Pretend (6 page)

             
"She's going to love it, it's perfect," I said as I took a final look at the bracelet before polishing it in my blue, halter neck top and placing it back inside of the small box.

             
"Good
, I wasn't really sure you see
but you know her better than anyone
else
," he replied as he began to place the box back inside of
 
the draw
er
before locking it with a key
.

             
"Aren’t you
going to give it to her tonight?" I asked
as I watched him place the key back inside of his pocket
.

             
"Yeah, when the guests are gone, don't want it to go missing now do we," he said as a smile spread across his lips.

             
"Yeah, you're right," I said as I allowed a small smile to creep onto my face.

             
"So, since your smiling again, you won't mind helping me with something else," he said, smiling at me again.

             
"Great, now
what?"
I replied sarcastically.

             
"Well every party needs a cake
,
doesn't it?" He said as he slid the dining room doors open and headed towards the kitchen.

             
After
gently
tucking
the chair
back under
neath
the dining room table, I got up and began to follow him. Once we reached the kitchen, I quickly shut the door behind me and lent against the marble surface just in front of the
kitchen
window.

             
"So, what happened?" Aiden asked as he began to search through the draw
er
s next to the refrigerator.

             
"What do you mean?" I asked as a feeling of confusion came over me.

             
"Well, first I see Kyle
 
heading down the stairs and then you, both looking
 
rather..."

             
He seemed to be searching for the correct word, "depressed," he finally
 
said.
 

             
"It's nothing.
I don't really want
to talk about it to be honest.”

             
I watched as he continued to s
earch through different cabinet
s and draw
er
s
. He
 
walked over to
 
the cabinet
, under
neath
the
sink
where I was stood and
then bent down. I slid over
a little, just enough
 
to allow
him the gap to open the cabinet
door.

             
"What are you looking for?" I finally asked.

             
"Candles, I have no idea where my mom has put them," he said as he continued his search.

             
"Oh," I replied.

             
"You never finished what you were saying earlier," I said as I stared down at the top of his head.

             
"Found them!" He exclaimed as he began t
o reach deeper into the cabinet
, trying to retrieve the candles.

             
"What was I saying?" He finally asked as he grabbed the candles and then started to place different items that were
currently
lying on the floor, back inside of
the cabinet
.

             
"You were telling me about the future Mrs Daniels," I replied with a smile on my face.

             
"Oh, that," he
replied as he shut the cabinet
door and slowly began to stand up.

             
"I was saying..." He said as he stood about three inches from my face, placing his left hand on the marble counter, right next to my hip, "that she was here," he continued.

             
"Here? You mean, t
onight?" I s
tuttered as the gap between us slowly began to close
.

             
"Yes," he said in a low, deep
tone that
for some reason sent tingles
flying
up and
down my spine.

             
His hand slowly, lifted higher until it was a few millimetres from my fac
e. He allowed his finger to
form into a point next to my face
 
as he continued his sentence.

             
"She's right there," he said, n
ow pointing towards the window
with a smile on his lips.

             
I turned around and immediately spotted his silver mustang that was parked outside of his house. I couldn't help but let out a laugh. I turned back around to face him.

             
"Your car
is the future Mrs Daniels
?
” I asked as I wat
ched him with a smile on my lips
.

             
He shook his head to say
yes
as the amusement was clear on his face.

             
“
You really are something
else
, Aidan Daniels," I said as I stared into his eyes.

             
"You asked. She's the only lady, other than my mom, that has never let me down. Sally's a dia
mond," he replied with a smirk
spread across his face.

             
"Sally? Are you serious?
That's really original isn't it, a
mustan
g named Sally," I said as I shoo
k my head and laughed at him again.

             
"Hey
,
she's a
 
classic, she deserves the best," he replied.

             
"Whatever you say, Mr Daniels.
So, are we taking this cake out or what, because I'm pretty sure that Crystal's going to want to know where we have both disappeared to,
 
don't you?"

             
"Yep," he said as he began to place the candles in the cake, one by one.

             
"Can you pass me the matches
please? T
hey're just in that cabinet
there," he sai
d, pointing towards the cabinet
,
underneath the toaster.

             
I quickly retrieved the matches and handed them to him.

             
"Here you go," I said.

             
"Thanks," he
 
replied before lighting the candles and picking the cake up
,
ready to surprise Crystal.

             
"Can you just grab
me
some plates from the cabinet
up there please?" He asked.

             
"Yeah, sure.”

             
As we walked into the living room, I felt Kyle's eyes on me immediately. I ignored him and switched off the lights. Everyone
 
started to sing happy birthday as they each
 
began to spot the cake in Aiden's hand.

             
As the singing came to an end, claps, screams and whistles filled the air. Crystal winked at me just as she wa
s about to blow her candles out.
I threw her a small smile and then flicked the lights back on.

             
"So, who wants
cake?
" She shouted as everyone began screaming and laughing with excitement.

             
"Oh, I forgot to get a k
nife, so that you could slice the cake
," Aiden said as he placed the cake down on the coffee table that had been pushed against the wall, to allow for extra space.

             
"I'll get it," I mouthed to him.

             
He threw me a smile and then I headed back towards the kitchen.

             
As I began to search inside
of
the draw
er
for a knife
,
I heard the kitchen door open and close very quickly.
My stomach dropped as my eyes focused on the person
who was
now stood in front of me.

             
"I want to
talk
to you
.”

             
"Ok," I replied
,
feeling rather caught off guard by the whole situation.

             
"I'm just here t
o let you know that Kyle is not
interested. So whatever stupid game that you and Aiden have been playing tonight, you can stop, now, understood?"

             
"Rachel, I'm not playing a game," I replied in a soft voice. The last thing that
I wanted was to cause a scene
especially when this night was supposed to be about Crystal.

             
"Look at you, standing there like butter wouldn't
melt. I've got you sussed
so you can drop the sweet girl act. Whatever plan that you have to do
with Kyle, can stop right now.”

             
"Plan?
I don't have a plan and in case you had forgotten
,
it was you that took Kyle from me. He chose you, what more do you want?" I said, feeling rather f
rustrated by her sudden attack
.

             
"Yeah, well just you remember that because it doesn't matter what you do
,
he's mine. You're just a pathetic, little loser that he felt sorry for once upon a time but that's over now. He doesn't love you, it's time to move on," she said as she took a couple more steps towards me.

             
As
the words flew out of her mouth
 
they cut like a knife but I refused to let it show.

             
"Err, what the hell is going on here?" Crystal said as she burst through the kitchen door. As I looked past Crystal's shoulder, I could see a c
rowd slowly beginning to emerge.
I really didn't need this right now.

             
"Nothing, just getting a few things straight with your little friend here," Rachel said as she gave me a dirty look.

             
"Excuse me!" Crystal said with a look of rage on her face.

             
"Just leave it," I pleaded as I anticipated Crystal's next move. I was silly to think that I could stop her when she was in a mood like this.

             
"Let me get a few things straight with you Goldilocks! One, this is my house. Two, this is my party. Three, she is my best friend and four, you have about two minutes to get out of here before I kick your-"

             
"Crystal!" I interrupted.

             
"I'm gone, it wasn't as if it was a good party anyway," Rachel said before turning
a
round and heading back out of the kitchen.

             
"Kyle, we're going!"

             
As I stared at the several different pairs of eyes watching me, my stomach dropped. A sudden rush of embarrassment filled my
entire body. From the look on Crystal's face, she knew exactly what I was thinking.

             
"Ok, there is nothing left to see here. The party is that way, off you go,"
 
she said as she directed the crowd back into the living room and shut the doors.

             
"Hey," she said as she walked back towards me.

             
"You ok?"

             
I looked up at her, unable to even answer her stupid question.

             
"Sorry, of course you're not. Look, Rachel's just jealous of you and she's scared that Kyle will eventually leave her for you one day but you're not even interested in him anymore so who cares, right?" She asked as she stared into my eyes.