Pray for the best, prepare for the worse, or so the adage said.
To her great surprise, Lynette is having fun and nothing catastrophic has happened at all. However, she still held on the vigilant spirit that believed that it will come around to slap her across her face any minute now.
Some fifteen minutes into their dinner, Emma has excused herself to step into the bathroom for a minute. The Cupid followed her and quickly shot her with the Leaden Arrow straight across the heart. Her disgust for Raul was so great that she could not stand staying in the same room as him and quickly fled back to her hotel room.
It was as if an immense load was lifted from their shoulders. After all the pleasantries were exchanged, and the conversation bathed in laughter started flowing, Lynette could not help but feel almost too comfortable in the company of a bunch of talented charismatic and talented actors.
She could not help but feel almost too comfortable being Raul's girlfriend.
It was surreal. He was so great at it, he fell so comfortably into that role, that one would be excused to believe that he has done such a thing plenty of times, that he was her own very devoted significant other. His posture would make Mr. Snail look like an abusive husband.
The way he whispered in her ear what some of the inside jokes meant, the way he spoke to her, the way he wrapped his arm around her shoulder more than once, and when he requested her favourite type of dessert despite the fact that it was not on the menu, she could not help but fall just a tiny bit more for a guy that will never be hers like that again.
Soon, the clock struck twelve on her Cinderella story, and their night came to a very successful close. Despite the good time at the dinner, however, once they were back at the hotel, neither one of them spoke, and the silence that wrapped around them was all but comfortable.
With her hands firmly clutching at her purse, she looked down at their feet. Her heart is aching at the realisation that once they step out of the elevator, the charade she shamelessly enjoyed will be over.
Raul was playing with the card key, twisting it between his fingers, and Lynette leaned against the elevator's wall, closing her eyes. The metallic tone from the successive floors they passed through seemed like a death crawl. Each one sounded louder than the previous.
She was not good enough. She will never be good enough.
"Penny for my thoughts?" Raul asked, sourly.
The elevator doors opened and he chivalrously motioned for her to walk out first, holding the door open by placing himself over the sensor. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder, only to find him grinning at her, and she could not help but smile back at his choice of words.
Only her smile was not matching his. Instead, his was sad and distant.
Shaking her head, Lynette stopped, pressed her purse tighter against her body, and took a small breath before speaking, "Penny for your thoughts?"
The blond man nodded, glancing down the dimly-lit corridor, looking as if he was trying to gather his thoughts.
"The thing you said before we joined my castmates…" He trailed off, nervously sticking hands in the pockets of his trousers.
"Yeah?" The psychologist encouraged.
"It's stupid, y'know?" Raul declared, bashful.
Lynette tightened the grip on her purse, feeling the sweat stains forming at the surface of it.
"I think it's true." She responds, instead, feeling as certain of her declaration as if she meant the colour of the sky.
"No." Raul shook his head, his voice firm, and she widened her eyes a little at the tone. "It's stupid, and it makes me furious. You putting yourself down like that, when you clearly have no reason to do so. Why do you do that?"
The blond actor took the smallest step forward, getting closer to her, and for the lack of better reaction, she looked up at him, unsure if she should answer. He moved for a fraction closer yet again before reaching out and taking her hand gently, making her look away from his face and down at their interlaced fingers.
A trace of surprise etches itself across her features.
"You don't have to pretend to make me feel better. Our performance is over and your castmates are not here." Lynette managed to say, swallowing the sadness in her throat.
"No offence, Teach." Raul started softly, ignoring her statement. "But for someone who's usually so intelligent, you are being unbelievably stupid right now."
He titled his head up, briefly looking up at the ceiling, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth with an amused smile before looking back at her.
"Look, the whole point of faking something like this is to create an illusion that makes it look real." He stated with a seriousness in his voice.
"I know. We talked about that when we were working in Goddess Upon The Camel." She pointed out, unsure of where the conversation was going.
"If you know that, then you know that you are ruining it. Like, absolutely slaying it." He responded with a chuckle.
She quickly shook her head, moving her hand around, indicating that she will refrain herself from interrupting him.
Raul nodded before breathing out softly.
"I asked you to come with me because I wanted to show you how it would be if it was real, because…" He let his word hang, and the anticipation that washed over her was almost too much to take.
"Because…" Lynette urged, a wave of warmth washing over her when the man reached out and touched her face, resting his palm against her cheek.
"Because next time, I want it to be real." He whispered.
It took her several seconds before she was able to process his words. A shiver spreads from her head, down her back, all the way to her toes. She kept her eyes trained on him, observing the glint in his eyes, the curve of his lips as he smiled at her, the smoothness of his skin, and a shade from where his cheekbone moulded into the rest of his face.
With a newfound courage, Lynette took a tiny step, moving closer before nervously smiling at him.
It was enough for Raul to get the hint and lower his face until they were just a short breath apart.
"Do you really want it to be real next time?" The psychologist asked, her voice lower than his own whisper.
When he nodded lightly in response, the woman could not help but take a deep breath before whispering the two words that she knew would change her world upside down as soon as they leave her mouth.
"Me too."