#writtenbymatthew

34. A KISS TO PRETEND

They stood on the cobblestones of a long narrow path that lead over the grounds, the once beaming sun slowly sinking below the horizon, casting an ominous outline on the large building looming behind them. Riven, breathing out a shallow breath of relief and adjusting her coat, the wind having picked up within the hours of the descending afternoon, turned towards her companion. He was tall and lanky and had messy brown hair that suited him perfectly. Frankly she couldn’t blame Mrs. Sutherland for being all over him. Although the affair had been rather awkward and a bit unnerving Matthew, for his part, had been nothing but a gentleman all night, trying his best to meet up to her expectations and play the perfect suitor. While she knew he was perfectly cable of being charming, she’d been rather surprised by his display. He really had done well and had put her needs above his own. Sure, it had been discomforting and they’d occasionally shared glances as Mrs. Sutherland continued her thorough interrogation but overall the evening had gone splendidly and Riven was fairly sure she’d have a shot at getting the woman to agree to be a valuable source for the newspaper. She owed him. And being clever enough, she wasn’t under any illusion that he’d do this for free. She’d practically roped him into a pitiful scheme and instructed him on how to behave, only to have him go through the motions of an inconvenient dinner with a woman who couldn’t seem to get enough of him. She’d have offered to help him with something anyways, he deserved at least that much. Assessing him now, the wind racking through his curls, she gave a soft smile. “Thank you.” Muttered she. “I really couldn’t have done it without you.” She meant it. If he hadn’t been kind enough to go along with her ruse she’d have had to confess to the truth and possibly lose her only chance at this. He seemed to be making some sort of comment and she shook her head lightly, laughing. “I mean it though. I owe you.” Those three words seemed to do the trick and his wicked grin was back to his roguish features, the glint in his eyes mixing with the greenness of his hues. Slipping back into his usual quick-witted personality he murmured on until Riven huffed out her breath. Moving to respond, some strands of her hair falling out off the tight bun she’d been sporting and framing her face, she could see the movement of a shadow within her peripheral vision. Starting at once, she turned only to be met with the sight of Mrs. Sutherland unsubtly trying to watch them from the window. Honestly, had this woman no dignity? She appeared worse than the awful lady in charge of the interviews of London Bound. Frankly, her unseemly obsession with the love life of other people made Riven wonder what sort of marriage she must have to elicit such a reaction. Scrunching up her nose and regaining her attention onto Matt, who’d watched her with a curious expression and had his hand in midair, supposedly to wave at her, she uttered. “I think someone’s expecting us to kiss goodbye.” Her tone dripped with something akin toexasperation. He seemed to catch on and grin, challenging her. Something she’d noticed he liked to do a lot. With a heavy sigh, mainly for his benefit, she closed some of the distance, standing on her toes. With a swift motion she brushed her lips against his, pressing softly. Tender, sweet, simple. Nothing he probably was used to but this was pretend and this was Matthew and why should she make it into anything more? She had nothing to prove. And she didn’t like the idea of just snogging anyone senseless at random. Especially not after… Drawing away, not letting him initiate anything more even if he wanted to, she muttered. “This makes us even.” And left him there on the cobblestoned path.

She’s curled up within the small seat, the oversized sweater that drapes across her tiny frame wrapped around her knees and her laptop resting on top of her lap. She’s working, producing and mixing sounds together in a rapid tempo, the music softly blasting through her headphones. She can see the tall lanky figure of her roommate in the peripheral vision of her eye and is all but fucking glad that the tension that had lingered around him for the past few days appears to have lessened slightly. She knows better than to ask and he knows he won’t have to talk. It’s how they function, their unspoken agreement hanging in the air no matter where they go. No heartfelt moments, just fun and games. And with the almost twenty hour flight ahead of them it seems like the best course of action anyways. She shifts then, her hand snatching towards the bag of nuts he holds to pop one within her mouth, barely paying attention to her companion. But when her hand doesn’t seem to land within the crispy bag but rather collides dangerously close with two whole different sets of nuts, she looks up. Then after a brief pause, bursts out laughing. “Oh my god! Fuck. I thought you still had that fucking bag of nuts.”

Send me 📝and my muse will reveal their thoughts about your muse.

Their first impression: ‘What an awful dancer but fun nonetheless.” They first met when Pip was drunk and it was Kailet’s wedding and she was just dragging everybody in for a dance.

Their current impression: ‘Why won’t you accept that tea parties are the best thing you neanderthal!’ I personally think she’s claimed him as her new and forever best friend but that’s just me.

What they like the most about your muse: ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone I can wholly be myself around and for some reason, I feel like I’m in a safe haven when I’m with or talking to Matthew. So I guess I like how comfortable he makes me feel and how real he is. It’s refreshing.’

What they dislike the most about your muse: ‘I don’t dislike anything about Matthew, he’s a pretty ace guy. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll find something about him I don’t like.’

What your muse is for them ( Friend, lover, rival ecc.): ‘Matthew’s a friend, I’m like the best person he’s ever snapchatted though. Hah, no, seriously though he’s my knight in shining armour.’

A general opinion of their relationship: ‘Genuine. Authentic - I can’t think of any other synonyms and they call me a writer, hah!’

While most of the time Riven just asked the questions and kept the conversation going, being a polite and hardworking student and always getting the right information without ever overstepping her boundaries, this time everything seemed to be different. First of all, her client, a rather aristocratic woman with thin blue eyes that seemed uncivilly piercing and inappropriate with the polite tilt to her lips, would rather not stop talking. Instead of getting any word in, the woman seemed perfectly content babbling her head off with unimportant nonsense that Riven only halfway listened to. She hadn’t even come for the interview yet, only to set up a date and become acquainted before discussing further details. But it had been over thirty minutes and somehow she was still listening to the story of a loving husband and what he’d done for them on their anniversary. When the woman had swiveled around abruptly, staring at the brunette with pensive eyes and asked if she had someone of her own, for surely such a lovely girl, - albeit her lack of fashion sense - would have found someone, the whole ordeal had rather exasperated Riven and she almost rudely told the woman that she didn’t need a man in her life to be complete and that she was perfectly fine on her own, thank you very much. But the words of her boss and the fact that this client could change everything had stopped her from spewing out just what she thought and instead she’d smiled and nodded, affirming that she did indeed. Which would turn out to be the small lie that would create a whole web of deception and betrayal.

It was also this that had her in a frenzy because rather than just forgetting it the woman seemed dead set on inviting her and her ‘boyfriend’ to dinner to discuss their business further. Riven had at the time thought it was just a simple answer to a question that obviously seemed to be important to her client. Now, no matter how she spun it, her little lie would miraculously have to become true or she’d have to risk disappointing a potential big source and be setback in her career. And if there’s anything Riven dreads more, it’s failing. She’s determined, hardworking, and frankly exceptionally clever. But she doubted that the solution would lie in her beloved library this time. No matter how much she values books and is a firm believer that reading up on things usually helps getting one out of a sticky situation, there would be no information to be gained on how to find a boyfriend for just a few days. And frankly she refused to ask him. While he’d undoubtedly say yes she would grudgingly admit that she had a little too much pride and dignity to stoop to that. And rather, his leering just made her uncomfortable and reminded her a little too much of the person who’d ruthlessly carved the scar on her left arm. Utterly lost in her own thoughts, the girl barely notices her surroundings and seems to nearly stumble into the tall frame of the curly haired boy.

artemis: how? you know what forget about it

artemis: laid down the details for me