The Pretend Girlfriend(88)

He definitely didn't sound pleased at the prospect. Couldn't he see why she'd tried to make everything just go away? Her first intended words were to ask him why he'd come, and how he'd found out, but his question demanded and answer. "Because it's the right thing to do."

Worry flashed across his face, and he took one of her hands. His fingers were cold. Gwen wondered why. He leaned in as though one of the passersby might stop and try to listen in. "Is this because of last night? Because of what happened? Because if it is, I don't regret it. Do you?"

"No, no, not at all. It's just that, after I told you about Beatrice knowing about..." It was Gwen's turn to feel paranoid. She glanced at a briefcase-toting businessman as he passed by. It didn't look like anyone spied on them, but she leaned in anyway, lowering her voice, "About telling Beatrice about the you-know-what. You got all cold and distant, and I thought you were mad."

"Oh," Aiden said, his face unable to fix on any one expression, changing from relief, to worry, to irritation. "Well, I wasn't mad, per se. Just confused, and surprised..." then fear won out, and he squeezed Gwen's hand, "You didn't tell Henry about that, did you?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would I tell him that?"

The fear drained away from him. "Good. If he found out about that, there would be trouble."

Gwen began feeling like her old self again. It had been a really bad idea to spend all that time alone with her thoughts and fears that morning. Her own mind had served as a sort of thought echo chamber, amplifying her worries, concerns, and insecurities until they'd overwhelmed her and forced her to this course of action.

Although, she couldn't shake the notion that signing that new contract would at least have simplified things for all involved. Plus, she'd also somehow been able to get some nice concessions for Aiden.

"Everything okay?" Aiden said.

"Yes, much better now."

"Good. You were staring off into space for a bit there..." Aiden glanced up at the Carbide Solutions building, squinting at the brightness from the top level as the sun caught in the windows. "What do you say to getting out of here?"

Gwen followed his line of sight. She wondered if Henry was up there at the top in his office, glaring down at the street, somehow able to pick them out of the crowd. The thought gave her the shivers. Though that pity for the older man still lingered. Could Henry be like his son, armoring himself against the outside world?

"Yes," she said, "Let's go."

Aiden hailed a cab, one of them detaching from the ever-increasing traffic and pulling up to the curb. She didn't complain when he opened the door so she could climb in. He asked her where she might like to go, but she just shrugged. There were too many things on her mind she needed to process.

"You know what?" Aiden said, glancing out the window up at the sky, "It's supposed to be a nice day. I haven't been to the park in a while."





Chapter 25


The cab dropped them at the park. When they got out of the car, Aiden offered her his hand in helping her climb out. She accepted, and when they started walking, they didn't stop holding hands.

Without all the huge buildings to block out the sun, it really did look like the start of a nice day. There were a few traces of silky clouds very high in the sky, adding some texture to the blue. And the sunlight felt nice on her face.

They started walking down the broad paved path, past the various statues and displays. They couldn't be far from Strawberry Fields, which Gwen had yet to visit. She hadn't really come to the park much, despite having wanted to visit it when she first came to the city.

They passed joggers and dog walkers and little old men and women feeding the birds from brown paper bags filled with breadcrumbs. The fresh air, still cool with the morning breeze, coupled with the sunlight, rejuvenated her.

"You know, you still haven't told me how you knew where I was," Gwen said.

The scent of hotdogs wafted towards her from a nearby cart and her mouth started watering. When Aiden noticed, he took her over and bought her one, and one for himself. He liked ketchup only, where Gwen put both mustard and ketchup on hers.

They began their stroll again, enjoying the scenery as well as the food.

"It was Beatrice," Aiden said after swallowing a mouthful. A little dollop of ketchup lingered in the corner of his mouth. He started to dab at it with his fingers, but Gwen stopped him. He hadn't grabbed any napkins. Lucky for him, Gwen had noticed and gotten one for him, too. She wiped the ketchup away from him.

This felt nice. Nice and normal, like what a real couple would do. Again, Gwen experienced that comfortable familiarity around him that she didn't get with some people she'd known her whole life.