The Wedding Date

"God no. I wanna sleep. You go if you want to." He grunted.

She hesitated for a moment, but there was nothing she could do in the room, which smelled like sweat and sex. She dressed and made her way downstairs.

Standing before the buffet she closed her eyes as the strong smell of fresh coffee penetrated her nose.

"Good morning, Anna."

"Oh, good morning Pauline, I hadn't seen you."

"That's all right. I'm I little amazed you're awake to be honest. Poor Davina told me she couldn't sleep because she had the room next to you."

Anna blushed as a tomato.

"But, she also said she was so jealous at how good it sounded," Pauline giggled, "See you later."

With her plate filled with goodies Anna made her way to an empty table. Dear God, she hoped no one else had heard them. It had seemed a turn on when she was drunk last night, now she felt rather embarrassed.

"Is this spot free?"

She looked up to see Simon's smiling, and oh so cute face.

"Sure, help yourself."

"So, where's David? I don't see him anywhere."

"He's still sleeping, he has a bit of a hangover I think."

"Well that's a shame," he said, but it didn't sound sincere. "Have you thought about what I proposed yesterday?"

"I did, actually. But, I don't know if I'm good enough a writer to do something like that. And there's something else, " she hesitated.

"What then?" he asked, frowning.

"Well, it's just, I feel my country is always portrayed in a negative way. I'm sure bad things happen, but that's really only a very small part of the big picture. I don't know if I want to highlight that part again, when I know all the good things that are happening."

He looked at her skeptically, "So the message should be: these girls have a terrible fate and are scarred for life, but at least they come from a beautiful, vibrant  country?"

"Come on, Simon, that's not what I'm saying," she sighed.

"Look, remember you told me about how you rode horses when you were younger? I asked the reception and they actually have horses for the guests. I was so up front to have two prepared in case you were feeling like going for a tour. Why don't we do that and talk about it?"

Anna was stunned. It had been a while since she had ridden a horse, but she was sure she would still have the hang of it. In fact she was overjoyed at the idea, but a little bummed it was Simon who thought of it. Nevertheless, she was impressed he had remembered what he had told her about her childhood in Hungary. She looked at him and he smiled as their eyes connected, she felt her belly flutter again. Oh god, was she falling for Simon right after she slept with David? What had she gotten herself into?

----------

The landscape was stunning. After every turn new beautiful vistas or mysterious pathways awaited them. As she had expected, the horse riding went smooth, not in the least because the horses the hotel provided were really nice and docile. Simon kept talking about ideas for the documentary but she was just content to be out in the open and breathe the fresh air. She hadn't left the city since she arrived four months ago.

The path was steadily rising through the undulating terrain until, after another bend, they arrived at a picnic spot with a scenic view over a creek. They tied their horses to a tree and Anna made her way through the green grass to the edge of the creek.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

She was surprised as Simon stood behind her and put his arms around her middle. His hands folded together on her belly.

"Simon," she hissed, but his arms didn't move.

"Anna, I've known David far longer than you. Since he's been old enough to be interested in girls all he ever did was break their heart. The lucky ones just get dumped before he moves on, the not so lucky ones walk in to find him in bed with his next conquest."

"And you were the white knight, ready to save them, I guess?"

Simon laughed out loud. His body felt dangerously close to hers.

"I'll confess it happened when we were teens. I could see the attraction in the busty blondes he already dated back then. But as I grew up I got interested in what girls had to say, and David still went for the same blondes, so that stopped."

He bend his head towards her ear and softly whispered, "Until now."

She shivered. Her body was betraying her, as if she was still turned on from last night. But she wasn't the kind a girl who would sleep with a boy and then flirt with another the very next day, was she? Simon's hands were no longer on her middle but wandered around, casually caressing her through her dress as if they were a couple. They were both standing there as if it was normal, ignoring how wrong it was to do this behind David's back. Anna threw her head back on his shoulder, enjoying his touches as he became bolder. A hand brushed past the side of her boob, another rubbed her hip, sliding closer and closer to her butt. His body was pushed up against her now, and she could feel he was aroused. She loved that she had this effect on him, that he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

She felt his lips on her neck, kissing her gently, she knew she had to stop this, but she couldn't. He seemed to come closer to her face but backed away every time before their lips could touch. His hand was playing with the hem of her dress, moving it upwards so he could touch the bare skin of her inner thighs. She thought her knees would give in. Finally she couldn't take it anymore, she grabbed his face and pulled it close, pushing open his lips to taste him. He spun her around so they faced one another as they passionately made out.

They stumbled around until Simon lay her down on the picnic table, her legs dangling on the edge. With him standing between her thighs, her dress was pushed up to her middle, she knew anyone coming round the corner would see her underwear. Frantically they kept kissing as the hard wood of the table pushed on her back. She felt him grab her boobs through her dress. Her body was so turned on but doubt kept flying through her head.

"Stop it, Simon!"

"Come on Anna!"

She gathered all her strength and pushed both her hands against his chest, sending him tumbling backwards.

"What the hell?" He screamed.

She hopped from the table and pulled her dress back down.

"Simon, you only want me because I'm David's girlfriend!"

"That's not true. I really like you. David will just get bored of you and exchange you for a bimbo soon enough," he panted, "And what about our dream? The documentary, the book, the blog..."

"That's your dream Simon. I wanna realize my own dreams by my own doing. I don't want to be a prop in your plan, even if I admire what you're trying to do."

He stared at her in disbelief.

"Let's just go back, shall we? I was stupid for coming along," she sighed.

They mounted their horses again and turned back towards the castle. Simon was silent, but she didn't mind, it allowed her to hear the sounds of birds in the trees and the wind whistling through the grass. She still enjoyed the setting and the riding. She could caught the scent of nature as she had done when she was younger and visited her grandparents in the countryside. Most of all she felt proud. Maybe telling Simon off was a mistake, but it was her mistake, and she felt good for standing up. Proud also, that she hadn't given into her physical desire for him, but she was certain she wouldn't wait for another four months to find a boy who could take care of those needs. It was strange how the air of the outdoors made her see the things much more clearly.

--

She had barely left the stable when she bumped into David.

"Anna, finally, there you are. I was looking all over the castle for you."

She couldn't help but blush as she thought back to last night. They shared a small kiss, after all they were still pretending to be a couple. Or were they really one?

"Let's go pack and then we can say goodbye to everyone," David said.

Back in the room she looked around for her clothes, but David grabbed her by the arm.

"Were you gone with Simon?"

"Yes, what about it?"

David was silent for a few seconds, but didn't let go of her arm.

"Anna, I don't want to pretend any longer, I want you to really be my girlfriend."

Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Is that because Simon was hitting on me?"

"No of course not, I've gotten to know you, and I realize I've fallen for you. I can't help myself."

She looked into his eyes, searching for his feelings. Simon's words were playing in her mind.

"David, that's what you're thinking, but really it isn't. And I admit, I was wondering if I was falling for you too. Last night was wonderful, but that was all there was. Maybe we can do that again, but when we leave here we will just be colleagues again, not a couple. You want me now because Simon was after me, but soon enough there will be another Kelly coming by, I'm not waiting for that."

David was looking at her like a hurt puppy. She put her hands on his face and gave him a small peck on the lips.

"You'll get over it. Now let's go impress everybody one more time."

-------Three months later-----

Anna cursed her high heels as she walked the sidewalk to the bar where she would meet her date. Glancing in a display window she checked if her hair was still all right. The buzzing noise of her phone in her purse startled her, she hoped it wasn't her date canceling. Swiping the screen she saw she had a message from Pauline.

"Hi Anna. Read your story, liked it very much. Showed it to the editors, they loved it too, and agreed to publish it in the weekend magazine. I'll send you the details later. We'll announce it on the cover as 'My wedding date as the pretend girlfriend of an English playboy'. Congrats on your first story and keep them coming! Love Pauline."

Euphorically she walked into the restaurant, looking forward to a beautiful night. The boy didn't know it yet, and she would make him work for it, but he wouldn't be going home alone tonight.