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Hell, I haven’t succeeded for the past week and a half.
Adeline is stuck on a loop in my brain.
Surviving her is proving difficult.
* * *
There are morepeople at the party than I anticipated, and while I don’t enjoy big parties, Adeline is in her element. She talks with everyone who wants a conversation. Takes photos with everyone who wants them. Laughs at every joke even when I know she doesn’t find it funny.
The fact I can read her like this surprises me, but it shouldn’t. We may not be a real couple, but some days I think we’re more aware of each other than if we were because we don’t bother to put on a show for the other. Our love might be fake, but nothing else we do is.
Half an hour into the party, Adeline takes a sip of her wine and looks around the penthouse. “I need the name of their event planner. This party is gorgeous.”
I glance at the black and gold everywhere, and the glittery decorations. There’s not one ounce of minimalism in sight. “It’s over the top.”
“Of course, you think that. Let me guess, you’d skip the decorations.”
“I’d skip the fucking party.”
She rolls her eyes as my friend, Owen, joins us. He grins as he hears what I say. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
Adeline smiles at him. “It’s never too much, especially not for a birthday party.”
He turns his grin to her before looking back at me. “Make a note of that, my friend. Your wife wants you to go all out for her birthdays.”
Owen isn’t aware our marriage is fake, so Adeline keeps up the charade. “Thank you, Owen. I appreciate that. I’m counting on you to remind him when my birthday comes around. The same goes for half-birthdays.”
“What the hell are half-birthdays?” Owen asks.
Adeline widens her eyes at him in what I know is fake shock. The relaxed state of her body reveals her good mood. “You’re not being serious, right now? You don’t celebrate half-birthdays?”
He laughs. “I’m guessing they fall six months after your actual birthday?”
“Yes, and they require the same level of celebration as the actual birthday. You should both take note.”
Owen looks at me. “Were you aware of this when you asked her to marry you? It seems like a dealbreaker to me.”
Before I can answer, Adeline says, “No, he wasn’t aware. I kept it from him so he wouldn’t question his decision to ask me to marry him. You both discovered half-birthdays are a thing today.”
I watch her as she continues to talk with Owen, thinking about the difference in her tonight compared to how she was on the way to work this morning.
Without meaning to, I ripped her mask off this morning.
Underneath the strength, and grit, and fierce independence of Adeline is a whole other woman. She showed herself to me when I could see it was the last thing she wanted to do. And while I doubt she’s happy she opened up, I respect the hell out of her for it.
“I’m stealing Adeline for a bit,” Owen says as I spy Bill coming my way.
I take a sip of whiskey and nod as they leave.
Bill gets stopped by a couple on his way to me, and instead, I’m joined by a woman I’ve never met.
She smiles at me like she knows me. “Jameson Fox. It’s good to meet you.”
“And you are?” There’s something about her I already don’t like. Fuck knows what, but my gut is rarely wrong.
“I like a man who cuts straight to the chase.” She smiles. “Robin Johansen. I work with SLY Media and would love to get your thoughts on the reality show it looks like your wife has signed on for.”
I throw some more whiskey down my throat.
