When Autumn gets accepted in the university of her dreams she cannot believe her luck. Her mind is only focused on her scholarship and getting her degrees.
But all those goals are put aside when she meets the notorious Nicholas Payne who is everyth...
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Standing before Nick and I is a gorgeous blonde woman with her slick hair perfectly tightly tied back, leaving no strands hanging loose. She wears a white dress that looks almost identical to mine, except hers is much longer than mine. Earlier Nick explained to me that the theme colours for this dinner event are black and white. Thankfully for him buying me a fancy outfit that makes me fit in with the rest of his family. Or else I would have bought a dress on sale at H&M. Not that it would be bad, it just might not have been that appropriate for the occasion.
"Nicholas, my baby boy! You are finally home!" this woman that I recognize squeezes Nick into a bone-crushing hug.
"It is always good to see you too Mom." Nick pecks his mother on the cheek.
Mrs Payne looks at me in surprise and I swear I hear myself squealing ecstatically. It is not every day when you see, meet or have a dinner with a former model and her designer husband.
“Sweetheart,” Mrs Payne says sweetly to Nick. “Who is this stunning young lady?”
“Mom this is my gorgeous girlfriend, Autumn. Is she not just beautiful?" Nick beams at me proudly with his arm around my shoulders.
Mrs Payne stares at her son in shock. I can tell that I am clearly not the type of girls she has met with her son. She immediately engulfs me in a tight hug then tells Nick and I to get into the house as it most likely going snow. Seeing as the whether is cold, I am glad for Nick who go me a white fur coat on short notice. Although this was of course about a week ago when he asked me to pretend his girlfriend and I had to give in all because of the good things he had to offer in return. I hold his hand nervously and pull him into the house, hoping that my hand is not as sweaty as it feels against his. Mrs Payne smiles upon Nick and I, observing our hand-holding.
“You have grown so much into a handsome young man. Dan is going to be so happy to see this.” she cannot seem to stop herself from beaming.
Nick groans, although I can tell that he cannot help but smile at seeing his mother so happy —— “Mom please do not start crying now or showing my girlfriend any embarrassing pictures of me as a baby like I know you are planning to do in a couple of minutes." —— he asks her politely.
"Oh, I would not mind seeing a couple of photos of baby Nick Mrs Payne," I giggle mirthfully.
She waves her hand dismissively, "Oh please, dear, you may just call me Mabel. Mrs Payne makes me feel so old."
Then she walks to a cupboard in the entrance room and takes out a book that I suspect to be the picture album. It is light blue and has a couple of Spider-Man stickers along with four letter stickers that make out the word ‘Nick’. Mabel laughs and snorts adorably when she flips through the pages until she at a particular picture points to me. “On this day in the photo he never wanted to put on his pants.” Mabel cackles to herself wistfully and turn my head to find Nick closing his eyes. His face is slowly changing color because of this one humiliating picture.
“Tatum told him that he would fly if he does not so guess what?” Mabel's cheery voice leaves a bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach. I still cannot belive that I am standing in the very house that belonged to a woman who was and still is one of my role models.
“What?” I cannot help but ask even though I know what may come.
“Nicholas stayed in his underwear for almost a full month. If only Canada was not so cold.” she answers, smoothing Nick's face and watching him with starry eyes.
Nick's cheeks turn crimson red and he presses his lips. "I'm going to say hi to Tatum and Dad."
"For a month he stayed in just his diaper." Mabel cackles on.
"He was so cute," I admit honestly.
From where he waits for me in the hallway, Nick gasps, “Was? I am still cute thank you very much.”
“Yes, of course you are dear.” Mabel rolls her eyes with a transcendent grin on her face.
When I eventually catch up to Nick, he gives me a once-over and whistles lowly. He makes me feel more insecure than I have been feeling before. I want to look in the mirror and see if still look great; whether my lipstick has smudged or if the black dress has torn somewhere. "You look amazing, Autumn seriously." Nick asserts me resting a hand on my cheek.
"Thank you, Nick. You look really handsome." I compliment kindly. He offers me to link my arm with his then the two of us step into the grand dining room.
