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Text from Tati (Mine):
I’m so sorry for hanging up on you earlier, but I can’t handle this relationship anymore & I’d appreciate it if you never called me again.
Text from Tati (Mine):
Wait…I don’t think I’ll ever be able to 100% repay you for that special thing you did for me, but I meant what I said that night we were together in Tacoma. If you ever need a big favor in the future—even if we’re eighty years old—I’ll do it without question. It’ll never be too late to redeem.
I flipped past those images and continued scrolling through our memories.
It was four o’clock in the morning by the time I finished.
Scrolling down to Tatiana’s number, I hit call.
It went straight to voicemail.
“You’ve reached Tatiana Brave.” Her voicemail sounded. “Please leave your message at the sound of the beep!”
I hung up and considered calling her from my security guard’s phone.
Assuming that she wouldn’t answer that either, I called her again.
“You’ve reached Tatiana Brave. Please leave your message at the sound of the beep!”
Beep!
“Tatiana, it’s currently four o’clock in the morning, and I can’t sleep because I’m drunk and wide-awake thinking about you.”
“How I was almost yours, and you were almost mine.”
“My life is currently in shambles, and my entire fighting career is hanging in the balance. So, I have to make some huge changes.”
“Since you still owe me that favor from years ago, I need to cash it in now.”
“I need you to pretend to be my fiancée for ninety days.”
“Just ninety days.”
“We don’t have to talk behind closed doors, and we don’t have to try to be friends again. We don’t even have to kiss—even though I can guarantee no man has ever kissed you better…”
“I can promise that we won’t touch either. Although the last time we ran into each other, you looked like you wanted me all over again. Don’t deny it.”
“Anyway, I’m just cashing in that delayed ‘I.O.U.’ that you swore would ‘never be too late to redeem.’”
“I’m not asking for much. I just want you to pretend it’s real, for me.”
I ended the call, but then I called right back and left another message.
“It’s me again, Tatiana,” I said. “As you know, I’m not big on waiting, so you have until Monday to give me an answer.”
EIGHT
PRESENT DAY
TATIANA
Monday
Manhattan, New York
