The Girlfriend Shield

by S. A. Hunter

  “This is nice,” I said leaning over the veranda to look around.

  Noah joined me and sat down. “I guess. I heard you got the master suite.”

  “Yeah, Damien should’ve given it to my parents.”

  “You know his brain doesn’t work like that.”

  “I offered to trade with them, but they won’t. Anyway, we’re going out for a drive. Do you wanna come with us?”

  “No, I think you Smiths should have some time alone. You all seem to treasure your family time. I don’t really get it, but I can respect it.”

  “How’s your mom?”

  “Strangely quiet. I sent her a text and haven’t received a single reply. Usually, I’d get three.”

  “I hope everything’s okay.”

  “If it weren’t, I’d definitely know. Trust me.”

  I went to Damien’s room next. Noah’s comment about this being a Smith only excursion made me reticent to tap on Damien’s door. He was right. It would be nice for just us Smiths to go out and have some time together, but I had to ask him. It would hurt his feelings if I left him out. When I knocked, instead of being called in, Damien opened the door. When he saw it was me, he pulled me inside. His room was nice. There was a large television mounted on the wall. The bed had a canopy, a full bathroom, and patio doors to the garden. Considering this would have been my parents’ room before they made him switch with them, it was possibly the second nicest room in the house.

  “Hey, do you need anything? Do you like your room?”

  “It’s too much. You shouldn’t have given me the master suite.”

  “Wanted to give it to you. What do you want to do now?”

  “My family wants to take a drive. Do you wanna go with us?”

  “Is Noah going?”

  “No, it’s just the family.”

  Damien’s shoulders relaxed. “All you’re doing is driving around?”

  “We’ll stop and get out to look around. We want to see the island.”

  He turned and went to the laptop set up on the desk. “I’ll stay here then.”

  “What are you doing?” I went to look over his shoulder at the screen.

  An email client was open, but it wasn’t his Noble email. I skimmed a few email titles. One said “Fund summary”. Another said “Merger analysis”.

  “Just taking care of a few things. Go have boring fun.”

  “Boring fun?”

  “Yeah, driving around is boring, but you all will like it so it’s boring fun.”

  “Okay, we’re off to be boring. See you later.”

  “Do you have your cell phone with you?”

  I patted my purse.

  “Is it on?”

  I actually wasn’t sure. I checked it and found it off. I sheepishly turned it on. He sighed in mild exasperation.

  When I told my family that it was just us, I saw my parents visibly relax. They must have been hoping for some Smith-only time also. We piled into the SUV and were off.

  It was nice and fun and not boring driving around Oahu. We looked at all of the swanky hotels and upscale shops. Dad pulled up scenic drive directions on the GPS. We headed on Highway 72 driving along the coast. We stopped at a few lookouts and took pictures. I’d never seen water so blue. I’d always thought the pictures I’d seen were Photoshopped, but seeing it in person amazed me. We had lunch at a McDonald’s. Instead of fries, we had pineapples with our burgers.

  Damien was waiting for us when we got back. “Did you have fun?”

  “It was wonderful,” Mom said. I think she enjoyed it the most of all of us. Cora had fallen asleep on the way back, and I’d gotten pretty drowsy. Mom’s eyes had been glued to the window, and she’d chattered appreciatively about everything we passed. I was glad she was enjoying the trip.

  “Good. Since this is your first time here, would you like to go a luau?”

  “Hula dancing?” Cora asked excitedly.

  He nodded.

  “When do we leave?” Mom asked.

  “In an hour. It’s at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There’s a show afterward. Did you want to see it?”

  “How much will this cost, Damien?” Dad asked.

  He waved away the question. “I’ve got it covered.”

  “You shouldn’t pay for everything. You’ve been too generous to us already,” Mom said.

  “I’ll pay for it. Is that better?” Noah asked, coming down the stairs.

  “Not really,” Dad said with a frown.

  “I’ve already made the reservations and paid. If we don’t go, the money’s wasted,” he said.

  I frowned at his statement. It was too high-handed. Both my parents were frowning too.

  “The boy is rich. Why are we quibbling about this? I want to go,” Cora said.

  I tentatively added my support. “It’ll be fun.”

  Both of my parents still seemed unhappy with Damien spending so much money, and it had to have been a lot of money. Considering the number of us, no matter how reasonable something was, the price would be high.

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go,” Mom finally said.

  We changed into nicer clothes for the evening. I put on a sundress that I’d packed. I’d thought I’d wear it for New Year’s Eve, but this seemed like a dressy event.

  We all met in the front hall. Angela was also wearing a dress. Dad was wearing khaki pants with a Hawaiian shirt. Noah was wearing slacks and a polo shirt. Damien was still all in black.

  “We ready?” he asked.

  “Are we taking two vehicles?” Dad asked.

  “Do you want to? Can Sarah ride with me?”

  Dad didn’t answer. Instead, he went outside. He called back, “We don’t need two vehicles.”

  Waiting at the door was a black, stretch Hummer.

  “Damien,” I said in disbelief.

  “Isn’t it cool?” he asked.

  Cora patted his back. “I like you.” She headed to the vehicle. She’d have to climb in which would be problematic. The driver placed a low platform out to help her. She got on it and a hydraulic lift raised her to be level with the vehicle.

  A moment later, her head popped out through the sunroof. “Damien, I really like you!”

  She raised up a corked bottle and waved it.

  “It’s sparkling cider. Not champagne,” he said.

  Both my parents’ faces lit up. Now my dad patted him on the back. “You’re a good boy.”

  “Yes, very thoughtful,” Mom said giving him a brief hug.

  The driver had cleared away the lift. My parents joined Cora in the Hummer.

  He seemed a bit off-kilter after my parents’ show of approval. I nudged him with my shoulder. “They’re right. You’ve been really thoughtful.”

  “Do you think they want to go on a helicopter tour tomorrow? They can fly over a volcano. Or maybe windsurfing or jet skiing? I can set it up.”

  “You’ve spent too much money on us already.”

  He frowned. “No, I haven’t. I got plenty.”

  “But we don’t. The more money you spend on us, the more inadequate we’ll feel.”

  “But you all like this stuff. If it makes you happy, I don’t mind paying for it. I mean the money is nothing.”

  I didn’t know what to say to him. It was one of the fundamental differences between us, and I wasn’t sure which one of us was right. He had so much money and it was nothing to him. We had so little that a hundred dollars seemed like a lot to spend on anything. I didn’t want to even contemplate the total of how much this trip actually cost. It was in the thousands, but it was nothing to him. He didn’t have to scrimp and save to give us this. The cost to him was negligible. Our happiness was his goal. Money was nothing next to that.

  He reached up and wiped my cheek. “Hey, I’m sorry. I won’t buy anything else. Promise.”

  I pulled him in and hugged him tightly. “You’re really great, you know that?”

  “We’re okay?”

  I nodded against his shoul
der. “Yeah, these are happy tears. Promise.”

  “Promise promise?” he asked.

  I let out a watery laugh and let him go. I wiped my face. I was so glad I’d invested in waterproof mascara. I held out my hand and together we got into the Hummer. Everyone else was already seated inside. Mom and Dad gave me a concerned look when they saw my red eyes, but I gave them an easy smile to reassure them.

  “Let’s go. I don’t want to miss a moment of the hula dancing,” Cora said.

  Chapter 9

  We spilled out of the Hummer laughing. The evening had been magical. We were all stuffed. Cora was tipsy. My parents might have been tipsy too. The luau had been great and the show afterward had been amazing. There’d been dancing, singing, fire acts, drumming. I hoped I didn’t forget a bit of it.

  “Okay, I think it’s bedtime for everyone,” Dad said, herding Cora toward her room.

  “Thank you, Damien. Tonight was wonderful,” Mom said.

  “Yes, thank you, Damien. We gladly give you Sarah,” Cora said.

  “Cora,” I said.

  Damien had sat beside me the whole night, and he’d taken hold of my hand during the show and hadn’t let it go since. He squeezed it now. Noah had given me dirty looks, but I wasn’t going to let go of his hand. I wanted to be there with him, not be Noah’s date.

  “Bedtime,” Dad repeated, nudging Cora toward her room. They disappeared down the hall toward her room.

  Mom came to me and gave me a hug. “Sweet dreams,” she said and kissed me on the cheek. She then turned and hugged Damien, Angela, and Noah. I revised my earlier assessment from maybe tipsy, to definitely. She was being way too loving and happy.

  She waited and then made shooing motions for us to go to our rooms. I couldn’t go anywhere. Damien hadn’t let go of my hand.

  “You can’t sleep in her room,” Noah said.

  “I’m not going to,” Damien said.

  “Then let go of her damn hand.”

  “What’s it to you?”

  “As her boyfriend, I don’t like it.”

  “As her fake boyfriend, you shouldn’t care.”

  Damien had a point. I chalked Noah’s bitchiness to his paranoia about the paparazzi seeing us, but he sure seemed jealous at the moment.

  “Damien, let Sarah go to bed,” Mom said.

  He again showed more deference to my parents than I’d seen him show to his own. He let go of my hand, but before he could move away, I stepped in close to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Nighty night,” I said and quickly turned to go to my room.

  I heard Mom say Damien’s name in warning. He may have turned to follow me. I didn’t dare look back. I let myself into my huge room and sighed as I closed the door. Today had been very special and tomorrow would be too. I had to pinch myself. It all still seemed too wonderful to be real.

  After I got ready for sleep, I pulled back the covers to my huge bed and found a note from Damien.

  Sarah,

  Come meet me on the beach tonight. Wear your swimsuit.

  I frowned at the note. I was tired and in my pajamas. What could he want to do at this hour? Night swimming seemed a bit dangerous. I didn’t like the idea, but I changed into my swimsuit and slipped out of my room through the French doors. Thankfully the moon was full so I didn’t need a flashlight. I got to the beach and saw two loungers set up. I went down to them.

  “Damien, I’m wiped. I don’t think—“

  Moonlight reflected off blonde hair, not poufy dark hair. Noah stood up to face me.

  “Noah, what is this? Why’d you imitate Damien’s handwriting?”

  “We need to get some photos in.”

  “Pictures of what?”

  “Our happy relationship, remember?”

  “Can’t we put that on hold while we’re here?”

  “You two were way too cozy tonight.”

  “We only held hands.”

  “Yeah, and everyone could see. You have to be more discreet.”

  I crossed my arms. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  “And who says romance is dead?” He came over to me and put his arm around my shoulders.

  “Can these even come out? Why not wait to do this tomorrow?” I said.

  “We’ll take some tomorrow too. Don’t worry.”

  “I’m not worried.” The flash blinded me.

  I wasn’t sure how to look. I tried to paste on a smile, but I knew it looked stilted.

  We examined the picture together. I looked like I was being held hostage and being forced to smile.

  “I never claimed to be photogenic,” I said sheepishly.

  “Just relax,” he said and took another picture of us.

  I tried to relax, which meant not smiling. I looked like I was the one who was holding Noah hostage and forcing him to smile.

  “Pretend I’m Damien,” he said.

  That made me throw off his arm. “No, that’s not right.”

  “Sarah, come on. This isn’t a big deal. Just a couple of photos.”

  “If it isn’t a big deal then why not use the pictures you’ve taken?”

  “Because they’re horrific.”

  “This isn’t going to work, Noah.” I started walking away. In the silver moonlight, things seemed clearer. I couldn’t pretend to be Noah’s girlfriend. It wasn’t in me. I hated the lying. I hated the fakery. I just wanted out.

  “Sarah, wait!”

  “Noah, I can’t do this.”

  “What about Angela?”

  I turned back to him. “Would you actually betray her like that? If so, did you ever really like her then?”

  “Don’t pretend to know me. She was my first love.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  His smile in the moonlight looked macabre. “You and I get along a lot better than I ever imagined we would.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you going to rat Angela out or not?”

  “Do you want me to lie?”

  I had to shake my head. I was so tired of him. “Have you ever done anything else?”

  “Everyone lies.”

  “No, they don’t. Damien doesn’t.”

  “And look at how that’s worked out for him. He’s practically a basket case.”

  “No, he’s not. It was Mr. Jones drugging him. He’s fine now.”

  “Oh come on, Sarah. Mr. Jones hadn’t drugged him the day he took a rock to Bobby’s head.”

  Being reminded of his violent act had a chilling effect on me. Noah was right. Damien had issues on his own.

  “What do you think he’s going to do when you break up with him?”

  The question sent a bolt of terror through me. “We’re not breaking up.”

  “Going to stay with him forever as his secret mistress?”

  “Secret mistress? Are you being real right now?”

  “What would you call yourself?”

  “Secret girlfriend, I guess.”

  “Mistress, girlfriend, what’s the difference?”

  “Don’t be, stupid.”

  “You have no future with him.”

  I put my hands up. “What are we even arguing about? I don’t want to be your fake girlfriend. Find someone else.”

  “When Angela’s gone, do you think he will keep taking Japanese?”

  “Everyone has it wrong. You’re the psychopath, not Damien. What did you do to him to make him almost kill another boy?”

  Noah’s face was in complete shadow. I couldn’t see his expression at all. “That’s not funny.”

  “None of this is funny or fun either.” I swept my arms out to indicate the sea and the beach. “We’re in Hawaii, one of the most beautiful and amazing places on earth. I want to enjoy my trip. My family’s here. My friends are here. Can’t we forget about everything and relax?”

  “Some of us don’t have that luxury.”

  “Your mother can’t make you date someone. And she’s not even here. Relax. Try to enjoy yourself.”

  “I’m trying, but
this friend of mine keeps wanting to argue with me and bring up drama.”

  I was surprised he’d refer to me as a friend. “Good night, Noah.”

  “Sarah, wait.”

  “Nope.”

  “If you keep walking, Judge Blackthorne is going to get a certain mp3 file tomorrow.”

  I wheeled around to face him.

  “Do you know how despicable you’re being?”

  “I know. Trust me, I know.”

  “Then STOP! Be a better person. Tell your father what your mother’s trying to do. I’m sure he could stop—“

  “I’ve told him.”

  Noah’s quiet interjection stopped me mid-tirade. “Oh.”

  “He said, and I quote, “Just do it and make her happy. I’m sure the girl isn’t that awful.”

  That seemed like an odd comment from his father. “Okay, but still...”

  “If I’m not dating someone, I’ll have to date this girl.”

  “No, that’s ridiculous. I’m sure—“

  Noah shook his head. “Patricia will have her way unless you help me.”

  Were we still talking about a mom trying to set her son up with a nice girl? It was starting to sound like some sort of life or death situation. Was Noah being overly dramatic or had he not told me everything?

  “Let’s table this for now. I’m wiped and want to sleep,” I said.

  “Fine. But I’m going to keep treating you like my girlfriend.”

  I didn’t argue. It wasn’t getting me anywhere. I turned and went back to my room, leaving him on the beach. When I reached the entrance to my room, I was intent on slipping in and locking the door behind me. I didn’t think Noah would follow me into my room, but I wasn’t going to chance it. I grabbed the doorknob to go back inside, but movement in the room caught my eye. It wasn’t a reflection in the glass like I initially thought. Someone was in my room. I reeled back when the silhouette of a man opened the glass door.

  “Sarah, what are you doing outside at this hour?” Dad asked, holding the door open for me.

  I slumped in relief. “Jesus, you scared me.”

  “What do you think I felt when I stuck my head in to check on you and didn’t find you here?”

  “Did you raise an alarm?”

  “No, I saw you walking back. Were you on the beach alone?”