✿ Reid's POV

Aileen throws her head back, bursting into a fit of laughter as I sit in front of her with a smug look on my face.

“Shut up, Armani. Are you serious?” she asks between the laughing.

“Does this face portray a liar?” I ask, attempting a serious face, which only causes her to laugh harder at my failed attempt, due to the small curve that plays on one side of my lips.

“I mean, I've heard of people like that, but I've never like met one... you know?” she says with a smile.

She picks up her soda and tries to take a sip, but her laughter stops her again. I smile. She was cute... and had an insanely adorable laugh. I blink.

What are you doing?!

“Well, it's true” I clear my throat. “That shit was hilarious, but you know, as a good businessman, you can't let your clients see you acting out like that.”

Aileen smiles and shakes her head, her long hair swaying as she did.

“Do you know how embarrassed I would be if I were that person? I honestly wouldn't even go near a fountain ever again” she says.

I chuckle.

How had we even gotten on this subject again?

Oh yeah, she had started telling me stories of some of the ridiculous orders she'd gotten, and in turn, I started sharing funny stories with her too.

“Well, Lee, I think that if you were her, you would have been just fine,” I say with amusement in my tone.

She rolls her eyes at me and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You didn't wash it out” I point out.

“What?”

“Your hair... you didn't wash it out.”

“Bonnie likes it so...” she shrugs.

I nod. Coming to the rooftop café with her was already something that should have been awkward, but for some reason, it was the last thing that was awkward. I had always felt uncomfortable with people unless I already knew them, but it was different with her.

Yes, I knew her, but the rate at which I was beginning to feel comfortable in her presence was alarming.

“Would you like another Mountain Dew?” I ask, trying to shake off the feeling.

“No thanks. I've had too much already.”

“Only the best for my fiancée” I smile.

She chuckles softly and shakes her head, she looks out in the open.

“The view's better at night,” I tell her.

“I can imagine,” she says with a wide grin on her face.

If we met in another life, under different circumstances, I could see myself with her... being more than friends.

Aileen Teresa...

“You know... I like you Armani” she lets out.

My heart instantly swells, and my stomach lurches at that, a jittery sensation coursing through my body.

“What?”

She turns away from the view.

“I like this version of you.”

“Oh,” I breathe out, picking up my glass of water and emptying it down my throat.

“This version is much better than the angry, bitter, and jerk of a man who hates humankind and everything nice.”

I scoff.

“I'm none of those things you just said.”

“Yes you are” she whispers. “And tell you what, if you keep this up, just your smile will melt Anika's insides into mush and she'd be compelled to get back together with you.”

I chuckle.

“I don't want to get back together with her, Lee. I want to torture her to dumb that Aussie.”

“Then what?” she asks, “You both go your separate ways?”

“Yes.”

“You're terrible, Armani. Spark plugs and all” she says.

I smile and turn to the view. My phone dings and I pick it up from the table.

“Call your mother, Reid. She can't keep coming to my house.”

I roll my eyes at the text from Ellen.

“So, do you normally do this?” Aileen asks, motioning with her hand between us.

“Do what?” I ask, confused.

“You know, take your girlfriends out,” she says.

My heart rate picks up at that question and I frown in annoyance at my reaction.

“I don't have girlfriends, Lee.”

“Lovers?”

I give her a look.

“What? I thought you said you wanted to be my friend?” she asks. “And I've read articles about you, Armani.”

I arch a brow.

“'America's Playboy Prince', 'Heartbreaker', and the catchiest of them all, 'One-Night...”

“Okay, okay” I stop her from continuing. “Those were my wild years, okay? I'm not that person anymore” I tell her.

“That's how come you didn't graduate top of your class in college?”

I frown.

“Okay no!” I defend. “My wild years were in high school. It ended on prom night. And I was one point away from being valedictorian! But as a gentleman, I let Alexandra have it.”

“Sure, Armani” she chuckles.

I eye her a little.

“What about you huh?” I ask. “Do your boyfriends take you out? Does Geo take you out?”

She frowns.

“I don't have boyfriends okay? And Geo? He and I are never going to work.”

“Sure, freshie” I chuckle.

She eyes me and I laugh.

“What's your favorite food?” she asks.

I chuckle.

“Lasagna.”

Her brows scrunch together in confusion, but she says nothing, probably waiting for me to explain myself.

“I love pancakes too, so it's kind of debatable with the lasagna. It's my grandmother's fault for being such a great cook though,” I say with pride filling my voice as I spoke about her. “My cousin often teased me about the way I ate when I was little.”

“Mrs. Madden?”

“No, no. My other cousin” I chuckle.

“Ahh,” she whispers and smiles. “Cappuccinos, apple cinnamon Cheerios, lasagna, and pancakes” she lists, “What exactly are you made of, Reid Dalton?”

This was the first time I'd heard her say my name in full and it felt nice.

“Owner of a ton of Armani suits” I add with a wink and she laughs, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

Wow...

“Well,” I clear my throat. “You officially know more about me, than I of you... professionally of course” I say.

She pushes her hair back.

“Alright... what would you like to know?”

✯✯✯✯✯✯

✿ Aileen's POV

“Alright... what would you like to know?” I ask.

There's a sudden mischievous glint in his eyes that causes the hairs on my body to stand.

I should not have asked that, should I?

“How many people have you had sex with?”

My entire face heats up, cheeks turning burning.

“Armani!” I exclaim, flabbergasted by his question.

I didn't think he would ask something that personal.

“What? You know about my sexual escapades during my wild years. Why can't you tell me yours?” he asks with a serious expression on his face.

“Because it's none of your business,” I scold.

“But my business is yours?” he asks, testily with a soft glare.

I huff.

“I am not answering that, Armani,” I say in a concluding tone.

“Oh c'mon, Lee. What's wrong with the question?”

“I'm not answering that question, Armani. So just drop it,” I say, finalizing that topic.

He sighs, eyes closing. I take a deep breath, ready for whatever he was going to say next.

“Fine. Don't answer.”

I blink a few times, making sure that this was the same man, sitting in front of her, calmly agreeing to my resistance to answer his stupid question.

Huh. For a second, I thought...

“Are you dating anyone right now?” he asks suddenly.

There we go.

“Stop it,” I say softly.

“What the hell can you tell me then?” he asks with a chuckle.

“Anything that has nothing to do with my love life. Anything professional enough for our little situation,” I say.

“Why'd you agree to lunch, Lee?”

I groan.

“You literally locked me in your office, Armani.”

“You could have kept refusing... but you didn't. Are falling in love with me?” he asks, suddenly glaring at me now.

My heart skips.

“What? No,” I said, almost immediately. “You're not loveable, Armani, trust me.”

“Then you should be able to answer my questions,” he says.

“I'm not answering that, okay? Get over yourself.”

He smirks.

“Fine.”

“Good” I add.

“Alright,” he finishes quietly.

I glanced down at the time on my phone.

“Do you have to get back to the bakery right now?” I hear him ask.

“N-No actually I'm...” I stop. “It's none of your business” I narrow my eyes at him.

He smiles.

“Are you sure?”

I nod.

“I'm sure.”

A small smile creeps to his lips and it slowly tugs at my heart.

Stop it!

“I would offer to take you, but I already know the answer before even asking,” he says.

I make a face.

“What about your employees?”

“What about them?”

“Don't you have a company to run?” I ask.

“Normally, it’s calm in the afternoons. I don't want to jinx it though,” he says the last part quickly.

I chuckle.

“I can drive myself fine.”

“Ohh you brought the antique?” he teases.

“My car's fine, Armani.”

“Let me take you.”

“No. And I'm not even going to the bakery.”

“Ooh?” he pumps his eyebrows at me.

He was dirty-minded and annoying. But he made me laugh and I hated it.

“Oh shut up, Armani.”

“Where are you going?”

I take a pause and look at him. He smiles and my heart tugs again.

Stop it!

I blink.

“The Native American Shop downtown.”

“You're part Native American too?” he chuckles.

“No. I'm getting a dream catcher... particularly the blue and white one.”

He arches a brow.

“Not for me, I sleep fine” I chuckle. “It's for Cami.”

“Bad dream?” he asks, all traces of playfulness gone.

“Yeah.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I sang her to sleep. She's fine.”

He nods.

“She said she saw your head exploding in the dream.”

“What?!” he cries.

I laugh.

“Oh now I have to come with you,” he says shaking his head.

“No. I'll be fine on my own. I can't stand you” I fake a frown.

He smiles. I sigh and stand up.

“Thank you for lunch, Armani. You're not completely awful.”

He nods.

“You're welcome, freshie.”

I nod at him and grab my purse.

“What's your favorite color?”

I turn and Reid's standing out of his chair, calling out to me.

✯✯✯✯✯✯

✿ Reid's POV

Aileen turns.

“Uh... what's that got to do with anything?” she gives me an amused yet confused look.

I suddenly find myself wanting to kiss that confused little look right off her pretty face.

Reid!

I blink.

“Just curious” I try not to smile at her.

“Really?” she crosses her arms over her chest.

“Really.”

My heart starts beating faster as I look over at her.

Reid!

“Gray” she answers.

I make a face.

“Why gray?”

“Well, it's between the colors black and white. Good and evil... no person is truly good. And no person is truly evil. I have my good side, I have my evil side... so why not pick a favorite color that represents that?”

I take a step closer to her. How many people thought like her? She had meaning behind everything related to her. Her hair held a symbol... her favorite color held a symbol. Hell, I bet the direction the wind blew held a symbol for her.

God!

This woman had no idea how beautiful and non-gray she truly was. She was a sunflower yellow. She was a vibrant red. She was all the colors of the rainbow. She was not gray.

“Philosophical and sentimental values and thoughts aside, Lee, you're way too bright for gray. Trust me.”

I watch her arms around her chest falter. They loosen momentarily and then tightened again as if she was fighting with herself.

“You are not gray,” I say again, giving in to the moment.

“Well, w-what am I then?” she stammers a little, and the slightest blush of pink lit up her cheeks.

I fight back from reaching out to touch them.

“You're—”

My phone rings, interrupting us and we both jump. I pick it up from the table and it's my mother.

Ugh!

I hang up and turn back to Aileen.

“Would you like to go out for dinner with me tonight?” I ask. “No fancy clothes or hair... just you and me... no pretend fiancée... just two friends going out for dinner.”

“Uh...” she shakes her head and then nods it, and then she shrugs. “We better not.”

Ouch!

“W-why not?”

“I just... don't think it's such a good idea, so...” she starts inching away from me.

At this point, all I wanted to do was stop her and make her have dinner with him. But she was off.

“Pink!” I called out after her. “A soft pastel pink. Like the color of cotton candy or cherry blossoms or those silly English roses.”

Aileen stops walking and stands still. I knew she'd heard me, but she doesn't acknowledge it and just hurries down the stairs.

Shit!

I thread a hand through my hair in frustration just when my phone begins to ding with texts. I groan and glance down at it.

“Oh no.”

It was a news article about last night and on the front page was a photoshopped picture of Aileen standing outside Thai Me Up, at the same time I had taken my jacket off to drape it around Anika and opened the door for her to get into my car.

Those two events didn't even happen at the same damn time!

I groan.

“I have to fix this” I mutter.

Dinner! My conscience screams.

“Yes,” I let out in agreement.

Dinner with my entire family, officially introducing Aileen as my one true fiancée and suing the damn publishing company for this shameful act.

“I have to stop Lee” I mutter and hurry to the elevator.

It opens on the ground floor and I frantically look around the office.

“Reid hey, you okay?” I hear Hernan ask.

“Yeah, yeah, have you seen Lee?”

“No. What's going on?”

“Nothing” I reply immediately and check my office.

I groan when I don't find her there.

Of course, she's not there. What would she be doing back in my office?

“Mr. Dalton.”

“Not now Sloane” I snap.

“It's your mother.”

“Tell her to get everyone to Acon tonight at eight” I instruct, not looking at her.

“What's tonight, sir?”

I shoot her a look.

“Just do as I say, Sloane.”

My eyes move around again.

“Reid” Hernan calls out to me, “What's at eight to...”

I spot her at the door.

“Aileen!” I shout out.

She turns, her eyes widening at my lack of an inside voice. My employees look at me and I glare at them.

“Get back to work!” I scold and hurry to her.

She meets me halfway.

“Why are you yelling like a maniac?” she whispers.

I exhale and unlock my phone.

“Don't get mad, Lee.”

She frowns.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people who start sentences like that end up dead before they finish.”

I chuckle lightly.

“I'll take my chances,” I say and hand her my phone.

Her eyes skim through the article and she gives me a desperate look.

“Oh you've got to be kidding me” she groans. “True love always wins? Say goodbye to the gold digger?!”

“I have a solution” I assure her.

She lets out an exasperated sigh.

“This was not in the job description, Armani” she whisper-yells.

“I know, I know. But as I said, I've thought of a solution.”

“What?”

“Dinner” I smile.

“Armani, I'm not going out...”

“Introducing you to my entire family... as my fiancée” I take her hand and lace my fingers through hers, “My true love.”

She blushes furiously and I smile.

“You think it's going to work?” she mutters, looking at her feet.

“It has to” I nod, still smiling.

She sighs.

“Okay.”

My smile broadens.

“What am I required to do about my hair and clothes?”

I scoff.

“I don't care about any of that, Lee” I hear myself telling her. “Just be your pink self.”

A smile breaks onto her face and it makes my heart act funny but I'm too into the moment to care.

“I'll pick you up at seven then?” I ask.

She nods.

“It's a date.”

✯✯✯✯✯✯

✿ Aileen's POV

I was lying down for over an hour, doing nothing in particular, just staring out of my balcony, all the while playing the whole 'pink' thing over in my head endlessly.

What had it all meant?

I sit up, the inability to decide what the hell to wear nagging at the back of my mind.

What does one wear to dinner to meet the parents?

“Not jeans” a voice calls out.

I turn and chuckle at her.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, glancing at the clock on the wall.

I only had an hour until Reid got here and I was a far cry far from ready with my wet hair and zero mascara.

“What? Now I need a reason to come see my bestest bestie?”

“Fifi” I chuckle.

She sits down beside me on the bed.

“Bonnie called you didn't she?”

“No...” she drags. “I came here out of my own free will.”

“Hm,” I hum and look away, slowly nodding.

One... two...

“Okay, fine she called me.”

I chuckle.

“She's helping Cami with her art project so she asked me to come check up on you.”

“I'm fine, Fifi. I'm not dying.”

“Good. So let's get you dolled up for your date” she says and gets up, dragging me up.

“Dinner... with his family” I correct.

She shrugs and drags me into the room.

“Same thing.”

Sophie let's go of me when we're in front of my closet.

“Okay, so what are our options?”

“It's just dinner, Fifi. Anything goes.”

“Um no, no, no” Natalie barges through the door, holding her laptop.

We give her a look.

“Were you eavesdropping?” Sophie asks.

“Pfft no!” she scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I like... live in the next house.”

I shake my head.

“You can't go with just anything, Lee,” Natalie says. “I looked up his family and I don't believe they're not American royalty.”

I fold my arms.

“And I also looked up the 'restaurant'...” she air quotes, “... you're going to have the dinner.”

“Acon” Sophie chimes in.

“And look what I found,” Natalie says, turning the laptop to face me.

Ohhh...

“Lee?” Sophie calls out to me, tugging at my hand.

“I know” I mutter, my nerves acting up.

This is not going to go well.

“Okay, okay Lee. Don't panic” Natalie says, shutting her laptop.

“Pfft!” I scoff. “I'm not panicking” I lie.

An unusual silence follows.

“So we do the coin toss?” Sophie asks.

“Yes!” we chorus and split to look for a coin.

C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...

“Found one!” Sophie screeches.

We let out an excited scream and gather in the middle of the room.

“Okay,” I say. “Deep breaths” I instruct.

We take a moment to calm down.

“Heads?”

“The dress you wore to Bonnie's wedding!” Sophie quickly says.

Natalie and I look at her.

“What? It's a beautiful dress” she shrugs.

“Tails?”

“Anything pink” I hear myself blurting out.

“Pink?” Sophie and Natalie chorus, staring blankly at me.

“Lee... you don't do pink.”

I shrug at Natalie.

“Just this once,” I say.

Sophie smiles and playfully nudges me.

“Okay. Ready?” Natalie asks.

I nod. She flips the coin and the three of us hold hands. The coin lands on the floor... does a barrel roll around the edges and finally falls. I gasp and the girls turn to me with a smile.

Thank you for reading!
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Ciao
~the_atticwriter