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I am joyful in a way but also disappointed. This woman is hurting and spectacular. And I am going to get her to pretend to be my wife.
I sigh, my eyes moving to the ground. The sounds of the cars beyond us are vague and humming. I start thinking about my ex and how she hurt me, about the life that I was expected to have with her.
It is a story I hate to ruminate on, but it only seems fair to at least share the honest truth with Josephine. My mess is about to be hers, after all.
I close my eyes and breathe. I can feel Josephine waiting for me to say something. I don’t want to hurt this woman any more than she is already hurting. But I have to get out of this situation before it burns me from the inside out.
“I am going to tell you the story from the start,” I say gently. “If that is something you would like to hear.”
She nods, and I begin my tale of hurt.
15
JOSEPHINE
Aweight has been lifted off my shoulders, yet I still feel weak. I listen to Aiden call his secretary, move around money, and then call the hospital to get the surgery on my mother started. My father has sent me a few texts. I read them through blurry vision.
“Tell your friend thank you so much,” it reads. “He is a savior!”
I reply to him to take it easy and let me know when the surgery has been done. I am drained, so I tuck the phone back into my pocket.
I know what conversation is coming next. He has just given thousands of dollars, and I am on the hook for his absurd deal.
Though he speaks gently, eyes big and soft, I am still apprehensive.
“As I said, my father is strict. He wants me to marry a woman named Ada. But she had an affair with someone in the past when we were together, so I don’t trust her. Hell, I don’t think I ever could.”
I try to listen as intently as I can. My stomach begins to grumble, and I realize how hungry I am. Now that my initial shock at my mother’s condition has subsided, I’m suddenly very aware that I’m starving. It hardly seems the moment to interrupt him, though, and I try to make myself focus on his words.
“All we would need to do is convince them that you are my wife. Or girlfriend at first, of course. Then I can get my father off my back. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Nearly the entire time that he speaks, he looks down at the ground. I can’t tell if he is just too embarrassed to face me or if this is going to be harder than he wants to admit. Every now and then, he looks up at me for confirmation I am still listening. I nod, sniffling every now and then.
“Why do you think it’s going to be easy?” I inquire. “Is your family easily fooled?”
He faces me, smiling ear to ear. God, that smile could move mountains.
“I think they will take it at face value. It’s only my family who needs to be fooled. And I think they’ll believe I was willing to hastily marry a wife of my choosing rather than be forced to marry Ada. It’s really not much of a lie, if you think about it. We can work on the details together.”
My stomach rumbles louder, and he begins to chuckle. He then gazes back at the coffee house entrance, motioning with his chin.
“Are you hungry?”
We go inside, and I tell my coworkers that I will be taking the rest of the day off. A few of them wrinkle their noses at me, looking at Aiden with bright curiosity.
“Who is that guy?” one of them asks.
I have no energy to lie. Instead, I shake my hands back and forth and tell them not to worry about it.
I know that this will only incite their curiosity even more, but I don’t care. I need to know how this deal is going to go down before I start blabbing.
We take a load off in the back room after I make a few sandwiches. I offer Aiden one, but he only wants coffee. He has started writing down a set of ‘rules’ for our perceived romance while I start to gobble up my turkey club.
“There is an annual grand ball that my family hosts. It’s kind of a big deal,” he says, scribing down more words with a fire in his eyes. “This is the most obvious place for us to show our faces first. What do you think?”
I am too focused on my food, too exhausted to think. But I nod anyway.
“A grand ball?” I say, trying not to sound nervous. “Is there a particular way I would have to act?”
