Her Love: Chapter 2

Darien could not believe he was doing this. It was absolutely ridiculous, disgusting, and reprehensible that he was here. What little soul he imagined he had left was about to be sucked out of his body and given to the devil as a sacrifice for his greatest desires and wishes.

"Hi Meryl."

"You're early," Meryl drawled as she sat down at the bar.

"No, you're late," Darien muttered back. Approximately an hour late.

"Oh, really? I guess I should wear a watch."

Darien could already feel his body's natural reaction to Meryl's close proximity kick in. It took everything he had to not run away as quick as possible. Meryl inched closer. Darien ordered another whiskey. It was going to be a long evening, especially since he had to ask a favor of her.

"Bartender. Can you make that a double whiskey?"

Meryl, on the other hand, had been late on purpose for a few reasons. First, drinks with Darien was a big deal, therefore, she needed to look like a big deal. Despite Meryl's emphasis of intelligence sprinkled with insult, she was actually quite beautiful. Her natural dark brown hair gently brushed her shoulders, styled in a straight bob. Although her eyes appeared black (much like her soul), at close glance in the sunlight one could see they were actually a dark violet with flecks of brown. Her pale skin was flawless and her delicate cheekbones were the signature characteristic of her pure-bred east coast family.

All of these features were highlighted by the barely-there make-up and designer black dress she had meticulously picked out for the evening. She originally worried that the extra effort would be obvious to Darien and in the end she'd end up looking more like a fool than a vixen. Plus, Meryl also knew that the extra time would result in being late, something Darien extremely frowned upon. However, the moment she sat down, she noticed the lingering glance in Darien's eye. And in that split moment, she knew that her extra efforts were well-calculated. She was gorgeous… and well, he was a man; brilliant, but still a man.

Second, Meryl had needed to spread the news of her and Darien's "date." Before she made it to the bar, she swung by the apartment of a friend to casually say hello and to ask for a book she had no intentions of reading. Of course, all of their close friends were there, including Darien's best friend Andrew. This ordeal wasn't supposed to take a lot of time, but after Meryl told the group her evening plans, Andrew became very interested in what Darien planned to discuss. It took her forever to shake him off and leave.

And third, Meryl wanted to see if this was fluke. She originally planned to show up a half-hour late anyways. If this was something casual and unimportant, Darien would have been long gone from the bar by the time she arrived. She could blow it off and blame it on her earlier evening happenings. However, if he was still there in spite of his hatred for tardiness, Meryl knew that whatever Darien wanted to talk about was dear to him. And this knowledge would serve her greatly down the road.

Meryl cleared her throat.

"What?"

"I would like a drink at some point in time before this place closes. The bartender seems oblivious to this fact," Meryl sneered. Darien rolled his eyes. He could either snap at Meryl which would draw this whole ordeal out longer than necessary or he could just get the bartender's attention and order the damn drink.

"Bartender. Gin and tonic," Darien commanded with an air of cockiness that Meryl could not help but adore. Her eyes watched Darien carefully as he flicked his credit card to the bartender without a second thought and handed her the drink.

"How sweet of you to remember, Darien."

Truth be told, the only reason Darien remembered her drink was because he refused to kiss her after she had a few. There was nothing worse than sex with an intoxicated pine tree. He had already had a few hard liquor drinks and was planning to have more before their conversation was done; Darien needed to take every precaution to ensure he did not drunkenly agree to sleep with her tonight.

"I suppose." Darien grimaced.

Meryl let Darien down another glass of whiskey before she decided to make conversation, "So. Let's cut to the chase. Why am I here?"

Darien sighed, "I need a favor."

Meryl's eyes twinkled with delight. "A favor?"

"There's this girl…"

Meryl's gaze darkened. Darien was too interested in his empty glass of whiskey to notice.

"…who I despise."

Meryl sipped slowly, "Because…?"

Darien fumbled with the right words, "Because she's a cheater."

"Darien, no girl has ever cheated on you–"

"I don't mean like that. I mean, academically. She's cheating, I think. Somehow."

Meryl was perplexed by this. The Yale system was extremely hard to cheat; not because the school was foolproof, but because all of the students were too damn smart to be outwitted by a faker, Darien included.

Then it hit her and before she could think she blurted out, "She's outdoing you."

Darien stiffened at the accusation and loosened his black tie. "…Through cheating."

Meryl started piecing together the story quicker than she was getting the pieces. Darien's entire world was being the best. And here his world was crumbling and the first person he turned to was her. This was very opportune.

Meryl decided to push Darien's hand and nonchalantly replied, "If she's cheating, present the evidence anonymously and let the situation take care of itself."

"Well, that's the thing… I don't actually have any."

"You know what my next question is, right Darien," Meryl started slowly. "Do you not have any evidence because it doesn't exist? Or does it just need to be found?"

For the first time, Darien warily locked eyes with Meryl. His midnight blue eyes revealed the real answer and without anything being said between the two Meryl understood completely why Darien had asked her here, why he had waited over an hour, and why he couldn't bring himself to say anything more out loud:

Darien Shields, the closest thing to perfection on Earth, was desperate. He didn't want this girl to be a cheater; he needed for this girl to be a cheater. Deep down, he feared being a failure. And Meryl knew that fear was a powerful, powerful thing.

After a few moments of silence, Meryl broke eye contact, cleared her throat, and took a sip of her drink. "I'll help you."

Darien didn't know whether those words should have comforted him or not.

"However, I have a few things to say about this," Meryl continued. "She's not a cheater. Cheating is too obvious. If her academic integrity is attacked and she provides a reasonable defense, then it will become a witch hunt for the evil doer who preyed on the young and innocent academic."

Darien could feel himself falling deeper into the rabbit hole and wondered what on Earth he had done.

"If she really isn't worth it, there is probably something to be said about her personal life. That is something that people really can't judge. The fact that she's probably an overachiever would fuel the fire. Secret lives and all."

While Darien didn't feel comfortable with where Meryl was taking this, he did see the validity behind her rationale. The more he thought about it, the less he felt about the whole situation. If Meryl was the mastermind, then…

"All of this would be on condition, of course," Meryl interrupted.

Darien blinked out of his reverie and suddenly woke up to what he was doing. His sense of balance may have been off kilter, but his thoughts suddenly cleared for a moment. It took him several shots of whiskey to even stand being around this woman and here he was making a deal with her? All over some grades? Well, they weren't just any grades, but still. He was essentially putting everything in jeopardy for this shit.

"Nevermind. I don't need your help, Meryl. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Meryl couldn't believe what she was hearing. Darien was probably just as shocked. Quickly, he stood up and threw a twenty dollar bill on the table. Meryl was too surprised to form any coherent sentences and by the time she could Darien was long gone.

Meryl wanted to cry; not out of sadness, but anger. She was so close and then Darien had to blow her off like that… for a second time in a year. For a few minutes, Meryl just sat there seething and thinking of every possible way to pay him back. And just as her anger hit a new boiling point, she came to a moment of clarity and remembered that she knew Darien's secret. The details were less than there, but those wouldn't be hard to piece together. Meryl would have to work a little harder, but who didn't like a hard day's work.

"Darien Shields, you will be mine."

{Starry} | {June 2012}

Hello again! Sorry this chapter took a little longer than expected. The good news is that I already have the next chapter written. Story goes that I wrote the now Chapter 3 storyline before this one, but I wanted to explore Meryl a little bit more before I incorporated so much into the storyline, considering she is an original character. Serena and Darien are beloved and their personalities will be easier to showcase later on, but Meryl is her own kind of crazy which I felt needed to be fleshed out a little more. In any case, this chapter isn't as juicy, but it sets up a lot of the plot. Hence, this has become Chapter 2. I'm not a big fan of solo scene, single dialogue chapters without follow-ups, so I will probably post the next chapter fairly soon. In any case, hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!