit, ready to head home or the nearest café. Next year will be my last year here before moving to veterinary school. As much as I want to hurry up and become a veterinarian, it just doesn’t work that way in this world unlike in games and the fictional world.

That Elise won’t even understand since she dropped out of college.

“Bay?”

Turning to my right, I stared at one of my classmates who walked towards me. She waved before patting my shoulder. I raised an eyebrow at her, surprised to see her talking to me. I wasn’t social since the first day and everyone just minds their own business rather than socializing. I guess it’s true what the janitors would whisper while cleaning the toilets, that for us, we would only open up to animals. Or because most of us are introverts in our batch.

“Yes? What is it?”

Scratching her arm, she pointed at the exit where I now noticed a few girls standing by, probably watching something interesting to have them giggling amongst themselves. No matter how much I tried to peek past the spaces and cracks, I couldn’t see what was making them buzz about. Thankfully, my curiosity was sated as soon as she started to speak.

“There’s someone who wants to see you. It’s a guy named Aurelius—”

What the fuck?

Not even letting her finish, I dashed towards the door and stared at Aurelius whom the women were gawking over. I would’ve understood if they were gushing about the university’s handsome man or the star athlete—maybe even due to a celebrity who came to visit, but never did I expect it to be him. He was grinning ear to ear, dressed in casual clothes, unlike the suit I always see him wearing whenever we meet at the Salvadors’ house or Aiden’s office. Even if he looks so handsome and rich, little did they know, his brain is the size of a walnut. Knowledge is something you can’t buy after all. Unfortunately, not everyone is attracted to brains.

“Hello, my lady.” Aurelius bowed his head at me, offering his hand like an idiot living in a fantasy world and he was a prince. The role would be fitting for him from his handsome face to his immense wealth that seemed like an endless well. I just did not want to be the peasant girl he hoped to woo over though. “You’re as beautiful as ever.”

Ew.

“Uh, question… why are you here?”

The girls who swarmed around him quickly disappeared and moved along to where they were supposed to go upon realizing they had been gawking at the man. Aurelius’ jaw dropped slightly, watching his fangirls leave without as much of a goodbye. I rolled my eyes at him and his antics before crossing my arms, waiting for his reply. When he didn’t so much as say I word, I sighed.

“Well? Care to tell me why you’re here?”

He chuckled after licking his lower lip which seemed to have been chapped. “Isn’t it obvious? I came here to pick up my girlfriend.” Closing the distance between us, he grinned and whispered, “You said that we have to make your ex-boyfriend jealous. He is here, right? I thought I should appear here to make a first impression. We have to be convincing.”

I sighed. “Yes, he is here but he won’t even see us. He’s where all the other professors are. Plus, it’s break time so I doubt he’ll be out and about with how little his free time is right now.”

Hearing that the person we were supposed to fool wasn’t around, Aurelius backed away and made a face. “You should’ve told me in the first place. I came here despite my busy schedule and you didn’t tell me? You had my number yet—”

“And yet I didn’t say you should come from whatever hole you came out of to be here in my university.” I gritted my teeth, blood boiling at how it was suddenly my fault his pea brain got ahead of itself. “Did I say you could come here? No, I didn’t. It’s not my fault your head exudes wild stupid ideas and imaginations. So why the fuck are you blaming me?”

Geez, why is he blaming me? It’s not like I begged him to pretend to be my boyfriend and come here to flaunt it around. It was only a show to put up with at the wedding reception. And that was it! Only at the wedding reception, nowhere else. Plus, he agreed to do it to compensate for the rumors roaming around about us. It’s the perfect opportunity to make Desmond jealously ugly. I’m sure the fucker has heard about the rumor, practically everyone and their grandma has. There’s no way he hasn’t. But why is this idiot hoping to solidify that rumor?

With a pout on his lips, Aurelius looked away and scratched his head. “Why… I thought that the bastard who broke up with you could see us here. I don’t know… when I heard why you wanted to make him jealous and your past with him, it just made me excited. I’ve never been asked to do this sort of thing before, you know?”

Now, I kind of regret telling him of my troubles.

“Frankly, I’m sort of guessing why no one would ask you. Why on earth would it make you excited?” I raised an eyebrow, completely confused by him. “You shouldn’t trouble yourself with this. You wouldn’t be doing anything else at the reception but standing beside me. This is just to make Desmond feel bad for leaving me. That is all.”

He’s excited? Why is he?

“But, Alex—”

“Don’t feel excited at all.” Walking right past him, I narrowed my eyes at the space in front of me. Irritated by the turn of events and how he shouldn’t be blaming me. “I just want to be happy once the wedding is over.”

“To be honest, I was quite happy that you wanted my help—”

“Again, don’t be.” My legs started to move, my head not looking back at the perplexed Aurelius who stayed at his spot. “This will be the first and the last time. And you shouldn’t feel special because I chose you to be my pretend boyfriend. The rumors of us dating are just the perfect addition to this plan. Once the wedding day is over, I’m not looking back on it. We can go back to our miserable lives—well, I know your life isn’t miserable. Stupid of me to add you to that equation.”

To be envious is a horrible feeling. It makes you angry and wishes for a different life. I should be the one excited, not you. Even if I want Desmond to regret leaving me, it doesn’t make me feel a bit excited at all because I can’t get him back at the end of the day.

I know it’s pointless, yet I can’t stop myself.

» — ✣ — «

“I was quite surprised when you told me Aurelius agreed to it.” Elise zipped my dress up from behind before taking a step back to look at me, double-checking if something was out of place. “What do you think made him agree to such a stupid idea?”

“Hey, don’t say my idea is stupid,” I growled at her playfully. “And I’m sure the idiot agreed because he felt guilty for putting us both on a hot seat since the media got their hands on that picture. Honestly, why are they so all over Aurelius? He’s not even a celebrity!”

“Well, he’s handsome and rich. He’s going to have fangirls, hoping to get a taste of a great life and a pretty boy by their side. You know, that fairytale ending?”

“Is that based on your experience, Elise?”

It was her turn to be annoyed. “Oi, even if Aiden still has those girls around him, he knows not to anger me unless he wants his penis cut off. There is no way I’m giving him to anybody else. Both of us know better than to commit adultery.” After attempting to fix the skirt of my white dress, she nodded at her handiwork. “All done.”

Thank goodness I had this apartment cleaned or this woman wouldn’t have stepped inside to help me dress up.

“Thank you.”

“Hey, tell me honestly, Alex… How did you feel when you got the invitation?” Elise asked suddenly which surprised me. “Especially when you knew Desmond jumped to marrying a girl after breaking up with you. It’s only been a few months. It is natural for you to feel angry, but to suddenly want to go to the wedding reception…”

Putting on the silver heels she lent me, both of us heard a car honking outside. A sign that Aurelius has arrived to come and get me. Heaving a sigh, I stared at my reflection.

“Disappointed… but not surprised.”

“I figured. Don’t worry,” Elise patted my shoulder in hopes of cheering me up, oblivious that her helping me was already enough to make me smile. “I promise to play my part well at the party. That and if anything happens that ends up with you fighting the bride, I’ll make sure to back you up.”

“Oh gosh, I don’t want that to happen.”

I locked the apartment once I got my purse and everything. Elise followed me out and got inside Aiden’s car, going ahead of us. She, too, received her invitation to Desmond’s wedding two days after I got mine. I had a blank expression on my face as I walked up to the black Rolls-Royce. Inhaling sharply, I stopped short when the door opened. I got in and turned to the man who was playing as my boyfriend. Greeting Aurelius, I shut the door and smiled.

“Good morning.” He returned the smile. “Is my lovely lady ready to go?”

“I was born ready, sweetheart.”