Page 58 of My Fake Fiancé

“Girl talk,” I say as an explanation and he nods.

“Ah.” We sit down at the table and as promised, Dad slides the biggest slider onto my plate. I grab two more just in case the one isn’t enough and my dad doesn’t complain as he piles his plate with three as well. I shove the burgers towards a corner of my plate and put a scoop of creamy mashed potatoes onto my plate alongside a helping of fresh-cut green beans. My stomach growls and I glance eagerly towards the door before speaking to my father.

“Do you think they’ll be much longer?” I look back down at my plate of food.

“They don’t have to know we had three burgers on our plates, maybe I didn’t make these extra two…” I grin at my dad and we cover our burgers in a blanket of ketchup before digging in. As soon as our mouths hit the buns, my mother and sister walk through the door, catching us in the act.

“Oh, I know y’all did not start without us.” My mother tsks, shaking her finger at us. My dad and I look at each other and blush sheepishly. My mother just laughs and sits down at the table. “Oh, go ahead. I know you’re still a growing boy.” I am about to protest but given the go-ahead to eat, my stomach growls again reminding me of my priorities and I dig into the juicy burger once again.

Once I’ve dealt with the need to scarf everything down, I slow down and take my time to enjoy the home-cooked meal. The conversation is kept light. My mother and sister have gone back to gossiping and my dad and I are discussing a recent sports game. Or rather, the lack of any good recent games. My mother turns back to me and asks the one question I had been dreading and hoping she would not ask.

“So, Kurt, how is Juliana?” I cough a little, trying to buy some time. “Is she working late tonight? I hope she’s doing alright. I haven’t spoken to her in ages. She did send me a sweet text after she received the dress. I hope you weren’t home for the delivery. It was supposed to be a surprise for both of you.” My mother turns back to me, quiet and looking at me expectantly.

“Unfortunately, I was home,” I say but don’t elaborate. Instead, I address Juliana’s absence. “She’s doing alright. Something just came up last minute. I know she would have loved to be here.” I say, trying to keep my response short but elaborating enough for her to not question further. She looks sad but doesn’t press the issue. The conversation comes to a lull and I stand up, collecting dirty dishes.

After clearing the table, my sister comes into the kitchen to help me put everything away. I stand at the sink, concentrating on getting the burnt pieces of the mashed potatoes off the bowl. My sister comes over and hip-bumps me lightly. I hand her the bowl and she expertly cleans the stain. I lean against the counter trying to figure out how she does it so easily.

“Kurt,” she begins cautiously, making me sigh with annoyance. I don’t want to deal with any more questions about Juliana. “How’s work?” She asks, surprising me. I push myself off the counter and begin to put what little extras we have into containers.

“It’s great. I love my job. We are working on a new case. I was almost late for dinner because I got so caught up in the work. It was really fun.” I love talking about my work and relax a little, grateful for the change in subject. “I went out for drinks with my coworkers the other night. They wanted me to come out again tonight but obviously, I declined.”

“Did they tease you for being such a momma’s boy?” I laugh at how well she knows me. I clip the lids onto the containers then stack them in my arms and swing open the fridge to put them away. I leave out one container, filled with a little bit of everything to take home for another meal for myself.

We poke fun at each other while we finish cleaning the kitchen. When we finish we make our way out to the porch where our parents are sitting. I lean against the porch railing, enjoying the cool breeze while my parents talk quietly. I check my watch and then stand up.

“I should get going. Thank you so much for dinner.” I kiss my mother on the cheek and give my father a firm hug before throwing a fallen leaf at my sister and walking to my car. Maybe I am five years old. I get in my car and drive home, leaving the radio off so I can enjoy the silence.

Chapter 52

Juliana

Tatyana finally comes back home and finds me sitting on the couch once again. “What are you doing? What happened?” She launches herself onto the couch next to me.

“I don’t really want to talk about it, but I think it’s over for good,” I admit. Tatyana pats my leg.

“Well, that’s too bad. I liked him. Should we go out and find you another man?” She grins at me, trying to keep me from feeling gloomy again.

“Ugh, no,” I groan, leaning back on the couch. “I cannot deal with men anymore. Plus…” I say and then trial off, looking over at Tatyana. She narrows her eyes at me.

“What?”

“I ran into Callum right after Kurt left,” I tell her and her eyebrows shoot up.

“What? How? Was he in the building?” She jumps up and starts to ask more questions but I interrupt her.

“No, no. I went out for a run and I ran into him. As always,” I say with a shrug and she once again narrows her eyes at me, suspicious.

“You went out for a run?” She judges me.

“I went out for a run, yes. I didn’t end up doing much running though,” I admit and she holds back her comments, waiting for me to continue. “I ran into him pretty early on and he was civil, caught me completely off guard. He invited me to catch up over coffee or something and I was hungry so we went to that diner around the block.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Tatyana interrupts, waving her hands around to make me stop. “You went on a date with the ex that you made up a fake fiancé to try to avoid? Wow, you’re an idiot.”

“Yes, I know. And no, it wasn’t a date. Although, at the end of the lunch, I did say yes to going out with him tomorrow night,” I say quickly, trying to get it out as fast as I can because I know how horrible it sounds.

“Juliiiii,” Tatyana groans, closing her eyes and rubbing her hands over her face. “Come on. That is such a bad idea. I know he was your first love and everything but he’s awful. I’m sure one day he’ll be able to turn his life around and be a decent human being but I don’t think that has happened since the run-in at the dress shop. And you can’t hide that interaction from me because I was there, and I kicked his ass. But I don’t think I kicked it hard enough to give him a whole new personality.”

“Yeah, you’re right. And I am skeptical, but maybe this will bring me closure,” I try to reason with her but she just shakes her head, pulling me off the couch to go get ready for a night out.

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