Page 69 of Fake it for Keeps

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COLT

Iwas surprised at work by Hallie who showed up looking like a literal goddess. The woman was so effortlessly beautiful. She didn’t have to put on pounds of makeup or designer clothes. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, knee-high boots, and a loose-fitting gray sweater. It probably wasn’t an outfit I would choose for her, but I liked it.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“I brought you lunch.”

I stared at her. I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly. “You brought me lunch?”

She was carrying a large bag, one of those reusable ones from the grocery store. She pulled out two containers and put them on my desk and then reached into the bag and pulled out another container.

“How much do you think I eat?” I asked.

She laughed. “One bowl for you. One for me. And the cookies are for your staff.”

I didn’t know what to say. Or do. No one had ever brought me lunch.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Tortellini with sundried tomatoes and mozzarella pearls.”

Again, I was speechless.

“I’m going to take these out to your staff.” She turned and walked back out of my office.

I looked back at the containers. Was she going to sit down and eat with me? How did she know when I would take lunch? What if I had been out?

Hallie returned. “Can I close the door?”

I nodded. She smiled and did so. She reached back into her bag and pulled out utensils, two cans of soda, and a few napkins.

I felt like a bump on a log. Hallie pulled off the lid on one of the containers and put it in front of me. Then she handed me a plastic fork and even a couple of salt and pepper packets that I assumed came from a restaurant.

She smiled and sat down in the chair across from my desk. She pulled off the lid on her own bowl. She took a bite and then looked at me. She frowned. “Do you not like tomatoes? Pasta?”

“No. I mean, yes. I do.”

She smiled and took another bite. I found my braincells and picked up my fork and took a bite. It was good.

“You made this?”

“Yep. I don’t have a job, and I have money in the bank, so I bought the good ingredients.”

I stared at her, trying to reconcile this version of Hallie with the woman who walked out on me. “Why?” I asked.

Her smile faltered slightly. “Why what?”

“Why are you here? You told me you needed space. You ran off to the Hamptons.”

“I didn’t run off. I took a day to clear my head. And now I’m back, and I wanted to apologize for disappearing like that. It wasn’t fair to you.”

I shrugged it off. “You don’t owe me an apology.”

“I do.” She looked up at me, and I saw vulnerability in her expression. “This whole thing—the engagement, the wedding planning, all of it—it caught up with me. I got overwhelmed. But I went to the beach house, spent some time thinking, and I got my head on straight.”

She seemed different. More settled. Like she’d made some kind of decision while she was gone.