Chapter 5

-NORA-

Vaughn looked like he had had enough of his sister as she went on about the two of us posing for different pictures and designs of clothing we would be wearing and how we would look so cute matching.

One more word and he was going to explode.

"And then you guys can go for an entire wardrobe change into bikinis, you know? Nora, I bet you would look amazing in—"

"Enough!" Vaughn banged his hand against the table, causing both Victoria and I to flinch with surprise. "Victoria, for one second, could you just think about what's coming out of your mouth? If you did, I doubt you would say half the things that you do."

"But Vaughn—"

"Nora, let's go back to the office. Lunch is over." Vaughn stood up after he said those words. I had no choice but to follow his footsteps.

"You guys can't leave me here!" Victoria said with a pout. I gave her an apologetic look but I left the café altogether.

That put Vaughn in a bad mood for the rest of the day which only I had to bear. At the end of the day, I didn't wait for Vaughn to meet me before I booked a cab home. By the time I got home, I was beyond tired and all I wanted to do was sleep. As I unlocked the door to my apartment, I heard the door behind me click open.

I turned around to see my neighbor, Georgia. She was a young upcoming model who did small jobs to get by. I put on a smile that showed how tired I was and close to dropping dead on the floor.

"Hi, Nora. You're just coming back from work?" she said, taking in my outfit.

I nodded my head. "Yeah... Did you want something?" I wanted this conversation to get by as fast as it could.

Her eyes widened, and she facepalmed herself, muttering a curse at herself. "I seem like I'm wasting your time, sorry about that. But this came in for you." I noticed that she was holding out a card.

My brows furrowed. "For me?" I asked, collecting the postcard from her.

"I didn't mean to look at it, but you know? I just kinda did. He's your brother, right? Does he live here with you? I haven't seen him since I moved in. I browsed the competition he won and found out that it was actually a big deal. Wow. I'm so happy for him.

"Do you maybe think you can give me his number or something? I apologize if that sounded too straightforward but damn, he's fine. You've seen him. Is he your blood brother or are you guys like step—"

"Can we continue this conversation another time?" I cut her off, feeling annoyed and pissed off at the absurd things that just came out of her mouth.

"Oh, did I offend you?" Georgia made an apologetic face.

I shook my head, not wanting to prolong the conversation. "No, it's nothing like that. I'm just tired from work, and I need to rest because I have more work to do tomorrow. So if you excuse me..." I trailed off.

I didn't wait for her reply before I pushed my door open and ran inside. I locked the door shut, then puffed a tired sigh once I was in the comfort of my two-room flat.

I lifted the postcard to my face to see a picture of Chris with a gold medal on his neck, wearing only his swimsuit without his goggles or cap, signed 'See you soon, sis.' Chris got all the good genes in the family. While he had wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, a good height, and a nice build, I just had average everything.

Nothing stood out when it came to me. Whenever people found out that I had a brother like Chris, I could just feel them comparing the two of us. They would talk about how ugly I was in comparison to my younger brother. How unathletic, unattractive, and untalented I was compared to him.

But that didn't mean that I hated Chris. He was my baby brother and the only normal family member I had. The rest were either dead or mentally unstable. Including both our parents.

Memories of my childhood started to replay inside my head but I pushed them away, not wanting to sink myself deeper down into the boughs of my low self-esteem. I sent Chris a congratulations text that night, ate, and slept.

The next day was as hectic as I knew it would be. After the meeting with the Russians, Vaughn and I had to go for lunch with some of the business partners, after that, we had to return to work and take care of the work we put off.

By the end of the workday, I was beyond tired. I couldn't decide if I wanted to put up my small pillow on top of my desk and sleep in the office or go through the stress of hailing a cab and having to walk up six flights of stairs to get to my apartment in my building.

The first option sounded so logical and reasonable to me. As I drew open one of my drawers to pull out my pillow, Vaughn walked out of his office. He had a small frown on his face as he glanced at his watch, then at me. I forced myself to sit up straight.

"Sir?" I said.

His brows furrowed. "What are you still doing here?"

I looked at my surroundings, momentarily disoriented. "Um... I, uh... I'm—"

"Get up. I'm dropping you home." Vaughn turned his back to me.

"Yes, sir," I said after a few moments when I registered his words inside my head. I forced myself up from my seat, grabbed my bag, and hurried after Vaughn.

All my shoulders ached as I stood next to him in the elevator. Vaughn didn't say anything to me because his full attention was on his phone. I didn't have the strength to start up a conversation, so we stood in silence till the elevator made a ding sound and the doors opened.

Vaughn and I walked side-by-side till we got to his car. I felt odd being in the same space as him. Feeling thankful that he didn't indulge in a conversation, I put a smile on my face. Like fate, Vaughn switched off his phone and turned his attention to me.

Dang it!

"Don't forget you have to round up early at the office tomorrow for the event," Vaughn started.

My brows furrowed. "Event?" Vaughn made a face. "Event!" I said with a horror-filled tone. I totally forgot about the charity event that the company held every year.

It started with Vaughn and his family visiting orphanages and charity homes, then at night, a ball would be held for rich people's formality's sake. I wouldn't be with Vaughn during the day because I would be holding down the fort at the office.

We would only meet at night when I would be his date for the event. Not like a date date, like his partner, you know? For formality sake. Vaughn didn't like... women. In general. He had no lost love for his mother and younger sister.

I was the only female whom he could tolerate, so it made sense that I was his partner in every event that he attended. It hadn't been any problem for the past five years but now, after the rumors about Vaughn and I, people would be all over our backs about it.

I just hoped I wouldn't cower and embarrass Vaughn in any way.

"I didn't forget about the charity event, sir," I redeemed myself to a skeptical Vaughn. "It just slipped my mind momentarily. It's already been set on my calendar so..." I trailed off, after noticing the displeased look that Vaughn had on his face.

"Don't disappoint me, Nora," Vaughn said when the vehicle came to a halt in front of my building. I nodded my head fervently.

"I won't, sir." I put on a confident smile.

Vaughn leaned in to place a peck on my cheek, but before he got a chance to, I turned away and quickly opened the door and jumped out of the car. I glanced at Vaughn to see that he had a confused look on his face.

I had to put distance between us. Even if it didn't mean anything, kissing an employee on the cheek wasn't ethical.

"Good night, sir," I said quickly, then slammed the door shut. I didn't waste any time as I turned on my heels and raced inside the building.

I facepalmed myself when I conquered the first flight of stairs. I felt so foolish and guilty even though a part of me was telling me that I was doing the right thing. I really hoped that I was doing the right thing.

***

The next day at work, I did all I had to do before five in the evening, and then I went back home to shower and change into something nice. I wore a nicely fitted, below-my-knees, dark-blue gown, which had a round neck with short sleeves and a moderate slit at the back.

I let my long, straight, brown hair fall over my shoulders and I switched in my glasses for contacts and wore short black heels. I touched up lightly on my features and shot a text to Chris, telling him not to call me since I'd be busy for the rest of the night.

By seven p.m. on the dot, Vaughn's car was parked in front of my building. I left my flat to go to him. Vaughn held my hand to his car and I didn't get to escape his peck on my cheek. I pretended not to be affected by it or him while we rode to the event's center.

By the time we got there, the paparazzi were everywhere. I started to feel self-conscious.

"Remember, don't give any answers to anyone who asks you about the tabloids. Threaten to sue them in my name, instead." Vaughn said, and with that, he alighted the car. All eyes turned to him.

I gave myself a push in the back before I got out of the car. Let's just say there were a lot of blinding lights after my first step.