Chapter 19

“Wang! How does this look?” I asked Stephen, holding up a black dress shirt. We had come to a store to shop and maybe get a gift for Reeves. I had to hide under the cover of shopping for myself to get Stephen to accompany me without lecturing me about Reeves and my “growing feelings” for him.

This was the third gift I was getting for Reeves, and maybe I was doing too much, like Stephen said I was, for someone who didn’t like the man, but that makes it more believable, right?

Stephen turned to me with a knowing smile playing on his lips. At that moment I knew I wasn’t going to hear the last of it.

“The shirts for you, you know,” I looked everywhere but Stephen. Stephen laughed in response, shaking his head full of silky hair. If there was anything that Stephen had that I wish I had, apart from his wealth, it was his hair. The man hardly did anything to it, and it came out pretty all the damn time, mocking all the wigs I spent a lot of money on, Stephen just had the results naturally.

“I feel it would look better on Reeves,” he was mocking me.

“Right? I was thinking about it too. Your body lacks form, so it won’t look good in you at all,” I shot back with a smirk.

“I hate you. Look, if you want to get stuff for him, I’m not against it, really; I support you wholeheartedly, trust me I do, but if you know the end results won’t be worth it, then you should just give this up,” Stephen tapped my head slowly like I was a three years old that he was trying to explain basic English to.

“I know you’re not against it, but I don’t want you lecturing me about anything that concerns Reeves. We’ve been talking about this for weeks, months even, and I feel repeating the same thing over is just irritating. You see my best interest at heart, and I’m grateful for it. Besides if something were to happen to me, I’d pull you with me,” I gently hit Stephen’s chest.

“Fine, I’m not going to say anything concerning Reeves again, I promise,” Stephen put both his hands up in surrender. I smiled at the action.

“How’s Emilia anyway?” I asked, trying to make pointless conversation. I think the world knows I don’t care for her at all, but sometimes, I asked about her to see Stephen’s reaction.

“Don’t even pretend to care,” Stephen rolled his eyes, the same time he took out a yellow shirt from the rack of shirts beside and threw it at me. He was still very much in love with Emilia, and that was the way I verified. If he had answered me nonchalantly, that would mean their having some type of trouble, but they’re good, and that’s good.

I laughed at Stephen, taking the yellow shirt he threw at me, and the other items I had picked to the cashier. I was done shopping for now, because lord knows that if I stay in the store for two minutes longer, it would be hard to leave without clearing my account.

I shook my head at the thought of clearing my account as I pulled out my phone to text Reeves.

“We’re still meeting up for lunch, yes?”

So far, this plan was the most effective. It was the easiest way to make the man fall head over heels for me, and with the gifts, I didn’t have to say much, it was enough to make him think I cared for him a lot.

“Yes. Where are you? I’ll come get you”

A few months ago, Reeves didn’t want to have anything to do with me, but now, he was ready to anything with me, for me, and to me. Take some notes Ladies.

“Stephen darling,” I called Stephen as sweetly as I could.

“No, I’m not doing anything for you!”

“I didn’t even say what I wanted yet! Jesus, Wang, take it easy,” I rolled my eyes at him. He did this all the time.

“Reeves is coming to get me for lunch. Please take these bags with you, I’ll come get them, but if you want, you could take them to my apartment for me. Thank you, baby,” I rubbed Stephen’s sharp jaw, to show my gratitude. When the cashier passed our shopping bags, I took out the shirt I got for Reeves and let Stephen take the other bags.

“I’m only doing this because I love you,” Stephen rolled his eyes and went on with the bags. I texted Reeves my location immediately and found a place to sit at the reception to wait for Reeves.

“You sure took your sweet time,” I pressed my lips together, letting Reeves know that he was going to have to pay for wasting my time, even though he didn’t.

“I’m sorry, get in,” he got the message then.

Reeves and I made small talk as he drove, most of it was about how he didn’t want me getting gifts for him. I knew how much he liked that I was getting him gifts, but he was trying to save face. That wasn’t going to work with me, especially when I knew what I was getting from the gifts I was giving him.

Reeves pulled over at the parking lot of a small cafe. The building was covered in wood like paint, giving it a cabin vibe. There were hardly any exterior decorations, but the interior though was decorated cutely, like the owners had given the interior decoration contract to a bunch of ten-year-olds. It didn’t look half bad though. It was just out of character for Reeves. It didn’t look like the type of place that Reeves would come to for lunch, talk more of bringing me along.

I wouldn’t lie though; I knew Reeves and I looked like the perfect power couple. Two very attractive people together, so the stares and whispers Reeves and I got didn’t bother me at all.

Reeves called for a waiter that would take our order, and for the first time since I met Reeves, could tell he had other plans; because the waiter that came to attend to us was the same girl I had seen in his office when I went to see him one time. I couldn’t even hide the excitement I was feeling by Reeves actions. I leaned back and folded my arms as I watched Reeves and the girl act like they were in their own world.

Reeves was looking through the menu booklet she brought, while she was looking at him like he was the only one in the world, smiling sheepishly as she did.

Hell, it seemed like they deleted me from the equation, and I was just a spectator in their romance novel. That was impossible though, not after all my hard work to get Reeves, I wasn’t going to let this small white child take him from me, not that she could, but just saying, these small girls had a way of infiltrating people’s minds.

I cleared my throat, bringing back their attention to me, the main character of whatever romance they thought they were having.

“I don’t feel like eating much, so I’ll take a chocolate fudge,” I smiled sweetly at the girl. It was the first time she was looking at me since I walked into the cafe. She couldn’t hold my eyes though, she looked down immediately, nodding her head.

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

“Daisy,” she spoke softly, rubbing her hands on the small white apron she had tried around her waist.

I passed her a small smile and nodded as she left, completely forgetting to take Reeves’s order, or maybe she didn’t forget. You see? They had a way of infiltrating people’s minds.

“So, Daisy,” I smiled at Reeves. The man couldn’t even meet my eyes.

“Is she my competition?” I asked him. What? I need heads up.

“No, she’s not. There’s no competition,” Reeves answered as a matter of fact, but it didn’t sound convincing, not in the slightest.