Chapter 26
Nora: #FirstFight
W e’re off to Paris. It’s my first time traveling out of the country and I’m super excited to put it in the mildest form. I’m practically bouncing off the walls, sharing everything with my followers, who, bless their hearts, seem as thrilled as I am—or at least they’re doing a good job faking it.
I’ve got reels of me walking into the airport, photos of me and Gabs sipping coffee in the airport lounge, and clips of us boarding the plane and settling into our seats. I’m documenting everything. Gabs seems a little nervous, which is odd since he’s done this a million times before.
“You okay?” I ask once the plane is in the air. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of flying?”
He smiles and takes my hand. “I’m not. And even if I were, I wouldn’t be today because you’re here with me.”
There’s a flutter in my heart, but I ignore it, reminding myself for the hundredth time that ‘we’ can’t happen. When I return to Boston and he’s still in Paris, it’ll hopefully give us both time and space to untangle our thoughts. All I need is to keep myself and my emotions in check for a few more days. Just a few more days. Can’t be difficult, since we’ve managed to do that the entire week.
“Totally. So what’s the deal with you? You worried about your presentation? I’ve gone through it and it’s pretty good and detailed. You make an excellent case for starting the new business unit. I don’t see any reason for them to not approve it.”
He nods. “Yeah. By the way, since they all know that we’re together, thanks to our social media posts, they want you to join me for the office dinner on Monday after the board meeting. Is that okay with you?”
“Wow! Of course. I had just planned a walk along the Seine for that evening. So yeah, I’m good. Ooh, what should I wear? Will my green dress be suitable for the dinner? I think it should be good enough. What do you say? Or should I buy something?”
“That green dress is beautiful. I think it’ll be perfect. You’ll look perfect in anything you wear.”
My heart skips a beat. Why is he saying things like this? Doesn’t he understand that the romantic path is forbidden to us? If we go down that road, it’ll only end in heartbreak and disaster.
Then, of course, he could simply be playing the part he’s supposed to play. He probably says that to all the women with that same sincere and believable tone. No wonder they all fall for him. To be honest, I don’t blame them anymore. Anyone would.
So I pretend to make light of it.
“Oh, my! Someone’s been practicing their boyfriend-role. You’re upping the game, I must say. I’ll have to think about what cheeky stuff to say to you too, now.”
He turns his head and stares out the window, while I try to calm my racing heart.
For the rest of the flight, neither of us goes into personal comment territory. I help him give the finishing touches to his presentation, then he goes off to sleep while I read my book. I can never sleep on an airplane. We land right after I finish the last chapter. Thank God for that, or else I’d be sitting in the plane a little while longer to finish it. Leaving a book close to the end is torturous.
As soon as I switch on my phone, there’s a slew of beeps. What’s happening? People love me, I know, but so many messages and notifications in such a short time? Is everyone remembering me at the same time? Something’s up.
As we wait for our luggage, I sift through the messages. I’m shocked. How can it be? I turn to Gabriel and I guess he’s seeing it too, for his eyes are wide open, shock written all over them, scrolling through his phone.
TruthSeekerBob has done it again. And this time he’s gone too far. He’s posted that our relationship is fake, claiming that he has proof of it. My sweet followers are defending me, but there are an equal number who are buying what he’s saying. That I haven’t responded yet hasn’t been helping.
“You’re seeing this?” Gabs asks.
“Yeah. It’s blown up beyond proportion with conspiracy theories doing the rounds.”
“How did he know? We have told no one, right?”
I think back. Carla and Mom know, but they would never disclose it.
Gabriel’s eyes go wide.
“What?” I ask. “Don’t tell me you’ve told someone? Josh and the gang? They can’t keep a secret for shit.”
“Um, no. Not Josh… Alex. But I trust him with my life. What if someone in his office overheard us? It couldn’t have been in my office since it was late and no one was there. Shit! I should’ve been more careful.”
“Shit Gabs. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone ,” I say, trying my best to keep my volume in check. How could he? I take a deep breath to calm myself. “Okay. We’ll have to do some damage control. We’ll probably need to make a statement. Don’t worry about it. You can talk to Alex and see if he can find out who revealed this.”
We collect our luggage. Gabs’ company has sent a car and a driver who takes us straight to our hotel. Yeah, we chose not to stay at Daphne’s ancestral home. And thank heavens we did because knowing a little about Daphne’s mom, and how active she is on social media, I’m certain she’s already seen the posts and it’d be pretty awkward to face her right now before we have a plan of action.
We reach the hotel room and Gabs is still scrolling down on his phone. “This is shit, Nora. I hate social media. How can these people judge us, judge you? They don’t even know us. How dare they behave as if they know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it?”
“Everyone is entitled to their opinions, Gabs. Now, listen to me. We need to show them proof that we’re together. Okay? Come here.”
I hate to see him so tensed and it doesn’t help that the mess started because of me since I was the one who told Daphne we’re dating. I was the one who brought him and all this into social media. Great way to help him! All I’ve done is mess it all up. Did I want to help him or did I want to experience the joy of being his girlfriend, even if it was fake? Ugh! I can’t think about this right now. I need to sort it all out.
I pull him to me. He looks into my eyes and a smile spreads over his lips, as if just being here with me will take his troubles away. I swallow hard, my breath stuck somewhere along my throat. It seems that my cells are all iron, that can’t get away from the magnet of his lips.
I get on my toes, and with one hand behind his head, I pull his head down. As our lips touch, I take a photo with my free hand and click post. Hashtag love-is-in-the-air. Hashtag romantic-city-Paris.
That’s all I intended to do. A peck on the lips for the photo. But I can’t seem to pull away. I throw my phone on the bed and push my lips against his. He responds immediately, his hands cupping my hips and lifting me. I wrap my legs around him as he walks toward the wall, not breaking the kiss for even a fraction of a second.
My back is pinned to the wall, and he swipes his finger along my bare skin, right above the waistband of my jeans, and I gasp into his mouth. He bites my lower lip, setting every pore of my body ablaze.
I kiss him deeper, rolling my body against his.
“Oh Nora,” he mumbles. “You can’t imagine the effect you have on me.” Then turns around and tosses me on the bed.
I grab his shirt and pull him down with me.
“You said it was stupid.”
“Maybe it is. But I’ve been known to do stupid things.”
His lips are back on mine, our tongues tangled, as he unbuttons his shirt. He pulls back for an instant and we both race to get undressed. Within seconds, we’re naked and he’s on top of me, kissing me and cupping me between my thighs with one hand, massaging it, his fingers just barely delving into my wetness. Then, before I know it, he plunges two of his fingers inside me.
“O baby,” I moan loudly. Thankfully, we’re in the hotel and I don’t care if anyone hears me today.
He turns me around and works me with his fingers from the back. His one hand cups my breast. Then the other moves up too to the other breast and he pushes himself inside me from behind, slowly at first, then as he flattens out he begins the gentle movement which in moments turns into more vigorous thrusts.
As my moans become louder, he slows down a bit.
“I want to see your face when you come. Turn around.”
I do as I’m told. He takes my stone-hard nipples into his mouth. My back lurches up, wanting to feel him inside me again. I think there might be a river flowing between my legs by now.
He sucks hard at my nipples, biting them a little. I fist the sheet with my hands because what I feel is bordering on extreme. He brings his front down, the tip right at my opening, teasing me. I move my hips, trying to feel him, wanting him to go inside. But he doesn’t.
“You better do it if you wanna come with me,” I whisper. “Please.”
“As you wish, my girlfriend,” he whispers into my ear, kissing me on the lobes while thrusting his length inside me. He kisses me hard on my neck, biting me a little.
Our bodies rock together as they find the perfect rhythm. In and out. Faster. Deeper. And then he hits the spot and I almost scream out his name. He thrusts faster and faster, our bodies moving rhythmically in total sync, as if we’re one. He buries his face in my neck and shouts, moans, and I wrap my legs around him so tight, trying to get more of him with every thrust. I feel him convulse and the rush of his release just as my body is filled with pleasure and I’m over the moon, the aftershocks still rippling through me.
He falls off to the side, heaving, smiling lying on his back. “Wow!” he says. I love seeing him so satisfied, knowing I was the one responsible for it. I take in deep breaths, calming my pounding heart, feeling as if I can never move again.
He finally turns to face me, tracing his fingers along my stomach and stopping at my naval ring.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“What? The ring? No. I’m used to it now.”
He kisses me on the forehead. “I’m sorry I told Alex. I shouldn’t have since we’d decided we wouldn’t tell anyone. Don’t worry, I’ll find out who leaked this. Okay?”
I nod. “It’s fine. I wonder what proof TruthSeekerBob has. Maybe a recording of your conversation with Alex. It can’t be anything else. But why did you tell him? Did you tell Ryan too?”
“No, I didn’t tell anyone except Alex. And I told him because I wanted to discuss something with him.”
“About us ? You discuss us with Alex?” I pull back from him and cover myself with a sheet.
“Don’t you discuss your relationships or your problems with your friends? It’s the same.”
“I do. But not when we’ve pre-decided what we’ll tell them. I mean, I told Lily and Eva that we’re dating. Hell, they won and lost bets because of that. What if Alex tells Lily that it was all false? You ever think what it’ll do to my friendship with her?”
He stands up and pulls up his pants. “Hey, I’m sorry. Okay? I needed to talk it out with someone. Normally I’d come to you, but since this involved you, I couldn’t possibly do it. I didn’t know what to make of this thing we were doing. I mean, c’mon Nora. We say it’s fake, then we kiss and have sex, but you say it’s still fake? I don’t know where my head is at anymore. Why are we even doing this fake thing that you suggested? I don’t like faking.”
And what does he even mean by ‘you say it’s fake ’. Hadn’t we both agreed to it? Putting the entire blame on me? How dare he?
“Are you suggesting that I enjoy faking? How can you act all high and mighty when the entire thing was to get you out of the mess? If you had a problem with the idea, we could’ve stopped it right in the beginning. And now, after you’ve broken your promise and told God knows how many people about it, you say it’s my fault? Some nerve you have.”
“I never said it’s your fault. I just… forget it. I only told Alex, not God-knows-how-many-people, and that too, because I wanted to get his perspective. And trust me, he wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“But somehow the information got out, right?” I grab my clothes and start wearing them, the same as him. I’m not going to lie around naked while he gets dressed.
“I said I’m sorry. I’ll talk to him and try to sort it out.”
I pick up my phone. The kissing pic has done little to alleviate the growing chatter about the relationship being all fake. TruthSeekerBob is going all out and posting regularly about us, giving ‘ facts ’ about why he thinks it’s all fake.
How could both of us break up on the same day unless pre-planned? How could we both, who had been friends for so long, suddenly become romantically interested? The reason he gives is that we both needed publicity. He even shares numbers of how our followers have increased since we disclosed our relationship status. It’s crazy.
That’s how stories are made, right? You put together some facts and make an assumption based on that and everyone thinks that just because some statements are true, the entire story is true. They take even the assumptions as facts.
“This is a mess,” I mutter, cursing under my breath and flicking my phone away.
Gabs is putting on his shoes. I’m glad he’s leaving because I need to be alone for a bit. I can’t believe he’s blaming me for blowing up our secret.
“I’m sorry again I told Alex and caused this mess. And I’m sorry to have upset you so much because of it. It was never my intention. I’ll go out for a bit and give you some space because I know you like to be alone at such times. I’ll talk to Alex and see how the information could have gotten out and whether I can do something about it. Okay? I’ll be back in an hour.”
I sit there as he leaves, too angry and upset to say anything. But I do share TruthSeekerBob’s post with a “first fight as a romantic couple because of some insane person, that too in Paris, the city of love.” Hashtag first-fight.