She has my heart

Marry me

Jeffrey's pov

I remember when she texted me one day to meet up with her at a fancy restaurant. I gathered all my things up after I was done with my report for the day and rushed out to meet her. I still had feelings for her. Yes, after six long years, the feelings were still there and growing stronger than ever. That is why I did everything she asked of me. Yet, she never knew how I felt about her for fear of being rejected.

As soon as I got to the restaurant, she was already there waiting for me. She was seated by a table, with a glass of wine seated in front of her. She waved at me as soon as she noticed me and I walked over to her.

"I'm so sorry I am late. Had a lot of work to do back at the office." I said and sat down on the chair in the opposite direction.

"It's okay. I'm even glad you are here. Please, let's take our order and eat something first. I'm very hungry." She suggested.

I nodded in agreement and we ordered our food. After our food was served, we ate and drank to our satisfaction before we got to what actually brought us there.

"You sounded very serious on the phone. Did something happen?" I asked her.

There was a long pause. Then she said something that would have made me choke on my food if I were to be eating.

"Marry me."

"Excuse me? What...did you just say?"

"I said marry me."

"Gina, listen. As much as this sounds very flirty and tempting, I think it's a very expensive joke." I said, laughing nervously.

"Do I look like I am laughing?" She said with a straight face.

Someone in my place would have grabbed this opportunity as fast as they could. I love her but I am not stupid to know she does not have that kind of feelings for me. So hearing that from her took me by surprise.

"I know this is a very big shock. But I need you to help me out here. You see, my father has been pressuring me to get married for a long time now. And you know me, I don't like to be held down. That is why I have always stayed away from any kind of committed relationship. My father has then decided to take me out of his will if I do not come home with a man in the next six months. I know this is sudden and if you decide not to agree to do this I won't fault you. I really need you to help me." She explained.

I should have known there was something behind her sudden proclamation.

"Let me see if I get this. You want me to be your pretend husband so that your father will not leave you out of his will?"

She nodded. "You will just have to pretend to be my husband for a while, when I am able to secure my inheritance. Then after that, we can go our way. Listen, I will pay you handsomely for your services, I promise you."

"Don't you think your father will get suspicious? I mean he does know we are good friends. But, how are we going to tell him that we are now dating? How are we going to convince him that we are actually together?"

"We will have to pretend all the way. Please, Jeff. You are my friend and the person I can trust with this right now that is why I am asking this of you. Help me."

"Okay. Let's say I agree to this. What then? Is this going to be like a contract or something?"

"Yeah. We will sign a contract on it. I just want to know if you agree to this. If you do, then I can get my lawyers to draw the contract right away for us to sign." She said.

"Alright. Let me think about this. I will call you back tomorrow when I make up my mind."

A bright smile crept across her face. "Really?"

"Yeah. Just give me tonight to think about it."

"Yes, sure. Take tonight to think about it. I will be waiting for your response tomorrow. Thank you so much for even considering it."

We began to talk about other things and left in our various cars. When we got home, I called Frank right away.

"Hello. There better be a good explanation to the reason why you are calling me at 10 pm in the evening." He complained.

"Hello to you too Frank. You won't believe what happened to me. You do remember I told you I would be going to see Gina later in the day?" I said excitedly.

"Yeah, you did. What's up?"

I explained everything that had been discussed some minutes before with him.

"Don't tell me you are even considering this?"

"I might…"

"No, hell no. You can't throw your life away like that just because you want your crush, who even hardly notices you should be happy. If she wants a contract husband, she should find someone else." He warned.

"Frank, come on. You know how much I love this girl. She is the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. She is my life, Frank."

"The more reason you should let her see you as someone who can't be pushed around. Don't do it, Jeff. You will be the one to be hurt if you go ahead with this plan."

I knew he was right. But, I had made up my mind to do the exact opposite of what Frank had said. I wanted to be by her side. Even if it meant I had to be in a fake marriage with her, then so be it.

The next day, I woke up early and prepared myself for work. Then, my phone rang. It was her.

Picking up the call, I placed the phone to my ear and answered.

"Jeff, hey. I'm sorry for calling you at this early hour. I just wanted to know if you have decided on what we talked about yesterday?" She said on the other side of the line.

"Don't do it, Jeff."

I could hear Frank's voice ringing in my ears. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"Jeff, are you there?"

"Yes. Yes I'm right here."

"So…?"

"I will do it. Let's get married."

"Are you sure about that? You really want to do this?"

"I'm very sure about it. Let's do it. I'm ready to do what you ask to maintain your inheritance."

"Thank you so much, Jeff. You have no idea what you have done for me. I will reward you handsomely as soon as this is over, I promise you."

I smiled. I knew this was a very big mistake and I knew I would regret it big time. I just hope I don't get broken after all this is over.

After we were done talking. I put my phone on the centre table and continued preparing myself for work.