When Does the Pretending End?

Lucy’s Pov

“Hey foxy lady” I hear someone say. Elena is standing at my office door looking as if she should be on a catwalk. “Foxy, really me.” I say as I begin to swirl my chair. “Fancy doing a bit of shopping?” Elena asks taking a seat. “Ever hear of a thing called work. Ms. Big shot lawyer” I say. “Thought you could use some cheering up and nothing cheers me up like shopping” she says. “A night alone in bed with Ryan Gosling wouldn’t cheer me up at this moment. Tina is still refusing to talk to anyone and Josh is hurting though he’d never admit it” I say. “Sounds like someone I know” Elena smirks.

My phone buzzes and look to see who is texting me. “Jorge Mendes here. Was hoping we could discuss our arrangement further” it read. What was I thinking of agreeing to pretend to be Cristiano’s girlfriend. “Hey, are you listening to me” Elena clicked her fingers in front of my eyes. “Sorry, did you say something?” I say. “Yeah. I said footie hunk dropped the charges against Tina, so hopefully the judge will go easy on her” she says. “That’s good” I mumble. So he kept is side of the deal. Guess that means I will have to keep my side. I grab my phone and text Jorge “I can meet you at Cristiano’s house at 3”.

“You need to stop blaming yourself Lucy. Tina taking drugs was not your fault” Elena says pulling me off my chair. “I’m not blaming myself” I say. She rolls her eyes. “Then why are you soon down” she asks. “Tough day” I say. “Though not as bad as last week” she says. “Come on you can buy me a coffee” she says grabbing my phone and handbag and handing them to me. “I’m going back to the scene of the crime so to speak today. It’s Monday which means I have a date with Mr. Angelo” I say to her as we head to the lift. I haven’t the energy to walk down the stairs today. “Well at least you have a date” she says. I roll my eyes at her. “Don’t roll your eyes at me. When was the last time a guy held you in your arms?” she asks. I shiver as I remember Cristiano holding me in his arms. Wow he was so strong.

“Are you ignoring me?” Elena cuts into my thoughts. “No. I’m not but don’t but the image of being in Mr. Angelo’s arms. He’s 60 for God sake” I laugh. My phone buzzes. It reads “We look forward to you arrival”.

It felt weird been back at Angelo’s restaurant. I could barely concentrate on what we were discussing. I had to excuse myself early as I needed time to think before I went to Cristiano’s house. I had no I idea of how this arrangement as Jorge called it would work. But if I had been willing to sleep with Cristiano surely I could pretend to be his girlfriend. Even if all I wanted to do was to hit him around the back of the head. I can’t believe he never mentioned his brother.

“Hey Lucy. How are you? Can I get you something to eat?” Nuno says as I get out of my car. Where did he come from? “Hi Nuno. No thank you” I say. “Hope you’re not annoyed me” he asks as we walk through the front door. “Why would I be annoyed with you?” I smirk at him. “Because he has stupid ideas” a voice says behind us. “Then what does that make us if we are agreeing to his stupid ideas” I say to Cristiano. He shrugs and pass both Nuno and I and heads to the kitchen while Nuno ushers me towards the table. Hello to you too.

I look around the room. Trying to forget the last first time I sat at this table. I never thought I would step foot into this house after that night yet I’ve been here twice since. And it looks like I’ll be here plenty of other times. “Hi Lucy” Jorge says as he reaches the table. “Good you could make it. Right let’s get down to business. Cris’s family come over most weeks. So all you would have to do is spend time around them and act like Cris is the most amazing guy in the world” Jorge says.

“Most amazing guy in the world. Jezz Jorge you do remember that his family do know Cris, right.” Nuno jokes and I let out a laugh. He was actually a really nice guy. Maybe if he was around things won’t be too bad. I hear a bunch of press doors bang in the kitchen. Clearly Cristiano didn’t like Nuno’s joke. “So tell me about what I should expect” I ask. “Well, Dolores is Cris’s mother and……”

“Katia and Elma are my sisters and Hugo is my brother. They all live in Portugal and like to know everything about my life” Cristiano buts in having decided to join our conversation. “But you still love them” I say. He nods his head a little. “Ok how did we meet?” I ask looking at Cristiano. “I was thinking….” Jorge begins but Cristiano cuts in “the truth” he smirks. “The whole truth about what happened and after words” I smirk back at him. He laughs clearly understanding that I was implying about telling his family about our “night together”. “Just say ye met at a restaurant” Nuno chimes in. “Not a club. You mother never likes the girls you pick up in clubs” Jorge says. “Seriously you let your mother meet those girls” I say to Cristiano. “What’s wrong with those girls?” he asks. “Do you even remember their name when you introduce them to your mother” I say.

“Just say that ye bumped into each other in a restaurant and got talking. Swapped numbers, went on a date and now can’t bear to be without each other” Nuno says changing the subject. He’s probably afraid we’d get into an argument. Cristiano and I look at each other. “Can’t bear to be without each other” we both say at the same time laughing. “You’ve been watching too many chick films Nuno” Cristiano says.

“Ok so ye have you cover story. Anything else we need to discuss” Jorge asks looking between both Cristiano and I. “I won’t drop everything at the drop of a hat. I have work and a life that I’ll still have once this charade is over” I say. “That’s fair” Jorge replies.
“Well Katia is coming at the weekend so ye can make yer relationship public then” Jorge says. I shift in my seat. “Don’t worry she’s the easy one” Cristiano says clearly seeing how nervous I was at the thought of meeting his sister.

My phone rings and I excuse myself from the table to take the call. When I arrive back the table has gone very quiet. “I have to go” I say picking up my handbag from the floor. “See you soon Lucy” Nuno says. “Bye” I say to both Nuno and Jorge as Cristiano appears to be the one to show me out.

“Do you think this will really work?” I ask him as we reach the door. “Will we make them believe we are dating” he says. “No, I mean will they stop hassling you” I say. He looks at me. “No” we say at the same time. “Thanks” he says. “You kept your side of the deal so I’m going to keep mine” I say as he opens my car door. Who knew he could be a gentleman.

“Hey you should come by before next week so we can talk more” he says. “Sure. It would be could to know who I’m really dealing with. For all I know your sister could be annoyed that you’re not dating your last girlfriend” I say.

“Trust me, she would prefer a monkey to my last girlfriend” he says. “I’ll text you during the week” he continues. “Bye” I say as I get into the car.