Chapter 3
6 months into the fake marriage
Eva continued to sleep in her own room. It helped to keep things separated between what was real and what was part of the fake marriage; however, Loki insisted that she keep the ring on at all times (as would he) because one never knows when someone may just show up. He wouldn’t admit that he’d grown to like seeing that ring on her finger, but any feelings that may have started were kept at bay.
That was, until one night. He was awoken in the middle of the night by Eva’s cries. He couldn’t, in good conscience, ignore her. Instead, he walked briskly to her room to see she was not there but had fallen asleep on the couch again, a common occurrence when her insomnia acted up. She was tossing and turning, tears falling from her eyes as she slept.
Kneeling in front of her, he began to lightly rub her arm. “Darling, it's just a nightmare.” There was no change nor response. Her tossing and cries continued, facing the back of the couch. Loki proceeded to rub her back, giving it light pats to wake her up but not startle her which also had no effect. Without thinking any further, he wrapped his arms around her hoping her subconscious would register the touch to help ease her. Thankfully it had the desired effect.
Once her emotions settled, there was now the decision whether to leave her on the sofa or carry her to her room. Loki opted for the second choice and gently lifted her in his arms and carried her to her bed. Once in her bed, he withdrew his arms. As he released her in order to pull the blanket over her, the nightmare seemed to resume. Indecision plagued him for a moment before deciding he would lay next to her and hold her for a while longer so she could get some rest.
Next thing he knew, it was morning. As she was still asleep, he carefully peeled his arms away, waiting a moment to see if there was any further trouble, relieved when she remained asleep. Quietly leaving the room, he knew there was no way he would be able to fall back asleep, instead opting to go for a run. It was a nice day out, and he hadn't had time over the past week for his usual morning run.
When he arrived back home, Eva was just waking up, confused as to how she fell asleep on the couch but woke up in her bed. She dismissed it as she must have woken in the middle of the night and went to her room but was too tired to remember it.
While Loki jumped in the shower, Eva got breakfast started. Usually it was no more than a cup of coffee on the way out the door, but she was up earlier than usual and made pancakes. It was good timing as the pancakes were ready when Loki got out of the shower. Smelling something yummy, he threw on sweatpants and a shirt to investigate, pleasantly surprised to see hot food on the table.
“You didn't have to make breakfast, darling, but it smells wonderful.”
“I was up early, and pancakes sounded good.”
Up until now, the routine they’d fallen into consisted of Loki getting up early to go for a run. I’d shower while he was running and then get the coffee ready while he showered and got ready, then driving to work together.
This was the start of something new in their routine. Without even talking about it, this is how their Friday routine changed, neither one complaining.
Eva was thankful that all the fuss at work about their abrupt marriage had finally dwindled. Not to mention, she felt safer when the office creep came around. Steve seemed mostly harmless, but sometimes he got too close for her comfort, and he seemed to keep a little more distance between them to which she was grateful; however, he still gave her unnerving looks which no one else seemed to notice. So she tried not to pay attention to him whenever they were in the same room, not even a glance. There was still no denying the chilled feeling she got, still able to tell he was looking at her without seeing where he was, but she kept her concerns to herself, not wanting to make trouble.
Odin assigned her to help a different senior manager, trying to put some distance between her and his son to see what would happen, if it might reveal their marriage to be the farce he thought it to be. Eva continued to shine wherever he placed her, but she always found time to spend with Loki in his office, whether it was to bring him water (because he was so bad at remembering and tended to drink mostly tea or coffee). Sometimes he’d drop in wherever she was to say hello because with this farce, appearances needed to be made. Any sign of a failed marriage or someone discovering their well crafted illusion would inevitably make it back to his adoptive father.
“Johnson, could you spare my wife for an hour or two? I need her help with a few things.” She was surprised when Loki popped his head in the door. Johnson’s office was on the other side of the building from his.
“Yeah, not a problem, Laufeyson. I’m good to go for the day.” With that said, Eva collected her things and followed Loki back to his office. “What’s up hubs?”
“I’ve been getting flooded with emails. Between that and sorting through this paperwork, I could really use your help.” She picked up the paperwork and started sorting through it while he went through his emails. She paired things up that were related and also organized them by order of importance, just the way he liked it.
When they got home that evening, neither felt like cooking and ordered Chinese food, eating in comfortable silence while watching an old movie. Unintentionally, she fell asleep, her head on Loki’s shoulder. He didn’t mind. In fact, he kind of liked it. Rather than disturb her, he used his free hand to cover her with the lap blanket kept on the back of the couch and soon fell asleep after her.
Stirring the next morning, Eva found herself on the couch with a blanket covering her and Loki with his arms wrapped around her, his head leaning on hers while snoring softly. If only there were a camera around to capture this morning so she could savor it once the contract was up. After a moment, she realized her cell was just to the left of her on the arm of the couch. Grabbing it, she turned on the camera function to selfie mode and snapped a picture she’d never let go of.