Call It One-Sided

by Daniela Reyes

  Marco stood up. “Really?” he asked. She nodded, and he ran up to her and hugged her, to the point where Elena was lifted off the ground.

  “Marco, stop,” Elena said. He set her down, stepping back. “It’s only for a month, got it?”

  “Of course. Yes, a hundred percent. One month, and you don’t have to see me again.”

  Elena nodded. “Now, why don’t we use our first fake date to come up with terms. I’ve got work tomorrow.”

  Marco pulled out his phone, showing her a new notepad page. He motioned to the empty seats around them.

  “Let’s get started.”

  Chapter 10

  Marco yawned. His neck ached, that was his first thought.

  He turned, bumping into something warm. His eyes shot open. It wasn’t something warm, it was someone. Elena’s head was on his shoulder as she slept away. He looked around, his mind unsettled. They were in the music room, the one with the piano. But it wasn’t night anymore. Light covered the room, reflecting off the grand piano. There was a knock.

  “Anyone in here?”

  The knocking grew louder. Elena jolted awake at Marco’s side. She looked around, confused, just like he had.

  Someone on the other side of the door slipped a key in. The lock turned. Marco and Elena got one glance at each other before the door opened. A woman in the country club uniform stood beside a relieved Lucas.

  “You’re here,” Lucas said. He turned to the woman. “I would appreciate your discretion,” he said. The woman nodded and stepped away.

  Lucas walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

  “What were you two thinking?” he asked. “Do you know how many people are looking for you?”

  Elena stood up. Her hair looked like she’d been attacked at some point in the night, less hair and more nest. Marco couldn’t find the shape to it.

  “Marco,” Lucas said. “I get it. You like her, but please focus.”

  Marco looked away from Elena. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Trying to keep Dad from finding out you’ve been gone all night. He called so many times, asking who Elena was and how’d you met. The press is making a huge deal out of this. Dad wants you home, now.” Lucas looked at Elena. “I talked to Will. He told your dad you were with him, but he’s been going crazy trying to find you. You can have Greg take you home. I’ll take Marco.”

  Marco stood up too. “Dad’s giving me access to Greg again?”

  “No,” Lucas said. “I asked Greg for the favor. Now, let’s go. You need to take a shower and get home. Come on.”

  Marco yawned. God, his neck ached. Elena’s head must have weighed a ton. When had they even fallen asleep? He kept his phone hidden in his back pocket, knowing all their terms were there. He turned, hoping this would look convincing enough.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I really enjoyed our conversation last night. It was one of the best first dates I’ve been on.”

  Elena looked at him like he’d just recited some demonic incarnation. Then something seemed to click.

  “It was a really great first date,” she said. “I’m glad you asked me out.”

  “Me too,” Marco said. The words made him feel less queasy than he’d thought. Elena picked up her things and then walked past him. She stopped, turning back.

  Marco hoped she wasn’t about to break the act and tell him she’d changed her mind and wanted nothing to do with him now. He stayed still, waiting. Lucas didn’t say anything either.

  Elena walked up to Marco, leaned in and kissed him, on the cheek, but still, she kissed him.

  Marco stayed silent as she pulled away.

  “See you at work tomorrow,” she said. Then she walked by Lucas. “Thank you for covering for me.”

  Lucas smiled his usual people smile and nodded. “Don’t worry. Will was worried but I made sure he knew Marco wouldn’t take you somewhere too weird. Greg’s downstairs. He’ll have you home in no time.”

  Elena thanked him again and then she was out of the room, leaving Marco to face his brother.

  “What were you thinking, Marco?” He sounded like their dad, but the non-yelling, more quiet, passive lecture side. “Do you know how worried I was? Will and I were up until four trying to find you.” Lucas yawned as he said this, as if to prove the point.

  Marco stretched his arms out. Wow, his neck really hurt now. Elena was probably okay since she’d used him as a pillow.

  “We were here,” Marco said. “We fell asleep and lost track of time. I’m sure Dad will know you did your best. Speaking of which, did yesterday’s events add more time to my punishment or am I suddenly in his good graces again?”

  Lucas looked at Marco as though he really couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “This wasn’t a joke. I was worried sick, and not because I wanted to look good for Dad. I thought you-”

  “That I got drunk, drove off into the night and drove into a ditch again?”

  “No,” Lucas said. “I know you wouldn’t do that twice.” Lucas looked tired. Marco noticed he was wearing the clothes he’d worn to the dinner. “Forget it. We need to get you home. Dad’s pissed that Vovô’s excited about the whole thing. It’s a mess. The video’s everywhere and the phone keeps ringing back at the house. Why couldn’t you ask Elena out privately?”

  “More of a chance she’d say no,” Marco said. The thought had been in back of his mind as he’d planned his confession to Cecilia. He’d figured the more people were present, the lesser his chances of getting rejected. How stupid he’d been. Cecilia would have rejected him anyways. She’d brought a date. She’d kissed him before leaving, didn’t try to contact him for almost a year, and then came back to date some guy she met on a college tour.

  It wasn’t just any guy either, it was the guy Elena had a crush on.

  “You can’t pressure someone into dating you, Marco. She has to like you for you, not because you put on some big show.”

  “I’m not in the mood for another lecture, especially not from the guy who let his girlfriend cheat on him.”

  “Heather didn’t cheat on me,” Lucas said, looking surprisingly annoyed. Marco loved it when he was able to break past his brother’s calm exterior. “Let’s go.”

  Marco didn’t fight this time. He followed Lucas downstairs and to the parking lot, not saying anything on the ride over. He showered and changed at Lucas’s apartment, still not wanting to charge his phone. He knew the video had gone viral, but Marco didn’t want to know anything else. It wasn’t like he had the squeakiest public image, especially not after he’d gotten drunk and crashed a car on the night his dad had announced his engagement to Abby.

  He’d always figured the media spreading the pictures of Marco’s wrecked car had robbed the Silva family of privacy after a period of relative quiet. It’d taken a good year for the stories to die down after his parents had split and Abby had come into the picture. Gossip magazines loved a good nanny turned mistress turned wife story.

  Marco kept his phone uncharged until Lucas drove up to their family home. There were two unfamiliar cars parked outside along with his dad’s black BMW. He undid his seatbelt, waiting for his brother to get out with him.

  “Coming?” he asked.

  Lucas shook his head. “You’re on your own for this one. Dad told me to drop you off.”

  Did Lucas not think for himself? Marco shrugged, acting like he was fine going in by himself. He shut the car door. His vovô would’ve told him to pray, maybe not in this particular situation, but he always recommended a quick word to God when you didn’t know what would happen next.

  Marco breathed in. If there was a god, any god, he begged under his breath this wouldn’t turn into a media spectacle. That he could pretend to date Elena for a month, find a way to pay her, and move on with his life. By then, he was sure Cecilia and Will would be over. Will wasn’t the type of guy Cecilia would have a serious relationship with. Her boyfriends all came from the same social circles, which meant they came from th
e richest families in Glensford.

  Will was her fling type. She’d brought him to the dinner because she probably wanted to prove a point to her family. Cecilia and Marco had that in common; they weren’t exactly the Lucases of their families.

  Marco knocked, because he didn’t have his key or wallet. He tended to forget his wallet ever since he’d had his driving privileges revoked. He used his phone to make most payments, so being cut off hadn’t affected the habit.

  The door opened. It was Abby.

  She made a sound like she was holding back a sob.

  “Marco,” she said. “Are you okay? Lucas spent the whole night updating me. How are you? How have you been?” She made a motion as if to cup his face, but Marco stepped back. He huffed out a breath and walked inside, past her and her fake concern.

  “Where’s my dad?” he asked.

  “In his study.” Abby looked at him with that fake sadness she always seemed to carry.

  Marco ignored her. He remembered then, Elena had kissed him, on the cheek, but still, he didn’t know why she’d done that. They’d written up rules the night before, not many, just five, with an end date for the whole fake dating thing. He didn’t need to pull his phone out to remember the rules.

  1. Tell no one, especially not members of the media, that they were fake dating.

  2. Attend any necessary events to keep up illusion of dating

  3. No kisses or hugs or displays of affection without discussing them first. Or in an extreme case of emergency.

  4. Relationship ends in one month.

  5. No dating anyone else, to avoid risk of rumors spreading.

  6. Payment terms: ½ upfront, ½ at the end of the month

  Marco wasn’t too concerned about that last point. Elena seemed to be in love with Will, and Marco had no personal plans to waste his time with anyone other than Cecilia. Not that that would be a waste of time. Any time he spent with her was like a long-term investment. He just needed to figure out a way to pay Elena now.

  He knocked on the door to study.

  “Come in.”

  Marco walked in, excepting just his dad, but on each side of his father’s desk was a stranger. On one side there was an eager-looking girl, holding a tablet and giving Marco a smiley wave. On the other side was a woman dressed in two-piece red suit, her features pulled back by her long ponytail. She didn’t smile, but merely acknowledged Marco with a nod.

  “Sit,” Felipe said, motioning to the empty seat in front of his desk.

  Marco swallowed. He’d hoped, okay he’d prayed, his vovô might be here. His presence always smoothed things over, and Lucas had said he’d been excited about the whole thing. Marco sat down, leaning more in the direction of the friendly-looking girl with the tablet.

  “You caused a mess last night,” Felipe said. “But apparently the media’s eating it up. What are they calling him again?” Felipe directed the question to the girl with the tablet.

  “Prince Charming of Glensford,” the girl said. She turned her tablet over and showed Marco a story with the heading:

  Marco Silva, Glensford’s own Prince Charming

  Ew. Now they were turning this into some fairy tale? Cecilia’s rejection wasn’t seeming so bad now.

  “It’s a huge improvement on the public perception of you. And it’s boosting the Melo’s Coffee stocks. It’s great PR for the company and for your family.” She gave Marco a thumbs up.

  Felipe looked annoyed. “If you really liked that girl, you shouldn’t have done that. You’re dragging her into a mess she won’t want to deal with.”

  His dad didn’t look so much annoyed now as worried. Marco looked at the other woman, the one in the red suit.

  “This is Jennifer,” he said. “She’ll be meeting with you and your new girlfriend and her family, since I’m assuming she’s a minor, to help them ease into the situation and to get them to sign a few non-disclosure agreements. Basically she’s helping clean up another mess you made.”

  Marco didn’t know if he should say anything.

  “Say something,”

  “I’m sorry,” Marco finally said. He didn’t specify if it was for the Abby thing or for this. “I’ll talk to Elena, let her know what’s coming.”

  “I’d do that today,” Felipe said. “Greg will be around if you need him. You can go to your room.”

  “I can?”

  Felipe nodded. “Your vovô warned me that if I kept you cut off after this, he’d cut me off from something as well. He said he’d figure out what on his plane ride back to Brazil.”

  Vovô had been on Marco’s side after all. He looked at his dad. “Is he coming back?”

  “For Christmas,” Felipe said. “Now go, before I change my mind. Oh, and one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “You will continue to work at Melo’s Coffee for the time being. It seems to be good on the PR side. And while you are cut off from your main accounts, I’ve deposited money into your smaller account, so that you can take this girl you’re apparently so crazy about out”

  “Really? Thank-”

  “It was your vovô’s idea. Be smart about spending it.”

  Well, it seemed that Felipe Silva had won this round, but frankly, Marco didn’t care. His punishment was almost over. He would need to fake date Elena probably until the New Year passed and then he’d be free.

  He grabbed his laptop as soon as he got into his room, and then set his phone to charge. He tried to video call his mom, but she was offline. Then he checked the amount his dad had deposited.

  It was $2500.

  Marco would’ve usually spent that in about a week. At least he had enough to pay Elena, for now.

  Chapter 11

  Elena stood in front of Will’s apartment.

  She knew better than to go straight to Bee’s. She’d spent the night at Will’s plenty of times, usually staying up late to study or watching movies together. Her dad never questioned it when she texted him saying she would crash on Will’s sofa bed for the night. Elena didn’t know if that made it worse, that her dad had no suspicions Will and Elena might do something other than what she’d told him they were doing, like they might have no feelings for each other at all.

  Elena didn’t have to knock. The door to Will’s studio apartment flew open. He stood behind the door, still wearing his suit from the previous night. When he saw her, he breathed out.

  “Will-” she began. But before she could finish, he had his arms wrapped around her, squeezing her like she might float away. “I’m fine. I’m sorry if I worried you. Thank you for covering for me with my dad.” She said the words quickly, before he stopped hugging her and she’d have to face him again. Elena breathed him in, but he didn’t smell like himself. He smelled like that cologne he’d worn back from his trip to New York.

  Will didn’t pull away, so Elena did, gently, until he had to let go.

  “What happened last night?” Will asked. “Did you know Marco was going to do that?”

  “No. He took me by surprise too.” She thought of the story she and Marco had agreed on. They’d bonded over their training together, but they’d met before, when he’d bought history books from Bee’s. “I didn’t know he liked me.”

  “I thought you hated him,” Will said. “Okay, maybe not hated, but you two didn’t exactly get along when he came into Bee’s, or on that day you trained him. When did he suddenly start liking you?”

  “I didn’t hate him. I didn’t know him. He asked for my number on Monday, when I trained him. We kind of got along that day, and then we ended up texting and he took the event yesterday because he found out I was going to be there.” The lies flowed too easily. Elena figured she might as well finish this. “He actually thought you and I were dating. But then he found out you and Cecilia were dating on Thursday, and he ordered flowers to give me at the dinner. I guess he thought I might not reject him if people were watching.”

  “He thought he’d corner you into going out with him?”
<
br />   “He was nervous,” Elena said. She remembered then, the kiss she’d given Marco on the cheek. It hadn’t been planned or thought out. She’d panicked when she’d seen Lucas, remembering he’d been the one to catch them in the changing room together.

  “Okay,” Will said, still sounding like he’d processed none of this. “Where did you two go last night? Everything happened so fast, and yesterday the video of him and you hugging was everywhere. You didn’t tell me where you went and I was worried. I knew I couldn’t tell your dad about it, but you could’ve at least sent me a location ping.” His voice rose, not much, but for Will it was significant. “I couldn’t sleep all night.”

  “I’m sorry,” Elena said. She was, for lying about this, for wishing he’d been the one asking her out yesterday and not Marco. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She didn’t know how many more times she’d have to say she was sorry.

  Will’s expression softened. He reached out and hugged Elena again, bringing her into the apartment with the gesture. He shut the door.

  “Did you lose track of time?”

  Elena nodded. “We hid upstairs,” she said. “In the piano room you showed me when I worked my first event. And we talked for the whole night, really talked. And I realized I like Marco too. He’s nothing like I thought he was. It was a great first date.”

  Will folded his arms. “Your first first date,” he said. Then he gave her a tired smile. “You almost gave me a heart attack, but I’m glad you had a nice time.”

  Elena’s cheeks warmed. He was right, technically that had been her first ever first date. She’d never been out with someone, not like that. Will had known her long enough to know.

  “Did Lucas and you really spend the whole night looking for us?”

  Will nodded. “We had to be discreet, but we tried a few locations, movie theater, restaurants, places he thought Marco might take first dates. We got in touch with his driver to see if he’d taken you guys anywhere, but when he said he hadn’t, Lucas figured you two were somewhere in the country club. At that point it was like three in the morning, so we decided to wait, hoping you’d fallen asleep somewhere.” He shrugged. “I know you can keep yourself safe, Elena. It doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you.”