Chapter 8 #2
“But otherwise, it would be nice to have my weekends back. Your mate—” I flicked my thumb towards Cooper “—Is paying me a lot more than I was earning and I’m grateful to be able to work for someone I know.
Some of my friends have had awful experiences with gross supervisors and some of my previous employers were jerks.
” I admitted, not wanting to work for someone who was going to take advantage of me.
“You could stay here in the spare room though,” Seb offered but Marlee cut him off.
“No, she can’t.” He swung his face towards her, confusion marring his features. “I’m turning that room into a Pilates studio.” She explained with a grimace, as if she weren’t fabricating a ridiculous lie to make me stay with the man sitting beside me.
“You hate Pilates,” Seb stated, and Marlee leaned over and whispered in his ear. Whatever she said, caused him to choke on his own saliva, before she kissed him on the cheek and shrugged in my direction apologetically.
“Guess you have to stay with Coop,” Marls added, and I wanted to strangle her, and couldn’t believe Seb wasn’t seeing straight through the manipulation. If it wasn’t my idiot brother I would have admired her work, but nope - just nope.
“It’s fine, she needs to stay with me actually.” Coop grimaced, causing Seb’s frown to deepen.
“Why does she need to stay?” Seb asked and Cooper glanced down at his hands before exhaling. It was clear he was dreading this part, and his hesitation only made my patience decrease. When he still hadn’t replied, I rolled my eyes before jumping in for him.
“Because for the next four months I’m also going to be his fiancée,” I said, clapping in faux excitement before adding, “Surprise!”
“Thanks, Evy,” he mumbled, and I grinned unapologetically.
“Sorry, must be a kid thing,” I said to Cooper as I batted my eyelids and wished I could stick my tongue out at him.
“This is the best family dinner we’ve ever had,” Marlee whispered, reaching for her wine and leaning back in her seat.
“What the fuck?” My brother asked with clear confusion.
“I need to get my folks off my back, bro.” Coop explained. “They’re merciless now. Your sister agreed to go along with it, just until after their charity ball. It made sense to tell everyone we were engaged so there was no chance they’d find out otherwise.”
“But why engaged? And why Evangeline?” He sounded genuinely puzzled as he asked questions I too wanted to hear the answers to.
“I panicked,” Cooper answered honestly.
“But,” I interjected, “we both decided we wanted you and Mum to know the truth, which means you can’t tell any of the girls,” I said looking at a clearly giddy Marlee who was shaking her head slowly with delight.
“My lips are sealed.” She grinned. “Congratulations,” she squeaked, as if this wasn’t a facade. “Aren’t you going to congratulate them, babe?”
The look he shot her was worthy of cutting ice and she hid her grin behind her glass.
“Seb,” Cooper said, capturing his attention before he lost his shit.
“Don’t make this a big deal when it isn’t.
We’ll do some acting, and in four months, we can say we broke up.
She can move somewhere close to here as she originally planned and all will be well,” he added honestly.
“You know I will make sure all of that happens.”
Seb looked between us, the epitome of calm, but I knew his mind would be reeling through everything he hated about this plan.
After a pregnant pause, he sighed, “I don’t like it. It’s weird,” he said to Cooper. “Your parents and their friends are entitled jerks with opinions I don’t want her having to deal with so keep a lid on that.”
My fiancé nodded, a look akin to regret marring his features for the briefest moment.
“When she kills him,” Seb added, looking towards his girlfriend, “You’ll need to get rid of your Pilates room so we can hide the body in there.”
Coop laughed, sitting back and draping an arm around my chair. “As if. I’m loveable as fuck. Evy will be begging me to stay.” His renewed confidence elicited an eye roll from me.
“There is absolutely no chance of that happening,” I deadpanned.
“I don’t want to hear one complaint from either of you when this turns to shit,” Seb said, throwing back the rest of his whiskey – the only indication he was more worried than he let on. “And good luck telling Mum.”
Carefully propping the phone against my mirror, I stared in dismay.
“What is that? No, no. You can’t wear that when you’re about to go to his house,” Xavier sighed. “Why are you so fashion challenged?” He added more to himself.
“Everything else is packed, it’s this or my pyjamas, and I doubt a satin shirt with a hole chewed through the nipple is better,” I shot Mum’s dog Buddy a look of contempt.
He knew what he’d done to my beloved sleep shirt and the same as the day I discovered his crafty work, he simply blinked at me with no remorse.
“You have great tits,” Xavi drawled. “I vote nipplage over that monstrosity. Are you purposely trying to look homeless?” I glanced down at my outfit again.
“Flannel is all the rage according to KraftHacks71,” I defended, neglecting to mention the stretchy tights were nearly see-through they were so worn.
“Evangeline Judith Micallef, please tell me you are not still dressing yourself based on that horrendous YouTube channel?”
“Number one, why are you using my government name? Number two, I want to appear deliberately dishevelled. I don’t want him to think I care.” And that was the truth. I was already moving in with him, the last thing I needed was to waste time worrying about how I looked.
“We both know you care what your fiancé thinks. Call me once you’re there, I want to see what his bedroom looks like.”
“I’m hanging up,” I said. “But I’ll call you from his bedroom,” I added quickly before disconnecting the call on his smiling face.
Cooper had been more than accommodating.
He’d sent me photos of everything I requested, the kitchen and its jaw dropping appliances which were wasted on someone who didn’t really cook, plus the stunning view from his back verandah.
It was a nature lover’s dream and a place where I could put my headphones on and zone out.
He answered each of my questions with patience – and there were plenty.
He promised my mum he would take care of me, completed all the paperwork for my internship and organised everything for the move.
Pretending to be his fiancée seemed like it would be easy while living there and that thought alone made me a little nervous.
Opening my text threads, I quickly responded to Marlee’s invitation to celebrate my engagement with the girls, knowing this was all such a shock to them I’d be subjected to something very similar to the Spanish Inquisition.
Other than from Winter. Her social anxiety was worse than mine, so while she would be wishing we were anywhere other than the bar Marls had chosen, I’m certain she would be a happy observer.
Before I could even exit the chat, three active bubbles popped up.
EVA
You can have three questions. Combined.
There was no doubt in my mind that is what they were all planning, likely in a separate chat I wasn’t part of.
ARNA
Three? That’s outrageous.
Felicity
I have 12 already drafted.
EVA
Win, please tell me you support my silence.
WINTER
I do. Although Jack has given me two questions of his own. And he’s annoyed it isn’t a joint engagement celebration.
MARLEE
HAHAH I love Jacky.
Seb has been eerily silent about it all.
ARNA
That means he’s over-thinking.
MARLEE
Correct.
FELICITY
I’ll be there a little early, heading over straight from work.
Eva
I’ll see you intrusive ladies tonight.
ARNA
Take photos of his house. Especially his bedroom. I need visuals.
In an act of treachery, all the girls, including Winter, love reacted to Arns’ message. Why was everyone so invested in his damn bedroom…
When I arrived at Cooper’s house, my heart was smiling.
Despite being not too far from the city centre, it felt as though we were in the middle of nowhere.
The driveway was long, but not manicured or showy like his childhood home.
It was rustic, winding gently through native trees, more path than road.
At the end sat a beautiful timber house with a wide, wraparound verandah.
There was no outdoor furniture, no signs of curation, just the quiet hush of nature.
The property was hidden amongst a sea of green, the sanctity which comes from being in its own serene oasis like a welcoming hug.
Reefing my headphones from my ears, I spun in a full circle, my arms spread wide as I focused on the endless symphony of rustling leaves and chirping birds.
I’d been here for approximately fifteen seconds, and I already knew I was going to love the gentle hum of life here.
Plus, his house was marked with a forty-six - a perfectly even and divisible number.
While I was apprehensive about leaving Mum, if only because it was all I’d known, the move itself had been a breeze.
The truck arrived late yesterday and took the small number of things I owned, the last few boxes nestled in my backseat, and Mum kissed me goodbye as if it were a normal day and sent me on my way.
Honestly, I think she was thrilled to be rid of me – which was mutual if only for the fact that as a thirty-two-year-old, there was absolutely no reason for me to still be living there.
Coop had pushed my start day back by another week to ensure the move wasn’t rushed and it gave me more time to make sure I was ready for tomorrow.
“You found it okay?” Cooper appeared suddenly in the now open front door, a pair of grey sweats hugging his hips and his entire resume on display in the form of his very naked, incredibly impressive chest.