by Scarlet West
It all comes down to what your father does. Fuck, what’s he going to say about this? Don’t tell him! You can’t. If he finds out, everything is going to fall apart.
“So anyway. That’s my story,” Ashley said, bringing me back to the present. “I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but it’s the truth, and now you know.”
I nodded. I reached out and put my hand over hers and gave her a weak smile. “Are your grandparents going to be here for a while now? Maybe they’ll head back to wherever they live and you can turn twenty-five before they find out.”
“I’m not sure,” she said with a sigh. “My grandmother isn’t doing well, and they might take her to a doctor in Sweden. They aren’t sure what’s wrong with her, but he’s supposed to be the best when it comes to brain health.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but I hope for your sake they make the trip,” I said. She forced a smile and nodded.
“Me too.”
8
Ashley
I sat at work and stared at the computer screen, trying to concentrate on what I was doing. I didn’t want to be at work, but I didn’t want to be anywhere else, either. I thought a lot about my conversation with Blake that morning, and I had to admit, he was being great about everything.
He seemed to really understand where I was coming from with my grandparents, and I genuinely believed he would be there for me. I didn’t know how we were going to get through the next step in our lives, but I felt a lot less alone, and that made things seem not quite as bad as they had before.
The phone rang and I was reluctant to answer it. I didn’t feel I was in the right state of mind to be able to answer a lot of questions about banking, but with the other teller also refusing to answer, I knew I was going to have to cave. Jenny hated answering the phone, and she did everything she could to keep from doing it.
I found it very annoying, but I didn’t argue with her about it anymore. She got her way with everything in life, and she wasn’t going to bend on this. I just had to deal with it and hope I didn’t have to answer anything too hard.
To my surprise, it was my grandfather.
“I tried calling your cell but you didn’t answer,” he said.
“I’m at work, Grandpa, I can’t answer when I’m working,” I replied.
“Well, you can answer this one,” he said.
“And I did,” I replied. “What do you want? I can’t talk on this phone for personal matters, either. I have to keep it open for business transactions.”
“I wanted to talk to you about your grandmother,” he said. “She’s not been doing well at all, and I think I’m going to take her on that overseas trip.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.
“I’m sure, but there is another thing. I’m not going to be able to reach you as much as I like, either. Where we are going is rather remote, and we aren’t going to have the greatest phone access to the States. But, I don’t want to lose out on the business we’ve been working so hard on,” he said.
“What are you asking me to do?” I asked.
“I need you to do more of the bookwork and accounting for me than you have been. I want you to take care of things the way I would do it, and report them to me through email. We can keep in touch daily that way,” he replied.
“When are you going to be leaving?” I asked.
“Tonight. I know that this is short notice, but we’re going to be taking the next flight out of here, and I want to get her there as soon as possible. Can you do this?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“You might have to deal with the Bogarts more, but I’ve got faith in you. You did great at that party you went to for us a few months back, keep doing that,” he said. I about choked on my own tongue. He didn’t want to know what I did at the party, that was for sure. And if he found out, he’d sure as Hell not want me to keep doing it.
But, I wasn’t going to let him feel like he couldn’t trust me, so I assured him I could handle it.
“I’ll take care of it,” I assured him. “Don’t you worry. Take care of Grandma, and make sure you keep me updated on what she’s doing.”
“I will, don’t you worry about that,” he hung up the phone, and I sighed. This was going to make things somewhat easier, but it was going to complicate them as well. I didn’t want to deal with any more of the business aspects. I was having a difficult enough time keeping up with work and bills as it was.
Not to mention, he didn’t have much faith in my ability to handle it. He made it clear that I had much to learn, and he wasn’t happy with how long it was taking me to learn it. I put my hand on my belly. It was something that I tried not to do when I was in public, but it made me feel better. It was a lot more comforting to feel the baby inside me than it was to think about all the shit I had to deal with in the rest of the world.
I tried to continue with my day when the phone rang once more.
“You going to get that?” Jenny asked.
“Shouldn’t you? We’re both paid to answer,” I said.
“You’re better at it than I am,” she replied.
“You can only get better if you practice,” I told her.
“That’s why you’re here, so I don’t have to,” she said.
The phone rang once more, and I vowed to ream her when I got off. I didn’t want to be the only one responsible for it, but she pushed that on me more than wanted. if something was going to change, I was going to have to be the one to change it.
But, that was going to have to wait until after I handled the next caller, and they were persistent.
“Hello?” I said,
“Hey, it’s Blake.” Blake’s voice came through the phone, and I sighed. I didn’t want to talk to him again either right now. I just wanted to get through my day. But still, it was undeniable the shock that ran through my body when he spoke to me. He had some sort of power – some sort of connection to me that was undeniable.
“Hey,” I said. “I can’t talk on this phone for personal use.”
“You weren’t answering your cell phone,” he replied.
“I’m at work. I can’t answer my phone when I’m at work,” I said, trying not to be exasperated. I knew both he and my grandfather didn’t have to follow the same rules as I did when they were at work, but I didn’t know how they didn’t understand I did.
“What do you want?” I persisted.
“Marry me,” he said.
“What?” I asked, shocked.
“I want you to marry me. Really. I just got the news that your grandparents are going to head out of town. They can get the news when they are over there, but you can make it vague. Something that will satisfy them. Then, when they hear the news about the baby, you aren’t going to have to worry about a thing,” he said.
“You want me to marry you but not tell them who you are?” I asked. “Are you insane?”
“Probably a little, but it’s the best that I’ve got. I want to help you, and this is my idea,” he said.
I mulled it over for a second. “But what about your dad? Don’t you think he’d be happy to let them know?”
“That’s just it. They say here that they are forwarding all their information to you. When he emails them, it’s going to come to you,” he sounded excited. “You can tell him as them that they are thrilled with the news and they think this is going to be something we can move forward with in the future.”
I wanted to argue, but he was right. Right now, this did seem like the best option.
“I did some research, and she’s likely going to be over there for the better part of a year. By that time, it’s going to die down what you and I did, and the baby will be here, then you can worry about what you’re going to do with the debt and the inheritance,” Blake said. “Think about it. This is really the best option that you’ve got.”
“I’m just curious to know why you’re going to marry me to make this all happen. Like, do y
ou really just want to have a marriage that comes on such a whim?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what he was getting at. And now that I knew he put marriage on the table, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to get involved with it.
After all, my grandparents were bound to figure this all out at some point, and I had a feeling his father wasn’t going to be thrilled with the idea himself. If I were to agree to marry him, I was likely signing up for years of stress and turmoil. At least if I were to end up on the streets of New York, I wouldn’t be dealing with the kind of stress that I would have if I went through with the marriage.
“It’s not going to be a real marriage,” he said with a laugh.
“A fake marriage? Those are real things?” I asked in surprise.
“Hell yes they are, and they’re done a lot when it comes to the rich and famous. Sort of a thing for attention, you might say,” he said. “I know we aren’t famous, not yet anyway, but we are damn rich, and I would bet that you and I could pull it off.”
“So what happens at the end of the time?” I asked. “Like when the baby is born and I get the money?”
“We just aren’t married anymore. I mean, it’s really simple,” he said. “You go back to the life you want to live, and I go back to my life. We move on. Some might stay friends, but overall you aren’t going to have to worry about that. I know it can be intimidating.”
“That puts things mildly,” I said. “Look, I know you mean well, but I really don’t know if this is a good idea. What if they find out? My grandparents can be ruthless when they feel they’ve been tricked.”
“They aren’t going to find out, trust me,” he said. “I’ve seen this sort of thing happen a lot. I’m not going to force you, but I really think this is the best thing for all of us, really.”
“All of us?” I asked.
“You, me, and the baby,” he said. “We can play the part of the happy little family for a while, then we can move on when the time comes.”
He paused, and I sighed. It did sound like a good idea. Crazy, but good. How else was I going to secure my inheritance? And if I was getting the emails from his dad, then I could make sure he thought that everything was okay with my grandparents, too.
It really would be a way for us to get out of the mess we were in and keep everyone else in the dark. Not to mention the fact I’d be free to go after we had accomplished what we wanted. I might not like the idea of it now, but I could put up with being married to a man I barely knew for a few months if it meant that my child would get taken care of in the long term.
It wouldn’t be easy, but then, life wasn’t supposed to be easy. I would do anything for the baby who was in my belly, and now was my chance to prove it.
“What do you say?” he asked.
I sighed again. “Yes Blake, I’ll marry you.”
9
Blake
I had to admit, I was shocked when Ashley agreed to marry me. I thought it was an idea that would work, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’d pulled the wool over someone’s eyes to get what I wanted, but she didn’t sound like she was going to go for the idea, then she did.
Now, I had to deal with the idea I was getting married. Not only was I getting married, but I was getting married to the girl I’d hooked up with six months ago – the one girl who had stayed in my mind since then.
So many times in my life I would hit it and split it. I didn’t have any intention of having that kind of a relationship with anyone. I just wanted sex. But there was something different with Ashley.
She had touched me in ways no one else had, and I hadn’t forgotten her since. There had been so many nights when I touched myself thinking about her, dreaming about her. The wet dreams I had over the night when we were together made me want to touch myself all over again.
I wasn’t disappointed, so say the least. If there was one girl in my life I didn’t mind getting pregnant, it was her.
Of course, the idea to get married didn’t solve all our problems. I was going to have to deal with Candace and my father. But, I hoped that this would be a way to get Candace out of my life. Sure, it wasn’t going to be the most pleasant thing, but if she were to find out that I was married, it would be more than likely she would be the one who’d want to call off the intended wedding.
I didn’t feel the least bit bad about it. I didn’t want to marry her, and I didn’t care what she thought about me. I thought very little of her – my plan was to get her to break up with me before my father found out about any of it.
If I were to play my cards right, I’d be able to work through this entire web of lies and pull it together nicely. No one would have to know the truth, and at the end of the day, Ashley could go on to live her life happily with our kid.
I’d want to stay in the child’s life if she let me, and I’d be more than happy to pay her the proper child support she was due. But, I’d be able to move on with my own life and not have to worry about all the extra drama anymore. It would be perfect, and I was ready to make it happen.
But, that didn’t change the fact it was odd to wake up and know it was my wedding day. I’d talked to Ashley a couple of times since the faux proposal, and she and I agreed it would be better to get married sooner rather than later. And that was exactly what we were doing.
We set the date for the next Saturday, and we’d have it done at a small church. I didn’t invite anyone. I didn’t want there to be anyone there besides the pastor and his wife, if we were to need another witness, then the pastor could work that out.
I didn’t think Ashley would invite anyone, and I wasn’t surprised when she showed up in a loose fitting dress. Her hair was done, her shoes were nice, and her dress offered enough coverage for her figure so it wasn’t obvious she was pregnant.
Sure, the pastor probably had his suspicions, but we weren’t going to make a big deal out of it, and neither did they.
“You ready to do this?” I asked when she walked up to me.
“I’m not sure, but I think so,” she replied. “Are you?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. “You look great.”
“So do you,” she said with a smile. I felt a spark inside me, and had to quickly remind myself that this was fake. We were doing this for business, not for love, and there wasn’t going to be any sort of romance involved.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure Ashley still wanted to hook up with me. I’d gotten her pregnant and made her life a living Hell for the past six months. Why would she want to do that again?
But then, there was no denying the rush that ran through me when she said I looked good. I wanted her to think so, and hearing her say so was enough to send a thrill through my body.
I took her hand as we walked up the steps and into the church. I’d told her that I’d taken care of everything, all she had to do was get dressed and bring flowers if she wanted them. I didn’t expect her to be in a wedding dress, and was rather relieved when she didn’t show up in one.
This was strange enough for me as it was, I didn’t want to make that big of a deal out of things.
The church had been lightly decorated for us, and I genuinely believed the pastor and his wife thought that the two of us were in love and just trying to tie the knot before the baby arrived. I didn’t blame them. They didn’t know who either of us were, and they likely had to deal with that sort of situation before.
I didn’t care what they thought, as long as we got through the wedding, signed the papers, and got out of there, I was happy. The rest would fall into place as it did, whether that meant the pastor made a well-meaning comment, or I finally got Candace off my back.
Remember the main point of what you are doing is for Ashley. You are doing this for her inheritance and your baby. Don’t get wrapped up in thinking that you did any of this for you.
“Okay, if you’re both ready, we can begin,” the pastor said.
We both confirmed that we were, and he instructed us to hold our hands together. “You just need to repeat aft
er me, exchange the rings, and sign the papers. Marriage is a wonderful thing, but it’s going to require a lot of work if you want this to last, so are you prepared to do that?”
“I am,” Ashley said.
“Me too,” I agreed. I didn’t look at her as I said it. I felt strange, and I didn’t want to add to the moment.
“Then let’s begin,” he said again. He was old, and I got the impression he repeated himself a lot. He walked us through our vows, then exchanging the rings. I slid the ring onto Ashley’s finger and looked into her eyes with a smile.
“You may kiss the bride,” the pastor said. His words hung in the air for a moment. I had been so certain there wouldn’t be any sort of that kind of affection, I’d not thought about the moment when we were actually getting married. But, Ashley seemed to be prepared. She immediately rose on the tips of her toes and gave me a light, simple kiss.
I pulled her close. I didn’t want it to be strange for the pastor or his wife, but I also wanted Ashley to know that I wanted to do this with her. Sure, we weren’t going to actually stay married, and for all our intents and purposes, this was fake. But, I still cared about her, and I cared about the baby inside her.
Feeling her stomach pressed against mine send another shock through me. I could feel the baby kick inside her, and for a brief moment, I was struck with the fact that child was mine. I had been the other half to that baby’s life, and soon enough, he or she was going to be in the world, ready for us.
She smiled up at me, then the pastor directed us to sign the papers. It was easy enough, and we were back out on the sidewalk again within two hours.
“Well, that wasn’t what I thought my wedding would be like,” Ashley said with a laugh.
“Me neither,” I agreed, “but you’ll probably get the chance to do it over again the right way someday.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “So what now?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean, see you around?” she asked.
