Page 77 of My Fake Fiancé

"I'm sure I have. I probably have. He should know, right?" Tatyana rolls her eyes at me. "Anyway, it doesn't matter right now. I had just gotten out of a long, mostly bad, relationship with Callum and I threw myself into this fake relationship with Kurt, then actually fell in love with him. It's all too much, too fast."

"Yeah, even listening to that was a lot to handle. I can't imagine living it. Well, I kind of did!" Tatyana laughs and I shoot her a look which makes her laugh harder and I can't help but laugh at the situation as well.

"So what now?" Tatyana says when our laughter dies down.

"Well, I have my new job on Monday. So for now, I think I just need to focus on that. Excel at work. Maybe do some self-care with my BFF."

"Ooo that sounds fun. I’m so glad you left that clothing store. Content Creator is such a lovely title for you." Tatyana sits back and grabs more popcorn. "Oops! The bowl is empty, I'll go make some more."

"Thank you," I say when she jumps up and goes to the kitchen. “I am very excited to get started! Now, I can actually put my degree to use.” I chuckle and then frown when I feel my phone vibrating beside me.

I check my phone and see messages from both my parents and Kurt’s mom. Kurt must have told them about our breakup a few days ago, probably the night of his coworker’s dinner. He said that he hadn’t told anyone when I last saw him but who knows, maybe something changed. Or maybe Callum told people again. I wouldn’t put it past him. He was the one who shared our ‘engagement’ news in the first place. But now, messages of condolence have been slowly trickling in. Mrs. Michael is trying to maintain a relationship with me but I’m struggling to reply without my heart hurting for Kurt. My parents are also reaching out to me more often just to check in and I’m grateful for that but it does little to soothe my broken heart.

"You are going to do amazing! You had two great interviews, one with HR and then with your new boss, so you already know she loves you. Plus, they probably have some sort of basic training so you know what they’re looking for,” Tatyana reassures me from the kitchen and I look up from my phone. “Are you still getting messages from people?" Tatyana comes back right when I put my phone away.

"Yeah," I nod. "It’s official."

"Your parents know too?" Tatyana asks, for clarification.

"Yeah, not that it was fake but that it's over."

"It may have started as fake but you guys meant it in the end. Well, maybe not the engagement part but the relationship itself." Tatyana looks over at me. "Wait, did you start to believe the engagement was real?"

"No, no!" I protest. "I did not. I know it wasn't real. I just... maybe could see it being real, in the future. Okay?"

"You're crazy." We both sit back and revel in my crazy. "Is it crazy that I can see that too?" Tatyana admits and I grin at her. "Hey, I told you I liked him better. But no no let's stop talking about boys."

"Wait! We have to talk about boys! Because we have to talk about you and Mike. Duh. Honestly, the best way to forget about my boy issues hahah."

Tatyana jumps around on the couch excitedly, some more popcorn spilling from the bowl.

"Yesss, so exciting! We only have like two weeks to plan the engagement party!"

"It's going to be so much fun! The wedding will be the most fun obviously, but we will also be going all out for the engagement party." We both giggle with excitement and Tatyana pulls out this huge notebook.

"I've already started planning for both but for now, the engagement party is the main focus." Tatyana flips open the notebook and finds the right page beautifully titled ‘Engagement Party’.

"Wow, I see you've got some big ideas. Okay, where to start first? Well, where do you want to have the party? Ooo, that popular restaurant. The one that has those cute decorations on the walls. What's that place called?"

"Amelia's? The little Italian place? Off of Westheimer." Tatyana offers but I shake my head.

"No, no, the Mexican one that's.."

"Oh, yeah!" Tatyana interrupts. "The uhm the... Oh! El Mezcal. Right?"

"Yeah! You love that place, right? We can reserve a back room or even the whole restaurant. Hm yeah, we should reserve the whole restaurant."

"OMG! Yes, I do love that place. I think considering how many people I plan to invite, we definitely should reserve the whole restaurant."

"Okay, I will go call them right now to make sure we can reserve it before we start sending out invites." I get up off the couch to make the call in another room but pause before I go. "Wait, should we check in with Mike first to see if he's cool with it?"

Tatyana chuckles. "He's pretty much given me free rein for all party planning. Although, he did mention wanting to help with the wedding so that could be interesting." Tatyana grins up at me. She loves teasing Mike on his poor sense of style but I know she always appreciates his effort.

Once I've shut the door to my bedroom, I make the call to El Mezcal and am able to speak to the owner who happily allows us to reserve the entire restaurant. Especially when I mention how large a group will be joining us. We speak for a few minutes and he tells me he'll email Tatyana and me a menu for catered groups to make it easier on the house to have only a few items but items that are ready to serve many. I thank him profusely and let him know I will keep an eye out for his email.

"Okay, so the owner is going to be emailing both of us so we can decide what menu to set up for the party and he said we can bring our own decorations..." I trail off when I see that Tatyana has flipped to another page in her binder that has different decoration ideas for the engagement party. "Wow, you really do have everything planned."

"Well, for the most part, these are just ideas for decorations or seating arrangements or menus! Yes, even menus. But here are the decorations for the engagement party. I haven't bought anything yet so maybe we can go shopping later this week and pick up a few things?"

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