Page 54 of Faking the Face Off

“Yeah,” she says, a proud smile on her face. “Ollie’s been offered a commercial contract for a major energy drink and there’s a men’s skincare line that wants him as their ambassador. Lara emailed us today that he’s also been asked about appearing for other events, too. With the hashtag OllieAnna going viral, and the little bits you two have done keeping up your part of the deal, it’s lifted his profile a ton. It’s enough that Lara thinks Jimmy’s finally going to shut up about it.”

I can’t hide my smile. That’s great news for all of us, and it feels even better knowing that it’s working so well. I’ve watched Ollie navigate the whole thing, and knowing there is an end in sight really helps my conscience, too.

Sutton leans in a little, lowering her voice as if she’s about to tell me a secret. “And with the mayor’s ball in a few days’ time...it’s all over then. You’ll get the next payment in your bank very soon.”

I feel a warm rush of gratitude. All the stress, the worry, the juggling—it’s finally paying off and things are falling into place. There’s still a long way to go, for me and my dad personally, but for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m on the right path. At the same time, there’s a bleakness that surrounds my good thoughts, but I can put that away for now. I don’t want to think about the end of this. Not yet.

“Sounds good,” I say, forcing my smile to widen. I already know where to send that payment, so it is money spent. And I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Dad’s hospital bill. It’s all been a whirlwind, but exhausting, too. “It’s good to have something to look forward to.”

She gives me a wink. “A lady always needs her options.”

I laugh, leaving Sutton’s office with a light feeling in my stride as I head back to Ben and Molly’s. By now he should be home, and with a laundry list of duties I’ll need to get started on.

The Masters’ house is quiet when I arrive, but I can hear the murmur of Molly and Ben talking in the kitchen. I walk toward the voices, carrying bags of snacks and supplies I picked up earlier in the day.

“…and you should’ve seen it, Ben,” Molly’s voice carries as I reach the doorway. “Ollie was there, at breakfast this morning, with some woman. He had his arm around her and she wasn’t Anna.”

“What?” Ben’s voice registers his shock. “We just got back and he had a breakfast date lined up?”

“I can’t say much except that he disappoints me,” Molly says, her voice wavering.

My pulse falters for just a beat, but I take a steadying breath. The casual mention of Ollie’s sighting with someone else stings more than I would have expected. It doesn’t make sense, and yet, a little part of me feels a twinge of jealousy. Am I even allowed to feel it? It wasn’t in the contract…

But we did agree to not talk aboutpresentdating lives.

I linger for a moment at the kitchen door, unsure if I should join the conversation or give them a few more moments. Ben and Molly don’t see me at first, but when they do, they both turn and smile, with Molly immediately changing the tone of her voice.

“Anna, you’re back,” she announces happily as she points to the grocery bags. “Ah, dinner. Thank you so much.”

“Hey, Anna,” Ben greets me.

“Welcome home,” I manage cheerfully through a forced smile, setting the grocery bags down on the counter as I step further into the room. I pause, my mind still swirling. “I’ll get these items put away, then I’m off to get your drycleaning picked up and take back those returns for the kids.”

Molly, noticing my distracted expression, raises an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”

I nod, though I know the tightness in my chest says otherwise. I don’t want to tell them the real reason I’m feeling off. Instead, I swallow my unease and casually ask, “So, what was this about Ollie?”

Molly and Ben exchange a glance before she looks at me, her expression unreadable for a moment. She lets out a light sigh. “I met an old friend for a coffee this morning and Ollie was at the same café with someone—a woman.” Her eyes rock to Ben’s before she looks at me. “Didn’t seem like a casual thing, either.”

I don’t respond right away, my stomach tightening. Ollie hadn’t mentioned anything about this, and I’d thought we were...I don’t know,something. It feels ridiculous to feel upset,but there’s a sting of disappointment that runs deep. I know it’s probably nothing, a coincidence, but the fact that he didn’t tell me—didn’t even mention it—is harder to ignore.

I focus on gathering my thoughts before answering. “That’s interesting,” I murmur, a battle beginning to wage inside the dangerous neighborhood that is my mind. Ollie and I did say we’d be honest with each other. Didn’t we?

Ben and Molly exchange another look, clearly aware of the tension bubble that’s formed around my thin outer shell, but they don’t press me. Instead, Molly looks at me pointedly and asks, “You okay?”

I take a deep breath, the words I’ve been holding back all day finally tumbling out, knowing I can’t keep pretending everything is fine anymore.

“I need to tell Ben,” I say, my voice wavering just a bit as Molly nods.

“Tell me what?” he asks.

Molly pulls out a barstool and I take it from her, sitting down. “It’s about Ollie—and why things have been the way they’ve been.”

Ben stops what he’s doing, turning to face me. His expression immediately hardens while Molly watches me closely, sensing that this conversation is going to be important.

“I’d be an idiot to not have noticed your closeness,” he says. “So, you’re dating?”

“Well, that’s up for debate, depending on who you ask.” I swallow and continue. “I’m not dating Ollie. I mean, I am, but it’s not real. It’s fake.”

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