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Sean looked back and forth between me and the lawyer. "You two know each other?"
"Yes," I answered, walking to the desk. "We're both parts of the conspiracy to take over the world."
"Ah, KGB stuff." Sean pulled the chair out for me, then sat down himself. "Let's take over the custody first. Deal?"
"Works for me. World domination is kinda the long-term goal, anyway. It might take a few more decades." I nodded for the lawyer to start his scheming.
"So, you two are going to be engaged?" Mister Yarikov said, then pointed at me. "You need to learn how to fake it."
"Me? Why just me? I can fake it just fine. Get to business. I was told you can give us proof that we’ve been dating for a while.” I snapped my fingers at him. Maybe I was a little annoyed by his attitude. Just a little. “So, give it.”
"I can't make it appear out of thin air. You need to help me make it. Go out on a few dates, a vacation, but something that can't be easily tracked as recent. Take pictures together. Write love letters. Get Valentine's Day cards." He pulled out a stack of greeting cards from his desk and gave us a couple for each holiday. "These have the year they were copyrighted on the back."
I looked at the Valentine’s card with the sweetest declaration of love. Yeah, like someone would give me a card like that. Pff. This faking would take serious effort on Sean’s part.
"I can't just take a vacation. I have rent to pay," I grumbled. Not that I wouldn't do whatever I could to help, but I couldn't let my sisters go homeless.
"Yeah, about that. You should move in together," the lawyer said as if it was no big deal to move in with someone I had met yesterday.
Sean stared at me. "I… umm… have a spare bedroom. And we can figure something vacationy for your days off. Or I can just pay you for whatever days you have to take off. Please, don't back out of it."
"I told you already, I won't back out, but I can't afford to pay two rents, and I can't just stop paying for my apartment. I'm not the only one living in it." Besides, finding one with the right balcony for Ljuba had been hard.
"You don't have to help me with rent. I own my house, and it's all paid up. It's just me and Glen there." He gave me that puppy eye look he had used last night. As if that would work on me.
"Fine. I just need time to pack."
"I can help," Sean offered.
"Take pictures of you two packing together," the lawyer said, then gave me a pointed look. "Look happy on them."
I rolled my eyes. "Are we done here?"
"For now, yes. Get me pictures, letters, and cards, then we'll see what else we need to do. Oh, and get to know each other. Favorite colors, favorite foods. That sort of thing."
I wished the lawyer a good day and left the office, kinda hoping his day would suck.
"Want to have lunch and figure out the game plan?" Sean asked.
"Sure." I nodded down the sidewalk. "There's a nice coffee shop two blocks down."
"Good, 'cause I'm new in town, and I haven't been able to figure out all the cool places yet." He walked next to me, his shoulders and back straight.
"You served in the military," I guessed.
"Army," he answered. "Joined the day I turned eighteen."
I nodded, not needing to hear the rest. The need to escape was too familiar.
"Your favorite color?" he asked.
"Black because black is night when everyone is sleeping, and I don't have to deal with anyone’s crap."
Sean chuckled. "Mine is green."
"Fine, my real favorite is green too, especially when it's heavy on yellow hues, so it looks like the sun is shining through the tree canopy." I pointed out the door to the restaurant on our right, hoping it would distract Sean from my too-detailed description. What had possessed me, anyway?
Sean ran a few steps ahead and opened the door for me. We picked a table in the back, where few would look our way.
