Date in Disguise

by Laura Westbrook

  “I did.”

  “As you can see, I didn’t like mine one bit.” He tilted his bowl to show the bottom.

  When the waiter came back around, Gavin asked for some ice cream to go, and it came back in two cups with sealed lids and two spoons.

  “Let’s get out of here. I have something in mind.”

  “All right,” I said. “Lead on.”

  When we reached the host stand, he leaned in and said something to the host, who handed him a folded blanket.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Faye

  If it was anyone other than Gavin leading me by the hand down the street to who knew where, I’d probably turn the other direction, but with him, I walked just as fast as he did to his mystery destination.

  The sun pierced through the trees lining the sidewalk as it hung in the sky at an angle, maybe an hour before full darkness, the sky painted with magnificent shades of red and orange and streaked with white, puffy clouds. Whenever a cloud skirted into just the right spot, it caught the dying sunbeams and brightened to a sherbet color.

  The trees started getting thicker, and I realized we’d entered a little park maybe three blocks from the restaurant. I’d walked around the area quite a bit and never noticed it, tucked behind a bike path. Joggers crisscrossed around us as we walked deeper into it.

  After we passed a few park benches and grill pits, we came to a patch of grass between three trees so tall and far-reaching they almost completely covered the area with their branches softly swaying in the breeze. Despite the lack of full sun, the evening felt warm, and I hadn’t once wished I brought a jacket with me.

  With a flourish, Gavin whipped out the blanket from under his arm and carpeted the grass with it, getting it on the first try without bunching it up underfoot.

  “Look at you coming prepared,” I said. “I’m impressed.”

  “Thanks. I sometimes take walks here when I’m in this part of town, and I’ve always thought it would be a nice spot to watch the sunset. Here, let’s angle this way.”

  I contributed by opening up the ice cream containers and getting the spoons ready. Surprisingly, the ice cream had held up pretty well so far, with only nominal melting.

  “I really should explore my own city more. I’ve tried to do it a little since moving here, but there’s still so much to see.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “About a year ago. My brothers went first to scout things out and to find me an apartment. They bought their own houses straight away, of course, and spent most of the time looking at office space and barely remembered me toward the end.”

  “So you moved with your brothers then?”

  Ah, that. It was so automatic to mention them that I forgot to avoid the subject. “Yeah. It was a family decision to move.”

  “How much of that decision was yours?”

  “Not much.” I picked at a corner of the blanket. “Actually, to be honest, none at all. It was to be understood I’d move to help the family business.”

  Gavin already knew my brothers did something in fashion, so I didn’t think mentioning they were in business gave too much away. He’d probably figured out they were self-employed from what I’d already said. Even so, he was pulling more information out of me than I anticipated.

  It looked like he was about to say something, then paused. “So, you moved here to help your brothers. That makes a lot of sense.”

  “Sort of, yes. I came here to help the family business, but I guess since you mention it, I suppose it was more to help them than anything else.”

  “I hope to meet them one day.”

  “Maybe.” Not too likely.

  My thoughts wandered to how that might actually work. If such a thing were to ever happen where I’d get serious with Gavin, how would family reunions go? The wedding? I imagined a situation where they stayed at opposite ends of the room and didn’t make any attempt to come close to each other, like a standoff in one of those old westerns with a tumbleweed or two bouncing past.

  I blinked a few times, surprised my thoughts had wandered that far. It was the first time I’d wondered about a future with Gavin. A moment ago, I’d just gotten to the point of realizing I enjoyed my time with him…and now this. Still, seeing him in a fancy suit not long ago made me wonder what he’d look like in a tux.

  “This isn’t their normal ice cream,” he said halfway through his cup. “It’s good, but they also have this mint flavor that’s even better. The mint is far more subtle, and it’s more creamy than sugary, if that makes sense.”

  “It does. Maybe…we could have another date here sometime and see if they have it then.”

  He rested the spoon against the rim and smiled. “I’d like that. I’m really enjoying my time with you, Charity.”

  I winced. With everything going on, I’d forgotten that he still didn’t know my real name. That would be a problem. Why did I allow myself to get into this mess in the first place? It wasn’t the first time I regretted meeting Gavin like I had. If only things had been different. If only I’d met him normally, with my real name, where he got to know the real me from the start. Then things would be different.

  “I’m enjoying my time too.” At least I knew everything about him. Well, the main stuff, anyway, unless he was one of those wealthy billionaires with a superhero side persona and a lair underneath his mansion.

  I had no idea where this was going with him, but as I stared at his face angled toward the sunset, I knew what I needed to do, something I should’ve done a long time ago.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Faye

  “Good afternoon. May I help you?”

  Not her again. I’m not in the mood. The secretary at the front desk eyed me up and down, just like she had before. I was getting a little sick and tired of being treated like a stranger.

  “I’ll just see myself in,” I said.

  I brushed past her desk, and her polite but firm objection drifted into the background as I pressed my hand to the large door and pushed. I was not going to be turned away or obstructed. I refused.

  All during my volunteer shift that morning, I’d rehearsed what I was about to say. I felt like one of those pressure cookers with the dial turned up and up until the lid threatened to explode. Even Chloe could tell something was wrong, so I spilled my guts to her. I couldn’t help it. I needed to tell someone, someone I could tell both sides to.

  Her advice had only cemented in my mind what had to be done. I was in for a rough day with both conversations, but I didn’t see any other way through…or out.

  I found Audric behind his desk, as usual, only this time he actually looked like he was doing work. He leaned back in his chair, holding a piece of paper in his hand, with his feet up on the desk. He was a cigar and a cat in his lap away from a cartoon villain. Although he didn’t need either to be one.

  “Well, well. What a surprise,” Audric said. “Hello, little sister. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “I need to talk to you,” I said in a rush.

  He tilted his head. “All right.” He took his feet off the desk and stood up. He leaned against it and crossed his arms. “What’s up?”

  “I have some things I need to tell you. To get off my chest.”

  “Okay. I have an afternoon meeting coming up, so you need to hurry.”

  I took a deep breath. “I went on a date with him last night.”

  “Who? Gavin Walsh? For more pictures, I’m guessing. Good. The more the better. Actually, hang on, let me bring Brandt into this. He’s in the office next door talking to someone who doesn’t matter. I’ll bring him in, then you can show us what you’ve got.”

  “No, I don’t think you—”

  He held up a finger. “Hang on. I’ll bring him in first. We don’t have time to repeat everything twice.”

  He strode out of the room and returned with Brandt in tow. “What did I tell you, Brandt? Little sister pulled through for us.”

  Brandt leaned against the wal
l. “I’ll believe it when I see it. Why are you dressed like that?”

  I looked down at my volunteer clothes. Scuffed up jeans and a T-shirt with dirt smudges on it was normal after hours of shoveling out stalls, loading hay, and feeding the animals. I knew I should’ve stopped home for a shower and a change first, but honestly, I didn’t want to. This couldn’t wait.

  “I just left the zoo.”

  “I’m surprised they let you into the building looking like that,” Brandt said. “Did you print out the pictures to bring us or are they all on your phone? I guess we can pass the phone around or zap it over to the monitor.”

  The lid popped off the pressure cooker, and I felt my blood boil. Everything I’d been feeling throughout the day spilled over. Now it was my turn to cross my arms.

  “You can forget about the pictures. I decided I’m not going to do your dirty work for you. If you want to take someone down, don’t look to me, because I’m not your puppet anymore. Or better yet, why don’t you do it the right way and develop a product that outsells another company rather than getting your little sister to do stuff for you?”

  Audric held up his hands. “Wow, Faye. Let’s everyone calm down, okay?”

  “Oh, I’m calm all right. Perfectly. Just because I’m telling you how it is doesn’t mean I’m not calm.” Actually, he wasn’t wrong. I was letting off some steam, but it felt too damn good for me to care. “My date with Gavin last night went amazing. I think he’s a great guy, and I’m going to see him again. He’s the first man in a long time who’s made me feel special, and I feel good when I’m around him. Far better than being around you two.”

  Audric started to talk, but I cut him off. That felt pretty good too. “And another thing. All this talk about seeing pictures with me and Gavin is gross. I’m in those pictures. Pressuring me to take them is one thing, but wanting to pass them around is another.”

  I was running out of steam, but I had to keep going—otherwise, I might stop altogether. “I’m not sorry I was with Gavin. It was fun. And I’d do it again. In fact, I plan to. But this time, no camera.”

  I realized I’d been staring at a focal point against the wall during this, probably to keep my courage from wavering, and when I looked at them, both their mouths were open. Just seeing that was worth the drive over.

  Brandt shook his head. “Whatever. If she wants to go off the deep end and sever ties, then let her. She’ll come back around when she doesn’t get her allowance. Just hand over the pictures and you can go back home and we’ll hear from you in a few months.”

  I shook my head. “Not this time, I’m not. I don’t care about the money, Brandt. I deleted the pictures, so it looks like you’ll have to think up something else that doesn’t involve me.”

  “You did what?” Audric said.

  “Good luck with it, though,” I said. “Gavin has everything buttoned up and he’s a pretty stand-up guy, so I don’t think you’ll be able to touch him.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Brandt asked. “You’ve never talked like this before.”

  I jabbed my finger in Brandt’s direction. “You don’t get to talk to me that way anymore.”

  Audric shook his head. “You don’t understand what you’ve done. All the hard work Dad did is going down the tubes.”

  “If Dad were here right now, I promise you he wouldn’t say he worked eighty hours a week just for it to come down to me seducing a stranger. You’ve been holding Dad’s memory over my head for too long, and I’m sick of it.”

  Audric flashed a smile that slipped into the edges of a sneer. “Well, if you want to walk out, then do it. The door’s right there. Just understand if you do what that’ll mean for you. No parties, no company picnics, and no paycheck.”

  My fingers curled around the doorknob. I stood in the doorway and looked back. “Keep it.”

  I wish I could’ve seen their faces as the door slammed shut.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gavin

  “Care to wipe down, sir?”

  “Thanks, Albert.”

  I eased onto a bench and dragged the towel across my forehead. It felt good to sit still for a few minutes after running around for so long.

  “Has it been a week already?”

  I shook my head. “No. I called him to see if he could add a day. It probably cost me to have him do it on such short notice, but I needed to blow off some steam.”

  “I take it the date went poorly last night, then?”

  “Actually, no. The opposite. It was the best date I’ve ever had. We went out to dinner and ate dessert watching the sunset.”

  “At one of those viewpoint spots?”

  “In a way. I brought a blanket and we laid on it with a good view.”

  “It seems you put a lot of thought into it. You must really like this girl.”

  “I do. That’s what makes all this so complicated.”

  He sighed. “I’ve been a little hard on her, but if you truly want to be with her, then do it. Not every story is a fairytale, but it can still have a happy ending.”

  I moved the towel to the back of my neck. “That’s a good point.”

  He laughed. “Not that I need to be giving you advice. Far from it.”

  “I appreciate it. It’s coming from a good place. There’s just a piece missing I’m not sure I can get around. I’ll know it when I see it.”

  He picked up my racket and spare ball. “I’ll go put these back and check on the ingredients for your dinner. As usual, you plan on making it yourself tonight?”

  “I’m trying my hand at gumbo. I’ve never made it before, but I know I like it.”

  “I’ll make sure there’s shrimp in there, then.”

  My phone rang from inside the house, so softly I was surprised I heard it from that far away. I pulled open the slider door and made it inside just when it stopped ringing. The air conditioning rolled over my back and chilled the damp bits of my shirt, where it clung to my skin along my shoulder blades. I turned the phone over in my hand as the backlight turned on. It was her. Faye.

  I reached for the button to call her back when a second sound came, a voicemail. Her voice sounded strained.

  “Hey, it’s me. I’m…coming over. I know I should’ve called ahead first. Well, I guess I am now. But earlier than now. Hell, I don’t even know if you’re there. Um…it’s five-thirty right now. I just left my brothers’ office, and I have something…something I need to tell you, and I hope you’re okay with it. I just haven’t found the right time to say it and…well, I’ll just tell you when I’m there, okay? I’m rambling. Okay, bye.”

  The message ended and I pulled the phone away, staring at it. She was on her way to tell me something important. I had a glimmer of a guess what I thought it was, or rather, what I hoped it was. But that choice was up to her. I couldn’t make it for her, no matter how hard I wanted to. For it to matter, it had to be her decision.

  I opened a drawer in my bedroom and reached for a fresh shirt. I wasn’t going to dress up, but the least I could do was put on something clean. Of course, she’d understand if everything wasn’t in place considering she was showing up out of the blue, but I still wanted her to see me at my best.

  I calculated how far away she was. She’d said she just left her brothers’ office, but in all my conversations with Albert, I didn’t exactly know where it was. Being in a suburb to the main city, she could be anywhere from ten minutes to an hour away. The time wasn’t on her side with rush hour traffic happening. Maybe she’d already reached my side of the city by that point.

  Once I had the shirt over my head, I pressed the button to call her. It rang a handful of times and went to her voicemail. A sound escaped my throat as I hit the red button harder than I needed to. I tried to call her back once more just to see if she’d pick up, but nothing. She must have the phone on her passenger seat by now. Or she’d changed her mind and headed somewhere else. Either was entirely possible.

  I deliberately set the phone dow
n on the kitchen table and stared at it. At one point, I got out of the chair and puttered around the living room, inevitably winding up back at the table again. Any second now, I imagined her calling me and I didn’t want to miss it, even with the ringer on loud. My fingers itched to call her back again.

  * * *

  I tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and focused on the road—smart idea driving at this speed. I was always a person who drove no faster than five miles per hour over the speed limit, but today was a rare exception.

  I couldn’t stop replaying the past hour in my head, over and over again, from my barging into Audric’s office to Brandt’s face as he reacted to my telling them both off. My hands shook, and I solved that by gripping the steering wheel harder. I’d never told anyone off like that, or at all, really. I normally would say I didn’t have it in me.

  Shoving aside the concerns and fears bombarding me now that the adrenaline had worn off took a supreme amount of effort, but it was all I could do. I had to see him. Then somehow everything would turn out all right. And if it didn’t and he couldn’t forgive me…then I’d just have to cross that bridge when I came to it.

  I turned onto his street, and in doing so, my stomach tightened even further. Was I more afraid of telling him the truth or of him rejecting me? I couldn’t decide. Maybe both. I shoved it to the side and threw the car into park, this time actually inside his driveway.

  Approaching his front door, something in the back of my mind said how convenient it was to not have to walk half the street to hop into a hidden vehicle. Even that felt refreshing, not having to hide that amount of information anymore. It was only a small piece of the puzzle, but it was progress. If I could do that step, then I could do the next one, and the next one.

  He answered the door almost immediately when I knocked, surprisingly fast for a house that size. He wore a crisp looking white T-shirt and dark blue jeans, just that right mixture of clean-cut and casual. That same small part of my mind couldn’t help but notice how absolutely delicious he looked, even better than a piece of freshly-baked cake with two scoops of chocolate ice cream melting over the top. He even had a little bit of man-scruff gracing his cheeks, not enough to look sloppy but enough to give him an edge. Maybe it was my heightened state of emotions, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him.