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"Are you sure you haven't just been looking in the wrong places?"
I chuckle before heading for the kitchen to make my own coffee. I find a cup ready and waiting for me and am touched by her kind gesture. I don't make her get me coffee at the office, but a single sip tells me she's paid attention to how I like it. I pick up the cup and turn to face her while expressing my thanks. "Thank you for this. What do you mean, exactly?"
She blushes. "Well, you know, bars and stuff. The places men go to meet women who are all wrong for them."
My eyebrows lift and I feel playful as she shifts in place. "Do you think I go to a lot of bars?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "Well, no, but you know what I mean."
I decide to put her out of her misery. “I do know what you mean.” I glance down into my cup of coffee, watching the liquid ripple as it shifts with my movement. “In all honesty, my parents are busy arranging my marriage to a woman I barely know as we speak.”
Her mouth drops into a perfect ‘o’ of surprise at my words. “But you just said you weren't seeing anyone,” she said.
I can see the light of betrayal in her eyes and immediately work to fix it. “I'm not seeing her. I'm not interested in her. I don't want to be with her at this point. The only reason I'm humoring my parents is so that they'll get off my back about getting married like my brother.”
She doesn't seem entirely convinced, so I keep talking.
“My trip here was actually intended to be a chance to think about how I can gracefully bow out of their plans.” I lift my hands in a gesture, as helpless as I feel. “Now that you're here and knowing how smart you are, I'm curious if you have any ideas.”
I don't like feeling like I've been backed into a corner. I love my parents, but at this point it feels like they're doing me dirty to get me to live the life they want me to live rather than the one that I've been working so hard for all these years.
While I know the goal is for me to be happy, I still don't think that them choosing a wife for me - someone I don't love - is the way for me to be happy. And while she is rich, there's a lot more to life than money or looks
“I'm sorry, that's a tough one,” she said. All her concerns about my status seem to have melted away, and I can see her mind working as she puzzles out the predicament I'm in. “What, have you found someone else and told them you were in love?”
Her idea, so simple, so smart, gets my own gears turning. “I don't really have a lot of time, and it takes time to meet someone, woo them, and fall in love with them. You know this.”
“So get someone who's in on it and fake it. Is there anyone you could trust who would pretend to be your love or your fiancée just to get them off your back and give you some time to fall for someone else?” The innocence in her expression lifts some of the weight from the diabolical plan she's forming.
“You're telling me I should have some poor girl tell my parents that I'm in love with her and want to marry her, even though it's a lie, so I can find someone else to fall in love with?” I lift an eyebrow, studying her expression.
She nods, an earnest look in her eyes. “I mean, it's dishonest, but it's dishonest for a good reason. Which makes it okay, right? It'll save you from a marriage to someone you don't love, and it'll save that poor girl from a relationship she doesn't want with someone who doesn't love her.” Stacia lifts her shoulders, clearly at peace with her idea.
I'm about to test how at peace she really is with her plan. “Is this something you'd be willing to do for me?” I watch her carefully. Her eyes widen in surprise and her lips part slightly. I can see her internally searching for a way out, and I almost feel bad for her. She’s backed herself into a corner, and I’m curious if she can truly think of a good reason to tell me no.
I'm well aware that I'm playing with fire because if I'm spending time with Stacia posing as the woman I love, I am bound to develop feelings for her. And I have a feeling that falling for her will result in me getting burned.
But even as I can see her thinking of a way out of it, her expression suddenly hardens, and she gives me a slight smile, thrusting her hand my direction, as if asking me to shake. “You know what? I'll do it. When do we start? Let's get a plan underway so it’s as real as possible.”
“I'll also compensate you for your time,” I said. There's no way that I'm going to take such a big part of her life without giving her something in return.
“That would be helpful,” she said, “but not necessary.”
I wave away her concerns. “Nonsense.” Another sip of the coffee she had made for me. I consider how to go about setting up the rules and parameters that we need to make this both believable, but not too restrictive for either one of us.
“We have to make sure that neither of us are seeing anyone on the side,” she said.
When I glance at her, curious what she's getting at, she lifts her shoulder and says, “The fastest way to get people talking is to look like you're cheating.”
I know she's not wrong. I've been around enough people in my life to know that the second someone sees you out with someone else when you're tangled up in a relationship, the news spreads like wildfire. The fact that she already seems to know the basics has me dying to know how she knows. What has this girl been through that she is so able to see red flags and warning signs and know how to fake a relationship in a believable way?
Another sip of the coffee she had made for me. I consider how to go about setting up the rules and parameters that we need to make this both believable, but not too restrictive for either one of us.
“We have to make sure that neither of us are seeing anyone on the side,” she said.
When I glance at her, curious what she's getting at, she lifts her shoulder and says, “The fastest way to get people talking is to look like you're cheating.”
I know she's not wrong. I've been around enough people in my life to know that the second someone sees you out with someone else when you're tangled up in a relationship, the news spreads like wildfire. The fact that she already seems to know the basics has me dying to know how she knows. What has this girl been through that she is so able to see red flags and warning signs and know how to fake a relationship in a believable way?
