S A N D Y
I woke up to the feeling of a weight on my chest. I groaned and tried to move my arms but felt restricted. I opened my sleepy eyes and saw a familiar ceiling then looked downward. My eyes widened when I saw Anthony's head resting on my chest while half of his body was on mine. I gulped and stared at our position for a minute before I placed my hands on his broad shoulders. I tried to push him off me but his heavy weight was too much for me. “Anthony?” I called out in a low voice.He moaned and turned his head in the other direction. I rolled my eyes and shook his shoulders. He barely moved so I began to wiggle under him, trying to see if I could roll out but before I knew it, he woke up; his head up and eyes wide. He hissed and rolled away from my body with his hands between his head.“Shit, my head hurts,” he said to himself and groaned.I sat up and tugged the shirt downward, covering my stomach. I stared at him as he rubbed his head.“Ow,” Anthony said and dropped his hands. His eyes were shut tight. "I hate drinking.”“Then quit it,” I said, startling him.Anthony opened his eyes and turned to me. He eyed my body with narrowed eyes before looking around in confusion.“What happened? How are you in my bed?” He asked and I got out of bed.“Don't ask that question like I haven't slept in your bed before,” I replied and crossed my arms.Anthony sat up, rubbing his face. He dropped his hands and rolled his shoulders.“I know. I'm just asking because I can't remember what happened,” he said, looking at me.“We went to a club, you partied and got drunk. I brought you home and you threw up on me,” I said and his face morphed from concentrated to embarrassed.“Fuck, I am so sorry,” he said. “I threw up on your dress, right? I'll buy you a new one.”“No, thanks. Anyway, I see you're fine now. Take a shower and I'll be on my way home. I'll have one of the cooks make you breakfast,” I said and went over to where my phone was charging. I unplugged it, as well as the charger then placed them in my purse.“Stay for breakfast?" He asked.“No, I'm tired and want to head home and rest well,” I said. “My weekend didn't start well. I have only today being Sunday to relax before work starts tomorrow,” I replied and made my way to the door.I waved at him and opened the door then started walking out.“I'll make it up to you!” He said in a slightly high tone.“Whatever,” I retorted and shut the door.
I leaned against the wooden door and took a few seconds to take deep breaths and exhale. I had not forgotten how I woke up with him snuggling up against me. I shook my head and pushed my body off the door when I saw a servant walk into the hallway.
“Gotta stop daydreaming,” I whispered, hurriedly walking toward the servant.Π•ΠI got home and wanted to just go to bed and sleep to my satisfaction but when I saw my roommate, Regina, I knew that would be impossible. “Hey, Sandy!” She said from her spot on the floor.I approached her and looked down at her, seeing what she was doing. She had an art piece on the floor with some paintbrushes and colors scattered around her. Regina was an artist and ever since I met her in college, she's been a close friend of mine. She had an art gallery and was known around for her great art.“How did your weekend go with Anthony?”“The usual.” I sat down on the couch closest to me and glared at the TV in front of me.“I'm tired of the kind of person that Anthony is. It's like he's not ready to grow up even though he's grown up,” I complained with a frown on my face.“Yet you've got feelings for him.”“Ugh, don't remind me. Sometimes I hate how I do. It makes me feel like something's wrong with me in the head.”“Maybe you two need to sit down and have a conversation about his behavior. Your best friend is always in the news, trending on social media for something or another.”“It's not that easy, you know. I've tried to tell him but he always claims people just hate him for being human. He forgets that he's a reputable person that people are looking at.”For years, I've been overthinking, looking for ways to make Anthony see that the way he was living could cause problems for him and the rest of his family. He needed to see how careless he lived for a start but none of that seem to matter to him. “Have you tried to tell him to get a girlfriend?”The question made my heart ache. I knew that with the way our friendship was, Anthony was surely going to find someone to be with after living his life the way he wanted and that person would not be me. Sometimes, I wished I could tell him about my feelings but that would ruin everything. The universe was cruel to people who broke the rules of being best friends and having feelings. It ruined things and I didn't want that, no matter how strong my feelings were.“It doesn't matter. We'll both settle down with people someday. My feelings don't matter.”I wish it did.Π•ΠThe next day, I went to work and was not surprised that Anthony wasn't here yet. Something told me he went to another party and was hung over and couldn't come to work on time on a fucking Monday. He had a lot of meetings and places to go yet he wasn't here. I was the one who was going to get tired at the end of the day.I walked into his office and started to open up everywhere and keep things ready for him to use throughout the day. The moment I was done arranging his office, the door opened and I spun around to see who it was. Anthony was the one but he had an angry look on his face while he ran his fingers through his hair.I eyed his body up and down and walked up to him. He didn't look at me, rather his eyes were darting all around.“Are you okay?” I asked and he finally looked into my eyes.“I won't be if I don't find someone to fucking get married to and have a child with!”He had to be joking.S A N D YI blinked once, then twice. I couldn't believe what Anthony had just said. “You have to get married and have a kid?” I asked, and he nodded.“I have to, Sandy. This is something that I did not plan on.”Laughter almost escaped my mouth. There was no way what he was saying had an ounce of truth. Before I knew it, I was laughing with my hand over my mouth while he glared at me. I continued to laugh until I had my fill.“You can stop pranking me now.”Anthony and I had days when we would joke around and I was convinced that this was one of those days. But when I saw how deep and serious his eyes were, I swallowed and cleared my throat.“Are you serious?”Anthony scoffed and went straight to the desk where he had drinks displayed. He grabbed a glass and poured himself some alcohol before chugging everything. He filled the glass again and I took that as my cue to rush over to him and grab the glass.“Stop drinking and explain what you meant.”Anthony looked stressed and restless
S A N D Y“Come again?”Did this fool just say what I heard him say?Anthony stood from the desk and approached me. He took the glass from my hand and dropped it on the desk before cupping my cheeks. He had a huge smile on his face while I was stuck in confusion.“Yes, you. You're the only person suitable for this. You are my best friend. Someone who I confide in, someone who I trust and respect. You're the only person who knows me for me and understands how important this is for me.”I flushed from his words but due to the severity of his choice, I had to focus on what he was trying to say to me.“Sandy, we can get married and still act the way we do. The only difference is that we will live under the same roof and act like married people in public. It'll be so easy in the aspect that we'll just continue our friendship with us wearing rings. We can remain the way we are without any thoughts of anything expected of any of us.”I swallowed hard and held his hands. His eyes danced aroun
S A N D YI couldn't believe I was doing this. I couldn't blame myself though because I just wanted to do this since I didn't have anything exciting in my life or the nearest future. At least, I was going to waste a few years married to my best friend. It wasn't like there would be any difference anyway. As I heard the elevator ding, signifying that it reached my stop, I pushed my body off the cold wall of the elevator and watched the doors slide open. I walked out and started making my way to the hallway on the other end of the hall. I stopped walking when I saw Anthony come out of the glass doors of the entrance to the hallway with a smile on his face. He never smiled so cheerily at work unless he just signed one of his huge deals. I continued to walk in his direction and froze when he cupped my cheeks and kissed them. He pulled me into his arms, leaving my arms stiff on my sides and my mouth open from shock.“What are you doing?” I whispered and his chest rumbled from him chuckli
S A N D Y“We started dating…uh,” I dragged on and made eye contact with a straight-faced Franklin before meeting his wife's eyes. “A month ago.”“Oh, it hasn't been that long then. But tell me more,” Eudora urged on.I had to stop myself from palming my face because I didn't exactly have anything to say and Anthony and I never planned what we were going to say. We were too busy with work to even do that. Now, I felt tied. I had to look at him for help but he was looking restless.“Actually, we dated for a month and broke up.”Eudora's face fell while her hand rested on her diamond necklace in sorrow.“You two broke up already? But…”“Yes but we're back together now,” I quickly replied and felt Anthony squeeze my thigh.“Why did you two break up?” Eudora asked with concern on her face. “Don't tell me it's because of him or what did he do?”How wonderful was it to continuously lie? My only hope was that I remember everything I had said. I cleared my throat and put up a fake look of sad
S A N D Y“I know that all of this will bring so much work and stress for you but we have to talk about what we have to do to convince the media and general public about us.”I listened to his words and nodded in understanding. He was right. There were things we had to do to show them that we were together. Simply putting out a relationship and then marriage would make no sense at all.“Fine, Anthony. What do you have in mind?”Anthony smiled and rubbed his stubbled jaw as he kept on a thinking face.“We will have to go on dates. Even if it's to appear like we are on one. I know those sneaky gossip pages will have their interns on the lookout for us and we need them on our side if possible.”“But it's not every time that you're being followed by them.”Anthony sighed. “That's true and I wouldn't want to waste our time going on useless dates.”The way he phrased it made my heart sting. He saw us going on dates as useless which made me painfully remember that this man didn't see me the
I barely slept well last night as all I saw in my dreams was Anthony kissing my cheek, repeatedly. I was still stunned up until now about the sudden kiss. The way he pulled me close to his body and how warm he felt, plus the way his lips felt on my skin was something from a fever dream. I was still feeling hot from the memory of the kiss. It may not mean anything to him but it did to me.I pulled my suit jacket by the hems when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. I stepped out and started walking, only to notice the way people stared at me and how low their voices were as they did. I bowed my head a bit to take a better look at them and strained my ears to hear what they were saying but all I got were whispers and finger points.“She's finally here!”I shook to a stop at Anthony's loud voice. I raised my head and shifted my eyes forward. There he stood with a bouquet. My heart skipped a beat and confusion followed as I tried to make out what he was planning. This fool needed
Anthony's POVI was feeling hungry from all the work I'd been doing since I arrived. It was already lunchtime and I needed a break, even if it was just five minutes before I returned to continue doing my work. Besides, the important meeting I was supposed to be having wasn't looking successful at all.I rubbed my nose and exhaled before rising. I grabbed my suit jacket from the back of my seat and slipped it on then took my phone, followed by my wallet. “I'll go check if Sandy will have lunch with me,” I said as I walked to the door. I opened it and left the office. I nodded at my secretary across the hallway and turned my body toward Sandy's office door.Before I got close, I saw something that made me stop walking. Sandy had a transparent part attached to her door which made me see the back of a man. With the way she was smiling and speaking to him, it was as if she knew him but what caught my attention was the way they were holding hands. I wasn't sure if it was a handshake but fr
Anthony's POVAs soon as I parked my car in front of the restaurant, I turned off its engine and glanced at Sandy who acted as if she didn't realize we were already at the restaurant. She was just focused on her phone, smiling at whatever was displayed on her screen.“We're here,” I announced and she just spared the restaurant a one-second glance before looking at her phone and tapping on it.“Hm,” she said.I sighed. “What's got you smiling like that?”“Oh… it's Mr. Flintwood.”At the mention of his name, my appetite left. I glared at the phone and then at her. I was trying to understand why he was making her smile the way she was doing.“What do you mean by that?” I asked and she dropped the phone. Finally.“We exchanged numbers after he left your office and we spoke before you came into my office. He's so good-looking, don't you think? He's the only handsome guy I know that works at the company.”My heart felt a sharp pain when she made mentioned him being the only handsome employe