[012] roman the romantic

                              Alice gasps, a wide grin on her face as she sees the present Roman holds out for her. It's an expensive neck, one Alice will wear on her neck faithfully like a dog would with its treasured collar. She makes sure to kiss Roman on the cheek with the passion of high school sweethearts before she's moving her hair to the side, allowing Roman to put it onto her. And then she slings her arms across his neck, pulling Roman in for a kiss which lasts a while. Just enough for the paparazzi hiding around the corner to snap pictures of them. By all appearances, it looked like Roman had stopped by Moderne just to see the new editor-in-chief and girlfriend and give her a sweet present to brighten her day, exactly like a doting boyfriend should.

                              The news was out: Alice Kim and Roman Roy were happily in love, finally unveiling their relationship to the world after keeping it a secret for several months now. Roman may not have been serious about his previous relationship but he definitely was about this one. Alice was his best friend and the love of his life, and Alice knew that she had found the one with Roman.

                               At least, that's what Logan and Iseul sold to the news.

                              For the first time, both Alice and Roman were in the news but for positive reasons. Roman hadn't managed to fuck something up and Alice hadn't fucked someone of importance. In a way, Alice knew that her parents and Roman's dad were kind of genius for the idea. But still... Alice hated that she had to pretend all the time now. The only good part about it was that it was with Roman and he wasn't nearly as boring as any of the other guys her parents had tried to set her up with in the past.

                            "If I didn't know any better," Roman replies as they walk away, holding hands, "I'd think that you enjoyed kissing me. Which... I totally get."

                            Alice rolls her eyes. She did actually enjoy it but there was no way she was going to tell him that. He would never shut up - although it wasn't like he did much shutting up anyway. "Don't get too cocky. It's not like we'll ever be able to do anything else so I might as well live it up bow. Thank you for the necklace, even if I have a million just like them."

                            "It wasn't my idea. But it looks good for the cameras so," Roman shrugs. "I would've gotten you a much better gift."

                            "Oh, c'mon, I really do like it. You can be so romantic when you're ready. Roman the Romantic... that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Alice says with a smile.

                            "Fuck you," Roman pouts.

                            "I'm being serious! You're so sweet and caring. You're the perfect boyfriend and I know you'd be the perfect husband," Alice remarked.

                            "Ugh, you're gross. I think I'm gonna vomit," Roman shakes his head.

                            "You know, I actually think our parents were onto something when they paired us up. We couldn't be any more different," Alice adds. "I'm the girl who's slept with almost every guy in the city and you're the guy who doesn't even know what a vagina looks like."

                           "Can you not say vagina?" Roman asked. "Be a little classier than that."

                           "Fine, pussy then. You're the guy who doesn't even know what a pussy looks like," Alice corrects her.

                           "I do know what pussy looks like. Why do you keep acting like I've never had sex before?" Roman nearly shouts.

                          "It's not my fault you give off middle aged virgin vibes. Why? You actually had sex with Grace?" Alice laughs, faltering when she saw the look on Roman's face. "Wait, you did?"

                          "As a matter of fact, I did. At least three times," Roman replies, holding three fingers in front of Alice's face just to prove his point.

                          Alice feels just a little jealous, although she doesn't know why. Roman and Grace were over so it's not like she had anything to really worry about. But still... "Well, was she good?"

                            Roman begins to answer but Alice quickly cuts him off again.

                            "I mean, it's not like you've had a lot of experience so it's not like you'd be able to know if she was good or not. But there's no way she can be better than me," she adds.

                            "Someone's full of themselves," Roman snorts.

                            Alice shrugs. "Maybe I am. But the amount of men who've begged me to stay -."

                            "Excluding Max," Roman adds, grinning like a smug little shit.

                            "Excluding Max," Alice glares at Roman before her glare softens into something a little more playful, "The amount of men who've begged me to stay because of how good I was just proves that I must be doing something right. And if you're not so sure, there's only one way to find out, Rome."

                            Just as Roman prepared to respond, Alice heard her phone ring and Alice quickly decides to answer it when she saw that it was Catherine calling her. Roman's slightly grateful for the interruption because he felt as though he was about to explode. The mere thought of sleeping with Alice was one he had entertained many times before... on many nights... by himself. 

                           But there was no way Roman would admit that. Alice would never shut up about it. She was already convinced that Roman was head over heels for her after all. (And maybe he absolutely was)

                            "Who is that?" Roman questioned.

                            "Your very cool sister," Alice responded. "Hey, Cat."

                            "Hey," Catherine replied in a sing-song tone.

                            "Tell her I said hi," Roman states.

                            "Roman says hi," Alice remarked.

                            "Roman's there with you?" Catherine questions.

                            "Yeah, why?" Alice looks over at Roman who looks back at her with furrowed brows.

                            "I need you to tell him something. Whatever he does, don't go along with Kendall in the upcoming meeting," Catherine answered.

                            "What does Kendall have to do with anything?" Alice inquired.

                            "Kendall's planning to kick Dad out of the company. He's trying to get everyone at the company to vote against him. But you have to make sure Roman doesn't go through with it. It's going to be a shit show," Catherine explained.

                            "How do you know?" Alice asks, although that was just one of Alice's questions. Knowing how powerful Logan was, Catherine just didn't understand how Kendall thought he could try and go against him.

                            The whole idea of trying to kick out Logan was practically a death wish. And she didn't want to see Roman getting hurt in the process. He had already been hurt enough times by the man.

                            "I got some advice," Catherine vaguely responds.

                            "Damian gave you some advice?" Alice raises a brow, sharing an amused look with Roman.

                            "Yeah," Catherine reluctantly answers, almost sounding sheepish. If you knew Catherine Roy, you knew that she was a lot of things - but sheepish was not one of them. This was definitely something new and in Alice's mind, that had to mean one thing.

                            "Oh, you two are definitely in love," Alice teased.

                            "Gross," Roman groans before pretending to gag.

                            "Just like you and Rome?" Catherine shot back, a teasing tone lacing her words.

                            "Whatever. I'll be sure to let Roman know," Alice replies, deciding to not play into Catherine's little trick. With Catherine already convinced that Alice and Roman were soulmates, she didn't want to add any more fuel to Catherine's fire. Besides, Alice and Roman were the only ones allowed to tease Catherine, not the other way around.

                            "Let Roman know what?" he asks before Alice waves Roman away.

                            "Good. I'll leave you two to have fun on your little date. But I'll be seeing you later," Catherine replies.

                            "See you later," Alice chuckles before she finally hangs up the phone, placing it inside of her purse while Roman kept staring her down.

                            "Okay, what were you two talking about?" Roman questioned when Alice didn't immediately rush to tell him.

                            "Cat called to warn you about Kendall. Apparently he plans on trying to vote your dad out of the company. She says not to side with him though," Alice explains. 

                            It was moments like these where she was glad her parents had their own magazine and she wasn't in business like Roman. Alice would probably kill herself if she had to deal with anything Roman and his siblings did. 

                            "What do you think I should do?" Roman asks her.

                            "Me?" Alice raises a brow. Out of all the questions she expected Roman to ask her, that was the last one.

                            "Yes, my love," Roman teases, making Alice smile, "Give me the best advice possible. I won't go through with anything unless I hear your advice."

                            Alice doesn't remember the last time someone had asked for her advice on anything. Sure, she was running Moderne now so everyone had to go along with what she ordered. But her parents had never cared to hear what she had to say - neither did her old friends and her exes. Roman, however, was proving to be an exception.

                            "I think you should go with Catherine. Don't go with Kendall. I love him and all but I don't think he'd ever win against your dad. The smarter thing to do would be to side with your dad. Or pretend to. And when a better opportunity comes around, you make your move. You deserve to be a little selfish. Well, more than you usually are," Alice declared.

                           Roman grins, making Alice falter. "What?"

                          "You are an evil little sociopath. And it's incredibly hot," Roman comments.

                           "Hot enough for you to buy me dinner after work?" Alice responded.

                           His eyes narrow. "The last time I checked, you had money of your own."

                          "Yeah, but I enjoy spending your money more. That means I have more of my own, duh," Alice explains, placing one last kiss on his cheek before she began heading towards the building. She had work to get back to, especially with the new issue coming around the corner.

                           Another benefit of this fake relationship (and soon to be fake marriage) was that more people were buying Moderne. Everyone was interested in Roman Roy's longtime friend turned trophy girlfriend and they wanted to see what she was doing. Even though Alice hates it when her parents were right, she supposed she'd relent this time. Her parents, as cruel and tyrannical as they could be, always seemed to know what was best for their only daughter.

                          "You already know what I like so I better not see a single thing wrong when I get back to our place tonight," Alice adds.

                          "Our place?" Roman repeated.

                          "Did I stutter? Oh, you better make at least two closets available for me when I move all my shit in," Alice explained.

                          It was going to happen eventually. Plus, Alice liked Roman's place a little too much. There was more space and she didn't feel so... alone whenever she was there. It was comforting in a way Alice wasn't used to.

                          "Any other requests, your Royal Highness?" Roman raised a brow.

                         "I can't think of any for now, no. You're free to go. I so appreciate the totally unplanned visit to my place of work, but a girl has to finish work and -," Alice opens the door before beginning to walk inside. But a hand on her arm stops her from getting very far.

                         "What? I'm bored and I have nothing else to do," Roman pouts, hanging onto Alice's arm. Sometimes, he acted like a perverted teenage boy. Other times, he could be such a child. Alice was one of the few blessed to see both sides.

                         "What can you do? Sit there and watch me work?" Alice suggests. She had been obviously teasing but little did she know, that was exactly what Roman had been thinking of.

                        "Uh.... yeah," Roman admits.

                        Alice rolls her eyes before holding the door open a little wider, allowing Roman to walk inside. He grins as he walks inside and Alice follows after him. She watches him as he looks around, seemingly pleased with the place. He had imagined the inside of Moderne a million times but he had never gotten the pleasure of actually walking inside the place until now.

                       "Ooh, fancy. Very, very fancy. Why haven't I been here before?" Roman questioned.

                       "Because I'm scared you'll terrorize all the people that work for me," Alice admits.

                       "Sounds like me," Roman shrugged. He wouldn't even bother to deny it.

                        "Be on your best behavior, Rome," Alice frowned.

                        "I will be, I promise," Roman replied as he got into the elevator with Alice, pressing the button so they could go straight to the top floor.

                       Spoiler alert: he wasn't going to be on his best behavior.

( 🥀💔🍸 )

word count: 2200
notes: here's chapter twelve!!! i'm having tew much fun writing this "fake" relationship with alice and roman in case you couldn't tell