20. The Romantic Experiment

"Arthur"

"No"

"I am not asking you. I'm telling you" I paced around the living room behind him

"I didn't sign up for this" He started picking up the files he scattered on the dining table "She is not my responsibility"

"Are you guys speaking to each other again?" Caroline spoke from the other end of the table.

"That's none of your business kid" Arthur snapped.

"Did you make up last night?" Caroline ignored his glare and typed away hurriedly on her phone.

"Do you see her?" Arthur directed his glare at me this time "I can't handle her. You take her"

"I have two client meetings today. Besides I took her yesterday. It's your turn. You live in this house free of cost. The least you can do is share a little responsibility"

"She's got a point" Caroline nodded not taking her eyes off her phone "A man who can't share responsibility is no man"

"I have meetings too" Arthur protested "And...and...." I raised a brow urging him to continue "I'm meeting Rhea after work so I'll be late. I can't take her"

I blinked, all the fight leaving me "Oh"

"Yeah" he looked away.

"Caroline, go get dressed" I cleared my throat, buying time "You can ask Keith to drop her off after work"

Caroline walked away silently sensing the sudden shift of mood in the room. Once I was sure she couldn't hear us, I turned my attention back to Arthur.

"I have been meaning to talk to you about Rhea"

"What about her?" he frowned.

"Do you think we should give her my identity? It will make her decision easier and honestly with her past, I feel like I'll be hurting her by keeping this from her"

"I thought about it" he nodded "It's not fair to her but I don't want to take a risk at this point"

"You don't trust her?"

"I do trust her" He tapped the edge of the table with his fingers "I just don't want to take the risk in case things go south"

"You think she'll say no?"

"That's not..." He rubbed his face seemingly frustrated "Look let me handle Rhea okay. If she blames someone at the end of it, it will be me. I'll live with it. So don't tire your crazy head with useless thoughts"

"Right" I nodded stiffly.

____________

- I am tempted to change sides. He just fed me a royal meal. Caroline texted.

'Good for you' I typed back.

Caroline has taken it upon herself to give me updates about her day every few minutes. I can't emphasize on how much happier I would have been without it.

.

- Okay this is hilarious.

- We ran into his father at the elevator (He is hot btw)

- Your mate thought he could hide me behind him and his father wouldn't even notice.

- There....I got a pointer for you: He's scared of his father.

'He is not my mate' I typed 'And I hope you didn't create a scene in his father's presence'

- I totally did.

- You should have seen his face.

I think Arthur's going to kill me tonight. I really should have thought this through.

.

- Your mate went to a meeting and left me with this bull.

- I swear he's a living stone. He hasn't blinked in the past twenty minutes.

- Do you think he'll move if I give him a lap dance?

'You are thirteen Caroline' I shuddered 'That's not how you should talk'

- Almost fourteen was her reply.

Spirits save Keith.

- Chill. It was a joke, ancient woman.

.

- I threw a fit in public so your mate had no choice but to take me with him on his date.

- Guess who's going to meet the unlucky future Leoline?

I read her texts on my way home.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I repeated over and over in my head. It's just a phase. I'm losing sight of my goal here.

Think about Adam.

Think about beautiful blue-eyed colts.

Yes. That's my dream.

Adam's my dream. Arthur's a nightmare. Adam can give me everything I have ever dreamed of. Arthur will destroy every dream I've ever held close to my heart. I don't want him. I shouldn't want him.

- Btw I have lost count of how many colorful words your mate can use to describe you.

- In this car ride to his date alone, he has cursed you six times.

Thank you, Caroline. I needed that.

.

- She's hot.

- Not more than you though (You win)

- She's nice too (She wins this round)

'We aren't rivals Caroline' I finally replied 'Stop texting me'

- She's funny though.

- She thought I was your mate's mate.

- She hugged me with eyes full of sympathy. Weirdo.

- He glared at me like it was my fault.

- And he's still cursing you.

- I think he's obsessed.

- Can you kiss him better or something?

.

- Yeah nevermind the last text.

- I think the lioness is doing the job for you.

- He went inside her house in the pretext of dropping her off.

- He locked me in his car. Don't give him food tonight.

- It has been fifteen minutes since I lost sight of your mate.

- I'm bored inside this damn car

- Now I'm not saying there's a lot you can do in fifteen minutes but.....

- He's back.

- See you soon.

____________

The moment Arthur walked in through the door; I knew I shouldn't have forced Caroline on him today.

"You" he pointed an angry finger at me and then turned to glare at Caroline who shrugged and trotted towards the stairs to the guestroom with a 'I'm tired'. "She's f*cking crazy"

"I'm sorry" I really am.

"She climbed my car's roof when I refused to take her with me" The horror in his eyes was real "Cam saw her for spirit's sake. She called me to set a meeting. If she gets a sniff, we are finished. She's going to dig everything out"

Camellia is his eldest sibling. Arthur has two sisters, both older than him by almost a decade. He's their baby brother and if the tabloids are to be believed, the siblings can kill for each other. Did I forget to mention? The Leolines are scary.

"Stop panicking" I told more to myself than him.

"Everything's getting out of hand" He rubbed his temple furiously "That girl gave me a headache"

"Coffee?" I offered hurriedly "Do you want some coffee? It's good for mild headaches"

I need to stop talking.

He paused to frown at me "You are offering me coffee?"

I nodded.

He thought for a while "Sure. I'll go freshen up"

I nodded again.

.

Awkward.

This is so f*cking awkward.

Sitting on the opposite couch to a freshly showered Arthur with a steaming cup of coffee between my palms is officially the most awkward moment of my life.

Caroline's taking a nap. The day must have tired her out. She has been out of water for four days now. That's bound to affect her. A little help from her annoying self would have been appreciated at this moment.

Arthur cleared his throat.

I forced myself to look at him "Just tell her you were babysitting for a friend" I suggested.

"They will link her to you" He sighed "Dad saw her too. I can't just put this away"

"Tell them it was a favor I asked of Keith"

He hummed sipping on his coffee "I think I should stop coming here for a few days. I took the long route today but just to be safe...."

I didn't like how upset I felt at his words. This is just pathetic of me.

"Sure, as long as you can control your animal. He's why you are here anyways" I shrugged.

He said nothing and we once again fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Caroline walked in after a while rubbing her eyes.

"What are you guys doing?" she enquired.

"Nothing" I patted the seat next to me for her to sit.

"Can you take me to a waterbody tomorrow?" She asked sitting down.

"Sure. I was wondering how long you can last without water"

"Send her home" Arthur demanded.

Caroline rolled her eyes and ignored him "Can we order pizza today?" She looked expectantly at me "Oh! And a human movie. Mom doesn't let me watch human movies. She says humans make us mer-people look dumb and helpless all the time"

It's still early to go to bed and I'll take Caroline's company anyday to another awkward conversation with Arthur.

"If you are okay with veggies in your pizza" I reminded her "I'll show you what humans think of mer-people"

She nodded immediately and we turned to look at Arthur.

"We are going to watch the little mermaid" I informed him with a scrunched nose so he would take a hint and go do something else.

To my surprise, he shrugged "Never heard of that one"

.

Whatever good I said about Caroline, I take that back. It's twice as awkward with her here. With the projector on, the three of us sat on the same couch in the dark. And because Arthur absolutely hates Caroline's presence at the moment, I had to sit in between the two of them to avoid a war.

My mother would have had a heart attack if she could see me right now. Sitting between two carnivores with a huge bucket of popcorn on my lap, I am a live description of everyone's scary dreams. I can't believe what my life has turned to in a matter of months.

Arthur held one end of the bucket firmly in his grip while Caroline did the same with the other end.

"Can you guys stop being so petty?" I hissed "You are hurting my legs"

Caroline loosened her hold. I almost relaxed but then felt her lean against me with her head on my shoulder. She tilted her head to stick out her tongue at Arthur.

"Um Caroline" I shifted uncomfortably "I'm not the right person to cuddle to. I don't do well with touches"

"Why"

"Long story"

She sighed but scooted a few inches away, still making sure she was closer to me than Arthur.

"I'm going to try something" Arthur whispered to my ear after a while. Caroline was too busy drooling over the dramatized version of herself onscreen to pick up his words.

I turned my head to him and raised a brow in question.

"An experiment" he said before letting of his hold on the popcorn bucket and grabbed my hand lying on the couch.

I gasped.

"Relax" he whispered "I feel horrible everytime you flinch at someone's touch. It's a scar I gave you. I have been thinking about it for a few days. Before I leave, I want to try and help you with this"

"How is this helping?"

"Did you say something?" Caroline asked without looking away from the screen.

I shook my head and hurriedly turned to the movie "No"

I tugged at my hand hoping Arthur would let go but he tightened his grip instead.

It's just a hand. And it's dark. I can't even see it. Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

It's just a hand.

It's just Arthur's hand.

F*ck.

It's Arthur's hand.

Arthur's holding my hand and we are watching a movie. Stop thinking. There's nothing romantic about this. He thinks he's helping me.

I can feel cold sweat on my face. This is so wrong.

"Arthur" I whispered "I'm feeling dizzy"

He immediately let go of my hand "You did well" he assured "We held hands for over six minutes"

Six minutes? It's been that long?

"We will try something else next time"

Something else? Hell no. I'm good.

I tilted my body towards Caroline to create a false sense of comfort as the movie dragged on. Arthur didn't try anything crazy for the rest of the movie.

"Mom was right" Caroline declared at the end of the movie "Humans are stupid"

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