Falling, Fallen | ✔️

44

~Ayla's POV~

"So," Soren said as he and I ate breakfast together in the living room just two days later, early on a Monday morning. I looked over at him and chewed on the delicious homemade waffles he'd cooked, curiously cocking my head to the side. "My dad wants us to go meet him at his house after work tomorrow. I think he said that he wants to talk to us about something." He told me, causing me to raise my brows at him. "You mean he didn't tell you what he wanted to meet for this time?" I asked, frowning. He smirked at me, as if he knew precisely why I had been sure to ask him that, and then shook his head.

"Not this time, no." He answered. I hummed, wondering what Mr. Maxwell could want from us this time and why he hadn't told Soren what it was about beforehand. It was unusual. "Don't look so worried over there." Soren seemed to notice my behavior and chuckled, his eyes filled with warmth. "I'm sure it's nothing bad. He probably just has shit to say about the company or something. It's not a big deal." He assured me, trying to get me to not fret over it. Clearing my throat, I nodded my head and took another bite of my waffles, but I still couldn't shake the odd nervousness I was feeling. Regardless, I continued to eat my food anyway.

**

"Should we go home and change first?" I asked Soren as we drove down the road after he picked me up from work, glancing over at him. It wasn't like my outfit was bad now or as if I didn't look presentable or something, but I just wasn't sure if I needed to dress even nicer. After all, I was only wearing my work clothes and I didn't think I looked anywhere near as nice as Soren did in his suit.

He glanced over at me and his eyes flitted over my body quickly before returning to the road, a smile forming on his lips. "Trust me, Ayla, you look fine." He chuckled, causing me to pout playfully and lean over the middle console between our two seats. "Only fine?" I asked, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. I giggled as I noticed him tighten his hands around the steering wheel, his eyes staying focused on the road. "Don't play with me right now." He warned me, but I just bit my bottom lip as I grinned, gently squeezing his bicep. "So unusual. You never say the word fine when telling me how I look." I said, pouting at him as my hand wandered down onto his chest. By now, he was practically choking the poor steering wheel. If it were alive, it'd be dead.

"I swear, Ayla," Soren began, just about growling at me as I slipped a hand up his shirt. My fingers landed on his abdomen and I bit my lip as I felt his chiseled abs under my fingertips. Holy hell, did this man have the most incredible body. "I love your body." I said to him, and I noticed his cheeks turned the slightest bit more pink at my words. "My patience is weaning very thin right now. You should stop before I get carried away." He kept issuing me his warnings, but I just giggled and refused to listen.

Instead of stopping I trailed my touch along the ridges of his muscled torso, causing his abs to clench and his breath to come out in a heave. "Oh, really?" I whispered. "And what is it you could possibly do to me, hm?" I asked, my fingers wandering down over the front of his pants. Soren turned to look at me, his eyes blazing angrily. "I won't hesitate to pull this car over on the side of the road and fucking show you how fine I think you look, Ayla. Get your fucking hands off before I'm tempted any further." He hissed, and I knew his words were not a threat but a promise. This was Soren, and he really would do those things, especially to prove a point.

So I pulled my hand away, smiling softly as I kissed his cheek again and then pulled back to sit up straight. I giggled softly to myself, amused at how easy it was to rile him up like that. "Oh, okay, keep on giggling over there." Soren huffed, glancing over at me as he reached down and adjusted his pants. I grinned widely, unable to help myself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I laughed. "It's just fun to rile you up. You always get to have the upper hand over me." I told him, pouting playfully. He cracked a smile and focused on the road again. "You had your fun, but I'm having mine when we get home later." He said, his words almost sounding like a threat. Regardless, I was more excited about his words than anything. "We'll see." I hummed, playing it off. He hummed and smiled lightly. "Yes, you will." He murmured.

When we arrived at Mr. Maxwell's house, Soren slid his arm around my waist and we headed inside, as Soren evidently knew there was a key atop the doorframe. I followed him in, glancing around the house as he locked the door and then swooped back to my side, his arm finding its natural place around my waist again.

All of the sudden, Mr. Maxwell came stalking up to us from the living room. "There you are, son." He said, and then his eyes flicked down to me. A smile formed on his face and he nodded his head at me. "And Ayla, good to see you." He added. I smiled back and left it at that, the two of us watching his father as we stood patiently for him to tell us what we were here for.

However, Mr. Maxwell just glanced down at the arm that Soren currently had around my waist. "You realize that you don't have to act like a couple in front of me, right?" He chuckled, his gaze returning to his son's. I felt Soren tighten his arm around my midsection and he gave his father a strained smile before he removed his arm, but he didn't step away. "Right. Forgot for a second." Soren said and chuckled, but I knew by now what his real laugh sounded like, so I could tell easily that it was fake. I assumed that Mr. Maxwell's words had made him uncomfortable. I cleared my throat awkwardly and looked up at Mr. Maxwell, trying to divert the subject. "So, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

Mr. Maxwell's beady looking eyes flicked back and forth between Soren and I, a brow raise. He probably had noticed our odd behavior, but thankfully he didn't say anything about it. "Well, you and Soren have been in this marriage for the past six, almost seven, months now. I was first just wanting to say that I'm pretty impressed that this has seemingly worked. I'm sure Soren has still found a way to continue his ways, of course, but the media doesn't know about it so there's not much damage done there. He's done a pretty good job at playing the part of a husband, and, Ayla, I know he's a lot to deal with so I'm honestly surprised you haven't called it quits on this agreement yet." He said, chuckling to himself. I laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my head, feeling a little bit embarrassed. "He's not so bad, really." I said softly.

He laughed and smiled at the two of us. "Yes, well, I'm glad there's at least one girl who seems to think so. He's popular with the ladies but not necessarily loved by them." Mr. Maxwell said.

"Anyway," He began, switching back to the matter at hand. "I was thinking about where we will go from here, after you guys separate." He told us, and I felt Soren freeze up beside me. I glanced up at him, not very happy with the idea of leaving him, and saw he was staring at Mr. Maxwell with a deep frown on his lips. "Separate?" He echoed, confused. Mr. Maxwell cocked a brow up and slowly nodded his head. "Well, yeah. This marriage agreement was only temporary, Soren. It was made so you'd maybe get yourself together, but it obviously has to end at some point, since it went so well. I don't want to keep either of you in a relationship with someone you don't even love." He responded.

Soren looked just as stumped as I felt. It hadn't really occurred to me how fast this was going to end, or that it would end at all. "Well, I m—" Soren began to speak but then halted, glancing down at me. I smiled up at him and he only frowned deeper, turning his face away. "How much longer until this is called off?" He asked his father, my smile slowly fading as I looked down at the floor. It wasn't like I didn't know that this was just sex, a passing thing, but the way he had so readily accepted it crushed me a little bit. If there had ever been any uncertainty about just how much of this was real and wasn't, then there was none anymore. I had my answer pretty clearly now.

"About three more months." Mr. Maxwell replied, making me inhale deeply and cross my arms over my chest. "I just figured that this would be a conversation that was better to have in person." He explained needlessly. I didn't respond. Hell, I didn't say anything at all for the rest of the time we were there, nor did I speak when Soren and I were driving back home.

And when we got home, I still didn't say anything to him. I just went up to my room, shut the door, and looked at the floor. I made sure to lock the door, just so Soren couldn't come in.