Chapter 4 Dinner date

* Zechariah *

He was randomly scrolling through his phone while waiting for his driver to bring Aisling. He hated waiting for people. He hated a lot of things, now Aisling is top of that list. He had spent his free time this afternoon planning different ways to make her suffer. While he was thinking of his plans, his sister in-law interrupted his thoughts.

"Is your fiancee coming? We don't have all day" Laura said while walking towards him. She was with her husband.

"You know dad doesn't like waiting" she continued.

"She's on her way" he replied coldly.

"Don't tell me you invited one of your hoes to our family dinner" his brother, Ezekiel questioned. He had always been disgusted by Zeke. He just got more disgusting after he married Laura.

At that moment, Aisling's car arrived. The driver held the door for her and she stepped out. She was very beautiful, he didn't know he was staring till she walked up to him. The moonlight made her glow and she looked breathtakingly gorgeous in that purple dress.

"Hello to you too" she said

"My darling, you look absolutely amazing in that dress" he said in a loud voice, making sure Laura and Zeke heard him.

"Thank you, you good too" she answered, she was blushing.

"Oh I'm just trying to keep up with you". He said as she took her hand.

"Come, let's meet my father " he told her, completely ignoring Ezekiel and Laura. They walked into the house holding hands. They found Zechariah's father siting in his office.

"Father" Zechariah said to gain his father's attention.

"Meet my fiancee, Aisling" he added when his father looked up.

"Nice to meet you sir" Aisling said while she smiled at him.

"Pleasure is all mine, come.... Come have a seat" he said gesturing to the chair in front of them.

"I think we should just go downstairs and have dinner" Zechariah interrupted, he couldn't allow his father to spend any alone time with Aisling, he might find out about their contract.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea" he replied as he walked out of the office, on his way down. He slipped and almost fell but he regained his balance.

"Be careful Mr Payne, are you okay?" Aisling asked, she was genuinely concerned

"Oh please, call me John. Mr Payne makes me sound old. I'm just sixty three. " He joked "and yes I'm fine. That's for your concern "

The finally reached the dining room and Aisling sat beside me Zechariah. Ezekiel was seated beside his wife, Laura. The chef brought the food and they all started eating. Aisling chose pasta and Zechariah had to eat the same thing.

"So tell me about yourself, Aisling. What do you do for a living" Zechariah's father asked

"I'm a baker, I work at Sarah's delight" she answered

"Sarah's delight? What's that? I've never heard of it. Where is it located?" Laura interrogated

"At oak tree road" she answered

"I know that shop, It's not that big" Laura sneered

"Yes, we've been struggling for a while"

"So tell me, how did you two meet?" John asked

"We met a park" "we met a restaurant " Zechariah and Aisling answered at once.

"We had our first real encounter at the park but we met for the first time at a restaurant " Aisling added quickly. That was a close call, it Could have blown their cover.

"I really want to know why a girl like you would agree to marry my son. I mean he's not the most eligible bachelor in town " John joked

"Father" Zechariah said in a tone that showed he didn't find the joke amusing

"He has his flaws but I love him just the way he is" Aisling replied then smiled at Zechariah who was confused at her reply. She had gotten into full acting mode cool. He made a mental note. *She's not only rude, she's pretentious nice.*

All this while Laura was looking for a way to prove that they were fake. There was no way Zechariah actually loves her. Then she finally found one when Aisling tucked her hair behind her ear.

"So why are you not wearing a ring?" She asked

Aisling was caught off guard, she was expecting that question. They had forgotten about getting a ring but she quickly found a way out of it.

"This is the 21st century, wedding rings are outdated" she laughed.

"She didn't want one, so I didn't buy it" Zechariah added.

"These younger generation will never cease to amaze me. You guys come up with different things everyday" John said while shaking his head.

The rest of the dinner went by in a blur.

"I had an amazing time tonight. Thank you for having me" Aisling said to Mr Payne.

"Nonsense, you're welcome here anytime. You're part of the family" he replied as he escorted them to their car.

Aisling was about to enter the car when Laura stopped them.

"You're entering different cars? Don't you live together?" She questioned

"We don't" Zechariah said as he slammed the door in her face.

Aisling's car drove off before his own. He was so exhausted. Today drained him, he decided to close his eyes and try to fall asleep. The image that came to his head was Aisling in that dress. She looked so beautiful and different. When she entered his office, he noticed she was beautiful but he didn't realize how beautiful she was. Her eyes seemed to shine brighter and that dress hugged her in all the right places. He didn't know she was that curvy and those long legs where calling his name.

"What the heck? What did I just..... That gold digger. She's disgusting" he said to himself gaining the attention of the confused driver. He had never seen his boss talk to himself. This was the first time. It was weird.

Zechariah realized that the driver was staring at him so he cleared his throat and sat up. He pretended that he was chatting on his phone. At that moment he got a text from Claire.

*How was the dinner? Did he believe you?*

He knew she was dying of curiosity so he didn't reply her, that's what she gets for allowing Aisling to disrespect him. He got three more texts from her and he didn't reply them also. Then she call him

"You left me on read" she said

"I'm your boss" he replied

"Okay I'll rephrase, you left me on read sir" she joked

"Don't you have other things to do?"

"Nope"

"You see, this is why we didn't get the deal with Vic inc " he told her, actually it wasn't her fault. Jerome, the CEO of Vic inc hated him so he accepted his brother deal instead.

"Of course, blame it on the poor secretary"

"Who else would I blame it on? And last time I checked your paycheck was higher than everyone else's " he had increased her paycheck last two months.

"How was the dinner?" She changed the topic

"I'm tired, Claire. I guess you're not. Prepare the documents I'll need for the Armstrong deal and send them to my email. I must get them tomorrow"

"But that's still in three weeks time, it will take me hours to finish it. I might not get any sleep " she complained

"I'm not paying you to complain Claire. Armstrong deal, tomorrow morning". He said as he ended the call.

He was surprised when the car stopped but then he realized they had gotten home. He walked into his house and he went straight to bed but he didn't sleep. He had been batting with insomnia for years now. He had been to so many therapists but it didn't help. He took the pills they described but none really worked. So he just lay down and closed his eyes. Everytime he falls asleep, the same dream wakes him up. He was used to it now. It was a part of him.

*Aisling *

After the driver dropped her at home, she changed into comfortable clothes and she went to the hospital. Her dad was still unconscious so she just sat on the chair beside him. This had been her routine ever since her dad got hospitalized. She slept on the chair beside him every night. It was uncomfortable and most nights she rarely slept but tonight she could sleep because she knows he would soon be alright.

The next morning she left the hospital and she went home to get ready for work. As soon as she stepped outside her house she saw a car pulled up in front of her.

"Get in" Zechariah said as he rolled down the window

"What are you doing here?" She asked

"Picking up my fiancee now get in" he said impatiently.

She did as he asked and he drove off as he locked the door.

"You could have waited for me to put on my seatbelt" she said

"Why would I do that? " He asked, clearly disgusted by what she said

"Oh right I almost forgot who you are"

"You should never forget" he said as he stopped in front of her shop.

"You're dropping me of at work?" She as surprised

"Where did you think I was taking you?" He narrowed his eyes at her

"I wasn't... Whatever. Thank you though"

"Don't read any meaning into it, I'm just trying to make them believe we are real" he said dryly

What a way to ruin the mood.

"I wasn't going to do anything " she said as she slammed the car door and walked into the shop.

"Who dropped you of?" Sarah questioned as Aisling dropped her bag

"Good morning to you too" Aisling replied

"Did he drop you off? What is his name? What does he look like ? How was the date?" Sarah questioned

"Girl we have things to do"

"Tell me everything"

"Let's get started on the cookies first" she said as she brought out the ingredients needed.

After they had finished mixing the dough, Aisling started cleaning the oven.

"Tell me now, I can't wait any longer" Sarah said

"Curiosity kills the cat" Aisling replied

"I don't care, my middle name is Catherine"

"Okay, so as soon as I got out of my house, I saw his car parked there. He told me to get in and I did as he said but he didn't wait till I put on my seat belt, that haughty bastard drove off. I told him about it and he didn't even apologize. He said he was just dropping me off to make people believe our story. Like anyone is watching me or something" Aisling explained

"Okay so he's rude and selfish but he's hotttt" Sarah said, emphasizing on the last word.

"You haven't even seen him"

"I have, I googled him" Sarah replied

"Stalker much?" Aisling teased

"I was just curious, tell me about the dinner"

"It was okay, his dad seemed nice but his Sister in-law? Damn she almost gave me a heart attack. She was always asking the wrong questions at the wrong time. I don't think he's close with his brother. I could sense some hostility between them but knowing the type of person he is, I would say it is his fault" Aisling said.

"You can't just judge the whole situation from one dinner" Sarah warned

"I can, I studied law remember " Aisling joked

"Wanted to but the only law you're studying is the law of baking measurements" they both laughed at the joke.

Aisling wanted to study law because that was her mother's dream for her but she had real passion for baking. She had tried to go to the university but they didn't have enough money to sponsor her. So she started working at a bakery where she met Sarah and they had been best friends ever since. The bakery was owned by Sarah's grandmother but when she passed, Sarah took over and Aisling was there to support her.