CHAPTER TWO
When Serena closed the door to her apartment that, she released a heavy sigh and wondered if she had gone insane. This hair-brained idea was very unlike her. Sure it would have been something she cooked up as a teenager but for goodness sake, she was already twenty-four years old! Wild schemes like these were not fitting for someone like her. Serena was responsible and dependable junior book editor. People who worked in the editing business should not be devising schemes like these.
But her family left her with no choice. Or rather, he snake of a cousin left her with no choice. It was Beryl who persisted with reminding Serena how single and alone she was. It was Beryl who constantly pointed out that Serena had never had a relationship. And it was Beryl who had stolen the only man that Serena had wanted to make hers. So these two weeks were really shaping up to be the torture fest she imagined it would become. Then you add Darien into the mix and she was absolutely certain that her head would explode.
She was pulled out of her musings by the loud shrill of her phone. Quickly digging into her bag she pulled it and was greeted by a picture of the laughing face of one of her best friends.
"Hello, Mina," she sighed into the phone suddenly feeling exhausted.
"Sere! Tell me that what I was just told is not true," shrieked Mina into her ear that Serena had to pull the phone away to preserve her precious hearing.
She so did not need this interrogation right now. She was lucky it was just Mina. Raye, on the other hand, would be lecturing her on her behaviour. Lita would be threatening bodily harm on Serena and Darien. Amy would just be trying to talk her out of it while making her feel guilty at the same time.
"And that would be, what, exactly?" Serena replied stalling and feigning ignorance. As she moved through her apartment to her bedroom she mentally put together a list of all the things she would need for this two week getaway. Even though she had clothes at the main house, there were essentials that needed to be packed.
"Don't play games with me Serena. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Mina said sounding like she was gritting her teeth in frustration.
Serena gave up. "Okay, fine! Yes, it's true!" she exclaimed and sat down hard on the edge of her bed.
"What were you thinking?"
"Apparently I wasn't" she answered feeling slightly angry that Mina was acting this way. Out of all her best friends, she would have thought that Mina would at least support her in this.
"Sorry, Sere. But we just don't want you to get hurt," Mina said softening.
"I know. Which is why I chose Darien," Serena explained. "Please, promise, you cannot tell the boys until I get there," she pleaded.
Mina sighed a very heavy sigh at the other end of the line. With the advice to be careful and that they would see each other at the house, mina hung up and left Serena alone with her thoughts. Serena knew that all her friends just wanted her to be happy. She was the last left in their group to find her happy ever after. Each of her friends had found true love. And each of them had found it with her cousins! Which was kind of gross on some level she did not want to think about. Which totally reminded her that she needed to warn Darien about her overbearing cousins.
With that thought in mind, she shot a quick text message to Darien to come pick her up earlier than they had agreed. As much as she would enjoy seeing Darien's arrogant personality get taken down, it could not happen. They were supposed to be madly in love and they need to sort out their story before facing the dragon's lair.
After receiving Darien's reply with condescending affirmative complete with his signature, 'Meatball Head' (God, she hated that nickname!) thrown in, she packed her suitcase full of armour. This was going to a tough two weeks and she needed all the help she could get. And if that included pretending to be madly, deeply and truly in love with jerkface-Darien, then so be it!