Page 37 of My Fake Fiancé

“Oh, uhm, yes I think so. I’ll have to check in with Kurt though to see if he’s available.” I know Kurt usually uses Sunday evenings to relax or get ready for the work week.

“Oh no, honey, Kurt isn’t invited today.” Ms. Michaels looks at me in the rearview mirror and smiles mischievously.

“Oh, okay.” I’m very nervous now. “Well, I still want to check in with him anyway. Sometimes we have plans on Sundays,” I add just in case I can use it as an excuse in the future.

We pull into the Flanagins’ parking lot and I see that all of the men’s cars are already here. We are the last to arrive but the men are all waiting outside for us. We park the car and walk over to them together. I make my way to Kurt and stand by him when he holds the door open for everyone.

“How was the ride?” He asks when the last of the group walks inside. He holds the door open for me too then follows me inside.

“It was fine, short. They didn’t have time to question me too much. But your mom has plans for me after lunch. I think my mom and grandmother are coming too.” I tell him what his mom said in the car. Kurt looks over at his mom, narrowing his eyes.

“I wonder what she’s got planned for you. Oh no.” Kurt stops when the front door opens. I turn towards the door and in walks his sister.

“Hi!” His sister goes around giving hugs to everyone. She gives me a long hug and a big smile. Before she can say anything besides a greeting, Kurt chimes in.

“Hey, Merrin. What are you doing here?” Kurt gives her a hug then we all move forward in the line to order.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late,” Merrin apologizes to their mom then turns back to address Kurt. “Mom invited me along to lunch and for the girls’ plans after lunch. And I couldn’t resist.” Merrin smiles at both of us. I am so curious as to what the plan is. I shoot a glance at Kurt and he just shrugs.

“Come on y’all, the line is moving. Don’t hold anyone up behind you.” Mrs. Michaels interrupts to keep us from asking any more questions. She waves us to move forward and we step up to the next available register. Kurt and I order together, I order second so I am able to pay before Kurt can offer.

“Thanks,” Kurt grabs our number to bring to the table then he stands beside me waiting while I sign the receipt.

“Of course,” I smile over my shoulder at him. “I did tell you I’d pay one of these days. Not just for a coffee date.” Kurt laughs and nods his head.

“That you did, my dear.”

We make our way to the table where the rest of our group is already seated. Conversations have already begun and Kurt and I are quickly dragged into them while we all wait for our food.

Chapter 36

Kurt

When our food arrives at the table, the conversations don't die down completely but everybody is hungry and the food smells great. I dig into my burger, making comments between bites whenever someone addresses me directly. My mom has separated the men from the women so we can have our own conversations. Although, I don’t know why since my mom has a whole girls’ day planned after lunch.

Partway through lunch, I need a refill on my drink. I ask if anyone else needs anything and there are requests to bring back more napkins. I get up to get my refill and some napkins for the group. While I’m at the refill station, I look around the restaurant and see the old arcade still standing in the corner. A few games are gone or replaced by new ones but it still reminds me of after church lunches when we were younger.

Merrin and I used to play the games together and try to beat one another. One Sunday, one of the older couples at church invited all of us kids to come eat and gave us unlimited quarters. Merrin and I were once again competing when Juliana walked over and wanted to play with us. Merrin, being a lot more competitive than me even as a child, didn’t want Juliana to distract her so she for the most part dismissed her. I, on the other hand, was a lot nicer, and even back then I had a fondness for Juliana so I let her watch while I played. I also explained to her how to play and took a few hits while showing her how to work the controls. Eventually, I lost the game, Merrin was triumphant and rubbed it in my face. Juliana felt bad and guilty for my loss. I almost had to console her but I could see her tighten her face then she held out her hand and offered me the quarters she was holding. I told her no at first, I wanted her to save them for herself but she insisted and said she wasn’t any good but she liked watching me play. So, I eventually gave in and took the quarters from her. Juliana pulled up a stool beside me and watched while I played. We sat like that, barely talking, for ten or so minutes until everyone else was ready to leave.

“Hey, are you done?” A voice jolts me out of the memory and I look behind me at the gentleman waiting to get a refill. I look down at my drink and see that it is full, luckily it hadn’t overflowed onto my hand.

“Yeah, sorry, all yours.” I take my drink and pull a handful of napkins out of the dispenser next to the drink machine before walking back to the table. I toss the napkins on the table then sit down and go back to eating my lunch. The conversation continues around me and I only half pay attention until I hear my mom bring up something in particular.

“So, have you guys discussed what date the wedding will be?” My mom looks at Juliana then myself. “Not that I’m trying to rush y’all I was just wondering if you’d discussed it yet. It’s never too soon to start discussing it.”

“Uhm,” Juliana stutters a bit, not knowing what to say. Looking over at Juliana, she looks a little flustered with everybody watching her so I decide to step in and answer the question.

“No, we haven’t discussed it yet. We are just enjoying spending time together. We’ve only been living together for a few weeks, so we’ve been learning how our schedules work and different aspects of cohabitating.” I try to add a lot of details so there won’t be any follow-up questions. Hopefully, the answer I’ve given will satisfy everyone for now. Juliana looks over at me and gives me a grateful smile.

I can tell she’s still a little uncomfortable so I finish my fries, wipe my hands clean then stand up. Everyone looks up at me but I make my way over to Juliana and squat beside her.

“Hey, you wanna go play one of the games in the arcade? Like the good old days?” I ask and she looks at me with a smile growing on her face which is now also filled with relief.

“The good old days?” Juliana smiles up at me and I nod. I dig in my pocket and pull out a few quarters. I hold them out as an offer to her. I can tell everyone is watching and I’ll never get used to that. “Okay, but I might be a bit rusty.” Juliana wipes her hands on her napkin and then accepts the coins from my open palm. I stand up and step back for her to get up too.

“If everyone will excuse us, we are going to go play some games.” I offer my hand to Juliana and she takes it, smiling happily. Merrin laughs.

“Good luck, Kurt. You’re so bad, you’ll need it.” Merrin teases me.

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