The great ebony door loomed before her. Veronica could already hear the muffled sounds of laughter and music through it. For the first time in a very long time, she was tense about entering Selena and Nate's house.
"Ready?" Chan asked, looking from her to the door.
"No." She was surprised by the answer, but Chan, for his part, didn't say anything.
After a couple more minutes, he asked, "Ready?"
Veronica looked at him and said, "Let's go."
He leaned forward and knocked on the door. Veronica took a deep breath and watched as the door opened, and Selena's face appeared in her line of sight.
"My guests of honour have arrived," she said as a way of greeting them and crushing them into a hug that was bordering a Heimlich before letting them inside the house.
The number of people hit her like a slap in the face. She was glad to have Chan there to steady her. It always astounded her how Selena thrived in crowds, surrounded by people. It was like she blossomed. While Veronica's first response was to shrink. It was something she was trying to work on.
"Everyone," Selena said, and Veronica prepared herself to be examined by twenty-five pairs of eyes. "This is Veronica and Christopher."
Almost everyone in the vicinity turned to look at them and offered them polite smiles. Veronica hoped her smile looked genuine and not like she was grimacing. She was just glad Selena hadn't announced to the whole room that She and Chan were apparently dating.
"Come in, come in." Selena ushered them and handed them two Martini glasses out of nowhere. Veronica remembered the conversation she had with Charlotte in the morning about not relying on alcohol, chuckled at the irony, and drowned the glass in one go.
"Want another?" He asked, looking amusedly at the empty glass she was holding. He was wearing a black pinstripe pantsuit and a white shirt that was unbuttoned an extra button, which suggested he wanted to leave it that way. He looked good. He smelled good too, spicy and vanilla.
"Yes, please," Veronica asked, giving him her empty glass. He gave her his drink and watched as she took a sip. When he offered her his arm, Veronica gladly took it. "Thank you."
"Can always trust Selena to turn a dinner into a party," Chan murmured in her ear.
"It's like her superpower," Veronica agreed. She didn't know half the faces here. She saw Martin sulking in one corner nursing a drink looking appalled at the guy who was talking to him animatedly. Surprisingly, it made her feel a bit better.
"Oh," Chan said, "I see my parents."
"Go, I see a friend," she replied. She couldn't take meeting his parents and then lying to them too. He could do that himself. At least that way, she would be only tangentially lying.
"Great party?" She asked, making Minho jump a little. He was holding a glass of wine and pretending to analyse one of the paintings hanging on the walls.
"You liar," Minho said, as a form of greeting. "You're dating a guy, and you say absolutely nothing!"
Veronica flagged a champagne flute from a passing waiter and whispered, "Fake-dating."
"What?"
"I will fill you in later," Veronica explained, sipping the champagne. "Martin looks absolutely thrilled."
Minho looked over her shoulder and snickered, "Almost feel bad for him. Do you think we should go save him?"
The two of them made their way through the sea of people, mumbling apologies. Martin saw them approach, and Veronica swore she saw a flash of relief pass over his impassive face.
"-and that's why it is very important to double-proof the windows."
Veronica and Minho only caught the end of the conversation before deciding to interrupt the fun. "Hey, Martin, I think Nate is looking for you," Veronica said, smiling politely at the other guy.
The other guy looked sad to watch Martin go. "We'll finish the conversation later." Her boss looked ready to tell him that he would rather jump off the roof of this building than stand there for five more seconds, but Veronica dragged him away before that.
"What took you so long," Martin mumbled and beelined for the open bar. This was the most gratitude they could get from him anyway.
"So tell me," Minho said, stopping her and looking around. "Which one is he?"
"What are you talking about?"
Minho whispered, "The guy you're fake-dating."
Veronica scanned the crowd for Chan and found him chatting with Selena and his parents. "That one." She pointed.
"Oh my," Minho replied, and Veronica felt her face heat up. "Imagine real-dating him. Oh, he's making his way towards you."
And he was. Veronica watched in awe as the crowd just seemed to part for him seamlessly. As if the world itself made space for him. Maybe she was drunk. But that wasn't possible because her capacity was a lot.
"Hey," he said, stopping right in front of her. "I forgot to tell you this before because you were freaking out outside Selena's house, but you look really beautiful."
"Thank you," Veronica replied, running a hand over her dress. It was a black silk dress that plunged lower in the back. It was one of her nicer dresses. "Chan, this is Minho. Minho, this is Chan. Minho is subbing for the chef at the inn till January."
"Nice to meet you," Chan said, offering his hand.
"Same here," Minho replied, shaking his hand. "Well, my drink is empty, and I see a lonely wine glass calling my name." With that, he excused himself but not before whispering in her ear, "He is really hot."
"So," Chan started, leading them to the bar. "Selena told my parents about us, and now they want to invite you to dinner too."
Veronica laughed, a little delirious. "This is spreading faster than a forest fire. At this rate, they'll have our wedding invitations printed by the next week."
But he wasn't paying attention to her. His eyes were fixed on another girl who was making her way towards them. Veronica tried to read the emotion on his face but couldn't.
"Chan," the girl said, her eyes fixed on him, completely ignoring Veronica's existence.
"Diana," he said, his voice thick. Veronica felt like she was intruding and was about to excuse herself when Chan realised she was sitting beside him. "This is Veronica."
The girl's eyes slid to her, and Veronica wished she had another Martini in her system, but she tried her best to smile. "Hi."
"Diana." The girl offered her hand, and Veronica shook it. Diana was beautiful with brown hair and blue eyes that looked like she was wearing contacts. She was dressed in a plain white dress that looked striking against her freshly tanned skin. If Veronica saw her on the street, she would think Diana was a model.
"So," Diana said, her undivided attention on Veronica's face. Suddenly, Veronica liked it more when she was focused on Chan. "You are the star of this party."
Veronica gave her the most charming smile she could muster. "Is that what Selena is saying? I am flattered. Can I get you a drink?" Veronica replied and saw in real time how her reply set Diana on fire.
"No," she replied. "I don't drink alcohol. But thank you." Of course, she doesn't.
He cleared his throat. "Diana is an old family friend. I didn't know you were back from your trip."
'I just wanted to surprise you," she commented and looked back at Veronica. "But it looks like I am the one who got surprised. Well, I see your parents and I would like to say my hellos. Bye, Chan. Bye, Veronica."
She felt him sag next to her. She turned around and asked the bartender for another martini. "Do you want a drink?"
He ran a hand over his face. "No, I am okay. Plus, I drove here."
She took a hearty gulp from her drink and asked, "So, ex-girlfriend?"
He turned to look at her. Suddenly, he looked tired as if the interaction with Diana had zapped all the energy out of him. "Was it that obvious?"
She pressed her lips together. "These things have a way of making themselves known." Veronica wasn't surprised. Diana was exactly the kind of girl she could picture Chan dating. God, if they had kids, they would be obnoxiously beautiful. She already felt sorry for their future classmates.
He watched her take a sip from her drink. "This wouldn't be the same drink I left you with, right?"
She smiled and bashed her eyelashes at him. "Are you judging me?"
"Marveling is more like it."
"Well," she replied, finishing her drink. "I do have a plethora of marvellous attributes. So, how long were you guys dating?"
He snuck a glance at Diana, who was busy talking to his parents. "Five years."
Veronica whistled. "That is long. What happened?"
"God, I wish I had a beer right about now," he commented. An emotion passed through his face as if it pained him to remember the memory.
"We wanted different things in life," he answered, smiling sadly.
Veronica felt bad for him. She did not know Chan that well, but it seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and it was clear that whatever happened between him and Diana still hurt him. "If it is any consolation," Veronica replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "She hates me."
He scoffed. "She does not."
"Yes, she does," Veronica insisted. "Guys don't understand stuff like this, but we girls can feel it. She hates the fact that we might be dating, which means she's not over it either."
He looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language. "That sounds insane."
Veronica shrugged. "You don't have to believe it. But it is the truth."
For a while, neither of them spoke. Veronica looked at the faces of the people in the room, trying to come up with funny backstories for them while Chan looked deep in thought. The woman with feathers in her hair looked straight out of the Capitol in the Hunger Games movies. This led to her assorting the party people into different districts and judging a possible winner for the hypothetical hunger games in her brain.
She finally broke the silence, "When do you think I should tell Selena that we aren't together? I think it should be before that dinner with your parents because the fewer people get involved in this, the better it is. God, I am starving. Do you think Selena is serving her garlic cheese rolls?"
"How about we don't tell her?"
Veronica turned her head towards Chan so sharply that she heard a tick. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," he explained, licking his lower lip, "we let everyone assume that we are dating."
Veronica bit out a laugh. "And why would we do that?"
He took her hands in his as if he was afraid that Veronica might run away. She was considering it. "You said so yourself that Diana might be jealous that we are dating. And if we continue to pretend so, then I don't know she might reconsider the breakup."
"Chan," Veronica started. She could understand where he was coming from, but at the same time, she wasn't sure this was the only way to go about this. "How about you talk to her? After our fake breakup? She looked jealous enough to me to reconsider the relationship."
He shook his head. "You don't know Diana, she thinks going back on her decisions is beneath her, and this has to come from her side. She has to want to get back to me. Otherwise, it's nothing."
She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off, "I know I am asking for too much and that it's unfair, but there must be something you could get out of this. How about the blind dates Selena kept sending you on?"
"She told you about them?" Veronica asked, her face turning red. But he was right. If she told Selena that she and Chan were not dating, the blind dates would resume, and Veronica didn't want that. She didn't know how to talk to people she didn't know and ended up having a horrible time. None of her dates ever tried to schedule another one was a salt in the wound, too. But this way, if Selena believed that she was with Chan, there would be no blind dates. No more texting Cassie or Minho to call her with fake emergencies. Or watch the guys sitting in front of her realise that whatever fantasy Selena had built up around her was nothing but a sham. It would be peaceful. And if she was being honest, she loved how happy Selena was when she found out that she and Chan liked each other. Veronica would hate to disappoint her. In the end, the math was simple, and the answer was staring her right in the face.
"Okay," she replied tentatively at first. Then, with a stronger conviction, "Yes, okay, let's do this."
The smile that lit up Chan's face made her lips tug up, too. "I am in your debt. I owe you, whatever you ask for it's yours."
"I will hold you onto that," Veronica replied, narrowing his eyes. "So how do we do this?"
"What?"
Veronica's voice was exasperated. "The fake-dating thing. I think there should be some sort of protocol to this."
"Protocol?" he repeated. "Yeah, that sounds smart. We need to make this look believable."
Veronica leaned into the conversation. The two of them were huddled together. From the outside, it might look like they were talking intimately. They already looked like a couple.
"What do couples do?" Veronica asked, mulling about the last time she was in a relationship and what a spectacular disaster it was. "You were recently in a relationship. What did you do with Diana?"
His wince when she mentioned Diana's name was subtle. But it was there. "Well, we both liked to hike, and you know go camping and stuff like that."
Veronica made a face. "Well, I assure you in the duration we are fake-dating, we'll be doing none of that."
Chan flagged down a waiter carrying a tray of cheese garlic rolls and set it down between them. "Not a nature girl?"
Veronica tore through one and sighed as the hot cheesy core exploded in her mouth. "If I wanted to go touch grass, I would go sit in the garden at the inn."
He laughed in response, sucking the butter from his thumb. "We could sit in the garden at the inn if that is what you prefer."
Veronica touched her heart. "How accommodating. A true gentleman."
"Well, we could start by going to dinner at my parent's place," he suggested, offering her a napkin.
Veronica cleaned her hands. "Yeah, okay. You will have to fill me in about your parents. You know, their likes and dislikes. But I was talking more about, you know, the physical stuff?"
Chan stopped chewing. "The physical stuff?"
Veronica cleared her throat. "Honey, if we are dating, there has to be some physical proof of it. You know, holding hands, hugging, occasional kissing because I hated PDA."
If Veronica didn't feel uncomfortable herself, she would have laughed at the crimson shade Chan was turning. This guy could flirt with a tree but turned red at the thought of kissing.
"I hate PDA too," he concurred. "But you are right. A bit of intimacy would help sell it more. But I don't want to do anything you are uncomfortable with. We don't even have to hold hands, I promise."
Veronica smiled and patted his arm. "I appreciate that. But I am okay with it. And Chan?"
He looked at her. "Yeah?"
She didn't know how to word her feelings, but she had to get it out. "Could you tell me before it happens?"
He scrunched up his eyebrows. "Before I hug you or hold your hands? Of course, we can come up with a subtle signal so you don't feel ambushed."
Veronica laughed. That was probably one of the most respectful things anyone had ever said to her. "No, and thank you for being so considerate. But I meant more like when you think you and Diana are getting closer to getting back together."
"Oh," he looked taken aback. But he didn't ask any follow-up questions. "Yes, of course. I promise."
She nodded, satisfied. "Thank you." She looked over his head and saw Diana staring right at them. When she saw Veronica looking at her, she smiled with her lips pressed together.
She smiled back. "You know, it would kill Diana if we left together right now. It would drive her up the wall thinking what we might be up to."
Chan just stared at her. "How are you so good at this?"
She shrugged. "As I said, I have a plethora of marvellous attributes. So, what do you say?"
"Well," he replied, getting up and offering her his arm. "Since we are fake-dating, I am dropping you off back to your place."
"Chan, you don't -"
But he cut her off, "Veronica, please." He sounded exasperated.
"Okay," she replied with a small smile.