me, worried I’ll fall and fail because I don’t have anyone there to catch me…
I make it to the car and throw my stuff in the passenger seat. I feel like weeping, so instead, I start the car and turn on some shitty pop music. I crank it as loud as possible to drown out my own thoughts.
There’s a strange melody in this one. All pop songs are repetitive as hell, but this sounds like a phone. Oh, shit, that’s my phone! I cut the music and scramble for my bag, my fingers shaking in worry.
“Hello?!” I demand as I pick up the call.
“Hey.” Oh, it’s Stephen.
“Hi,” I say, steadying my heartbeat. “Um. What do you want? I mean, what’s up?”
“I should be asking you the same thing —”
“Look, Stephen,” I sigh, leaning back into my seat. “I just have a lot going on right now. My Mom needs me home. She’s being annoyingly vague. I’m hoping it’s nothing, but, to be honest, I don’t know. I never do with her.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” I say reflexively. He’s quiet for a moment, and I worry I was too harsh.
“Are you sure?” he asks again, his voice gentle. Goddamnit. Who could resist?
“Well. To be honest, I think it’s about me, and my life choices. They haven’t exactly been the most supportive of my chosen path. You’re not going to air this, right?”
“No,” he chuckles, “of course not. I’m just here to listen.”
“Okay,” I smile and take a deep breath. “My parents are well off… as you’ve probably heard from Nadia. Over and over again.”
“Yeah, she may have mentioned it,” he jokes, which makes me smile.
“Anyway, they can’t fathom why I’ve chosen to forgo my easy path to riches, their riches, to try and make it on my own. My mother’s been threatening me with my inheritance for so long, I just pretend I don’t have one. I can’t rely on people.”
“It’s a shame you feel that way.”
I stop to think about his comment. He must have taken my silence as offense, so he quickly adds, “I mean, I wish you didn’t feel that way. I’d like to be, I mean, I think I could be someone you can rely on.”
My smile broadens.
“Thanks. Uh, well, anyway, my Mom stopped really speaking to me or supporting me after I broke up with my ex. He was… just not a great guy.” I try not to say too much, but I know it’s probably heavy in my tone.
“Ever since we split, she has this crazy idea I’ll never be secure, she’ll never trust I’m making the right decisions, or that I’m going to make it unless there’s a stable guy in my life to help me through it all. I think this may be about that. Maybe.”
I wait to hear his reaction. Stephen’s quiet on his end, and I hold my breath. He must think I’m an idiot. Crushed under an overbearing mother, some stupid sob story.
Yeah, play the world’s tiniest violin for the rich girl whose parents don’t support her. God, I must sound so stupid —
“I could be your guy.” I shut the car off, to make sure I hear him correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, I could pretend to be your guy.” No, I definitely heard him right.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re going back today, right? Where are you?”
“Well,” I look around the parking garage. “I’m actually still in my car. I haven’t left the parking lot yet.”
“Perfect!” he chimes in. “We’ll go together. I’ll pretend to be your guy, charm the hell out of them, they’ll believe you’re taken care of, which you are on your own anyway, and no one will be the wiser. Easy.”
To be honest… that sounds fucking fantastic. What could be better then walking in for my mom to see me on the arm of a fucking celebrity? I mean, Stephen Longvale is basically a household name!
“Stephen, I don’t know…”
“Sure, you do, it’s a no-brainer. Plus, I’m thinking about me. The quicker I get you there and back, the quicker this show gets wrapped up. You just have to pretend to like me for a couple of days. That won’t be so bad, right?”
“I don’t know, sounds pretty brutal.”
He laughs. “So, what do you say?”
I take a breath and look at the crumbled bag beside me. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay!” I laugh and groan into my steering wheel.
“Great. Sit tight, alright? I’ll come pick you up in 30 minutes.”
Twenty-Eight
Stephen
I tell myself that the reason I opted for the