I Want Your Attention!

Chapter 3 

Remy

Watching as he answered the phone, I could see that it was an important call. The way his body moved; it seemed as though he was irritated about the situation. I didn't want to be nosy, so I paid no attention to what was being said. When he finished, he tossed his phone onto his desk and raked his fingers through his hair. "Hey, what's wrong? You don't have to tell me, but I feel like it'll help ease the irritation" I place my hand on his shoulder gently. He lets out a soft sigh shaking his head. He doesn't say a word, he just sits down with his head in between his arms leaning forwards. 

"I can't…" he sighs deeply this time making me more concerned. "Dyl, you don't have to tell me. It'll be okay. I'm here for y-" he hugs me by my waist and pulls me closer. I hold his head in my hands and let my shoulders fall, relaxing them. "I'm here for you, you were here for me to help me. You didn't have to, but you did. I am here for you too" I look down at him as his head leans on my lower stomach. "My mom wants me to find a girl. Are you up for this challenge of pretending?" He says looking up at me.

"You need me as much as I need you. I don't see what's so wrong. Friends help each other" I smiled and bent down to his level. I hug him tight. I can truly understand the struggles of having Asian parents who want you to settle down early. It's just a good thing that my parents are more on the open-minded end. I have to let my mom know what's going on before this gets out of hand on my end. But before that, I need to help him. He has done a lot for me today. "So, how is this going to work, Dyl?" I sat next to him. "We need to match the stories in case your mom asks your friends any questions." 

"Technically our story is set pretty straight already." I looked at him slightly confused. "How's that?" He turns to me and chuckles a little. "Well, we were talking to each other through our social apps and then I introduced you to my friends today…. Well, it would be considered yesterday since it's already four o'clock." I could feel my face get a little pink. I had totally forgotten that we agreed on that story line. But, thinking about the whole situation, everything makes sense and falls right into place. There are no openings for mistakes. "I'll let my mom know so that way she's also in on it to make it more convincing, yeah?" 

He nods, "Yeah, that'll help." I reached forwards to grab my phone when I felt his arms wrap around my waist again. He's rather more physical than I thought. I leaned back into his arms. I don't want to misunderstand this type of situation. I may like him, but he may not see me that way. I have to read our interactions carefully. He just needs a friend and comfort. "Hey, don't stress about it, alright?" I hug him, patting his back as a friend does. I sigh softly feeling his stress fill the room. I let him hug me for as long as he needed, I could always message my mom when he felt better. 

I noticed that he had fallen asleep holding onto me. I let him stay there for a while. I sat there patting him. He looked like he was in a very uncomfortable position, and I helped move him around placing his head on my lap. His sleeping face was so mesmerizing. He looked so calm and relaxed compared to his always focused glare. I remember back to when we were still in class together. He would always be so focused in class while I observed him from the back of the classroom. I could've sworn he probably didn't even know I existed then. 

I was always watching him from a distance since my friend back then was dating him. It has always been like that, I like a guy and then my friend likes them too, but the guy will always ask them out and not me. I just got used to it, so it was fine. I didn't even know when I fell asleep either, but I did. My face was really close to his when I opened my eyes. Shocked, I sat up making sure not to wake him, but my movements made him stir a bit.

"Sorry, I felt like I was going to cry if I didn't hug you" he let me go and lay on his back. I looked over to where my phone was and back at him. I reached over and grabbed my phone. Opening my phone I messaged my Mom. "I just let my mom know." I turn to face him and my stomach rumbles loudly. Embarrassed, I looked away pressing my lips into a thin line blushing. I can hear him start to laugh as he covers his eyes with his forearm. "You hungry? I'll treat since you took on a stressful role as my fake girlfriend" I stood up and fixed my skirt chuckling awkwardly. 

"Yeah… I haven't really eaten anything since the event yesterday and then I drank and passed out here." I rub my right arm with my left palm nervously. I can't tell him that I haven't had a one on one with a guy in ages. It's so embarrassing to have to tell him it makes me a little nervous. "Where do you wanna go to eat?" he looks over at me as he puts his sweater on. He walks over to me and places the back of his hand on my left cheek gently. "You're like a tomato right now… nervous?" I gulped and nodded laughing a little bit at myself. "Yeah, it's been a minute since I've hung out with a guy one on one." I looked at the door and chewed on the inside of my cheek. He grabbed his keys and unlocked the door and motioned for me to exit first. 

I looked at the time on my watch and realized it was already almost nine-thirty am. I couldn't really make up my mind on what to eat. "You can choose where to go since you're treating" I looked back at him as we both walked down the hall. "Okay, let's go eat at D's Dinner then" he smiles as he grabs my arm stopping me from running into the wall in front of me. I embarrassed myself yet again this early into the morning. "Sorry, I guess I have no sense of danger around you" I giggled and leaned on him. 

As we came out of the hallway into the living room Christian was sitting on the couch watching the news and drinking his coffee. It seemed like he didn't notice us at all until Dylaan grabbed his keys. "Where are you two going?" Dylaan's eyes widened as he stood up straight. "I'm taking her to go eat since we both haven't eaten anything since yesterday" Christian stands up and walks over to us. He is easily six feet something, maybe a bit intimidating, but then he smacks Dylaan in the arm and starts pretending to cry. "You tucked me in last night, didn't you? I love you so much!" Dylaan broke out into laughter. Christian hugs him and lifts him up a little bit. 

"If I didn't, would I even be your friend?" He smacks Christian's arm back. He looks over at me and smiles. "Good morning my lady" Christian takes my hand and kisses the back of it. "Good morning to you too, Christian" I laugh slightly at his actions. I can see why Dylaan is so relaxed around Christian. He's the funny goofy type of friend. "Okay you two go on your way. I don't wanna be holding you back from your breakfast" he pats us both on our shoulder leading us out the door almost like he was telling us to leave. "Your girl is coming over, isn't she? You nasty" Dylaan turns back to look at Christian. 

A small blush could be seen on Christian's cheeks. "Shut up bro, you had your fun, my turn okay" Dylaan just laughs and holds my hand. "Okay, okay, have your fun." Their front porch was a lot wider than I thought, I was in such a stress rush yesterday I didn't even get the chance to observe every detail. They had super comfy rocking chairs and some swing benches in the front. They also had a small coffee table too. I loved how they also hanged up windpipes and little decors. 

"You like these?" Dylaan touches the butterfly windpipes. I nod and reach up to touch it as well. "Yeah, it's really pretty." He smiles and takes my hand in his intertwining his fingers with mine. "Christian makes them by hand. He also sells them too. I've helped him make some from time to time." he walks down the stairs leading me to his car. He unlocks and opens the door for me before going over to his side and getting in. As we pulled out of the garage, he turned on some music. He rolled down the windows and focused on the road. "Feel free to change the music if you want. My phone is right there, and my passcode is 1116." 

When we arrived at D's Dinner, he opened the door for me and held my hand as we walked to the door of the restaurant. The lovely smell of breakfast hit my nose in an instant. I could smell the bacon and eggs. I could smell the delicious maple sausages and pancakes. We haven't even opened the door yet and I could already imagine the food and how lovely they all taste. "What do you wanna eat? They serve all three breakfast, lunch, and dinner 24 hours." he says as he pulls out a chair for me to sit on. I was quite surprised that such a restaurant existed. I was craving some fries and chicken tenders. I'm pretty sure that it may seem kind of childish to want something so simple, but it tastes good. 

"Can I order anything?" he nods in response, smiling at me brightly. "Hello, welcome to D's Dinner, what could we get for you?" The waitress hands us the menus with a bright smile. "I'll get the T-bone medium rare with a side of fries and onion rings. Could I also have some steamed broccoli with that as well. And for my drink, I'll have a dark roast coffee with two sugar cubes." Dylaan orders his meal like it was the easiest thing to do. "Okay sir, thank you, and you ma'am?" she turned to look at me while I stared intensely at the menu. "Umm… I'll have some chicken tenders with a side of fries. I'll also have the bright sunny side up eggs with maple toast as well as the small bowl of veggie soup with extra dumplings." I gave her the menu and remembered I needed my drink. "Oh, sorry, I'll also have the sweet tea bomb" I give her a smile and she return a smile. 

I look over at him and he is staring at me smiling like a love drunk idiot. "What?" I ask him, blushing. "Nothing, it's just cute seeing you all nervous and happy about food" he hands me a napkin, wipes down my spoon, fork, and butter knife for me. He is doing things that are nice, I have to remind myself to not get the wrong idea. I try to not let my crush on him wave my thoughts. I cannot be delusional in this situation. I playfully kicked him from under the table. "Whatever…" I look away and blush waiting for the food. "Come on~ I just called you cute, you're gonna get mad over that?" He reaches over the table and holds my hand. "I'm not mad… I just feel flustered" He smiles and interlocks our fingers making my heartbeat faster. 

"Stop, people are staring at us" I tell him, gritting my teeth as I lean in. He smiles, laughing and moving a strand of my hair away from my cheek. "That's the point he smirks playfully leaning back into his chair. I can't believe this guy right now. He's flirting and playing around when I'm trying to stay calm and not fall deeper for him. Being one-sidedly crushing on him isn't as easy as I thought it would be. "Shut up" I lean my chin in my hand and look in the other direction. He starts throwing napkin balls at me to get my attention as we wait for our food. "Pay attention to me~" he pokes my cheek trying to get me to look at him. 

Surrendering, I look his way and he flashes me a bright smile. He knows exactly how to make me melt; I swear. He leans forwards and rests his head on his arms crossed on the table. He looks up at me with the cutest, most innocent smile ever. I snapped a quick picture of it. "Hey, what was that? Did you just sneak a picture of me? Give me your phone" he jokingly played around. "Look at our food" I was not trying to distract him; our food was actually coming. I was so absorbed by the food that when I looked over at him, he was staring at me in awe. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" I giggled lightly as the waitress put our food on the table. "Let's eat our food and then talk about our situation, if not then eat and talk, yeah?"

He nods while eating his fries. I took a sip of my Sweet Tea Bomb and sighed relaxingly as it was so satisfying. I watch him as he eats his food while I sip my drink. He cuts up his steak and offers me the first bite. "For me?" I lean forwards and take a bite. "Mmm~ it's so good" he smiles and takes a bite. "Right? It's so good, but not as good as you" I was flustered. "I- What? I'm not even gonna ask" I blushed and ate my chicken tender. From the corner of my eyes, I can see him reach out and grab my chicken tender and take a bite from where I just bit. "Why-" He chews and takes a sip of his coffee. "To get your attention" he winks at me sipping from his cup again.