Page 20 of Olivia's Only Pretending
I open my mouth, but a response evades me. I let out a breath.
“You’ve gotten to know him over the past, what? Six months? He’s your best friend. You know him better than that. He’s over fixing your freaking deck, not out breaking hearts.” Gracie laughed as if it were the silliest thing she’d ever heard.
I nestled deeper into the couch, because that was the problem. Hewasthe sweet, dependable Victor who fixed my deck and knew me better than any best friend I’d ever had … but he was also the one person who could absolutely demolish my heart.
Eight
Victor
De nocte cenae nostrae excitatur!
…was any of that right?
(it’s supposed to say I’m excited about our dinner tonight)
Me
That was mostly right. I’m proud of you!!
I can’t believe you’re actually learning Latin.
Victor
you inspire me
you make me want to learn more
plus, now I’ve gotta keep up with my pretend gf’s coworkers and all the languages they’ve studied
Friday came, and I could barely focus at work. There were lectures to give and essays to read and grade, but in thebackground, my mind kept sounding the alarm:call off the charade.
If this fake date with Victor managed to not blow up our friendship, it could easily blow up my work life. I wasn’t living in some silly romcom movie. I’d worked too hard to start playing make-believe in front of my colleagues.
I spent my entire lunch break anxiously chewing through my salad, on the precipice of calling Victor and telling him the plan was off. That I’d suck it up and go to my work dinner on my own like the full-grown woman I was.
But I didn’t.
Because I was torn.
Until a few days ago, I hadn’t seen Ryan since our breakup. And this next time would be with all my coworkers, all of whom had known us as a couple when we wereRyan and Livvy. I shuddered at the memory of that old nickname he’d given me. I’d tried so hard to make myself like it.
And Victor had a way of calming me down and making everything more fun. He made things that were usually hard, like knocking down a wall or having tough conversations with my family, feel easier. I knew having Victor by my side would make so much of my anxiety around this evening fizzle out.
So, I put off calling him, even as it ate away at me the rest of the afternoon.
Finally, on the drive home from work, I knew it was time to call him and put an end to the insane plan we’d concocted in our post-kiss haze.
“Hey, you.” His voice echoed through my car. “You getting ready for our big date?”
“I’m just driving home from work, actually,” I said through the knot in my throat.
“You know, I’m actually pretty excited. I can’t wait to see you all fixed up and meet your boss.”
“Meet my boss?” I choked.What would Victor even say to my boss?I couldn’t handle bringing her into our scheme. This was such a bad idea.
“Of course. That’s at the top of my list.” His voice muffled on the other line for a second, like he had the phone propped between his shoulder and ear. “How’re you feeling about it?”
“I … I don’t know. I’m rethinking it.”
