Page 15 of My Fake Fiancé

‘Nothing too fancy’, hmm. There are a lot of restaurants between our apartments, a lot of them are fancy though. I’ll have to text her in a couple of days to see if she has any choices she’d prefer. And it would give me an excuse to talk to her again before the dinner. Not that I need to talk to her but I find myself wanting to talk to her again. I really enjoyed spending time with her today. She is so different from Ashley, in the best way. I haven’t spent time with a girl like her in a while.

Chapter 15

Juliana

The next few days drag by slowly but finally, it’s Wednesday morning. My alarm goes off and I am grateful I set it for two hours earlier than needed. It gives me time to take a long shower and get everything done that I need to, that way I will only have to rinse off after work before meeting Kurt for dinner.

Butterflies twirl in my stomach as I rub moisturizer on my face after my shower. I am excited to see Kurt again. We only talked briefly this week about the restaurant of choice for this evening. We decided on a cute little cafe that Kurt had been to. He offered to pick me up again and I accepted. I could just meet him there but he offered since I haven’t been to the cafe so it’d be easier for him to just pick me up.

“Juliana!” Tatyana flings open the bathroom door. Luckily, I have a towel wrapped around me. I turn to look at her while I continue to lotion, moving to my arms.

“Yes? Can I help you?” I ask. She reaches her hand out and I squeeze some lotion out onto her hand.

“Just wanted to check in to see how everything is going. With Kurt specifically.”

“Well, we are going to dinner at 7 p.m. this evening. After work, I will head back here and then shower. If you’re around, maybe you’d like to help me get ready?”

“Oh duh! I would like to. I like Kurt. He seems great.” Tatyana steps back to allow me to exit the bathroom then she follows me back to my room.

“Don’t get too attached. This isn’t really a long-term thing, I don’t think.” I rummage through my dresser to find clothes for work while we talk.

“Ooo, you don’t think? But you kind of want it to be a long-term thing don’t you?” Tatyana teases me. She flops onto my bed and flips through a magazine I just noticed she had in her hand.

“No, I mean that would be so weird. This is a fake relationship to begin with, so if I did want it to be a long-term thing in the end, it would be so strange to jump automatically to being engaged. Like, what? We actually go through with a wedding? We get married first and then we start dating and start having a real relationship? That’s crazy.” I ramble on, carefully getting dressed so my towel doesn’t fall off even though I know Tatyana is too busy with the magazine to see me.

“Wow, have you been thinking about this a lot?” I sigh but she continues talking. “Oh! It would be sort of like The Proposal! With Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. You know the line he says towards the end. ‘Marry me because I’d like to date you.’ That line. That would be exactly your situation. Well, not that either of y’all are getting deported but still, similar idea right?”

Tatyana and I look at each other for a quiet second before we both burst out laughing. I sit down on the bed next to her and our laughs fill the room for a few minutes before we finally calm down.

“That is always the thing that annoyed me the most about The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchise. Literally none of them used that line to propose. So frustrating. I mean they literally have to get engaged to continue dating soooo why not use such an iconic line?” I go on a bit of a rant and Tatyana laughs.

“Trade marked maybe? Although you’d think they’d be able to afford it if one of the contestants wanted to use that for their proposal.” Tatyana frowns and then rolls her eyes at the situation.

“Well, anyway, it’s stupid,” I say, standing up off my bed. “Okay, I have to go to work now. Will you be here when I get back? I’m off at 5 p.m. today.”

“Hm, I don’t get off until 6 p.m. What time is Kurt coming to get you? Also, I love the fact that he picks you up to take you out. Very sweet but also gives us a little extra time to get you ready.”

“I know, it’s very nice and helpful. Haha.” I towel dry my hair, scrunching it a bit to get more water out of it and shape my curls more. “Dinner is at 7 p.m. but I’m not sure if that means he’ll be here at 7 p.m. or we need to be at the cafe at 7 p.m. I don’t think the cafe takes reservations so I think he’ll be here at 7 p.m.”

“Okay, I should be home by 6:15 p.m. but that only gives us 45 minutes to get you all cute and prepped for your date.” Tatyana winks at me and I don’t bother to correct her. It does feel like it’s a date.

“That should work. Thanks, darlin’! Okay, I’ve got to get to work, I’ll see you this evening. Have fun at work .” I leave Tatyana lying on my bed flipping through her magazine. She gives a wave and says she’ll see me tonight.

Chapter 16

Juliana

When I get to work, my boss has me in the backroom unpacking boxes and sorting things. I spend a few hours in the back then I make my way out front, rolling out a cart packed with new items to put out.

“Oh, perfect timing!” My boss comes over to me and plucks an item off the cart. “I was just telling a customer about these new earrings we just got in. Her daughter just got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago and is ready to put new earrings in. I think these will be perfect for her!”

My boss loves her job and is genuinely excited about helping each customer. I always love working with her because she makes the day go quickly, smoothly, and actually fun. I watch her head off back to the customer and I turn back to the cart and begin dragging it around the store, restocking items and placing the new items in their designated spots.

Near the end of my shift, the cart begins to empty, and as I put out the last items my boss comes over to me.

“Once you're done with this, you can clock out. Katherine should be here soon. She’s always a few minutes late but I can hold down the fort until she arrives.”

“Okay, I’ll put the cart away then grab my things before clocking out.”

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