"Juliana Downs, will you be my girlfriend?"

I blushed, whatever my answer is, it will determine everything that happens after this.

I know he wants me, but am I willing to fully commit to him?

The answer is yes...

He really is something else...

I nodded my head shyly.

"Yes Derick Reid, I think I can consider it"

"As proud as ever, huh?"

He grinned and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh, I won't be dropping my pride anytime soon baby" I chuckled, hugging him back.

"You made my night Juliana"

"You made mine as well Derick"

He just looked at me.

"You're beautiful, do you know I've wanted to tell you that since we've met?"

I looked down again shaking my head slightly.

"I look okay I guess" I chuckled, probably blushing really hard.

"No, you're anything but okay, you're amazing"

"So are you" I whispered.

That's how the evening went, a few kisses here and there, laughing, dancing, singing.

It was the perfect end to the perfect evening.

Little did I know the next morning would be anything BUT perfect...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We were sitting next to each other in the car the next morning, I was looking out the window, angry with the silence that's surrounding us.

New York here we come.

I thought bitterly.

"Are we going back to 'Mr. Reid' and 'Ms. Downs'?" I asked looking at him.

When we woke up today, I was already in the kitchen making breakfast when he walked up and gave me a kiss on the head.

But now for whatever reason he hasn't even said a word to me.

Talk about hot and cold.

"That's up to you Julie, you're the one that said you don't mix personal life with professional"

Isn't he sassy?!

"I'm sorry I don't like acting like a whore who came to mess around with her boss" I replied venomously.

Rule número uno; you do not pair two big mouthed people together, no matter how attracted they are to one another.

"You were the one who agreed to 'mess around' with their boss last night though"

"Because you were the one who sent the invite! And me being the polite person I am, did not decline!"

"So now you're dating me because you're, quote on quote; nice?"

número dos; you do not put a too honest person with a man whose ego is the size of the skyscraper he works in.

"Yes and no, I was for one attracted to you and two was taking the opportunity to date a sexy-ass person and three, I think we can both agree you will be utterly embarrassed, so don't take my act of kindness for granted"

"Oh you shouldn't be worried doll, I've got my hands full with women lining up to hook up with me, so I don't think you should be worried, now please explain to me the reason you decided to date this sexy-ass person"

And out of all of the excuses in the world, my stupid brain comes up with this sh*t. 🙏

"I was drunk"

That's when he finally looked at me and lost it.

He kept laughing out the words 'you were drunk!' over and over again, now that's what I call embarrassing!

"I see, you were drunk," he said when his laughter finally died down.

"But you see sweetheart, you forget the important saying; the drunk mind speaks the sober heart, so technically you still agreed to dating me" he continued.

Damn it Derick! Why did you have to be so smart!

I didn't answer and kept ignoring him the rest of the way.

An idea popped up in my head.

"Derick, ignoring our ignorant argument, what song do you think describes you the best?"

"Natural by Imagine Dragons" he replied not missing a beat.

"What a confident choice but I think another song describes you better"

"And that is?" He said solemnly, expectingly waiting for my sarcastic reply.

Looks like he figured me out!

"Hot 'n' Cold by Katy Perry"

"Really? I wonder why?" He said sarcastically.

"Then let me clarify how much of an ass you've been since this morning, we were fine until we get in the car and your bipolar hormones get to work"

He stayed quiet.

Fine be that way you asshole! We haven't even been dating for twenty four hours yet and we're already fed up with each other.

I pull out my phone wanting to listen to music but we already reached the airport.

Guess the only way to ignore Derick is by going to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey! Wake up! We're here! The plane is about to land!"

I opened my eyes to meet impatient ones.

I hear you asshole!

I sat down and waited for the plane to land safely so can hurry up and get away from this guy.

"Can you be anymore annoying?" I asked when we finally landed, I was still in my seat, too lazy to even get up and I started slowly unbuckling my seat belt.

"Can you be any harder to wake up?" He yelled, clearly frustrated.

"Yes I can, I could've just ignored you until you finally decided to stop acting like the king of the world and shove your crown up your ass-"

I was cut off by him lifting me onto his shoulder causing me to shriek.

"I can't tell if you're trying to fix the situation or make it worse?! Put me down!"

"I will in a minute, remember, patience is a virtue"

"Yeah well, I ain't about that patient life!"

I swung my leg and was so close to kicking him in the stomach, no I will not aim for the sensitive parts...

Not until I get a piece of that.

But even if I had he still caught my leg and prevented me from even letting my anger out on him.

"Just put me down already!"

"If I could, believe me I would, but here's the thing, I won't"

"And why is that?"

"I like the view"

"You man whore"

When we got to the car he shoved me into the backseat and pushed me aside to sit down beside me.

"I'm sorry"

Bipolar much?!

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I'm sorry because I suddenly got angry and took it out on you,"

I stayed silent looking at him.

"I heard you talking to your mom on the phone this morning" he sighed.

My eyes widened.

When I was cleaning up I remembered I should call my mom and do I did.

"Hello? Mamá?"

"Hello my precious daughter, are you coming home today?"

Oh boy, she's not in a good mood.

"Yes mamá"

"Then come visit tomorrow, your dear brother is planing to get married"

"Excuse me?!"

"Don't shout into the phone! Yes you heard me, I suspect you want to meet his fiancé?"

I gaped at the phone.

"Of course I do! How long have they even been together?!"

"Five years apparently" my mother replied oh I can imagine the sour look on her face.

She's not happy.

"I hope you don't show up at my doorstep with a man asking to elope as well? You're not dating anyone are you?"

"No, no I'm not dating at the moment"

"I hope you know my rules even IF you decide to date, I need a Spanish background"

I'm sorry mamá, not only did I lie, I'm also not dating someone with a Spanish heritage.

"How's that boss of yours?"

"Oh, okay I guess, why?"

"I hope there's nothing you're not telling me"

Bingo.

"No there's nothing going on between Mr. Reid and me, we're just starting out as friends"

Key word, starting out.

"Good, I hope it stays that way, well, I'll see you when you get back, have a safe flight"

"Yeah, I'll see you mamá "

The line went dead and I just stared at the phone.

I feel so guilty.

No, I'm sure both sides will understand, this was necessary at the moment.

"And that that's the whole story, I'm sorry Derick, I just had to, I didn't know you were listening"

I didn't tell him about the whole Spanish background thing, he doesn't need to know.

"You hurt me Juliana, I want you to show me off as much as I want to show you off"

"You want to show me off?" I blushed.

"Of course I do, everyone needs to know I have the perfect girlfriend, not to mention back off"

"Hold your horses Mr. Dangerous, you're not showing me off to anyone yet, I'm not in the mood to wake up seeing my face on any sort of website"

He looked at me shocked and his head tilted to the side.

He looks like a puppy with blue eyes.

So cute!

"What do you mean?!"

"Derick, you don't know my mom, she's not like your mom, I just can't have her know"

"Tell me why?"

"It's not the time for that, we're both tired let's rest until tomorrow, remember be professional"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, just give me a kiss at least, I still feel salty about the whole 'let's not tell mamá!' thing"

"You're so whiny" I giggled and leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

In the last second he turned around and my lips landed on his.

"On the mouth sweetheart, no more kisses on the cheek!"

"You're so annoying!"

"Juliana Downs your words make my heart race!" He said dramatically putting a hand on his heart.

I shook my head and looked outside.

How should I act tomorrow?

"Are you thinking about how you should act tomorrow?"

"Is it written all over my face?"

"Just a random guess," he shrugged.

"I'm currently going through the same issue, because here's the thing; when I see you all I want to do is cuddle, is that normal?"

"With your personality, no, it's really disturbing" I say wide eyed.

"Not as disturbing as Issac acting like a man baby"

"Truth!" I say pointing at him.

"By the way do you take back the whole Hot 'n' Cold describes my personality"

"No, is there a reason?"

"Yeah I don't like Katy Perry"

"I feel offended, she's just going through a Miley Cyrus phase"

"You think? But seriously, what do we do about our current situation?"

"We'll adjust to it, but I don't know how to face my mom, I need to meet my brother's fiancé, not to mention get her to like me"

"She'll like you"

"How are you so sure?"

"You're her husband-to-be's beloved sister, I think Peter values you more than you think"

I smiled at him.

"I'll trust your judgment"

And mine as well, we'll fight Derick Reid, but I will try to reason out of it as much as I can.

⭐️💬

😘❤️✌️