“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” she desperately assured me. “I went back to work after we had coffee and got sucked into this meeting where our boss presented us with this new client. They’re a toy company. And he wasn’t going to let me take a stab at the pitch because I’m not married with kids. There’s this big promotion on the line, you see. And without a chance at this client, I would be out of the running.” She stopped just long enough to catch her breath before jumping right back into talking a mile a minute.
“I panicked. I froze. And you were fresh on my mind because we just had coffee and because you have Olivia and all. I … well, I told my boss that I was engaged to a single dad so I could stand a chance at landing this client and the promotion. I know it sounds crazy. I’m sorry. I understand if you never want to see me again.”
I nodded, processing everything she had just said. It was crazy. But acting crazy for the sake of your career was something I understood all too well. It had been a pretty crazy move to drag us all down to Cherry Falls, after all. And it paid off. Most risks I took for my job paid off, and I found myself empathizing with Kate’s desperate drive and determination. Anything to get to where she wanted to go. More than understanding it, I liked it. I liked her.
“Sure,” I said finally. “I can show up to this thing as your fake fiancé.”
“Really!?” Her eyes grew so wide, I thought she might cry. “Oh my god, Ben! Thank you so much!” She leaped from her seat and threw her arms around my neck. “You have no idea how much this means to me! Thank you! Thank you!”
The scent of her hair and the glorious feeling of having her body and big perfect breasts pressed against me was almost enough to keep me from saying what I was about to say next. But I knew I had to.
“So that problem’s solved,” I sighed. “But the bigger problem is …”
“What is it?”
“I’m not actually a single dad,” I confessed. “Olivia is my friend’s kid. I don’t have any children and I’ve never been married.”
3
Kate
My nostrils flared as I stared up at Ben with wide, crazy eyes. “You what!?!?”
“I’m sorry. It’s our thing. Olivia comes with me to the park sometimes and you know, the whole widowed dad thing really makes women go crazy for you,” he smirked, as if it was no big deal. Which only infuriated me more.
“And what about three or four dates in!?” I shrieked in disbelief. “Would you have kept lying about Olivia being yours then!?”
He cut his eyes to the side, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Uh … Kate. I don’t know if you noticed but I wasn’t exactly returning your calls and texts. There wasn’t going to be three or four dates.”
My heart dropped from embarrassment, but it quickly turned to boiling rage again. I hadn’t been crazy for assuming we would see each other again. I knew I hadn’t.
“What!? Why!? Then why did you give me your number!? And act like you wanted to see me again!” I fumed.
“Look, you seem like a great girl,” he offered cautiously. “Or at least you did before you stalked me down and started yelling at me. Doesn’t mean you’re not great! But right now … you are hardcore giving off the crazy vibe. All of that aside, you’re super hot and I had fun at coffee and all. But … I think we’re looking for different things.”
I wrinkled my face up, feeling even more flabbergasted than before. “Sure, I can see how I seem a little crazy right at this moment. But how the hell do you know what I’m looking for? What is it exactly that you’re looking for!?”
“Something that doesn’t last long enough for a lie about being a single dad to matter,” he said matter of factly.
My face turned hot and it felt like the blood coursing through my veins was lava. I was about to explode, and I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. I glared at him and quickly tried to accept the facts.
First, he was an asshole player who would lie and pretend to be somebody he wasn’t just to get laid. Second, I’d have to figure out what the hell to tell my boss about my non-existent fiancé and figure out how to cling onto my chances of having a shot at this new client and the promotion. I couldn’t do that while wasting time bickering with Ben over mixed signals in dating.
I let out a vicious, exasperated growl and spun on my heels to storm out of there as fast as I could. On my way out I ranted and raved about the whole thing.
“Unbelievable. To think you’d lie about having a dead wife and … wait.” I stopped dead in my tracks and whipped back around to Ben. “If Olivia isn’t your kid … where did she come from!?”
He waved his hands in the air and came running over, desperate to address the look of fear growing on my face. It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that I could have been dealing with a kidnapper and who knows what else.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. It’s nothing like that!” he insisted. “She’s my buddy’s kid. He knew she was with me.”
“Does he know you’re lying to people and saying that she’s yours!?”
“Yes, actually.” He crossed his arms and looked down at me with a smug smile.
“Ugh. You’re disgusting,” I hissed.
“Hey, you’re the one lying to your boss about being engaged to some guy you just met just because you thought I had a kid and could get you promoted at work. How is that any better than what I did?”
My tongue tied up in knots with a million arguments I wanted to make all at once. I was starting to be too flustered to speak, so I marched off again. As I went, I quickly added over my shoulder, “You have no idea what it’s like to be a single, child-free woman trying to make it in a male-dominated workforce. Just stick to what you actually do understand … Conning women into sleeping with you.”
I had half a mind to flip him a middle finger on my way out, but I realized that might have been a bit too much. And anyway, it wouldn’t help solve my problem of finding a fiancé in less than an hour. I rushed out onto the busy streets in front of Ben’s office and started walking aimlessly, muttering to myself the whole way.
How to find a fake fiancé … Think, think, think. And fast. Would an escort service do that sort of thing? Surely they would. And I could rummage up some pictures of a fake kid from a catalogue. Oh my god, Kate. Now you’re no better than Ben is. Not just lying about a fiancé but a child on top of that!? What is happening to you!?
I was starting to think I might be better off just quitting my job and moving off to a whole new state where I might find a job at a firm that didn’t force me into telling such ridiculous lies just to stand a chance at getting ahead. I felt sick to my stomach over it all and ducked into an ice cream shop, hoping that some chocolate might soothe my nerves.
I sat down with my small cup of fudge brownie ice cream at one of the speckled tables and sulked in the nightmare of the mess I had gotten myself into. The more I thought it all over, the more impossible it seemed to fix. Then I glanced at how little time I had left and sank into an even deeper state of misery.