THE AGREEMENT
1122 Words
Elena stared at Josh’s message for the tenth time that night.
“If anything you want.”
Short. Dry. Straight to the point. Exactly the kind of reply a man like him would send.
“Okay… then we’ll meet tomorrow morning,” she typed.
Her thumb hovered before sending, but she pushed it anyway.
A second later, her phone buzzed.
“Alright.”
She blinked. “Wait—that’s it?” she muttered.
She typed again: “I’ll text you the address.”
“No problem.”
Click. She locked her phone and exhaled.
She leaned back on her couch and whispered to herself,
“Mom, I’ll give you what you want. You want a fiancé? You’ll get a fiancé. Even if it’s fake.”
Then she tossed her phone aside.
“Homegirl,” she sighed, “I need a relaxing playlist before I lose my mind.”
Her AI home speaker replied immediately,
“Got you, Elena. Starting your ‘soft life survival’ playlist.”
Music filled her apartment. Soft, calming, the opposite of her actual life.
She closed her eyes and whispered, “Tomorrow, please don’t embarrass me.”
---
The Next Morning
Elena arrived early at the café she’d picked—small, calm, upscale but not too loud. She fixed her hair, checked her lip gloss, and forced herself not to look nervous.
She had a mission:
Convince this man—a man she barely knew, a man who didn’t even care about his own wedding—to pretend to be her fiancé.
She tapped her fingers on the table, rehearsing lines in her head.
“Hi Josh, thanks for meeting me.”
“So, I need a fake fiancé.”
“Yes, it sounds strange but I swear it’s not what you think.”
She groaned softly. “God, this sounds worse every time.”
Then the door opened—and Josh walked in.
Tall. Calm. Dressed in a plain black T-shirt and dark jeans. No effort, yet somehow looking better than everyone else in the room.
He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning.
Just neutral. Comfortable. Quiet.
He spotted her and walked over.
“Morning,” he said.
His voice—deep and controlled—hit her like a cold drink on a hot day.
“Hey,” she managed, smiling a little too quickly. “Thanks for coming.”
He pulled out the chair and sat.
“No problem. You sounded… serious.”
“I am.” She folded her hands, heart thumping. “Okay, so I’m just going to say it. I need your help.”
He looked at her steadily, the way someone looks at a problem they’re ready to solve.
“I figured,” he said.
She took a breath. “I need you to pretend to be my fiancé.”
Josh didn’t blink. Didn’t choke. Didn’t even look surprised.
This man… nothing shakes him.
“Okay,” he said simply.
Elena froze. “…Okay?? Just like that?”
“You seem… stressed. And you said it was important. I have time. And I owe you, I mean I broke your car.
“Oh! Well, uh—good. Great. Thank you.”
She reached into her bag. “I brought something.”
She placed a small velvet box on the table.
Josh stared at it. “Is that—?”
“A ring,” she said. “For the pretending.”
He opened it.
A simple silver band. Elegant. Nothing dramatic.
“You really came prepared,” he said.
“I’m a planner. It’s my whole career,” she replied. “And also my only method of survival because my mother is… intense.”
Josh nodded as if he understood.
Elena continued, “She keeps asking when I’m getting married. When I’ll give her grandbabies. When I’ll settle down. I’m tired. So I need a break. A distraction. A fake fiancé for a few months until the pressure dies.”
Josh fiddled with the ring, spinning it slightly.
“And you want me to play the part.”
“Yes,” she said brightly. “Because you’re quiet. Mature. Not dramatic. And you know my mom, which is perfect.”
He lifted his head.
“You’re sure you want me? I’m not exactly social.”
“That’s why it works,” she said. “My mom won’t find your social media and stalk you. It’s beautiful.”
He huffed out a small laugh—the first emotion she’d seen from him.
“Alright,” he said. “Tell me the rules.”
She grinned, pulling out a small printed document.
“A contract,” she said. “Just to make everything clear.”
Josh raised a brow. “You brought a contract for a fake relationship?”
“Yes. Organization is peace.”
He took the papers.
“Okay. Let’s hear them.”
She read:
“Rule one: No falling in love.”
Josh looked up. “You really had to put that as number one?”
Elena shrugged. “People catch feelings anyhow these days.”
He smirked faintly. “Noted.”
She moved on.
“Rule two: Public affection only when necessary.”
“Fine.”
“Rule three: If anyone asks how we met, we agree on one story.”
“Okay.”
“Rule four: We fake-breakup when the time is right. You don’t disappear or ghost me. Communication is key.”
“That’s reasonable.”
“And rule five…” She hesitated. “Never lie to me about important things. If something changes, I want to know.”
Josh paused a second longer at that one.
“Alright,” he said. “I can do that.”
She handed him a pen.
“So… should we sign?”
Josh didn’t even question it. He signed first.
Then Elena signed under his.
When she looked up, he slid the ring onto his finger.
“Does it fit?” she asked.
“Perfect.”
She realized she had been holding her breath and finally exhaled.
“Okay,” she said. “So we’re… fake engaged.”
“For a few months,” he corrected.
“Right. Just pretend.”
“Just pretend.”
But as they shook hands across the table, Elena felt something strange pass between them—quiet, warm, unexpected.
Josh felt it too.
But neither of them said a word.
And Elena still had no idea…
That the little boy she’d comforted—the one who hugged her, the one she couldn’t stop thinking about—
Was Josh’s son.
And the boy had already told Josh:
> “Daddy, I saw my mommy, she's so pretty .”
Josh kept that part to himself.
For now.
- Writer
