Page 5 of A Man for the Holidays

“Well, if he’s a mannequin in a men’s clothing store, then who is that delicious man sitting on your couch all by himself?”

“I… don’t know,” I tell her, trying to convince myself that he’snotthe statue in the window.

“Well then, I guess it would be rude to not walk over there and introduce myself.”

She hands me her glass of juice, then quickly fixes her hair as she wanders over to the man.

“Hi there. I don’t think we’ve been introduced, I’m Paige, Spencer’s best-friend and roommate.”

She stretches out her hand as I hear the man say, “I’m Quinn. It’s lovely to meet you Paige, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have, have you?” she questions, throwing a death glare in my direction.

I don’t even know who this guy is, so how the hell does he know about Paige. Unless of course––that’s it. The revelation suddenly jolts me like a bolt of lightning. I walk over to the two of them then sit down on the armchair closest to Quinn.

“It feels funny to sit down, I’m so used to being on my feet all day and night. It’s like your entire body just wrinkles.”

“And what exactly do you do Quinn?” Paige asks.

“Oh I, ahh…” he flicks his eyes in my direction quickly, and I give him a confused look, then he turns back to Paige and says, “I’m a model.”

“Well, that certainly makes a lot more sense. And what exactly do you model? Underwear?”

So much for a subtle approach.

“Look, you two had me fooled for a moment, but I know exactly what you’re both up to,” I finally say.

“Huh?” Paige asks.

“Oh, please. You two planned this, didn’t you?” Where did you find him Paige, some local bar?”

“I beg your pardon?” she questions.

“Don’t give me that innocent crap. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re playing me for a fool. I’ve been talking to you about Quinn; all year and even now you still think it’s a crazy, stupid idea, and yet you hire someone to act and look like Quinn. Well played, Brava.” I say.

She glares at me, then inches forward on the couch and says, “Wait, what? You think I orchestrated all of this?”

“I don’t think, I know. It’s just too perfect and simple. Not evenIcould have planned this so well.”

The man sitting beside her says nothing. Instead, his eyes roam from Paige to me and I can see the confused expression all over his face, but I know Paige; and this has her name written all over it. “What I don’t understand is, why? Why did you feel like you had to take it this far to try and humiliate me in front of a perfect stranger?”

She gives me a final death stare, then gets to her feet and storms out the room, and I hear the door to her room slam shut. Momentary silence fills the room as I stare longingly at the man beside me paying careful attention to the extreme attention to detail the two of them have put into making this guy look so convincingly like Quinn. But now that I’ve seen right through both of them, it’s time for Mr. Phony; to get his ass out of my apartment and back to wherever it is he came from.

“You really should go easy on her, Spencer; I mean, she had nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, so you did this all alone, right?”

“Well, no, not exactly. I had some help from John.”

“John? Who’s John?” I question.

“John Newton. The guy who works at the store.”

It takes a second for the words to register in my brain, and then my eyes widen as I continue to stare at the man. I hadn’t told anyone about John, not even Paige, and especially not Quinn. I’ve been visiting his window every day, and I would always sit down and have a conversation with the guy like he was a real person, but up until earlier this evening, I had no idea who Mr. John Newton even was. So how is it that this man knows who he is when I’ve never spoken of the guy?

“Look, if you don’t want me to stay, I can always book a hotel room,” he says.

“No!” I answer quickly, although I’m not exactly sure why. “I mean, don’t you have a place to stay of your own? Friends? Family?”

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