Page 11 of My Fake Fiancé

She nods eagerly and nudges me, grinning a little. “He’s coming to get you? For what? Are you guys actually engaged? Dating? What’s going on???” I laugh at her persistent questions and she nudges me again to get me to talk. “The last I heard was that Callum broke up with you, like five months ago and you’ve still been moping recently so I didn’t think you’d started seeing anyone?”

“Well…” I begin. “Yes, I mean no. I hadn’t started seeing anyone.”

“‘Hadn’t’? Like you had not been but you are now?” Tatyana questions and I shush her so I can get the full story out, knowing I don’t have too long until Kurt comes to pick me up.

“Last night, Callum found me at the bar and he was just so slimy and acting like he was some God’s gift to women or something, you know how he is.” I wave my hand and she nods, rolling her eyes. “Well, I don’t really know what happened but I just kind of blurted out that I was over him and engaged. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but he was just being so creepy and I wanted him to leave me alone. Ugh!” I cry out and pull a blanket over my head, hiding, only to have it quickly ripped away.

“Juli!” She shouts and I wince, closing my eyes. “What else happened?? The last time I saw you, you were leaving with Kurt. So, something obviously happened. How’s your hand?” She asks, releasing my grip on the blanket so she can inspect my hand.

“Oh, I had completely forgotten about that. I guess it’s fine then. Didn’t get cut too badly.” After confirming that my hand is okay, she lets go of it and then props herself up on her elbows, narrowing her eyes at me. “Okay, okay,” I say. “He took me back to his place,” I pause and give her a look, “and no, nothing happened. So, he brought me back to his place, to clean up my hand. While I was in the bathroom cleaning up, I checked my phone and found multiple missed calls and texts, from you and from my mother and father.”

“How did your mother find out so quickly?”

“Callum,” I roll my eyes. “Lord knows why but he called up my mother and told her.” Before she can curse him, I continue talking. “Once I saw those messages and listened to my mother’s voicemail, I lost it. Literally. I vomited, right there in Kurt’s toilet. It was so embarrassing! And he heard me! I didn’t know what else to do so I just told him the whole thing. Everything that had happened. And you know me, I don’t know when to shut up.” She nods in agreement, smiling. “Okay anyway, for some reason he agreed to it.”

“What?! Wait, what? Agreed to what?” Tatyana asks, completely shocked and confused.

I nod eagerly. “Yes! He agreed to be my fiancé! Well, fake fiancé. I have no idea why! Except, he did say it was to help get Callum to leave me alone.”

“He probably likes you.” Tatyana teases hopping off my bed and going to my closet.

“No, he definitely does not like me. He doesn’t really even know me. What are you doing?” I sit up and watch her toss things out of my closet and onto my bed.

“Helping you pick out an outfit for your date, duh.” She says like it should be completely obvious to me.

“What date?” Then I realize what she’s talking about. “Oh no, this isn’t a date. We are just meeting to go over this… situation I put him in.” I try to find the right way to phrase it but I really can’t think of anything better than ‘situation’. I pull myself out of bed reluctantly and look at the pile of clothes on my bed, sifting through them.

“Okay,” Tatyana says as she emerges from my closet holding a plain black dress with a cutout back and my one and only jean jacket. “These, with these…” She hands them to me and then pulls out my light blue booties and a simple necklace to tie in the booties.

I laugh. “It’s only 3! This isn’t a nighttime/clubbing event. This is just coffee.”

She huffs, shoves the shoes at me, and then returns to my closet for a few seconds then returns.

“A plain white shirt, a pair of jeans, and the booties, of course.” I admire the outfit and then change into it quickly.

“I like it,” I say as I finish pulling on the heels and twisting my body to look in the mirror. Tatyana hands me my jean jacket and looks over my outfit.

“Too much jean material? No, perfect.” She nods her head in approval and then busies herself with my purse while I go to grab my phone and respond to Kurt’s message that he has arrived. I text him back that I’ll be down shortly. I quickly go back to my room and grab my purse from Tatyana.

Tatyana smiles at me and relinquishes my purse. She takes a step back to admire her work. A team effort really. But I do admit she helps a lot with my styling. I have to add my own touch as well or tame down her ideas but we seem to work well together because I feel good in every outfit we create together.

“What did you put in here?” I think about it then wave away the question. “Never mind, I do not want to know.” She laughs and her eyes twinkle mysteriously. I roll my eyes but laugh too and yell goodbye as I run out the door. I race down the stairs and then pause to catch my breath before exiting the stairwell. I mess with my hair a little bit then I straighten out my outfit and carefully walk out of the stairwell. My booties are new but I love wearing heels so I have gotten pretty good at walking in them and I know to be careful. I take a deep breath and make my way to the lobby of my building.

Chapter 12

Kurt

I’ve been talking to one of Juliana’s neighbors when I see her exit the stairwell, I smile and wave at her. She has her head down and doesn’t seem to see me, so I take the opportunity to watch her walking across the lobby. I catch myself noticing how her heels show off her incredibly long, elegant legs, while her tight jeans hug every curve. I shake my head, trying to rid my head of those thoughts and I focus on how she interacts with the guests in the lobby. She’s shy but polite. She smiles and says hello to an older couple who are sitting in the lobby talking, they smile back at her and look at her fondly. When she makes her way over to where I am standing, she smiles at me.

“Sorry to keep you waiting and for not inviting you up to the apartment. Tatyana was in the apartment and I didn’t want her to accost you with questions.” She laughs but I can tell she is embarrassed.

I laugh with her, trying to help her relax. “It’s okay. You’re right on time. Besides,” I say, teasingly, “I enjoyed talking to James, here. He has a lot of very interesting stories.”

Juliana smiles and thanks James for keeping me company and entertaining me while I waited. She even mentions how much she adores his dog, telling me that seeing the two of them out and about is the highlight of her day.

“I hope you didn’t tell him too many stories, James,” Juliana nudges him and laughs. He just winks back at her but doesn’t say anything. Juliana shakes her head and leads me towards the exit. James smiles at her and I can tell he likes her. Not in a romantic way but as a little sister. I nod at him as I hold open the door to the building and she walks out onto the sidewalk. As she makes her way onto the sidewalk, she looks around the street. I can see her eyes searching and as she finds what she is looking for, she walks over to my car and waits patiently for me to unlock it. I smile to myself, enjoying learning about her habits and the way she thinks.

“What are you smiling at? Have I got something on my face?” Her voice interrupts my thoughts, making me jolt a little. I scold myself for getting distracted and absorbed in looking at her and thinking about her.

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