“Thank you” He snickered. “Don’t worry, I’ll post it everywhere and even print it out for my desk.” That was the the quickest way in the grave, without a doubt. Bringing his phone back to him, he smiled at the picture. He had to admit, it was an actually nice photo. He set it as his background photo, if they were really going to do this, he needed to make it seem like they were actually dating, and with modern relationships, well she had no choice. Regardless of if Carson backed out, it was still a great background photo in his mind. “Maybe I’ll set it as my screensaver” he shrugged, now he was just pulling her leg. Obviously, he wouldn’t do that, it would embarrass her and as much as he loved giving her a hard time, he wouldn’t do that.
Her shock was clearly visible for him but what he didn’t think about was the rest of the office. He knew he’d draw some kind of attention for the whole of the office to stop and stare. He glanced around, “I’m so damn sorry, I didn’t think they’d all stop” he whispered afterwards. Amir frowned, shaking his head, a small pout crossing his face “please don’t, you’re staying on mine… I shouldn’t be off yours… even if I possibly add your photo to the cover of mine so that I can prove to everyone we’re friends.” Amir let out a small a sigh as she began to pull away. He squeezed her hands before letting them go. Yeah, this was not going to work out for him in the long run huh. How was he going to tell his parents he was dying because of his job. Actually he was more worried about Carson, how she was dealing with all the attention, and if she was going to hate him for it all.
“Wait,” he hesitated. What was she saying. Was he hearing things correctly? “W- Actually? You’re actually doing this with me? And for me? You heard me correctly right? Like, you heard the whole plan and you know it’s probably gonna be more than just once? Like you’re stuck with me Carson, really stuck. Now I don’t wanna give you an out but I just really want you to actually agree” He rushed. Maybe he hadn’t thought about it. He assumed he would have to convince her more not get an okay on the first try. Amir laughed at her joke, “I’m sure you’d look lovely in any wedding dress you’d wear on our day” he grinned, waggling his brows. He shook his head, “ fine but we’re pretty womaning you and me and we can fake rich laugh to all the store owners who ever rejected us.” There were some lies there. “Wow, we’re dating now. Fake, but still dating.”
Carson shook her head in response to his apology. It was fine, really. As much as she did want the ground to swallow her, as much as she really did hate the attention, she knew he didn't mean anything by it. Amir would never do anything to intentionally hurt her and that meant more than a little accidental embarassing ever could so she shrugged it off. Besides, apologies made her uncomfortable. “The downside of being so popular,” she half smiled. Somewhat smiled. He was just so...attentive of her which was a lot (good or bad, she didn't know – or didn't want to know. Either way, the sooner everyone got back to their own work and business, the better.
“I- Yes, I heard you. I might wish I could unhear you right about now but...,” the more he rambled on the more she had to fight off one of those annoying, genuine smiles of hers. Carson would have done anything for Amir, if she were being honest but she definitely wasn't ever going to be honest. Not like that. She couldn't have him thinking they were best friends or anything (of course they were). Or... Or maybe she just didn't want to think about how much he meant to her because that was a lot – in a very scary way. Point was, she rolled her eyes and heaved and sighed like it was such a strain on her but yes, of course. She said yes.
She canted her head, took in a breath and raised both her eyebrows at him. “Our desks have been together for years, you're the only person I eat lunch with and you once had to bring all my work home for me when I had that gross flu like we were in high school or something. I can handle spending time with you. I can handle-,” she tried to say it, 'dating', but she couldn't, “This assignment with you. If I can handle the loser trolls that have tweeted about my important and impassioned thank you very much, articles... I can handle anything.” Then, she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “If I could handle being the V Devil's assistant, I can handle anything.” She laughed at his wedding comments, about their uber rich personas-to-be. Laughed enough that she felt slightly less self conscious about the whole thing, really.
Carson rolled her eyes again for good measure. “Mhm, congratulations.”