Page 9 of Faking it with My Boss' Son

‘‘Precisely.’’ He said with a mischievous look on his face.

‘‘What about her?’’ I looked at him blankly.

‘‘I want you to go on a date with her,’’ he said abruptly, scaring me out of my wits.

‘‘What?’’ I exclaimed. ‘‘I can’t do that.’’

‘‘And may I ask you why not? You’ve been outrightly refusing everything I have asked from you,’’ he snorted in anger and started to leave.

‘‘Well, Dad. It’s not like that. I’m already seeing someone.’’ I said quickly, in a panic.

‘‘Who is she? And why haven't I heard about her until now?’’ He said, slightly offended that I didn’t tell him about her. “I would like to meet her.”

Of course, there was no one. I lied because I knew I would date anyone on earth except for Ruth Smith. I had said it in the heat of the moment, but when my father expressed his wish to meet my girlfriend, who didn’t exist, I found myself in dire straits and had no idea what to do next.

‘‘I will let her know you want to meet her, and we can set up a lunch date. Will that work?” I reassured him, hoping he couldn’t see through my lies.

“Sounds like a plan. Looking forward to meeting her.’’ Dad grinned.

***

I headed to Michelle's apartment to hang out.

‘‘How is your first week going?’’ I asked Michelle as we sat in the dining room having coffee.

‘‘It’s going fantastic. Your dad is not only a boss every employee dreams of having but also a wonderful human being. Even at his age, he is agile and active even with the Pneumonia setback. His work ethic is simply infectious. Inspirational guy. Are you even listening to me? Hello!’’ Michelle waved her hand in front of my face.

‘‘Yes… yes, I am.’’ I lied.

‘‘No, you certainly aren’t. You look like you are thinking about something else. Are you okay?’’ She asked with concern.

I looked away from her.

‘‘Come on, Ryan. Tell me what it is.’’

‘‘My dad wants me to date someone that I have no interest in.’’

‘‘Did you tell him you went on a date with Alison?’’ she asked.

"No, our compatibility just wasn't there, remember?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

“I thought you were going to give it some time?” She asked, surprised.

‘‘No… there was no sense in dragging it out when in my heart I knew it wasn't going to work out.” I said, happy I had made that decision.

Michelle looked surprised, ‘‘Well, in that case, you should go on a date with the one your dad has chosen for you.’’ She said, confused about who it could be.

‘‘You mean Ruth?’’ I said in disgust.

‘‘Well, if she is the one your dad has chosen for you,’’ Michelle collected the coffee mugs, went into the kitchen, and returned in no time.

‘‘No way.’’

‘‘Fine, then simply tell your dad you don’t want to date anyone until your soccer career is over.’’ She said, really trying to help me out.

‘‘You know I can’t do that. He is already mad at me for not joining the company already.’’

Michelle huffed, ‘‘Then, what?’’

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