All Chapters of The False Facade: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

 Laura. "Oh my God, Ellen is crazy." Faith said amidst suppressed laughter. Neither the ongoing TV programme nor the bowl of popcorn on top of my laps, did anything to keep me relaxed. My nerves were far from staying at ease."Can you imagine that?" She glanced at me, before shoving a handful of snack into her mouth. "Why's she asking the poor lady to identify the owner of the chest hair?"Her question must have worked on me, albeit a bit. "Ellen DeGeneres can ask the impossible. You shouldn't be shocked."Faith scoffed, "Yeah, right. Might as well ask who in the fourth century, is your crush."I could have laughed, as that was way hilarious. My tied up gut wouldn't let me cackle all I wanted.And I didn't know why that was happening. I mean, I'd made

 Laura"You what?" she blurted.I'd gone over the rigours of narrating my conversation with Mr.Gregory, recounting the manner he made his proposition, and telling Faith the stakes involved in getting the money. She wouldn't hear of the last part."Are you crazy?" She moved closer to me and examined my eyes. "Did you have a shot of Brandy before coming over? Is this some sort of a hangover effect?""Oh, quit being a drama queen, will ya!" I frowned."A drama queen? You call this dramatization? Getting involved in a sham marriage?""It's just a contract. I don't see the big deal 'bout it.""Oh my God. This isn't you, Laura." She reached for my shoulders, jerking them violently. "Come out from her, Bacchus!"I pulled myself from her grip and glared at her. "What's the matter with you?"

Laura"Oh, for God's sake." I grunted. The concealer had failed to do its job– I could still see the ring of green around my eyes. Coupled with that, my hair decided to have a mind of its own. My scrunchie was nowhere to be found, making me go completely nuts. Today's such a bad day for bad hair day!I pulled my tousled hair back and tried to focus on one problem first which was my ghost–looking face. Clearly, that was an apt description, considering the deep gorge of weariness lining my eyes and, the plaster of the out of tone foundation."Stupid makeup." I grumbly pulled out a wipe and swept off the mess I'd created. I opted for a moisturizer and a loose setting powder to hide the pallor.Now the hair.I simply placed a beanie on top, letting my unruly locks rest on the shoulders. Having a beanie wasn't that bad after all, it sure went well

BlakeI woke with a start. Heart pulsating, sending the heat of blood round me. I couldn't sleep for the better part of the night, either tossing from end to end or staring at the ceiling.I was yet to put a name on the cause of my agitation. Of course it wasn't work related: there wasn't any deadline yet to be met, no failed contracts, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary going in the company.Was it the deal? I scoffed at the idea that I was nervous because of a stupid meeting with some sort of a desperate sassy young woman.Sassy? Yeah, right. I'm not giving her the credit.But frankly speaking, I had every cause to worry. I mean, I was going to have a tête-à- tête with some ill mouthed lady who appeared bipolar to me. She must have agreed to the plan but she could decide not to go ahead with it again, spoiling the day for me.

Laura Blake McGregor. Those, kept playing on my mind, refusing to go away. Seriously, ever since I set my eyes on him, I hadn't been myself. Right there sitting in his car beside him, my heart raced, pounding fiercely against my chest. Each time I looked at him, strands of hair at my nape stood. He was handsome and manly and...I could go on and on. No. No no no. I can't do this. I can't fake being his wife. It's just hard. I can't get through with it when he's..he has got the charms. Really, babe. You backing out now? Because of that?"Snap outta it!" I struck my head.There's no way I was going to quit. No way. I couldn't let go of a hundred thousand dollars because of some crappy feelings. Of course

Mike in my apartment? No way."Hi," I said, not knowing when the word came out."Uhmm." He cleared his throat. "May I?""Huh?"He slightly tilted his head toward the sitting room."Oh." I flushed. "My bad."I let him in, closing the door behind us. He stood for sometime, scanning the room."What a nice place you've got here." He smiled."Thanks." I dipped my hands into my pockets, shoulders raised high. "Uh, make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back."He flashed his teeth.I padded into the kitchen in search of some things to rustle up for him.Mike. Why in God's name was he even here? I mean, it's not as if we weren't friends or didn't see ourselves as such, but mehn, he'd never stopped by neither did I know where he lived. I didn't even know how he got here. Couldn't recall giving out

Laura"How long will that take?" That came the voice from the other line."About a year," I replied."What? No, no, no. That's not gonna happen.""C'mon, Mr. Tim." I pled. "Hear me out first.""I can't, not with this crazy idea of yours."I sighed, slouching my back against the wall. How else am I gonna convince him?"How do you expect me to leave the space empty, huh? For a whole year." He continued."That was why I asked you to hear me out first." I rolled my eyes in irritation. "I don't mean you should keep it bare till I return.""Then what are you sayin'?" He asked."I'll be leasing it out and-""Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, tigress." He cut in. "You don't do that here.""Why? There's no harm in leasing my space

LauraMcGregor!The nerve of the snob. He had the effrontery to get behind me and pull the shit off. Who did he think he was, huh? Such arrogance. Some people don't quite understand the word 'boundary'. No, they don't. McGregor was certainly one of such persons.Come to think of it, how did he get to know about my phone conversation?Wait! Am I bugged?My ears rung out in alarm as realization stung me. I darted into my room, not minding the prickly sensation on my toes. I sought for my mini backpack, the same backpack I had on me when I got to Manhattan. To meet McGregor. I rummaged through the bag in search of any unusual tiny object. No way. No way. No way!My heart did the talking.When I couldn't find anything suspicious, I emptied the contents o

 BlakePlease.Please, Laura.Saying those words was a real son of a bitch. In every sense of it. Think about hurling up thick chunks of rocks down from your gut through the narrow passage of your fragile gullet.Excruciating eh?That exactly was what I had passed through, moments ago on the phone. Articulating the alien words was no child's play. They stretched my vocal cords to a frightening extent and rubbed against the walls of my throat.Honest to God, I didn't make that up.I fought tooth and nail to form those words, not to talk of carrying out the main task of voicing them out.Please, Laura. Ha!Despite being a hard nut, I saw myself fervently trying to crack it open. To say them out.It was true nothing o

Laura"I can't believe it." The words came more like a whisper. Eyes still glued to the screen."You better do," Faith uttered. "This shit is amazing with a capital 'a'."No, Faith was wrong in that one. The shit wasn't in any way amazing for me. It was scary---frightening in the real sense of it. From the few moments I had with him, I realised Blake was a cocky air-filled hog. He literally clung to his achievements of being a CEO, like his life depended on it. He expressed his domineering character even when it was fully know to him that I wasn't aware of the position he held. Of his importance, so to say.Or was he? Could it be that he himself was ignorant of my ignorance? Mehn, Laura! You need to pursue a degree in Philosophy."Why didn't you te