Chapter 16

PENELOPE tried to call Justin again, but the man is not picking up. She can’t believe that he’d ignore her just like that because he doesn’t want to agree with the condition that she’s asking from him.

“Is it hard for him?” she asked with a smirk. “Well, it’s not my loss.”

Grace arched her brow at her. “Who are you trying to call? That Nicholas guy again?”

Penelope glared at her friend. “Why would I call him?” She blew her breath. “I promised to myself that I will never squeeze myself to him ever again!”

“Really? Then why are you wearing the dress that he bought for you?” Grace pointed her ball pen at her sundress that Nicholas gave her. “Is it normal for a woman who’s claiming to have moved on to wear the clothes that the man gave her?”

“Of course! It just means that she has accepted that they’re not meant to be together,” she said and curled her lips.

“Can you tell me again what you are planning to do to make Father Nicholas realize his feelings for you?” Grace taunted. When Penelope didn’t answer, she continued. “Oh, I remember, you’re going to hire somebody that could pretend as your boyfriend in front of Nicholas, right?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “Well, I just want to know if he really loves me…” she said hesitantly. “Just like what he told me when we…”

“Made love?” Grace laughed. “What happened between the two of you on that night wasn’t out of love. That was out of lust!”

“Whatever, Grace. You’re not the one that experienced it. It’s me,” she said and rechecked her phone for Justin’s message, but to her dismay, she received nothing but just reminders of the weather today. “I can’t believe it…”

“You should,” Grace butted in again. “Keep in mind that you seduced the poor priest. And his responses were just normal. There’s no love in his actions but just pure lust and—”

“Grace, I think I need a new employee now,” she said, stressing the word ‘new’ while narrowing her eyes at her. “What do you think?”

Grace’s expression changed. “I don’t think so. We don’t need a new beauty consultant; I can do all the duties here.”

Penelope laughed. “Are you sure?” she asked, “because I’m planning to hire new staff.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “I thought you’re going to the church now? Why are you still here? Go now, shoo!”

“I’m still waiting for somebody…” she said and typed a message on her phone. She sent it immediately to Justin.

“Who? You’re new boyfriend?” Grace asked. “You really did that? My gosh, I wasn’t serious when I suggested it to you.”

Penelope sighed. “Then I’m serious.”

“Who’s the guy? What is he looked like? Is he handsome? Professional? Hunk? Hot?” Grace asked continuously. “Is he single?”

Penelope drew her brows together as she tried to describe Justin’s features in her mind. “Well, he’s good-looking, but he’s kinda arrogant.”

“Arrogant?” Grace’s smiles vanished. “Why on earth would you choose an arrogant boyfriend?”

“He’s just going to pretend as my boyfriend, nothing more, nothing less,” she said matter-of-factly.

Grace narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you,” she said and laughed. “Do you have a picture of the guy? Can I see it?”

Penelope hid her phone. “I don’t have,” she said. “I just met him when I went on a home service of facial massage.”

Grace nodded. “Then why are you still here? Is he going here to pick you up?”

Penelope shook her head. “I’m just here to check on you,” she lied and waved at her. “I have to go now. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

Grace waved back. “Okay, good luck!”

When Penelope stepped out of their clinic, she heaved a sigh. She went there because she wanted to tell Grace about the job that Justin offered to her. Still, because the guy wasn’t replying to her text messages since yesterday, she guessed she has to do it again on her own and forget about her Plan A.

“But I don’t have Plan B,” she muttered and started walking out of the mall.

While inside the cab, she thought about what Justin told her when he refused to agree on the condition she’s asking. He told her all the consequences he might face if a paparazzi or a fan saw him with a girl.

“Yeah, right. He’s a celebrity,” she said, brows furrowed. “But we’re just gonna do it once, for Christ’s sake!”

The cab driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Are you talking to me, Ma’am?”

“No, sorry, I’m talking to myself,” she said and smiled awkwardly. She looked at her phone again and cursed under her breath when she didn’t see any message from him. “What am I going to do now?”

She has informed Nicholas that she’s going to the church to fix things up to him and promised him that this will be the last time that she’ll go to the church for him. And, to validate her actions, her plan is to introduce a new guy to him.

Penelope caught her head. Why did she assume that Justin would show up even after his negative response to her when they met at the café five days ago? She sighed. She expected that the guy would still accept the condition that she asked for the sake of his son. But, she guessed, she was wrong.

“Maybe he has found a new babysitter…” Penelope got off the cab in front of the Saint Paul Church. Because she’s wearing a dress, she decided to commute instead of driving her scooter. “Oh, fuck…” she muttered. “Why did I even wear this dress?”

As soon as Penelope saw Nicholas, her heart started to beat fast again. She took a deep breath to calm her heart. But her chest continued to hammer.

“Penelope…” Nicholas smiled at her. The man is already in his semi-casual clothes. “I was about to call you.”

Penelope paused. “R-Really? Why?” she tried to sound neutral, but her voice still shook.

“All the church workers are here, and…” he hesitated. “I don’t want them to see you because of the issue…”

“Oh…” Penelope lowered her head. “I-I’m sorry… you should’ve texted me.”

Nicholas looked at her. “Penelope, about what happened to us, it’s nothing… Let’s forget about that.”

Penelope felt like she was slapped in the face. Her chest tightened, that it started to hurt her from inside. She took a deep breath as the tears stung her eyes.

“I-it’s nothing…” But her voice cracked. She bit her lip to fight back her tears. “Nicholas…”

“Penelope, I’m just drunk that night. I really didn’t mean anything that happened between us…”

She clenched her fist. Every word felt like a knife stabbing her chest. “Nicholas—”

“Honey, I thought you wouldn’t come,” a cold male voice said from her back and put an arm around her shoulders. “I waited for you here for an hour.”

Penelope’s brows furrowed as he looked up at the man. She gasped when she recognized who he was. “J-Justin?”

***