Page 29 of My Fake Fiancé

I’ve been talking with my neighbor for a couple of minutes and the band I hired is playing an inappropriate song about a girl that I can only assume he used to date. I feel so bad for his ex because this song is horrible. I look around the room and notice Juli is missing. I excuse myself and go over to my assistant, Cathleen, whom Juliana was last talking to, and ask where she went.

“I think I saw her heading toward your apartment. She just started crying and got up, excused herself, and ran off. I don’t know why she started crying. We weren’t talking about anything that would be upsetting...” Cathleen prattles on but I stop listening. I look up to see the lead singer smirking at me and he looks very familiar.

“Callum,” I instantly curse myself. Why hadn’t I been paying attention? She told me he was in a band. A friend of mine had recommended this band so I hadn’t realized her ex was in it. I would have noticed he was here if I wasn’t so busy talking to the neighbors and my coworkers. I hadn’t really been listening to the song but it was something offensive and hurtful enough that it caused Juliana to run off crying. I excuse myself from Cathleen and she smiles telling me how much she likes Juliana and how happy she is for us. I smile back at her to be polite and say a quick thank you before hurrying off to my apartment.

I knock on the closed bedroom door and hear a muffled sobbing. “Juliana? Are you in there?” I know she is but if she chooses not to answer, I will know to leave her alone. Almost instantly, I hear a sad voice frantically apologizing.

“I’m so sorry,” the sad little voice says between sobs and hiccups, “it was so rude of me to run off. I didn’t mean to be so dramatic. I hope I didn’t ruin the party...” She trails off and I open the door stepping inside and closing it behind me. My room isn’t very large so I reach her in three strides and kneel beside her. I put one hand under her chin and tilt her head to look up at me. When she looks at me I see the sadness and pain filling her body. The pain I feel in my heart startles me and I debate letting go of her but seeing her this way makes me want to protect her.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” I say softly and I cradle her head in my hands. I brush her tears away before speaking again. “What’s wrong?” I ask cautiously. I’ve pieced together some of the story but I need to hear it from her. I need to know why she is hurting so badly.

She sniffles a little and I let go of her face to grab her a tissue box then I sit down next to her. I sit quietly, letting her clean up and breathe a bit before I press further.

“That’s Callum’s band…” I nod encouraging her to continue, feeling like a complete idiot for not remembering it was his band. “That song… that song is about me. I have never had sex. I’m a virgin. I never felt comfortable doing a lot with him. The one sexual act that he talks about in the song, he guilted me into doing it. I didn’t want to. So of course, I wasn’t good at it. And then… and then he dumped me when I wouldn’t do more with him.” She seems to say this all in one breath and is breathing heavily as she stares at the wall across from us.

“Juli…” I say then stop, unsure of what needs to be said. It shocks me, her confession to me about being a virgin. I don’t know why but I had just assumed she wasn’t. I stay silent for a little while, still looking at her.

She turns to face me and quietly whispers, “Say something…” I can see the pain and worry in her eyes. The worry confuses me. What is she worried about? There are so many things running through my mind and I can still hear the band playing songs and our guests talking. I need to get rid of them. I stand up and see her eyes widen, scared. I squat down in front of her and rub my thumb over her cheek.

“Stay here,” I say and my voice comes out sounding rough and strange. I wait for her to respond and when she nods, I stand up and exit the room.

Chapter 29

Kurt

I try to tamp down my fury as I walk back to the community room, but I grow angrier with each step. I walk up to Callum and grab him by the collar of his shirt. I lean in close to him and practically growl, “Get off this property, right now. Or I will not hesitate to call the police.” He genuinely looks frightened for a second then he smirks.

“You invited me.” His smirk grows, as he throws my own stupidity back in my face. “What? You didn’t like the music?” With this last question, I lose it before I can stop myself, I step up and shove him. He stumbles backward, losing his balance, and falling directly into the pool. The room full of people gasps as some rush to see Callum climbing out of the pool, drenched. I take a step back, taking a few seconds to calm myself then I turn to face everyone.

“Thank you all for coming. I am so glad you all were able to finally meet Juliana, but I believe the party is over. You are all more than welcome to stay and enjoy the pool but I must excuse myself now. Thank you all for coming out,” I add for good measure and my co-worker and friend Dave, nods at me and begins to usher people out of the community room. He leads the group by jumping into the pool fully clothed. This seems to lighten the mood and everyone gets back to having fun.

While Dave handles everyone else, I turn back to Callum who is being checked over by one of his bandmates, the same one who helped him the last time I hit him. Besides a bruised ego, he seems to be fine, but I notice he still has a bruise on his jaw from where I hit him last time. I smile a bit and admire my handy work for a second and am grateful none of the band equipment fell in the pool. That would have been messy and possibly a lawsuit.

“Get out. If I ever see you near my building again, I will tell my doorman to call the police officers, immediately.” I threaten as I walk over to them, feeling my need to protect Juliana takeover. Callum sneers at me but his bandmates seem to think wiser of it and they scurry to pack up and leave the building. Callum and I stand about a foot from each other, glaring.

“You’re not fooling me.” I narrow my eyes even more at him when he opens his smug mouth, daring me to hit him again. “I know this isn’t real. And I don’t plan on keeping it to myself much longer.” He threatens and I just roll my eyes.

"Good luck trying to prove your ridiculous idea," I say then my doorman, Marvin, appears, one of my neighbors having called him about the disturbance, and he escorts Callum out of the building.

"You alright, man?" Dave asks, looking at me from the community room kitchen where he has begun the cleanup. He’s still dripping from the pool but has a towel around his waist.

"Yeah..." I stop a moment to calm down then join him, taking the trash bag away from him. "Thank you for your help, I've got it from here."

"Okay, let me know if you need anything. Hell of a party." He grins at me before making a swift exit. It gets a chuckle out of me then I sigh a breath of relief. Most of the guests are out at the pool so I finish cleaning up the community room and say a few goodbyes before heading back to my apartment, realizing that I’d left Juliana alone for quite a while.

When I make my way back to the bedroom, where I last saw Juliana, I find her packing up her things.

"Where are you going?" I ask and she jumps, not having heard me enter the apartment. I walk over to the bed where her suitcase is laying, half full.

She stops folding her things and looks at me, her eyes puffy from all her crying. "I can't stay. We can't keep doing this. I heard what happened out there. Your neighbors and co-workers probably think I'm a horrible influence on you, bringing such drama into your life..." She trails off, looking sadly out the window before she continues folding her things.

"Juliana, it's okay. They will understand. Everyone has had a crazy ex before. Besides, they’re all out enjoying the pool right now, so it’s not as if anyone’s night has been ruined." I laugh airily, trying to lighten the mood and she smiles, grateful for the attempt. "You don't have to give up. If anything, tonight’s disaster has made me realize that you were right for telling him we were engaged. He isn’t going to leave you alone easily and I want to make sure when he does, he leaves for good." I stand up and put my hand over hers to make her stop her folding. "I know this has been hard for you, trust me, it isn't all that easy for me either," I say then instantly regret it when her eyes fill with tears again. "No, no don't cry. I didn't mean it like that. It certainly hasn't been easy but it's been fun. Hasn't it?"

She shrugs her shoulders. I sit on the bed and watch as she continues to fold her things. We remain in silence, the only noise being the ceiling fan and her bracelet jingling as she folds. I don't stop her at first then when she goes back to her dresser to get more clothing, I get up and take things out of her suitcase and go to put them away. She turns around and sees me and I think I see a small smile on her face.

"What are you doing?" I smile at her.

"Helping you unpack."

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