I took a shower and changed into something more house friendly before I went downstairs to eat. It took over two hours for both my parents and Lisa to arrive, and I was already getting tired of the wait.
Due to how late in the night it was, after a quick greeting and having dinner, we all went to our respective rooms.
******
"A hopeless romantic all my life, surrounded by couples all the time~" I sing while trying to decide the outfit I'll be wearing for my sister's bachelorette party two days from now.
Since Lisa is getting married to her high school boyfriend, I'm singing to encourage myself. I'm so romantically unromantic that I feel bad for the person I might date in the future. Well, I'm more focused on work to think about how and who that person might be.
I already vacated work for the next one and half week since yesterday. In my absence, Daniel would oversee things and bring me a summary of the day's event every day.
"Mona, get down here!" My mom yells from where I'm guessing is the parlour. I've been wasting too much time on one task.
"I'll be there soon." I reply, hoping she heard me, then I hastily tidy my clothes before going down.
"Yes, mom." I take a seat as I watch my sister practice for her wedding.
"You do realize you're not getting any younger, Mona." Mom admonishes, turning her attention from my sister to me.
"We are all ageing, mom." I suppress my laughter after I spot the annoyed look on my mom's face.
"Your mom's right, Mona. When will you get married or even start dating? Your younger sister is already getting married. You should also get someone for yourself." My dad speaks for the first time since I got here, and I can only sigh.
Please remind me why I live next to my parent's house, I should have gotten a house in another estate at least, even if not another state, but at least different areas!
It has never felt nice shooting yourself in the foot, and I once again confirmed it because I narrowly escaped my parents' Q/A session with a lame excuse of wanting to use the restroom.
What more could I ask for than being in my comfort zone without any disturbances. Life is not perfect, so I can't always have what I want. Those were my exact thoughts before I started thinking of ways to dispel my parents' worry, even if just for the time being.
"I'm going out for a bit." I annouce after leaving my room in a new outfit, my black hood top and blue shorts with white sneakers. I don't look my age, and I love it.
Strolling to a park, I take a sit on one of the benches and watch all the things going on in the area as time went by.
I was starting to get tired of just sitting until I spotted a boy and girl at a corner whispering something to each other. They appeared to be twins in their matching all black outfit and white sneakers. They look around the age of four, and I couldn't help but be drawn to how cute their interaction was. It didn't take long before they walked away to another side of the park. Stilling myself to not become a stalker by following them, I continue to muse to myself about their little interaction, and I couldn't help but giggle at how beautiful those children were. Their parents would definitely be happy and proud to have them as their children.
Ring....Ring
I answered the call and waited for Maddy to reprimand me. Guess what? I wasn't so wrong because she technically did.
"Mona, where are you?" Maddy demands, and from her voice, I can tell she's irritated.
"I went out to a park, why?" I really don't understand where this is going because I know my parents wouldn't be looking for me, they saw me leave.
"I'm at your house! I even went to your parents' house!" Yikes! I see why she's exasperated.
"Sorry, Madds. I went for a breather, my parents brought up the topic of dating and marriage to me, and I just had to run." I explain knowing that Maddy could understand my plight since her parents have already started nagging her to get married to her five years boyfriend.
"My baby, I'm sorry to hear that. I'll wait for you in your house, don't be long." Maddy says before we hang up the call, and I'm startled to see someone beside me.
"Ahh!" I exclaim in fright, my phone almost slipping from my hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I've been here for a while, and I kind of heard your conversation on the phone." The guy beside me admits.
Why does he look so guilty? It's no big deal, I wasn't quiet myself.
"It's alright." We sit in silence after I assure him of my disregard for him hearing my call.
Abruptly standing up, I'm surprise both myself and the guy. I just remembered Maddy said I should come back.
"By the way, do you have a solution to the problem?" The guy asks, and for some reason, we are walking together.
"No, I'll have to think of something quickly." I say, falling into deep thoughts.
Was it a light bulb or the sun, I don't care because an idea popped into my head.
"Fake dating!" I exclaim, and unfortunately, I couldn't hold myself back because I broke into a happy dance.
"Oh my gosh!" Was the sound of my loud voice after noticing that the guy was staring at me embarrassing myself in the public park.
Goodness! What did you do, Mona?!
"Fake dating?" He asks, and I nod like I just solved Einstein's equation.
"I can check on apps or even online!" I can't believe I never thought of this all along.
"Can you trust them? They are hardly trustworthy when you seem to need them urgently." The guy advices, and finally, there's a loophole in my plan.
I was lost in thought again, trying to work out a way to eradicate the problem that had been brought to my notice.
"Hey, I know we just met, and it might come off as intruding, but do you have a girlfriend?" I ask in a rather awkward way because I know where I was going to.
He probably got a hint of my plan but still played along after a moment of silence.
"I don't. Why?" He replies, and I inwardly jubilate.
"Would you mind acting as my boyfriend for some time? Just fake dating." I propose crossing my fingers in hopes that he wouldn't mind.