"So maybe you didn't catch my hint, but I was kind of expecting this to be a two-person outing."

I smirked. "I know. And now it's a three-person outing. Isn't life just full of surprises!"

Somehow, that didn't lessen the intensity of the smoldering look Dylan was sending me.

After taking a few good moments to glare at me, he sighed. "Oh well, at least she agreed to come. 5pm, right?"

"Oh no, she meant am. Bring your pillow along."

"Shut up, I get what you meant," he grumbled.

"Well then-" Stuffing my hands in my pocket, I turned away, "-my job here is done. Now we can both go back to ignoring each other."

As I walked away, I heard him say, "Not until after Saturday. Unless you've changed your mind about coming?"

I paused for a moment, looking back and displaying the savage grin that had spread across my face. "If I had any reservations before, I can assure you that they're gone now. I'm most definitely coming."

I turned around and continued my journey again. Not long after however, I heard Dylan grumble to himself, "Why did I expect anything else from a prick like him?"

I let out a snicker at that. It's safe to say that was the happiest I was that day.
.     .     .

"You're finally out! Honestly, how long does it take you to take a shower? Aiden could have arrived and we might have already been halfway through dinner!"

'You mean he hasn't? That's unfortunate.'

I didn't say that out loud, but I most certainly thought it. So much for wasting forty minutes under rushing water. I sent a silent apology to my unnecessarily wrinkled fingers.

In regards to Annie's complaint, I chose to remain silent, instead taking a seat at the dining table. In front of me (or in my direct line of sight) rows of covered dishes sat, releasing all kinds of different mouth-watering aromas into the air.

Despite my lack of response, Annie still continued. "And also, couldn't you have at least put on something nicer? You didn't even bother to comb your hair."

Relaxing, I shrugged. "He's going to become part of the family, isn't he? It's probably better he gets used to seeing us in our natural state."

"Really, is that a fact? Well, Max and I both chose to look decent, so you could at least do so as well!"

Well, she definitely wasn't lying about that. Not the part about me dressing up, but the one where she mentioned about her and Max looking 'decent.' Her shiny dark hair hung all the way down to her back, which led me to suspect it was a wig because it was way longer than her natural shoulder-length hair. She wore a tight-fitting gray dress that accentuated her figure, which, although it might have done wonders for her at some nightclub, just made the whole occasion more uncomfortable for me.

Max - who sat at the other end of the table- was dressed less formally. Just a simple polo jumper and sweatpants. However, compared to the rumpled white t-shirt and pair of shorts I wore, his dressing was more than appropriate. Not to mention that he actually bothered to comb his hair.

If you look at it from my point of view, technically my reluctance to dress up wasn't unwarranted. After all, I had been forced to come to the dinner. In fact, I hadn't wanted to come so badly that all through out the rest of the week since I'd found out, the thought of Friday filled me with dread. Ironically, that's when the universe decided to rush time so much that Thursday and the rest of Wednesday passed me in a blur.

Considering my feelings on the whole event, you can't blame me for jumping at opportunities to stall for time.

Therefore, I said to Annie, "Hmm, I see your point. Would you like me to go and-"

"Oh no you don't! Sit right there, and don't move an inch!"

Guess she was on to me.

Immediately after she said that, her phone started ringing.

Taking a look at her screen, her face lit up. "It's Aiden!"

"Great," I grumbled.

She ignored me as she answered the call. "Hey, babe. You're here? Okay, I'll tell security to let you in." A few moments passed, then Annie giggled. "Ugh yes, I can't wait to see you to! Alright, lemme just cal them now. Love you!"

I made a gagging motion while averting my gaze to Max. How was he just acting so calm?

Meanwhile, I could hear Annie saying, "Hello, Tony? Tell the men to let the guy at the gate in. It's Aiden."
.     .     .

"Good evening, Aiden. Let me be the first to offer up my congratulations on your engagement."

The first words I said when Aiden walked in clearly confused everyone else. Nevertheless, Aiden replied, "Erm...thanks."

"Oh, it's no problem." I reached over and opened the carton of orange juice in front of me, pouring into my cup after I did. "You're a very lucky man."

He looked at Annie and grinned. "Oh, I know."

When her face flushed in response, I had to hold myself back from gagging. Trust me, their flirting was even more disgusting to see in person. At some point, I was considering throwing my drink at Aiden. Maybe Annie would have stopped judging me for my dressing if her boyfriend looked a mess as well.

Though, considering how much effort it seemed he had put in his appearance, I doubt he would have come down to my level. After all, his hair was gelled to perfection, while mine looked like I'd just rolled out of bed. Plus, a stained white blazer was still better than a t-shirt that looked like it'd just come from a WWE match with the washing machine.

Personally, I thought he dressing was over-the-top.

As Aiden took his place beside Annie on the table, Max finally spoke. "Much like Angelo, I would like to offer my congratulations."

Aiden nodded. "Thank you, sir."

An amused expression found its way onto Max's face. "No need for the sir. I'm her twin brother."

Aiden blinked. "Oh! Sorry, I thought you were...her father."

"Hah!"

All eyes at the table turned to me.

I grinned sheepishly as I met Annie's glare. "What? It was pretty funny!"

"He's not lying," Max chuckled. "Her father? Surely I don't look that old!"

Aiden's face flushed. "No, of course not! It was-"

"-an honest mistake that anyone could have made."

Once again, everyone's eyes turned to me. Only this time, Annie was staring at me with surprise, not annoyance.

After a short while, Aiden finally broke the silence by saying, "Y-yes. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." I took a quick sip of my drink, then said, "So, there's something I've been wondering for a while. Do you have a set wedding date yet?"

"Well, not really."

"Okay. When you do, make sure you let us know, will you? Someone has to pay for the wedding, after-"

"HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

That manic laugh happened to have come from Annie, who looked like she found the situation anything but humorous if her blazing eyes were anything to go by.

Much to my surprise, it was Max that said, "Angelo, mind if I talk to you in corridor quickly?"

Now here's the thing about Max: he's a very chill person, but when he's serious about something, you'll know. His facial expression wouldn't particularly give it away, you would just get this sort off...vibe coming off him.

Albeit reluctantly, I nodded and did as he asked.
.      .      .
When we were out of Annie and Aiden's hearing range, Max crossed his arms and sighed. "Angelo, you have to stop."

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I furrowed my brow. "Stop what? I'm simply bringing some light humor to the table."

"Of course, I understand that. However, let's pretend for a sec that you aren't, and you're saying all these things out of dislike for Aiden. You probably don't know, but Ann told me that you finally accepted the idea of her engagement, and she seemed really happy as she did so. How do you think she feels now?"

Inardvently, I began feeling bad. Now, don't get me wrong, I still felt I had every right not to like Aiden. But personal feelings aside, I did also promise Annie I wouldn't stand in the way of her engagement.

But that still didn't change the fact I hated Aiden's presence here.

"How can you stand this?" I hissed at Max. "Look at who she's marrying, for goodness sake! You really don't think she's jumping into this-"

"Actually, I do."

I froze for a few seconds, then asked, "Wait, you do?"

The calm mask Max usually wore melted off as his face darkened, giving me a rare sighting of the emotions that tumbled around inside him. "You think I haven't thought about that? Do you know how many women have flung themselves at me, just for a chance to get a taste of our family's wealth? I'm perfectly well aware that Aiden may simply be in it for the money."

"So then why wouldn't you talk to her about it?"

"Because she's, well, Annie. Sure she makes mistakes sometimes, but she likes having the freedom to make them. It's not something our mother offered us much during her childhood. I think that's the reason why when it comes to Annie, it's either come along for the ride, or stay out of her way."

Sadly, his explanation made sense. Once Annie had her sights set on something she went after it, and no amount of coercing could change her mind. Living with her -even just for a week- would probably clue anyone in on that.

Still, I looked away from Max and grumbled, "She's making a mistake."

"Maybe, maybe not." I felt his hand rest on my shoulder. "Whatever the outcome, it's still important for her to feel she has our backing. We're both practically the only people she considers family, remember?"

In just a few minutes, Max had divided my mind into two warring sides: One wanting to continue tormenting Aiden, the other wanting to support Annie instead.

Gritting my teeth, I cursed in my head. Damn it, why couldn't I just continue my tormenting in peace?

In the end, the latter side won. My shoulders sagged. "Fine," I mumbled. "I'll behave."

Max ruffled my hair. "Great! Then let's go back in."
.      .      .

The rest of the evening was filled with polite smiles and conversation, none of which came from me. I concentrated on the food in front of me instead, digging into the steaming noodles and different assortment of meat with an animalistic ferocity. At least Pierre's delicious cooking was one upside of that night.

Normally I would have excused myself after dinner, but I figured Annie wouldn't have really appreciated the gesture. So, I waited until an eternity later, when everyone else stood up. Without sparing a moment, I got out of my seat and rushed out of the room. Immediately I got into my room, I locked my door and collapsed on my bed, closing my eyes and sighing in relief.

When I tried to reopen my eyes not only was it a hassle, but I was also met with the sight of a bright sky, thanks to my position facing the window.

Don't you just hate when you doze off unintentionally?

I certainly did then, because it meant I woke up on THE DAY.

That's right, the day when Dylan and Aimee were supposed to meet up.

Considering Aimee had stated that the meeting time was 5pm, I had a lot of free time beforehand to kill. Believe it or not, I spent the majority of it studying. Why? Well, thanks to my practice sessions with Aimee, my usual study time had drastically decreased. I was almost on the same topic as my fellow classmates! How would I be able to doze off with no worries in class if they caught up to me?

So, with some short breaks in between, I buried myself in books till about five pm. After that, I treated myself to a long, warm shower. By the time I was done with all my preparations, it was 5:20. Â By the time I actually got to the cinema, it was 5:30. By the time I spotted Dylan seated alone at a table, it was 5:31.

And Aimee was still yet to arrive.

Seems like I showed up too early.

I contemplated going somewhere else for a bit, but the surrounding warmth and smell of popcorn lured me in. Before I knew it, I had gotten myself a large sprite along with a bag of popcorn, and was walking towards Dylan. His mouth was drawn in a thin line, signifying he wasn't too pleased with my presence. Or maybe they were like that because of the cringe pop music booming all around.

Sitting down in front of him, I gave him a smirk. "Dyl-"

"You know, when I asked you to invite Aimee here, it was supposed to be confidentially. I thought it was pretty obvious that I didn't want you to invite the whole set?"

"What are you on about?"

"Look around."

So I did, which led me to meet the eyes of several people, some of who quickly looked away, others who didn't. They all had one thing in common though.

These were all people I had seen at least once.

My eyes widened as landed on what suspiciously looked like Seth's green eyes. He dropped the upside-down menu he held in his hands which originally covered majority of his face, confirming my suspicion.

I couldn't help myself. The grin on his face was simply too sheepish not to be funny. At least I managed to contain my amusement in snickers, not loud bursts of laughter. A moment later, I saw someone's hand hit Seth upside the head. Unlike Seth, the person didn't drop the menu they held, so I had no way to confirm their identity. I'm still pretty sure it was Hans, though.

I looked back at Dylan. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not particularly thrilled by the idea of letting people know we hung o-"

But Dylan's eyes were not focused on me. They were fixated over my head, Â and slowly, I saw his mouth drop open.

It didn't take me long to discover what shocked him as my eyes landed on Aimee.

Or rather, the Victoria Secrets' model that had replaced her. Remember the fancy dress she wore that time Annie invited her to La Palais? Yeah, that was nothing compared to this. While that dress gave glimpses of the body that lay under it, this one was a lot less discreet. A lottt. Like, I'm pretty sure that if she rose up a leg, the little long-sleeved black dress she wore would have revealed a generous amount of her panties. Her usual curly mane was straightened and hung in a ponytail, one which rode down to the low slit of her dress, which was at about the midsection of her waist.

I'm not sure which was reflecting the light more - her skin, or the diamond earrings she wore. (It was obviously the earrings, but you get what I mean.)

Now, here's the funny part. Aimee's appearance might have not been the reason behind Dylan's silence.

After all, neither of us were expecting her to show up hanging off the arm of some dude.
.      .      .

Lol, I can't wait to  share the next chapter with y'all! Pls and share this chapter if you like it!

Till next time!