Page 5 of The Fallacy of True Love
Her expression cleared. She put her phone down and replied, “Z, hi! Don’t worry about it—we just got here a minute ago.”
“Good. Hi, Mang Berto,” I greeted her driver, who nodded at me in the rearview mirror.
“Sir Alonzo.”
He always addressed me that way, never mind that I didn’t deserve that honorific. I had no fortune, no extraordinary achievements to my name. I didn’t even have my own car.
My girlfriend, however, belonged to a clan that owned multiple successful businesses in the metro. As the sole direct heir to the Lim empire, it had only been a matter of time until she joined the fold. Her parents had given her the ultimatum after she passed the LSAT, and there went her ambition to be a lawyer.
I kissed Dani’s cheek as the car started moving. “Is everything alright? How was your day?”
“Oh, you know.” She sighed. “We’re still down on year-over-year sales, so we’re figuring out how to optimize our Christmas campaign and ad spend.”
Those terms hadn’t always been part of my lingo, but since she started working, I’d quickly learned about marketing. “Is Aaron giving you a hard time?”
The son of her parents’ long-time partners, Aaron was two years older than us and had gotten a head start managing their electronics distribution company. He’d been helping Dani get up to speed with the business since she officially signed on.
“Kind of.” The frown returned to Dani’s face. “But it’s mostly my parents. You know how they are.”
I hummed, not wanting to say anything bad about them in front of Mang Berto. Her parents already disapproved of me. If they heard that I’d criticized them, they’d probably ban Dani from ever seeing me again.
Trying to comfort her, I put my hand above her knee. She flinched at the touch before her thigh relaxed. I wondered about her reaction but chalked it up to her stress over work. “You’re doing amazing, Dani,” I reassured her. “This is only your first campaign. Also, you have another week to go, right?”
“Five days.” She gave me a small smile. “But you’re right. My parents are just going to have to chill.”
I chuckled, doubting they knew the meaning of the word.
“Anyway, how were your exams?”
That killed my humor real quick. “Bad. I think I flunked crim law 1.”
Her brows drew together. “No way. You always get great grades.”
“Not recently,” I muttered. “And trust me, it was bad.”
She giggled. “It’s so weird to hear that coming from you. Now you know how the rest of us feel.”
I could only shake my head. It sucked, but I couldn’t argue her point. I never used to have trouble studying and retaining information.
Until now.
“It’s just your first semester,” Dani said. “There’s an adjustment period.”
I couldn’t afford to have one because my scholarship hinged on my performance.
She put her hand on mine. “Don’t worry about it, Z. At least you’re on vacation now. God, I miss having a sem break. We have meetings scheduled until Christmas Eve.”
I swallowed down my concerns, which seemed insignificant compared to her work issues. Immature, even. “I’m sorry. You’re still joining us for dinner on Saturday, right?”
Luna was coming home for the holidays, and for the first time, her partner Gabe was coming with her. I was looking forward to finally introducing Dani to both of them in person.
Dani’s eyes widened. “Shit. There’s a shareholders’ event my dad insisted I go to. I’m sorry—I forgot to tell you about it.”
“Oh.” Resentment lodged in my throat. Here were her parents ruining our plans again.
“I promise I’ll catch up with you guys as soon as I can,” Dani hurried to say. “I’ll leave right after dinner so I can make it for drinks.”
“Great. Luna’s excited to see you.” Dani had been in Europe with her family during Luna’s last visit so they’d missed each other, although they’d already met on video call.
