It was a dreary, dreary day to go out. Lynette would certainly have stayed home if she had not been asked almost desperately to come, and if she did not know that, for Raul to ask with such urgency, then it absolutely must be important.
Or it relates to some sort of archaeological breakthrough that it certainly would not interest her, but he has limited those to emails and instant messaging. She can only hope this is born out of consideration towards others and not completely because he noticed that she would be that much willing to hear him out if she was not forced to drop everything to go listen to him ramble on and on about things and people that she knows for a fact did not look like that and did not do such things.
The rain was washing away the dirt from the roads and only a very few brave people outside were battling against it, raincoats as their armour and umbrellas as their shields. All cabs were full and people huddled in the marquises, waiting for the right time to sprint to the subway station. She does not fear the flu, so it was less of a hassle to get wet.
When she had reached their meeting spot, a rustic café located up on the hills, on the corner of one of the busiest streets leading to the movie studios, she had noted that it seemed unusually quiet for that time of the day. That assessment could be observed from the dirty tables and the movement of the waiters that most people were either finishing their orders or already leaving, ready to face the gloomy weather outside.
Raul's laughter reverberated over the jazzy covers of pop classics, bouncing against the walls with green wallpaper, and she could not help but groan from where she had her forehead resting against the old-fashioned table, the beats of her heart tripping like a clumsy person over their feet.
If there was one thing she really liked about Raul, it was his laughter, and in some other, normal circumstances, she would have laughed along. However, in that very moment, she was struggling to process what he had asked of her to do.
He wants that her, Lynette Mirror, a trip to his next movie's set at the Catskills Mountains and faking being his girlfriend in front of his castmates for one night. According to him, one of his one-night stands has turned sour, as she was convinced and frankly obsessed with being his girlfriend, and has begun to pressure their agents to make it happen. He hopes that a fake, "secret" relationship would convince her otherwise.
The psychologist supressed a sigh when he had told her what this was all about, and she is concerned since he is facing that torment once again. She understands why so many women like him, he is handsome and funny. If you are not exposed to his unorthodox interests, he might even seem perfect. However, she is disgusted to think why would anyone go to those horrible extremes, and then call it love.
Raul had pointed out, all too cunningly, that she had been responsible for the last stalker incident of his. She wanted to point out that she was the one that solved it, but she could not. When she pieced together that the deranged fan's identity had been that archaeologist from Cupid Corp., she tailed her home and hit her with a Leaden Arrow when they were alone.
After that, Lynette decided that having a real relationship to learn to play love was much too risky, and so gave a divine solution to that problem: she had asked of her aunt, patron of arts, to bless him with the talent of playing romantic roles. He gave an award-worthy performance, and now could learn about actually falling in love at leisure, a duty which she still held for herself.
As such, she saw herself redeemed of her mistake, and it, in itself, was not much of an argument towards convincing her. However, if it was a famous actress who was stalking him this time, she would not have as much of an opportunity to hit her with a Leaden Arrow from the Human Realm. In Celestia, it would be piece of cake, but if she was not in close proximity with her target, all sorts of things could possibly go wrong, and it is best if she is especially careful with taking love away. Going along with the lie would give her an opening to make her shot and wave that problem away.
That being said, a fake relationship, however long or short it might be, does not sound like the most efficient way to show the blond actor about the delights of a serious match. Besides, he got himself in this situation all by himself, and Lynette, as a pagan goddess, should be all about punishing hubris and so and such.
Besides, it is not as if that stupid idea would ever work.
"Come on!" Raul grinned, leaning forward, and reaching out with his hand to gently tap her shoulder. "I'm an Oscar-winning actor! It would totally work."
She lifted her head, giving him a glare in response which in return caused him to laugh out loud once again.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lynette asked, incredulous.
"Don't give me that face. It's not a bad idea." He continued. "If I am being honest, I think it's quite genius."
"If I remember it well, you thought that buying me a sports car for my birthday was a genius idea too." She quipped, raising her eyebrow a little.
"I still see no wrong in that one." He mused with a smile, lacing his fingers together and bringing his hands to rest on the table in front of him.
"I don't even have a driving license, Raul, least of all a garage to keep a million-dollar car!" She deadpanned.
"It didn't cost a million dollars, though." He argued back, as if the actual price of the vehicle was of any object.
The pink-haired psychologist sits back in her chair, nervously pulling at the high collar of her oversized, woolly jumper.
"Do you want me to be completely honest with you?" She asked, taking a dramatic pause as she waited for him to nod in agreement. "Out of all ideas you've had since I've met you, this one is flat out ridiculous."
Lynette can almost hear the thoughts going through his mind. The idea was not as ridiculous as she was making it out to be, they would not be the first ones to do it. She can almost gauge the sort of disparaging comment going through his mind at that moment, that she is just a prude.
Yes, she rationally knows. She knows that people did it, for one reason or another, and even some good ones. Whether it was to deceive their family, fake their sexual orientation, or in rare cases, to prolong someone's right to stay in a foreign country, she heard the stories before. She can excuse someone for engaging in that sort of deception, but it does not mean that she intends to do it herself, nor that she believes that it was a worthy cause.
Well, she does believe that it was a worthy cause, but it was not a necessary correlation.
Still, faking a relationship with Raul, her friend and someone Lynette was secretly in love with, felt a bit too crazy, and she was not sure if she could do it.
Raul, sensing her discomfort, shifted in his seat so that he had enough space to cross his legs under the table. He changed his approach, hoping to ease the burden on her.
"Look, it's one weekend. Really, it's not even an entire weekend." He emphasized before continuing, "We take the car down there, meet some of my castmates who are trying to set me up with girls I don't want to be with, we scare Emma Winston away, we hold hands a couple of times, and by Sunday evening, you are back in your mouse hole, watching The Great British Bake Off or whatever is that you do on Sunday nights."
"I see you did some planning already." The woman mumbled, straightening her back.
The blond man grinned at her and nodded proudly. "Yeah! I even made reservations! I have to be on set during the day, but you can enjoy the hotel. It's great, I swear!"
"I still don't know…" Lynette trailed off. "Don't you have some random reality TV star whom you can call and ask for a favour? If you ask your manager, I'm sure she can get you another person to have a tabloid relationship with, one that does not involve casual sex or stalkerish behaviours."
Raul's smile disappeared for a second as he leaned back in his seat, taking a sip off his coffee mug.
"You're being difficult now." he answered, his voice carrying a hint of frustration or annoyance. "If you really want to know, there is a reason why I'm asking you to do it and not someone else."
The moment he said those words, her heart started to pound loudly in her ears, and she gave him a curious look, leaning forward and waiting for him to continue.
"We've been friends for the past two years…"
"Three. We've been friends for three years." She interrupted to correct him.
The precision in which she keeps track of it was enough to tease out a laugh out of his throat that made several people who were still at the café turn their heads towards their table.
"Yes, three years." He repeated, mimicking her voice before leaning forward too, and for a moment, she let his aftershave scent fill her nostrils. "You know that's important, you're the one that taught me that. If there is one person whom I trust to help me out with this, I think it's fair to say that it's you."
She looked away from his face, suddenly feeling very nervous under his gaze before looking through the window to avoid showing any potential blush that might appear on her cheeks.
"Come on, teach! You're my go-to for all matters of the heart, and I guess that qualifies." He insisted once again.
Her heart and her head were in conflict over the idea, and she felt the all too familiar feeling inside of her chest intensifying. A rational part of her was telling her that it was a very bad idea, but the irrational one wanted to know how it would feel to be his girlfriend, despite hearing that curiosity killed a cat way too many times.
Raul was still watching her with a hopeful smile, and Lynette found herself smiling back.
"Just so you know, this smile doesn't mean I agree with your genius idea." She mumbled quietly.
The laughter that escaped Raul's throat told her proved her wrong.