Chapter Seventeen — It Was All a Lie

Irene’s POV:

After the presentation and successful signing of the deal, Davis showed up at my office congratulating me and asked me to dinner, and I said yes. I really wanted to make new friends and just not think about a lot of things, things like Will and his Fiancé showing up at the meeting we had with the clients.

I was still having a conversation with Davis when the office line rang and I picked to hear Will’s voice. He said it was urgent so I thought it was office work and asked Davis to wait because the boss wanted to see me. Now here I am hearing him tell me he loves me and wants me. I know I like him a lot but we can’t get together this way. He has a fiancé who thinks she has someone to rely on. I can’t be the one to break that trust.

“I’m sorry Will, I can’t do this” I said.

“So you don’t feel anything for me?” he asked.

I let out a sigh “Having feelings for you doesn’t matter, you have a fiancé and I can’t ruin whatever trust or love she has for you. I have been there before and I know what it feels like” I replied.

“She’s not my fiancé!” he shouted.

“But you said she was the other day and you two sure do have a bond” I replied angrily, the image of the both of them together at the meeting flashed through my mind again.

“She’s not. My dad wants me to marry her for the sake of the company and he feels he has some sort of bond with her family so marrying there is safe. But I don’t, I do not love her. I only said yes because I thought I could learn to love her but I just realized I only see her as a friend, and my heart beats for another, it beats for you Irene"

All these words made my heart melt. I can’t believe he just said he loved me. I wish I could tell him how I really feel. I stared at the beautiful man standing in front of me, confessing his feelings. He was all shades of beautiful, his perfectly shaped lips suited his face and his eyes were charming grey.

“Will, I am sorry” I said. I was about to walk out when he grabbed my arms and drew me closer to him, he held me close to him and for every moment I spent staring at him my heart melted and I felt butterflies in my tummy. Our eyes lock and he was too beautiful for me to take my gaze off him, after few seconds of staring I felt his lips on mine. It was everything. I couldn’t feel my legs, my body felt different, it felt weak and vulnerable and that was fine by me, because I enjoyed every bit of the moment and I felt something I haven’t ever felt before.

“Will” I said softly as I placed my hands on his chest to push him off me gently. My heart was racing, I loved him for everything that he was.

“I’m sorry” I said gently and gave a sober look, letting him know I still wasn’t interested.

“I am not backing off Irene. I’ll wait till you make up your mind” he replied.

I looked at him one more time before walking out of his office. I opened the door to see his fiancé standing right in front, crying. I felt really bad for her, but I obviously couldn’t console her when I was the main reason she was crying in the first place. I paused for a few seconds before walking fast to the elevator. I hope they are able to sort whatever issues between them.

I got to my office to see Davis still there waiting for me, I was really hoping he would be gone by the time I come back.

“Hi,” I said. My heart was beating really loud and fast and It was so obvious through my speech.

“Hey. What were you two on about?"

“Us two?” I asked. Though I knew who he was obviously talking about.

“Yeah. You said the Boss called you right?” he replied.

“Oh, yeah. You’re right. uhm” I paused “We… we had to talk about the deal I just signed and a couple of other work talk” I said and put up a fake smile.

He nodded “Okay” “Is our dinner night still on?” he asked.

I didn’t answer and paused to think about everything. What would Will think, I don’t want to hurt him, but then I would also hurt Davis feelings because I said Yes earlier and it would be weird if I say No now. “Yes. Of course it’s still on,” I smiled.

“Great. I have something urgent to do. I’ll come over to your place to pick you at eight."

“Okay,” I answered.

*****

The look on my face since I got home has been one filled with so much confusion. I feel really sad and I don’t even know what to do. I love Will, and it’s crazy how I couldn’t place a name to what I felt for him till he kissed me again in his office after confessing his feelings for me. I’ve thought about how he has a fiancé, but then he says he doesn’t love her and everything’s forced and that’s bad, because him spending his life with someone he doesn’t love is torture and as long as he’s not telling her he loves her when he doesn’t then he really hasn’t done anything bad. Maybe I can give him a shot but I will need him to tell her just how he feels about her so she can let go and not feel heartbroken or betrayed when he leaves her.

I was still lost in these thoughts when the loud tone of my phone jolted me awake. I checked to see an incoming call from Davis. It was 30 minutes to the date and I haven’t yet decided what I would be wearing.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hi there,” he replied. “I wanted to remind you about the date just in case you’ve forgotten."

“Oh, I do remember. Thanks for the reminder,” I replied.

“Are you okay you sound quite tired” he said “We could reschedule if you don’t feel too good"

“Uhm” for a second I thought about saying Yes, but I know even though he asked that, he really didn’t expect me to say yes or he would be heartbroken. “No, It’s fine. I am already getting prepared."

“Okay, great will pick you up at 8 pm,” he said.

After the call ended I rushed over to my closet and checked for a nice outfit. It was a short fitted plain black gown. Looked quite simple but still gave off a classy look. I matched it with a silver heel, and as for my hair, I had it curled a bit because I didn’t want to waste any more time.

My phone started to ring but I didn’t answer it. It was Davis and he was obviously calling because he was waiting outside already. I looked at the mirror one last time before rushing out.

*****

The venue for the dinner was one of the finest and most expensive restaurants in the city. I let out a sigh. I paused admiring how beautiful the building was.

“Do you mind” he said as he arched his arm for me to hold onto while we walked in.

I scoffed “Sure"

Everything was beautiful, I was amazed by how beautiful the inside was till I saw Will with Megan seated just few tables across ours. I scoffed. And now he was feeding her. Is this how you treat someone you claim you have no feelings for? I thought he was going to tell her how he feels about her, I guess all he said about not loving her in the first place was a lie. I was angry, and I just wanted to tell him he was a jerk and walk out but I then I wasn’t here for him, I was here for Davis and I had to make the dinner a good one so he doesn’t get heartbroken.

“You admire them too?” I heard Davis ask, his voice made me turn my gaze away from them immediately.

“What?” I asked.

“Mark and his soon-to-be fiancé—wait, she’s actually his fiancé now. It’s something he has agreed to. All that’s left is the engagement party, which I was told would be held in two weeks' time. I don’t know why they can’t just hold up and be actually engaged or get married before all the PDA’s, I bumped into them kissing in the elevator, that’s so gross, why not just get a room. Or maybe I’m the one who just doesn’t like PDAs. What's your take on it?” he asked.

“On what?” I heard all he said clearly but I was filled with rage. I can’t believe all that happened in Will’s office was a lie. All he said was a lie. He was actually just playing a game with me, just because he saw I was vulnerable, the broken-hearted girl, the one who crashed his party because of an ex she couldn’t get over. I could feel tears fighting through but I wasn’t going to let them win, not now, or this place.

“PDAs,” he answered.

“Oh, it’s good. I mean, it’s just two people in love expressing their feelings for each other. It doesn’t really matter where they are or what people are looking.” I let out a small laugh.

“Hmm. That sounds convincing.” He nodded. “So, let’s see, what are you having?"

“I don’t know” I replied as I picked up the menu.

“I think I’d go with this. Po…meato, I think.” I pointed at something that looked like sauced beef mixed with fries.

“Hmm, nice. I’d just go with that too,” he said and spoke to the waiter who has been standing by our table waiting for an order since we arrived.

The dinner was nice, I mean asides being heartbroken after seeing Will and his fiancé together, I enjoyed the meal and that was really comforting at least.

“It’s getting late and I have a lot of work to do, we should head back” I said.

“Oh. Yeah. Sure. Thanks for coming to dinner with me today” he smiled “And have I told you just how beautiful you look tonight? You’re really special Irene and any man would be a fool to not want you"

I was really hoping he would end the sentence at the beautiful part, then he went ahead to say something that would make me feel uncomfortable and awkward around him. There’s a lot of drama happening in my life, I really didn’t need another Man confessing his feelings for me.

“Shall we?” he bent his arms for me to hold onto again.

“Yes” I let out a small laugh and grabbed his arm.

While we were heading out he called onto Will and his girlfriend making them look over at us. I formed a fake smile and waved, while Davis waved at them as well.

“That was very unnecessary you know” I said as we walked out.

“Come on, I just simply said 'hey' and they looked over at us,” he replied.

He is definitely not the type of guy I would want to date, his personality was off on my checklist.

The ride back home was fast, thankfully. Though he didn’t stop talking and asking me questions about my life, if the ride had been longer than that I would have asked him to shut the hell up because I couldn’t deal.

I let out a deep sigh as I fell on my bed after a cool shower. I didn’t spend much time thinking about how Will lied to me before I slept off.