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“Let me take you to dinner,” said Alex.
“Sure,” I said. “As long as we’re done by eight-thirty. I need to go pick Macy up.”
“No problem,” he said in a soft, reassuring voice.
We got to the restaurant. I recognized it immediately from something I’d seen on TV once. It was one of those super-fancy places with Michelin stars and tiny plates of food. I’d seen them before.
“You ever go to Panera Bread?” I asked Alex, as we were seated at one of the tables, and the menus, heavy and dark with black leather cases, were slipped onto our laps.
Alex laughed. I loved it when he laughed and the sound was warm and rich. We’d been seated in a private room in the restaurant.
“That’s a good one,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve been for about ten years.”
“You know,” I whispered conspiratorially, “the food probably isn’t as good as here, but the bill’s about a hundred times smaller.”
“I get that,” said Alex. “But money doesn’t really matter to me. Even if the best is overpriced, why not have it if you can?”
I sighed. Already the magic of the moment had been disrupted. I just couldn’t get my head around it. Why was Alex so keen to show off his money?
“It doesn’t impress me, you know,” I said, warily. I didn’t want him to think I could be bought or seduced into liking him.
“I’m aware. That’s why I like you so much.”
“…Is it?”
“Sure. You wouldn’t believe the amount of women who throw themselves at me. I get marriage proposals from people I’ve never met. All because of what’s in my wallet. Instead of what’s in my head, or my heart.”
The word ‘heart’ seemed to hang around in the atmosphere long after Alex had finished saying it, a small, glowing thing which stung my cheeks. I caught myself blushing in one of the mirrored walls of the restaurant.
“And me?” I said, practically swallowing with nerves as I said it.
“You see me for what I am underneath it all. And you aren’t impressed.”
“You don’t think you’re impressive?” I said, amazed.
“I’ve been lucky,” said Alex. “If anything went wrong in my career—if one of my bars had failed when I was starting out, or I’d made a bad investment—I’d have been just another guy on the street.”
I thought of the old man I’d seen earlier on the corner at work, and felt a tiny shudder of fear run through my body.
“I like you for who you are,” I said. “Not your money.”
“But you do like me?” said Alex. I saw something in the corners of his eyes, as they narrowed a little.
What are you up to?I thought.
“Sure I do,” I said. I had to be careful. I couldn’t lie. I did like him, and knew it wasn’t just a friendship. But at the same time, the idea of letting Alex into my life, ofdatingthe father of my child. It was unthinkable.
“So, how would you feel about getting married to me?” said Alex.
And for a moment, everything was quiet in the restaurant. I felt like the volume had been turned down on the world. And then I felt my heart hammering in my chest at an impossibly loud volume.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be a real wedding,” said Alex. “But Zeke and I have been talking, and we’ve come across this interesting loophole in the laws concerning fraud and…”
His voice seemed to go quiet, and I stopped listening.
“Of course not,” I said, in a toneless voice. “Not real.”
“Yeah. You’d just have to pretend. Of course, the marriage license would have to be real, though. Otherwise I might be up for more than one count of fraud. But we’d divorce afterwards.”
