LUCIFER » SIMON MINTER

Chapter 45

I sat up straight as the man tied a black strap around my chest, waist and wrists. Simon stood in a corner of his bedroom, still in shot, as he stared at me. The way he was chewing his bottom lip and fiddling with his fingers and the hem of his black SDMN tee told me he was nervous. Whether he was nervous about my questions or his, I was just about to find out.

'Right, just make sure you're breathing normally.' Craig said as he sat back down behind his computer monitor. Craig was the professional lie detector man Simon had found through Zoella and Alfie. Although he wasn't the person to do the test on Zalfie, I knew this was going to be just as good. 

'That'll be difficult; my hands already feel clammy.' I giggled and then looked up so that Simon's soft, worried gaze met mine. 'Remind me why I agreed to go first?' I asked and both of us broke into a small chuckle, and Craig smiled along politely.

'The straps will measure your heart rate, which is what will effectively tell me if you're lying or not. I don't have time to explain to you how the whole system works, so I suggest we just get started. We'll do Mr. Minter's series of questions first, so if you'd mind leaving the room-'

'Please, just call me Simon.' Simon said to Craig over his shoulder as he walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. I pressed my lips together to form a tight line as I stared at Craig, who seemed to still be setting up the system.

'Right, so I have here a series of questions from your boyfriend. They're all yes or no questions, and I need you to answer them as honestly as possible. Please avoid hesitating as it will confuse the system.' Craig told me professionally and I nodded along.

My mind was whirring with ideas. Maybe he took this as an opportunity to ask me about Will, or Ed, or why I didn't trust him and why I left? I felt like I was going to be sick. My palms were so sweaty I had to wipe them off on my jeans, and my body felt itchy in more than one place at once. I felt like I had to be fiddling with something to calm my nerves, but there was nothing in my reach other than the wires attached to my chest and other parts of my body, which just made my heart pound harder. These straps had me feeling as if I was tied to the chair, as if I couldn't move. The one around my chest suddenly seemed too tight, leaving me not enough room to breathe properly. The one around my wrist was wrapped so securely that I could already feel my pulse, and it made my head throb.

'Lu, are you okay? You've gone a bit pale. Do we need a breather before we start?' Craig looked at me with gentle, warm brown eyes as he rest one of his big hands on my shoulder. He seemed like the perfect grandfather figure; short, grey hair that stuck out at the top, wrinkles around his eyes that made it seem like he was smiling nonstop, and a thick, posh accent that could reassure anyone.

I sucked in a deep breath and said, 'Let's get this over with', which made him laugh.

'Okay, your first question is the following: do you prefer photography over Simon?' He asked. 

I smiled to myself, thinking of how Simon must've been giggling as he wrote down his questions. 'No.'

Craig watched his computer and his screen lit up his complexion, then he scribbled something down and read out the next question. 'Are you the kind of girl who likes being chased?'

I couldn't resist laughing. I loved the fact that although Ed published a magazine edition where he thought he could date me, Simon took it lightly. 'No,' I said again. I felt me heart rate slow down as he wrote down my answer and whether I was lying or not. I wasn't nervous to find out if I was telling the truth because I knew I wasn't lying. 

I continued answering Simon's questions until we went through about almost twenty of them. 'Okay, this is your last question. Have you ever felt jealous of Freya, Sarah or Gee?'