The Date

Chapter5

“Anytime. Did you get more information about this? You said before that you would look this up to find similar cases about this.”

Alexa shook her head. She’d almost brought it up a few times, but each time she’d gotten too nervous to say anything.

''It wasn’t the right time, Matt. I was celebrating with my friend, and. . . Anyway, it wasn’t the right time.'' She changed the subject. “How was your hot date last night?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Most boring date I’ve ever been on. That woman and I had nothing to talk about. Buy you more coffee, and I’ll give you the highlights, such as they were?”

She fought back a yawn.

“Definitely.”

Jack checked his phone after he had taken a hot shower. A text from the business, notification of a to-do list, a text from his friend encouraging him to go after that girl. ''Speaking of the girl, she hasn't emailed or called;” and one from an unfamiliar 267 number.

2 things: 1) We’re still on for tonight, yes? 2) What’s your last name?

Tonight. Oh dear God. That hadn’t been some sort of silly prank?

She's dead serious about this.

Shit. A rehearsal dinner and a wedding at the last minute? What was he thinking when he agreed?

Yes. Rachel. And if I’m coming for this, I will need some details about when/where/etc.

“Etc.” meant “what the hell, how many people got to be there???” because he was supposed to act like a total stranger in their mist.

Rehearsal dinner at 6 p.m at the lake. Wedding at 7 tomorrow at some church, reception at the hotel. By the way, I told Josh you’re my boyfriend.

He stared at the phone for a full minute. Her new boyfriend? He had to pretend to be his girlfriend? With God knows, in the presence of maybe 50 or 100 guests.

I had too much alcohol last night for this.

He got a reply almost immediately.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Why did you laugh? Was it funny?

“Not like that, I laughed at how quickly you responded.”

Why did you need to know my last name?

He reached for a cup, and took a big gulp of water.

Firstly, I should probably know my boyfriend’s last name, right? Secondly, Josh asked for it for the place cards.

“Okay, no problem, I will send you the details via text.”

He sunk on the couch for some mins thinking about what he was about to face on Saturday evening.

She looked up at the knock on her door.

“I was going to check to see if you needed coffee, but I see you’re all set,” her assistant, Sloane, said.

She almost asked Sloane to get her a pastry before she remembered she still had a doughnut sitting on her desk. She took a bite of it. Maybe the sugar would help her figure out exactly how it would feel going on a fake date with a strange guy tonight.

And right now, because of how the wedding was set to be, she had to bring a guest to the wedding. Hope he doesn't find her being too desperate or even worse.

She scrolled through her emails and answered the easy ones as she mentally went through her closet to try to figure out what she was going to wear to this wedding. A few minutes later, Sloane poked her head back through the door.

''Oh hey, your lunch meeting just called to cancel. I rescheduled you for Tuesday.''

“God bless you.” Alexa checked her calendar and saw she was free almost all afternoon.

“She already has,” Sloane said on her way out the door.

So she decided to message Jack. To get to know him better.

Wait, what do you do in the big apple? I should know this about my boyfriend.

He took a sip of coffee.

I am actually a business person. I deal in real estate management and have a fund which I manage.

Wait, should she really be eating this doughnut if she was going to have to be in a cocktail dress in a few hours? Shouldn’t she be drinking vitamin water or green juice or something?

Eh. She took another bite and went back to her message.

What about you? Are you a doctor like your friend? I’m a reporter,. It doesn't mean that if I have a friend that is a doctor, I should also be a doctor.

He laughed. It was just a simple question?

''My bad, I'm so sorry, being stressed out today. She lied.

Don't say anything stupid, say something that won't offend her.

''You're capable of dealing with this.''

Thank you so very much.

He had resigned himself to dealing with boredom throughout the few days he was going to spend in the city, because he had canceled all his meetings and appointments just to spend the days with his buddy. Then, by miracle, Rachel's reservation got canceled, and that had saved him, or he'd maybe jumped into the solution too eagerly.

Not backing out. Despite what he's about to experience, for the first time, it can also be fun. . .

She sighted in relief, and her thumb flew over the keyboard.

I owe you a big favor for this. You have no idea. There will be a show concerning Jack, who's willing to help a stranger. See you tonight then?

Just text me ahead of time, so we can become a fake couple for the next few hours, OK?

Another text flashed on her screen as she turned to check if she got any other messages on the phone.

Rachael had looked so flabbergasted when she’d told him the details of the wedding. In which everyone else from school knew the Rachael-Josh-Ariel crazy backstory, so she hadn't forgotten how crazy it was back then, and how people would be staring at them at the wedding. And the worst part was that she hadn’t even told him the whole story; she’d actually seemed like a saint in the story that she had told him but it goes way more crazy than that.

There was no point in telling the man you had an unexpected date, who would be acting as your date, probably only for a few minutes. That you have broken the heart of the nicest person in the world, the snowball that had started this whole avalanche, and you probably deserved all the looks you will get all weekend, right? It wasn’t like she’d lied to him; everything she said was the truth, just not the whole truth. It wasn’t like she’d made Josh or Ariel out to be evil, had she?

Well, maybe a little bit, but it was only because this no-date-for-the-wedding thing had driven her out of her mind. She should have just bailed on the wedding and looked like even more of a bad guy.

I am currently working on something. See you later.