Say You Love Me [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER SIX: BEING HIGH MAINTENANCE

Rhea’s plan was not working. The first advice for being the perfect girlfriend was “Be feminine but not weak” and that was why she had been acting like a fragile emotional wreck around Adam last night. But instead of feeling angry with her, Adam had been patience personified.

Damn! Zoey had been right; it had backfired on her. She had been so tempted to cancel their “date” at the last minute. Especially when she had been damn sure that Adam was reading more into their dinner than he was supposed to. And the way she had behaved had only served to fuel his imagination instead of tampering it. Everything had gone out of hand. But she had acted exactly the opposite of what the magazine had said.

By letting him open doors for her, letting him pull her chair and letting him choose the menu. It had not exactly been a show of weakness; but she knew it was something Adam would not appreciate. Back in high school days, he used to complain about how his girlfriends were too dependent on him; he liked them with a strong character. And when he had asked her about her future, she had seen it as the golden opportunity to show how “weak” she was.

And what better weakness to show that she had no idea about her own future? Except that when Adam had suggested she joined GEMS enterprise, she had immediately retreated. It was such a bad idea since it would only serve to bring her closer to him. She would see him every day and that was not good for her mental balance.

Every time she had appeared desperate, instead of freaking out, Adam had been so chivalrous and had gone to the extreme of promising her he would never let her go. It had been another kind of declaration of love and she had felt alarmed. How the hell had he managed to turn the situation in his favor like that? He was supposed to be irritated with her and tell her to take a hike.

And the pasta! She had dreamt of that damned untouched food and it had left a sour taste in her mouth. It had been the hardest thing to do to let go of her food when all she had wanted to do was to gobble it all up. Especially after one whole year of abstinence of her favourite  food.

As a last resort, she had found nothing better than to complain about a damned broken nail. To say that Adam had been stunned would be an understatement. Stupefied most probably. And she had inwardly cringed at her latest improvised act. Thankfully, he had refrained from any comment but had been wearing a permanent frown even when they had gotten home.

Rhea could have killed herself for having spoilt her own plan. She would have to take it slow now. If she freaked out whenever something did not go like she had planned, Adam would find out about her strategy. And her game would be over.

She was not ready to give up yet however. It was not in her nature to give up at the first sign of failure. She would take it as a challenge to better plan for the next part of her strategy. This time Adam Devin Crighton would be completely bowled over!

“Be of low maintenance”, the article had described as the second title and it had explained in detail how to avoid using the boyfriend’s money for frivolous needs and feminine wants. Rhea had perused the article until late last night to analyse every unexpected aspect of the plan.

There would be no unpredicted gaffe this time. She had made sure she had covered every aspect of her next setting. And as she sat sipping her coffee, she had no idea how distraught she looked with her hair flying in every direction and her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

“What’s with you?” somebody asked her from behind making her jump and spill the hot coffee on the kitchen table.

“Do you have to sneak on me like that?” she snapped ungraciously at Zoey who in guise of answer to her rude greeting smirked back at her.