CHAPTER 16: Acting Skills

CLAIRE’s P.O.V.

I was dumbfounded when I saw Darren inside of the teacher’s lounge. I am supposed to be packing my things up right now so that I can go home early. But I couldn’t, because he was sleeping peacefully at my chair and I didn’t want to ruin this beautiful view.

“I don’t know why I keep holding on to this stupid deal... But I know one thing’s for sure... I don’t want to end this set up of ours... Not yet...”

After I whispered those words, I saw him slowly opened his eyes.

“Hey,” he greeted me with a smile.

“What do you think you’re doing here, Mr. Herrera?” I questioned him.

He chuckled before getting up into a sitting position.

“What’s with the attitude?” he asked, confused.

I rolled my eyes on him before grabbing my stuffs at my desk. He help me out while shaking his head, still staring at me.

“Will you please stop staring at me?”

“I can’t help it. You’re beautiful.”

He put his hand under his chin while still staring at me. I blushed as he smile at me, his eyes is still full of amusement.

“Why did you came here?” I asked.

“Dad is at home.”

“Your what?! What did he said?”

He laughed at my shocked response as if he didn’t care that his father could find out about our secret deal.

“Nothing. I told him that you have a lot of work to do and you stayed in your office overnight.”

“And he believed you?”

“Yeah. Why not? Of course I use my charm.”

“Your charm,” I mimicked.

“Well, that’s funny. But don’t worry. He’s never going to find out about this. I told him that I need to fetch my wife before I leave earlier this morning.”

I look at him. Morning? Does it mean that he’s waiting here for me ever since this morning? I bet he hadn’t eaten anything yet for lunch.

“So you’re here since this morning?”

“Yep. Elijah saw me and he let me stay here in your lounge.”

“Did you already ate lunch?”

“Not yet. And I haven’t eaten any breakfast too. I wanted to eat with you. So I keep on waiting.”

I bit my lower lip feeling guilty at his silliness. How could he fight his hunger just for me?

“Why are you quite?” he asked before holding my hand.

He played with my fingers and he traced the lines on my palms. He look like a child waiting for me to be mad at him for doing something wrong.

“Hey... Let’s eat.”

He didn’t say a word. He just keep on playing with my hands.

“Let’s just stay here for a while, Claire. I want to cherish this moment with you.”

He pulled me closer to him, making me sit on his lap before hugging me tight.

“Hey... What’s wrong with you? Someone might see us in here.”

“I don’t care. We are not doing anything wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

I faced him, amazed at how close we are to each other right now. He tugged a strand of my hair behind my ear. I blushed as his fingers brushed against my cheeks.

“What do you want to talk about?” I asked as I look away.

“Are you coming over to your upcoming high school reunion?”

“Uhm... I’m still thinking about it.”

“If ever you finalized your decision, just call me. I wanted to go there with you.”

Again, I faced him, surprised. Why did he suddenly wanted to go there with me?

“I’m sure Kate is going to come there. I just wanted to protect you... And of course, I wanted you to introduce me as your husband to all of your high school friends.”

“But... Why do I need to do that?”

He sighed before continuing.

“Are you ashamed because of me?”

“What? No! Absolutely not! Why would I be ashamed?”

He look away. I felt the guilt invading my system again. I look at him, slowly raised my trembling hand to touch his cheek.

“That’s not what I mean. I just... I don’t see any reason for us to do that.”

“Is being your husband is not a good enough reason for you?”

“I... I j-just don’t want to h-hurt Kate’s feelings anymore.” I tried not to stuttered, but I miserably failed.

I look down, feeling even more guilty right now. He misinterpreted my words and now I remembered again how I ruined Kate’s life for the second time.

“Fine. No need to introduced me as your husband. Just let me come with you,” he pleaded.

“Okay.”

I look at him before showing a timid smile. He did the same thing before brushing my right cheek again with his fingers. He moved his face closer to mine, and I didn’t bother to look away. We’re about to kiss when someone entered into the teacher’s lounge.

“Whoa! I’m sorry!” Elijah covered his eyes with his hand before turning around.

“You ruined the moment,” Darren murmured, upset at what happened.

I instantly stood up from sitting at his lap. I felt embarrassed at the thought that Elijah saw us doing something like that.

“Teacher Elij... I didn’t know you’re here.”

“Now you know!” He turned around, looking at us this time.

“Why are you here?!” Darren asked, pissed.

“Sorry, bro. Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything.”

“What about your class?” I asked him, trying to break the ice.

“I’m done. Look, it’s already three o’clock in the afternoon.”

I look up at the clock hanging by the wall. He’s right. It’s already three in the afternoon. Maybe I didn’t realized how the time passed by so fast because I’m with Darren. And also, I’m thankful that Elijah was the one who caught us in here. If it’s not him, I’m dead.

“Let’s have a lunch, eh? My treat,” he offered.

I just nodded before grabbing my stuff. Elijah walks toward the exit of the room while Darren and I tugged along behind him.

“Psssh. If only I knew he’s going to ruin everything, we should have leave earlier,” he whispered.

“Don’t be like that. He’s still your best friend,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

We both shut our mouths when Elijah turned around, looking at us observingly.

“I’m bored. You know what, let’s play a game.”

Darren and I look at each other as if we can read Elijah’s mind. And what game is he thinking right now?

“What is it, Elij?”

“It’s time to test your acting skills.”

“Our what?”

“Acting skills, you know. It’s also for your own good. This game will help you both whenever your Dad is around.”

“So what are we going to do?” Darren asked curiously.

“Here’s the mechanics of the game. I will play as your Dad and you two will act as yourself... But as a husband and wife.”

“That’s weird,” I commented.

“Come on! It’s not the most stupid idea in the whole universe. Besides, I’m helping you out.”

“That’s stupid... But yeah, it could help us both. I’m in.”

“Darren!”

“What?” Darren look at me innocently.

“Let’s play any games but that.”

“No, I wanted to play that game. Let’s start.”

Darren put his arm around my shoulders before looking straight towards Elijah’s direction.

“Okay Dad, take us to a place where me and my wife could eat,” he announced.

Elijah laughed before he went inside of his car. Darren opened the door for me before turning around to get inside as well. As soon as we all get into position, Elijah started the engine to bring us somewhere.

Every time that Elij–Darren’s Dad is looking at us by the front mirror, Darren will pulled me closer to him and will gave me a peck of kiss on my hair. I often blush because o that. Elijah was smiling to himself the whole trip.

Finally, we arrived at our destination. It is a small family restaurant. Not a fancy one but definitely a place to go.

“What are we doing here?” Darren asked as if he didn’t know that a place like this exist.

“You should try their menu. It’s the best.”

“You know this place, Claire?” Darren turned his gazed on me while he held my hand.

“Yep. Elijah’s right. This place is the best. Come on, let’s eat.”

He look surprised when I clung to his arm. But before he could say anything, I whispered something into his ears.

“How’s my acting skills?”

He laughed hard because of that. Elijah is looking at us like an idiot, smiling to himself while shaking his head.

“You two look good together. You should turn this relationship into a real one.”

That comment of Elijah stunned us both. We look away from each other, moving our body to the opposite direction while blushing.

“You lose,” Elijah laughed.

“What?” Darren asked, confused.

“If I was your Dad, I already found out the truth. Look at your faces.” Again, he laughed so hard.

“That’s not fair. For a moment you were acting like my best friend and now you’re saying that we lose the game?”

“Uhuh. I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

Elijah left us there, dumbfounded. He entered into the restaurant before waving at us to come after him. Darren just chuckled because of what happened.

“That’s the most stupid game I’ve ever played,” he declared before suppressing his laughter.

“Yeah, me too.”

I felt his hand reached mine. We just smiled to each other before entering into the restaurant while still holding hands. I lied to him. That game was probably the best game I ever played in my whole life.