Page 10 of Pretend to be Mine
Savannah
I’m smiling to myself as I walk back home in the darkness of the night. I’m slightly buzzed from the wine and the beer we consumed; I feel like I’m on cloud nine from having so much fun with Ben. My father’s party crosses my mind and I’m struck with the idea that I should ask Ben to be my pretend boyfriend. I mean, we’ve gotten pretty close over the last couple of days and he’s super cute and fun. I’m sure we could pull it off just by being ourselves.
I let myself into the house and lock the door behind me before heading straight to my room. No, I can’t ask Ben something like that. We just met. He’ll think I’m crazy or something. He’ll probably think it’s some kind of ploy to getting him into a relationship. No, I can’t ask Ben. If worse comes to worse, I’ll just have to go alone and explain to my parents that James and I broke up. I’m sure they’ll ask one-hundred annoying questions, but I’ll just have to do my best at dancing around them. Sleep finds me quickly, and before I know it, I’m out, dreaming of Ben and the fun we had over the last couple of days.
Morning comes early. I’m usually a morning person, but I was sleeping so well that I don’t want to wake up. The alcohol is still lingering in my system and I feel like I need to drink a gallon of water to flush it out. I walk slowly to the shower to get ready for work.
After showering, I feel a little more human, and instead of brewing a pot of coffee, I grab a bottle of water to hydrate. I do my hair and makeup before dressing in a pencil skirt and sleeveless dress-shirt. I gather my things and head for the door.
I step out into the heat of the day and lock the door behind me. As I’m pulling the key out of the lock, I notice Ben walking to his car. He notices me, smiles and waves. “Morning, neighbor.”
I don’t know what I’m doing, but suddenly I’m walking over and now standing in front of him. How did this happen? I don’t remember making the choice to walk over to him or ask him the question that’s leaving my mouth right now. “Do you have plans in two weeks?”
He tosses his briefcase into the car and stands up straight, scratching the back of his head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”
I wet my lips, but my mouth is suddenly dry from nerves. “It’s just that my family is having this huge birthday party for my dad, and well…I haven’t told them about my break-up yet. They loved James, probably more than they love me, actually.”
Ben laughs. “I don’t understand.”
“I need a fake boyfriend. If I show up with another man, it would be rude to ask about James, right?”
“Oh,” he says, his face going slack. “Um…” he says, buying time.
“You know what? This is weird. Forget I said anything.” Before he can reply, I turn and walk back to my car. I climb behind the wheel and twist the key until the car roars to life. I refuse to look over at him even though I can feel his eyes burning through my skull. I pull on my seatbelt and when I check my surroundings to back up, his car is gone.
I let out a sigh of relief at knowing that he’s no longer watching me. What the hell was I thinking? Oh, I wasn’t. I was acting entirely on impulse. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is exactly why I shouldn’t be an adult. I can’t even control myself after deciding last night that I would not do this. God, what’s wrong with me? I roll my eyes at myself and decide that when I get home this evening, I’ll just stay in the house with no way of bumping into him. I don’t know how I’ll ever show my face again.
I make it to work and go directly to my office. My embarrassment is still bright on my face, so I don’t want to take the chance of running into anyone. I sit behind my desk and start up the phone and computer for the day. Someone knocks on my door, and I find Sarah popping her head in.
“Morning.”
“Good morning,” I respond, keeping my eyes on my computer, but I feel her walk deeper inside my office instead of retreating.
“What did you do?”
“What? Who said I did anything?”
She sits across from me. “I’ve known you long enough that you don’t have to say you did something for me to know you did something. Now, what did you do?”
I laugh at myself and my stupidity. “I have to go to my father’s birthday party in a couple weeks and I haven’t told them about my break-up.”
Sarah gasps. “Seriously? It’s been months!”
“I know, but they really liked him, and I just didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, you know?”
She just watches me silently.
“Anyway, I thought that if I found a guy to take with me, a man who’s willing to pretend that we’re dating, they wouldn’t ask all the questions. I mean, it would be rude to talk about an ex in front of the new guy, right?”
Sarah shrugs and nods.
“Well, I have this super cute new neighbor, and we’ve been hanging out and getting to be friends the last couple days. This morning, I don’t know what came over me, I just rushed up to him and asked him if he’ll be my pretend boyfriend.”
Her jaw drops. “And what did he say?”
“Nothing. I didn’t give him the chance to. As soon as I realized the mistake I was making, I ran away.”
“You ran away?”
