Chapter 4: Do I know you?

"Er" I said looking at him, "by getting to get to know each other you mean?" He smiled and for a second my heart did a funny little flip flop.

"By that I mean we get to know each other I mean what does the average couple know about each other? Are there any secret birth marks I should know about?" he said surveying me as if he could look at me through my clothes!

I could feel my cheeks redden and I picked a cushion from the couch and smacked him on his head.

"OW! I was just kidding! Jeez you are one violent chick aren't you?" I smiled at him and shrugged my shoulders.

"So..." he began, "What's your favorite color?"

"Purple" I said without missing a beat.

"My turn" I said, what is your favorite color?"

He looked at my hair and smiled, "Red." I blushed and raised my eyebrows.

"Ok ummm your favorite holiday destination?" he asked.

I looked at him and said, "I have never had a vacation."

He looked at me like I had just said that I have a tail!

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Seriously" I replied with an amused smile.

"Why not?" Jude continued asking.

"Well my dad died when I was 5. Since then it has been a struggle for my mom and I."

I felt a lump forming in my throat.

"Hey where is your mom?" Jude asked.

I looked at him while deciding what do I tell him. I did not want to tell him the truth and want his pity.

"She stays with her umm her sisters?"

Stupid Natasha! Are you asking him or telling him?

He looked at me quizzically and asked, "So don't you have to tell her about your wedding?" I shook my head not trusting my voice.

"No there is no need for her to know. I will visit her once in a while and within a year we are going to be single again, so no need." I said with a forced smile.

He looked like he wanted to ask me something more but didn't insist.

"So what does your dad do?" I asked sipping the cold coffee that Mrs. Bower had kept in front of us a few minutes back.

"Erm have you ever heard of this architect called Joshua Smith?" asked Jude.

I snorted on my coffee which by the way is not the most attractive thing to do in case you were wondering. A huge drop landed on Jude's T shirt.

"The Joshua Smith? Joshua Smith of Smith enterprises?" I asked.

Jude gave a satisfied smirk. Hell, who did not know the guy? He had projects in the middle east, Asia, Europe, well just about on every continent! This guy was loaded and then some.

"So, you are an architect?" I asked.

He nodded. Oh, my future husband was an architect and I didn't even know that! He was the scion of one of the most prominent business organizations!!

"So, Jude, isn't your family's life very closely monitored by the media?" Jude looked at me like I was the one who discovered the sun!!!

"Oh shit!" he said. I looked at him I was sort of enjoying his discomfort.

He was tugging at his hair; I have to admit he kinda looked adorable like that. He looked at me pleadingly.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh no no no. No Jude! Do not give me the puppy eyes! What am I supposed to do? You were the one who said you have it all figured out!"

I mean what was I supposed to do? His friends knew, his housekeeper knew. He had already told his parents he would be coming to visit them with me next week!

"Ok" I said rubbing small circles along my temples, "let's just think. We have to be very very careful and no one can know about this sham."

He nodded his head. "My parents won’t announce anything until they are sure about us", said Jude.

I nodded and said, "Just ask your friends to keep it under wraps and I will tell Joey."

He nodded in return. Another hour passed in our attempt to get to know each other better. We could not falter now. Finally, my stomach growled and Jude looked at me with amusement.

He was about to say something but before he could open his mouth I said "Don't!" and he shut his mouth.

Jude's POV

We were getting to know each other much better now. We had similar tastes. We both liked Chinese food and were prison break fans. As we had asked each other every question possible that couple's ask each other in a span of at least 5 years! We were almost done with our discussion when her stomach growled in hunger. I was about to point out that she had eaten a huge breakfast when she asked me to shut it. Honestly for a tiny person she sure ate a lot! But, obviously she didn't like it if I pointed it to her. Well which girl did? We went and grabbed lunch which was a delectable chicken casserole and mashed potatoes. After lunch Natasha got up to help Mrs. Bower who was making dinner. The girl just couldn't help herself from helping others!

Suddenly my phone rang and I went to answer it. I checked the display and groaned. It was Sophie. She was the girl I had been dating like last week and she just couldn't take it that I had dumped her. I saw Natasha looking at me puzzled as she listened to Mrs. Bower who was talking about making perfect lasagna. I answered the phone.

"Ju babe!" she shrieked from the other end, I winced.

What the hell I had been thinking when I asked her out? Then again, one look at her long legs, hourglass figure and straight blonde hair had me thinking from an organ that was not my brain. Anyway, her shrieking brought me back to the present.

"You haven't been answering my calls." She said in a sing song baby voice. Seriously? Why do girls even do that! They don't sound cute at all! They make us feel like cradle snatchers when they do that!

I looked at my phone disgusted and replied, "Hey Sophie, I have been very busy and I am busy right now as a matter of fact. Can I call you back?"

"No can do Ju baby." She said in the same annoying baby voice.

"You have to meet me. You have been avoiding me for a looooong time now."

"Ok. Meet you tonight at 9 at Tornado?" I said.

"Really?" she asked surprised that I had given in.

I smiled to myself and said "Really, I have a surprise for you." I hung up as she was in the midst of gushing how she couldn't wait for tonight.

Oh, she was in for a surprise alright! I called Gary and told him to meet me at Tornado by 9. I told him to inform the others. By the time I finished speaking to Gary, Natasha had helped Mrs. Bower and she was done with her work earlier than usual.

"You are a lucky man, Mr. Jude. She is a gem!" she said while leaving. I just smiled like an idiot at her.

This was a change. Normally she left giving the girl with me a disgusted look. If looks could kill half my girlfriends would be dead. Scratch that, all of them would have been dead.

I went to search for Natasha and found her in my room assembling all her stuff that we had shopped for yesterday. She had folded the clothes in neat piles and her shoes were kept in one corner. Yeesh, she was beginning to scare me a little. I looked at her as she hummed to herself and got up. She hadn't realized I was watching her. She went to my cupboard and a warning bell went in my head. Before I could stop her she opened my cupboard and was attacked by all my stuff. She shrieked and struggled to come up from a pile of clothes, book, skates, basketball and ouch! A baseball bat, that must've hurt. I rushed and pulled her up. When she was out of that pile I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was a sight to see. And right there on top of her head, oh no! was an underwear that an old girlfriend of mine had gifted to me.

Her IQ was -9 and she must have been out of her mind when she bought me a red underwear that had 'wildman' printed in gold on top of them with little golden hearts. Damn it! I should've thrown them a long time back.

"Natasha!" I said, "Are you ok?"

She just nodded, which was a mistake because the underwear slipped on her face. She shrieked and pulled it off.

"Seriously? Wildman?" she asked raising an eyebrow. I looked anywhere but at her.

"Ow!" I looked up and saw she was feeling her head.

I reached forward and checked. There was a slight bump on her head. I guess the baseball bat had found its mark.

"What were you trying to do?"

She looked at me miserable, her hair messed, her face was flushed and her eyes looked bright green, then suddenly she pouted as she contemplated what to say next. I so wanted to grab her and hold her that time! Whoa Jude, calm down. She will kill you!

"I just wanted to keep my stuff in it. I mean we have to make everyone believe we are living together!"

I looked at her surprised. That made sense.

"But" she started, her voice rising with every word "I forgot you live like a pig!"

I raised my hands, “Tasha calm down." Her expression changed, and she stared at me open mouthed.

"Why did you call me Tasha?" she whispered. I could barely hear her.

"Um I dunno. I just came up with a nickname for you?"

I replied not sure why I called her Tasha, but it had the effect that I wanted. She had calmed down.

"My dad called me Tasha" she said with nostalgia. I could see her eyes shining with unshed tears. I felt really bad. I mean I may be a brat most of the time but hey I can't imagine life without my grumpy old man! I put an arm around to comfort her. I didn't know what to say I barely knew the girl! So I did what I thought may cheer her up.

"So um will you help me clean my wardrobe?" I asked. I swear to God her face brightened visibly. This weird woman loved cleaning! It was like therapy for her!!

"ok" she said and went about cheerfully pulling out my stuff that I had so carefully stuffed in my wardrobe. I sighed; all my hard work wasted!

Two excruciating hours later we were done. We had set up my wardrobe and I had to admit I had a lot of space now! All my t shirts sat in one corner, formals in another, jeans and other casual wear occupied another shelf and all my innerwear organized in a box. She did all of it while cheerfully lecturing me about living like a pig.

Seriously? Has she ever seen herself eat? I checked the time and yelped. It was almost 7 and I was supposed to meet my friends in 2 hours at the other side of the town. I asked Natasha to hurry up.

"What's the rush?" she asked surprised.

"Oh!" I exclaimed smacking my forehead, "I forgot to tell you. We are meeting a few friends of mine at a club."

She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do I have to come too?" I nodded. She pouted and went about deciding what to wear.

Natasha's POV

Seriously? How many parties did this guy go to in a week? I am not a very social person and hated partying. I contemplated on what to wear and decided on skinny jeans and a gold shimmery top. This was not gold in a very bling way but a pretty nude gold. I applied some kohl and decided to play some songs on my phone while I decided what to with my hair. I hit the shuffle key and smiled as I heard here without you by three doors down. I sang along on top of my voice. I just felt happy and I realized that for the first time in two years I wasn't alone in my house.

I'm here without you baby

You’re still only only mine

Na na na na

You're still with me in my dreams

And tonight its only u and meeeeeeeeeeeee. I sang a little off key and Jude came out of the shower and covered my mouth with his hand. I turned around shocked. There he was standing in front of me in all his glory just a towel wrapped around his hips. For a moment we just stared at each other. I stared into his blue blue eyes. I didn't even realize he had taken his hand off my mouth. My hand was on his chest and I looked down. Gulp. Why oh why does he have abs? Did I mention abs to die for? I looked up and saw him looking at me intensely. I cleared my throat and stepped back.

"er sorry, but I couldn't take another minute of your singing so I just grabbed the towel and came out!" I narrowed my eyes at him. Who the hell said he could make fun of my singing? I picked a pillow and hit him on his head.

He grabbed another one and thus followed an epic pillow fight, which lasted just a few minutes.

I won because Jude's towel was about to fall off and he threw his pillow and grabbed his towel securing it while I got in a few good hits and won. We then rushed about getting dressed. I finally pinned my hair at the crown and left the rest of it down. I put on some clear gloss and slipped my feet in gold ballet slippers that we had bought. Gosh! Was it only yesterday? I looked at Jude who was spraying perfume, he was dressed in dark blue jeans and a light blue t. Well what do you know? I am already fond of this jerk that I despised 2 days back! I went outside in the living room while Jude went about messing with his hair to get a 'I'm just out of the bed look.' Finally fifteen minutes later, he comes out and takes a look at me. I could feel the intensity of his gaze and felt a blush creeping up. Finally he looked up at me and gave a low whistle.

"Wow you look good!" I smiled at him and before I could say anything he continued,

"Worth every penny!" I felt my smile disappear and the blood drain from my face, I felt like I had been slapped. Wow I knew that it had been too good to be true....