Virtually Real

Chapter- 16

Naomi 

Marc waves at them, "Hello..." He says, "I'm Marc Raymond. Naomi's boyfriend." He mentions in the end making me blush.

"Hello Mr. Raymond. You don't really... need introduction." John says clearly intimidated by him making me smile. I'm not the only one. 

"Well, good to know... I'm so famous." He says jokingly and we all giggle. 

"So, where should we go?" He asks looking at me, "Do you guys have anything in mind or should we go to a place of my choice?" 

"Umm... I know-" Jess starts to speak but stops suddenly as if signalled by someone to shut up, probably John. 

"I think... we should go to the place of your choice." John says confirming my doubt.

"We can go to any place of your choice too." Marc says.

"No, it's better to go somewhere you prefer." I say looking at him. 

"Okay, then." He says looking at me and I nod in return. 

After about ten minutes, we reach in front of a restaurant. James and Stephan are already waiting for us. "James, can you go check in with the reservation?" Marc asks him and he nods before vanishing into the lavish building. 

I take a look at Jess whose cheeks are scarlet and eyes are staring at Stephan, John whispers something in her ear and she quickly gets cautious. I smile. 

"You made a reservation?" I ask Marc.

"Yes, I reserved a hall just in case we go to my preferred restaurant." He says.

"A hall?" Holy heavens... 

"Yes, I'm... actually not very comfortable with crowds." He says shrugging. I should not be surprised at this... now. We enter the restaurant, I can't help but keep staring at the place. It looks more expensive than the one where we went last week. 

"What do you think about this place?" He asks.

"I love it." I smile, but honestly I feel too intimidated and a little underdressed for such a lavish place. I look at my roommates and their expressions tell me that they don't feel any different too. We sit on the couches placed in an equally luxurious hall which seems fit for VIPs. 

He is a VIP... and so are you, when you're with him. My subconscious points making me blush. James and Jess soon leave the hall and Jess noticeably frowns. She seems to like him. 

"What should we eat?" Marc asks the one question I bet we four have been praying he doesn't. 

"Umm... you can decide, we'll have whatever you like." I tell him.

"But why don't you guys decide this time?" He asks looking at others. 

"Actually... we're not able to understand any dish... in the menu card. So, I think... it's better you order whatever is best here." Elle says nervously, after a pause of almost five minutes, when there's no reply. 

Woah... Elle has always been the straight forward one amongst us, I didn't know that should be the same in front of a celebrity too. Well... good for us, someone had to say this anyways. For some reason, everyone now seems even more nervous except for Jess whose attention is probably taken by Stephan today. 

"Okay, I'll order, then." Marc smiles. Thank Heavens. 

Marc 

Probably it was a bad idea to bring them here, already they're intimidated around me and now this place... it makes them even more nervous. 

"So, are you guys... committed?" I ask about their relationship status to distract them a bit.  Two of them flush by my question but one is hardly bothered. I have noticed her staring at Stephan and she's probably lost in his thoughts now. She seems to have feelings for him... and god knows, maybe Stephan feels the same. 

"Yes." One of them answers and I look at her, the smartest one. She seems the most mature and sensible as compared to other two. 

"I'm not." The other one says shyly. She's the most quite one. The one who probably has a crush on Stephan hasn't replied, yet and I look at her anticipating a reply. As expected, the smartest one pokes her so that she may come to her senses. 

"Jess, you didn't reply to... Mr. Raymond." She says.

"I... uh..." She looks at me and is quite confused.

"He asked whether you're committed or not." The other girl quickly helps her out.

"I... no, no..." She says shaking her hands and head, "I'm single... totally." 

That explains it! She likes Stephan and her last word 'totally' explains that she's willing to be in a relationship, only if I'm not being too judgmental. I nod in response. 

The waiter comes in to take our order, followed by James. I notice that girl's reaction as she frowns, James has come when she expected Stephan. I almost laugh... college girl struggles. I place the order and then look at Naomi. She's in her usual sophisticated attire. Not that I didn't notice her earlier, but every time I do, she looks prettier. I blush. Ah... my sweet, sweet... girl. 

"You guys don't need to be formal around me, please be very comfortable. Treat me like your friend's boyfriend." I say amusingly. They all laugh, including Naomi and I think that the mood is now a bit lightened up. 

"Um... can I ask you something?" The one who likes Stephan asks.

"Sure." I smile and notice the smartest one stare at her as a way of warning. She's such a control freak. 

"Jess..." She mumbles in a tone of denial and that girl frowns a bit.

"You can ask me anything." I reassure her, but invain, she had already made up her mind. 

"Nothing..." She says shaking her head, exasperating me more.

"I told you guys, you can treat me like Naomi's boyfriend and not... Marc Raymond." I say looking at Ms. Control Freak. 

"You can ask, Jess." Naomi tells her smiling. Thank you sweetheart. I smile at her.

"Umm.. the other bodyguard, of yours... is he... always there with you?" She asks stammering. 

I immediately know who she's talking about, "No, Stephan is not always with me, but whenever I need two or more people, he is." I say explaining. She nods in response. My doubt is confirmed, she likes him... quite a lot.

"Excuse me." I stand up and move out of the hall, James is standing there and gets alert as he sees me. 

"Sir?" He asks me.

"Where's Stephan?" 

"He's in the car, sir." 

"Call him, I think it'll be better if both of you are here."  

"Okay, sir." He looks puzzled but agrees. 

"Next time, when the waiter comes, send Stephan along with him." He looks more puzzled and I realise that it's James, I can at least explain him, whatever I'm doing. "You know..." I sigh, "one of Naomi's roommates, she... kind of has a crush on him." I say smiling.

"Oh..." He says, "I see... okay, sir. I'll take care." He smiles nodding, being the smart man he is. 

I go back into the hall and Naomi looks at me, "Next time, when the waiter comes, Stephan will be with him." I say smiling, she looks at me surprised and I nod. I know, sweetheart. I smile and see her blushing... the one sight I adore the most. 

"Jess..." She says. I narrow my eyes, what will she tell her? "Why don't you adjust your hair a bit? They're quite a mess." She says amusingly and I struggle to control my laugh. Jess looks quizzically at Naomi and then nods. She pulls her scrunchie and collecting her hair back, ties them again. 

Naomi looks at me and we share smiles, I reach out for her hand under the table to grab it, I notice her cheeks turn scarlet. I love the effect I have on her...