Chapter 5
~ Octavia ~
I'd avoided my parents' calls all through the night.
Twenty-three missed calls from Mom. Fifteen from Dad. Countless text messages that I couldn't bring myself to read. I knew what they'd say…how could I be so selfish? How could I throw away this opportunity? Didn't I care about the family?
But I needed time to think. Time to breathe.
"Hahahahaha!"
Victoria burst out laughing so hard she nearly fell off her chair.
I'd come into work that morning determined to pretend everything was normal. But the moment I saw my best friend's face, everything came spilling out with the one-night stand, the video, the fake engagement, the board members' demand for two years of marriage. All of it.
Victoria had already seen the news, of course. Everyone had. My face was plastered across every gossip site and social media platform in the city. But hearing the real story behind it was apparently the most entertaining thing she'd heard in years.
"Stop laughing," I hissed, glancing around the office nervously. "This is serious!"
"I know, I know," she gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just…oh my God, Octavia! You accidentally slept with Franklin Flemington! The Franklin Flemington! Do you know how many women would kill to be in your position?"
"Yeah, well, they can have him," I muttered.
But before Victoria could respond, a crowd of my colleagues descended on us like vultures.
"Octavia! Is it true?"
"How long have you been dating?"
"When did he propose?"
"Oh my God, can I see the ring?"
I forced a smile, holding up my bare left hand. "We're keeping things low-key for now. You know, private."
"But the news says you're getting married soon!"
"How did you even meet him?"
"Did he sweep you off your feet?"
The questions came rapid-fire, and I did my best to deflect without outright lying. It was exhausting. Everyone at Jeff Tech Group — where I worked as a game developer — seemed to think I'd won some kind of lottery.
If only they knew the truth.
"Alright, alright, give her some space!" Victoria finally intervened, shooing people away. "She needs to actually work today, you know."
As the crowd dispersed, still buzzing with excitement, I caught sight of someone across the office who wasn't smiling.
Bella.
She stood by her desk, her arms crossed, staring at me with an intensity that made my skin crawl. Bella was my rival — we were both top developers in the company, always competing for the same promotions, the same recognition, the same wins.
We'd never liked each other. That was normal.
But this look? This wasn't normal rivalry. This was something else entirely. Pure, concentrated hatred blazed in her eyes.
Was she jealous? Jealous that I was supposedly marrying Franklin Flemington?
I almost laughed. If only Bella knew it was all fake. If only she knew I was planning to back out of the whole thing anyway.
Well, I might as well enjoy the attention while it lasted. At least something good could come from this disaster.
I turned back to my computer, trying to focus on the game code I'd been working on before my life imploded.
My phone suddenly buzzed on my desk.
Unknown number.
I hesitated, then answered. "Hello?"
"Send me your office address. I'll come pick you up for lunch."
It was Franklin's voice.
My heart did a weird little flutter in my chest. His tone was completely different from yesterday, he sounded calm, almost warm. He sounded... romantic?
"Um..." I fumbled for words, caught off guard by the change.
"We need to talk," he continued, but there was no anger in his voice now. "But let's do it over lunch. Somewhere neutral."
Perhaps he wasn't that bad after all. Maybe yesterday he was just in shock, overwhelmed by everything happening so fast. Maybe marrying him wouldn't be such a terrible idea if he could be like this…reasonable, civil, even kind.
"Okay," I heard myself say, and I was smiling.
Wait. Was I smiling?
I caught my reflection in my dark computer screen and immediately slapped my hand over my mouth, shocked at myself.
"Good," Franklin said, and I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Send me the address. I'll be there at noon."
"Okay," I repeated, still smiling like an idiot.
The call ended, and I sat there for a moment, staring at my phone.
What was wrong with me? Why was I blushing? It was just lunch. Just a conversation. Nothing special.
But... it had been so long since anyone had treated me like this. Like a lady. Like someone worth taking to lunch. My last relationship had ended over a year ago, and since then, it had been all work and no play.
Maybe that's why this small gesture of Franklin calling, asking to take me to lunch made my heart race like a teenager with a crush.
"Get it together, Octavia," I muttered to myself, quickly typing out my office address and hitting send.
Victoria leaned over, her eyebrows raised. "What's got you all smiley?"
"Nothing," I said too quickly.
"That was definitely not your 'nothing' face," she teased. "That was your 'somebody just asked me out' face."
"It's not like that," I protested. "Franklin just wants to talk about... logistics. For the whole fake marriage thing."
"Uh-huh. And that's why you're blushing?"
I touched my cheeks. They were warm.
Damn it.
"I'm not blushing!"
"Sure you're not," Victoria grinned. "You know, for someone who was ready to run away from this guy yesterday, you seem awfully happy about lunch with him today."
Damn! She was right.