Two Weeks - Chapter Five
I almost squealed with joy (and triumph) as I walked into the house, Carina behind me. I had given James my number! He had asked for my number! This time I did squeal out loud, knowing full well the door was shut and no one could witness my glee. Save Carina.
"Its about time." Carina rolled her eyes, "I believe this is the longest its ever taken you."
"It is not!" I disagreed, searching my mind for a longer period of time taken to give someone my number. Damn. She was right.
"Whatever you say." She muttered, turning and walking down the hallway and into the kitchen.
I wasn't about to let her ruin my overly happy mood so instead I threw myself onto the couch and began watching disgustingly romantic movies that made me giggle even harder. I felt like a infatuated school girl.
"You need to stop giggling. It's a bad sign!" Came Carina's voice from the other room.
"She's just jealous," I muttered to myself, a silly grin still plastered on my face.
"I'm not jealous."
Dear god that woman had insane hearing.
Before long, Carina appeared carrying two plates filled with... salad.
"What is this?" I asked, playfully poking a leaf.
"Salad my dear neanderthal." Carina chuckled at she switched the tv to something else. I really wasn't paying attention any longer.
"But why?" I asked, munching on the hapless leaf now.
"Your getting fat."
My outrage was understandable, as I gasped in indignation and glared at my 'friend'.
"What a horrible thing to say!" I hissed.
"Ah, denial. I bet someone has been neglecting the scale lately." Carina guessed, her eyes glued to the tv. I knew she wasn't really watching it though. Her attention was fully on me. This was odd.
"I haven't been neglecting it," I denied stubbornly, "The silly thing is broken again."
Carina grinned, "The last time it was broken was when you gained ten pounds. Either its breaking conveniently, or your simply breaking it with your sheer weight."
"I hate you." I scowled from my mouthful of lettuce. I wasn't getting fat! Okay so perhaps I shouldn't have spent all last night eating that ice cream and chocolate sauce, or those little caramel filled chocolates, but hey! I had been suffering from rejection! It's a known fact women don't gain weight in such circumstances.
"I know. We have to talk by the way."
"We do?" I muttered dejectedly. Fat.
"Indeed we do. It's been brought to my attention–"
"By whom?" I asked, happy to annoyingly interrupt her. Juvenile but effective.
"Myself," Carina said without pause, "that you seem to have something for James. Something that isn't part of the game."
The warning was clear enough, but Carina didn't know what she was talking about. I was only happy because I knew I was going to win this wager. I told her as much.
"No, its something else. We've wagered on guys before, and you've never acted like this. You're... happier." She winced.
I knew she was searching for the proper word to describe it, and it filled me with vengeful glee. Perfect Carina was unsettled! Maturity quickly set in though, and made me think. Why was she acting like this... as though she was worried? Certainly she had no reason to be worried about me. I would use James for 2 weeks, then be done with him.
Right?
"It's like you like him." Carina supplied when the word wouldn't come to her.
"I've liked a lot of my targets."
"No... like like him. For lack of better word, like you love him, god forbid." Carina actually did look skyward as if seeking the answer from the roof. Or some other higher power.
Did I like James Potter? Hardly. I hated him back at Hogwarts, and though he was older, more mature, and certainly more handsome and manly and made me think about his very pretty body, feelings like hate don't change overnight.
But... it had been years since I had last seen him, so really, I've had tons of time to change my opinion... and did I really ever hate James?
Damn.
I was nervous. My little talk with Carina and myself earlier only made things worse. could I go through with this? Well, whether I could or not, I was going to. I had promised James I would go to dinner with him tonight, and I wasn't going to fail. No, Lily Evans did not fail.
James must have noticed my thoughtful attitude, because he had tried to engage me in conversation once, then fell silent. I had never done this before, and quickly sought to rectify the situation once we were in the restaurant.
"This is lovely," I said, trying to cover the awkward silence, "Thanks for taking me, I had doubts you would call."
"Did you?" He looked amused, "I would have assumed you had thought I would have called you the moment I got home." He said with a wink.
I couldn't resist, "Did you?"
"Of course."
We both laughed, and I forgot my doubts. I decided to allow myself one night to decide for myself whether I would be able to complete this game or not.
When we entered the restaurant though, a feeling of dread entered my body. This restaurant was rumored to be one of James's favorite restaurants to bring his dates. Which meant I was nothing special. Ouch. My pride sorely hurt from the revaluation, and I considered asking James to take us somewhere else. At that point I would have settled for some fast food restaurant, one untouched by James's past whores.
Was this Jealously?
Jealousy over James wasn't new to me, as much as I hated to admit it. Back in the 5th year, James had taken Charolette Brown to hogsmeade, and I had been Jealous. But that had been a natural reaction to knowing that someone who had liked you for four years was moving on. It had simply been my ego that had been hurt in that. So was this jealousy?
I pushed the feeling away, determined to enjoy this evening and forget James's past girlfriends.
"The usual Table, sir?" The waiter asked politly.
Damn.
Usual table? Was I to be the laughing stock of town after this? My hard won control allowed me to smile nicely when James looked at me.
"So! Tell me how you've been these past few years." James said after we had been seated. Was it just me, or did it smell like perfume over here. I seethed silently.
"Oh, wonderful I suppose," I replied, "I'm enjoying the muggle world a lot, though I can't help but miss using spells to clean up."
"Lucky for me, I have a maid to do all that. But I have to agree, as fun as the muggle world is, I sometimes long for the comforts of the wizarding world."
"Why did you leave?" I asked, honestly curious. I had never expected James to come to the muggle world, especially with his blood. Pure wizard blood was rare enough.
"Pressure, and my father's will. Apparently he owned a major muggle corporation, which was passed on to me after his death."
"How odd."
He nodded, "I return occasionally, but I'm rather enjoying all the new muggle things. Its like a whole new world. I mean, they can do so much, and without using magic!"
He seemed genuinely excited about this, and I couldn't help but smile. When he smiled like that, his entire face lighted up, like a child at Christmas.
"I'm surprised your not married." I told him, unable to keep that in any longer. Secretly I hoped that he hadn't married because he still liked me. I was a terrible person for thinking that, but I was only human.
"Ah," He seemed at loss, though his face darkened visibly, "I never met someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with I guess."
"That's too bad." I refrained from asking about myself. He had never wanted to spend the rest of his life with me? I silently cried at my own stupidity.
"And what about you? No husband after all these years? I always thought you'd be snatched up before school ended." He grinned.
I couldn't help but laugh, "Hardly. I'm afraid if there is any snatching to be done, I'd do it. But no. I'm enjoying my single status. I'd rather not live in some mans shadow." and it was true. I knew I was smart, I had always excelled at school, and the thought of marrying a man, only to be brought down, scared me like nothing else.
"I'm afraid it would be the other way around," James said so softly, I almost didn't hear him. Maybe I wasn't supposed to.
"You mean my husband would be in my shadow?" I prompted.
"Of course. No one has ever outshone Lily Evans." He teased.
"Except you," I admitted grudgingly. When he laughed, I continued, "Unfortunately, you always beat me at transfiguration... and quidditch I suppose."
"You never really tried quidditch though, so we wont count that. You should try it sometime you know, very relaxing." He offered.
"If you say so," I shook my head, "It annoyed me to no end, you know. You were the James Potter, and it seemed like you could fail at nothing."
"I failed at something." James sighed suddenly.
My heart constricted a very painful and rather uncomfortable way, forcing me to fidget in my seat.
Why was I feeling like this?
Well, its been a long time and I'm sorry horrible writers block, and I still have it as you can tell by that lol. I'm not going to respond to reviews this time, so I'm very sorry! I will next time though, but thank you all for reviewing to 'Two Weeks' I really appreciate it, and it defiantly motivated me to continue writing this story.
Thanks again!
Ceso
