by Locklyn Marx
Alyssa smiled at her, then took her sip of her water. “Chad, are you sure you want to keep this one as a fake girlfriend?” she said. “She seems pretty amazing.”
The waiter appeared again to ask if they’d like some appetizers. As Alyssa and Jay ordered their appetizers, suddenly, under the table, Kenley felt Chad’s hand on her leg. She took in a sharp breath. His hand began stroking, moving further up her thigh, pushing the bottom of her dress up. His fingertips went higher and higher, sending waves of longing through her skin. After a few seconds, she felt a wetness in her panties, and knew she wouldn’t be able to take Chad’s touch for much longer. She shifted on her chair, trying to move away, but she couldn’t. She was mesmerized, and besides, there was really nowhere to go.
“Appetizer?” the waiter asked.
“We’re going to share some mozzarella sticks,” Chad said. His voice sounded cheerful. Underneath the table, he moved her dress up a little further.
Kenley nodded her agreement, not trusting herself to speak. She loved the fact that Chad was ordering for the both of them, that he was acting like they were a couple.
He was still stroking her thigh, moving his hand higher and higher under her skirt, the whole time talking to Jay and Alyssa like it wasn’t affecting him at all.
Her phone rang from inside her bag.
“Excuse me,” she said when she saw it was Melissa. “It’s my sister, it might be an emergency.” She knew it wasn’t, but she needed to get away from Chad and his fingers. It was making her too light-headed.
“Hi,” she said when she answered, moving away from the table and down the hallway toward the restrooms.
“Kenley!” Melissa yelled. “Did you know that your picture is on twitter? It’s all over the place!”
“Already?” Wow, that was fast. They obviously weren’t kidding when they talked about the twenty-four hour news cycle. Not that her and Chad were important news. But still.
“Yes!” she said. “You look fab by the way, did Chad buy you that dress?”
“No.” She was in the bathroom now, and she reached into her purse and pulled out her lip gloss. She relined her lips, took a few deep breaths, and then readjusted the bottom of her dress. Now that she was away from Chad, all she wanted was for his hands to be back on her skin.
“He didn’t? Then where’d you get it?”
“He had it waiting for me.”
“So he did buy it for you.”
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, no, he didn’t buy it for me, I don’t get to keep it or anything.” But as she was saying the words, she realized she didn’t know if they were true or not. What was Chad really going to do with a bunch of women’s clothing? She should at least get to keep some of it.
“So are you having fun?” Melissa asked.
“Kind of,” she said, and realized she meant it. So far, this whole thing hadn’t been that bad. She was a few hours into it, and she’d spent her time soaking in a long hot bath and then being taken out to dinner with some nice people . Granted, her picture was apparently on twitter. But who really cared about that? According to Melissa, Kenley looked fabulous in those twitter pics. The only real problem she was having was how she felt when she was around Chad. She really did need to get a handle on that.
“This is so exciting!” Melissa said. “You are so famous. I need to call Mom.”
“No!” Kenley said. Her lip gloss fell into the sink and she reached in and pulled it out. Gross.
“Why not? I need to tell someone about this.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t tell anyone.”
“Not even mom?”
“Especially not mom.”
One of the stall doors opened and a girl came out and began washing her hands at the sink. Damn. Kenley hadn’t stopped to think that maybe someone else would be in the bathroom, listening to her conversation. She racked her brain, trying to remember if she’d mentioned Chad by name or had given anything away. She smiled at the girl nervously, waiting for her to recognize Kenley from the pictures on the internet.
But the girl gave her a brief smile back and then walked out of the bathroom, the way you’d do with any stranger. Huh. Kenley was surprised to find that she was a little disappointed. Not that she expected to be famous already or anything. But it was kind of cool how the fans outside had reacted to Alyssa. It was like she was some kind of celebrity or something, like she —
“Hello!” Melissa yelled. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes,” Kenley lied. “You said you wanted to tell Mom.”
“Yes. And then I said that she’s been really worried about you.”
“Look,” Kenley said. “Just tell her that I’m fine, that I’m still in Florida and that I’ll be home soon.” She tossed her lip gloss into the garbage. The sink looked clean, but still – who knew what kind of invisible germs were lurking around in there.
“But Mom’s going to see the pictures of you on the internet!” Melissa said. “You can’t hide this from her.”
Shit. Melissa was right. Kenley’s mother was one of those “cool moms” who kept up with the latest technology even though she was almost sixty. She had a twitter, a facebook page, a linked in account, and even a tumblr, which she used to post recipes and stories from her bowling league.
“Shit,” Kenley said. “Look, just tell her that I’m dating Chad. Then in a few days when this is all over, I’ll call her and tell her we broke up.”
“You can’t lie to Mom!”
“It’s not a lie,” Kenley said. “I’ll tell her the truth eventually.”
“And until then you expect me to cover for you?”
“Melissa,” Kenley said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve covered for you a million times.”
“Name one.”
“The time you wrote three bad checks because you quit your job and didn’t have time to get another one, and you almost got arrested.”
“Name two.”
“I have to go, Melissa.”
“Wait!” Melissa said. Her voice lowered. “Be careful, okay?”
“Okay.”
Kenley hung up the phone and walked out of the bathroom. Only two more days, she told herself, and then she would be a hundred thousand dollars richer. She was halfway back to the table when she stopped in her tracks. Because across the room, getting up and moving toward her, was her ex-boyfriend, Jeremy.
***
Kenley felt her heart speed up and her face get hot. She couldn’t believe that Jeremy was here. Of course, he frequented the city a lot, because he worked in marketing and was always taking clients out for fancy dinners. It was one of the things that had annoyed her about him when they were together — he was hardly ever home for dinner.
But what the fuck was he doing at this restaurant? It was Times Square! Who took clients to a restaurant in Times Square? That was a little hokey, even for Jeremy.
“Kenley!” Jeremy said when he reached her. He leaned in and kissed her on both cheeks. The scent of his cologne assaulted her nostrils, and Kenley suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. Which was ridiculous. She’d hardly thought of Jeremy over the past few days, which just went to show how much their break-up really had just been about her ego being bruised.
When they were together, Kenley would have the thought that she should break up with Jeremy at least once a week, mostly because she had started to realize that they had nothing in common. Jeremy was what Melissa called a flatliner – the kind of guy who never really got upset about anything, the kind of guy who didn’t get all emotional and worked up, the kind of guy who didn’t really have anything dark and broody in his past. Jeremy’s upbringing had been ridiculously normal, with super nice parents and a big back yard with a pool.
It wasn’t that Jeremy was boring — it was more that he and Kenley just didn’t really connect. After they’d been together for a year, they didn’t have much to talk about. It was like they’d told all their stories, and so there was nothing left.
Sometimes Kenley got the feeling that Jeremy thought maybe he was a little too good for her. She suspected that he thought she was too emotional, that he wanted a girl like the ones he’d dated in high school and college. The kind of girls who were Polo sweaters and pearls and had smooth blonde hair and perfect orthodontic work.
When the break-up finally came, it had been a total surprise. Not because Kenley had never thought about it, but because she’d had no indication that Jeremy had. There had been no warnings, and even though Kenley had thought Jeremy thought he might better suited with someone else, he had never once given any indication that he was thinking the same thing.
He’d ended it one night at his apartment, telling her that it just didn’t feel the same, that the two of them had nothing to talk about anymore. She’d panicked and said that she thought they should work on it, that it was normal to go through a period like this when you’d been together as long as they had. But his mind had been made up, and later Kenley had cringed when she thought about how she’d tried to get him to stay with her, especially since she’d been the one who’d wanted to break up with him in the first place.
“Jeremy!” Kenley said, pretending to be happy to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“Clients.” He looked back toward the table, where two middle-aged men were sipping beers and chatting. “They wanted to see Times Square.” He rolled his eyes like he couldn’t believe how corny the whole thing was.
“Well, at least you get to have a night in the city.” She kept the smile pasted on her fact, hoping he was buying it.
“How have you been?” he asked, looking at her with sympathy in his eyes. He reached over and squeezed her arm. “I heard you went to Florida.” His tone conveyed that he thought he knew exactly why she’d gone — to get over him.
“Yeah,” she said. “I, um, got laid off and so I used some of my severance for a vacation. I figured I’d need it before starting to look for a new job!” She kept her tone bright, hoping she was making it clear that her trip was a normal I-needed-to-get-away-and-relax-after-getting-laid-off kind of trip that had nothing to do with him. It was humiliating to get laid off, but it was even more humiliating to have your ex-boyfriend thinking that you’d gone halfway across the country because you were desperate to get over him.
And okay, her break-up had been a little bit of the reason she’d gone on the trip.
But not the whole reason. And who had told him she’d gone to Florida, anyway? Kenley racked her brain, trying to figure out which one of their mutual friends she was going to have to kill.
“That’s great,” Jeremy said, sounding like he still believed the trip was all about him. “I’m sure it was nice to get away. Listen, this might not be the best time to tell you this, but I didn’t want to do it in a facebook message.” He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at her nervously. “I’ve been seeing someone.”
Kenley’s mouth dropped open. He’d been seeing someone? They’d only been broken up for a little over a week. And now he’d been seeing someone? “Since when?”
she asked before she could stop herself.
“I never cheated on you,” he said, and held up his right hand. “Scout’s Honor.”
Scout’s Honor was something Jeremy liked to say. It had always pissed Kenley off.
Scout’s Honor? That was something you said when you were seven and actually, you know, in the Boy Scouts. Which Jeremy had been, but still. It was like, get over it already. Plus there was that whole thing about the Boy Scouts not allowing gay troop leaders. That didn’t sound very honorable to Kenley at all.
“Well, whatever,” she said, and went to push past him. She couldn’t deal with this right now.
“Hey,” he said, and reached out to stop her. “Listen, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. If you ever need to talk about – ”
“What’s going on here?” Kenley looked up. Chad was standing in front of them, his eyes dark with concern. She was so happy to see him that she literally threw herself into his arms.
“Nothing,” she said, and draped herself around his neck. “I just ran into my friend Jeremy.”
“Hey, man,” Chad said, reaching out and offering Jeremy his hand. “I’m Chad.
You’re a friend of Kenley’s?”
Kenley could have kissed him. Without realizing it, Chad had said the perfect thing. He was acting like he had no idea who Jeremy was. Which wasn’t that hard, because Chad really didn’t have any idea who Jeremy was.
“Yeah, I’m…” Jeremy’s eyes were about to bug out of his head. He definitely knew who Chad was. Jeremy puffed his chest out, apparently deciding that just because Chad was a famous baseball player didn’t mean that he was going act threatened by him.
“I’m Kenley’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Cool.” Chad looked over Jeremy’s head, seemingly bored.
“Well!” Kenley said brightly. “We should get back to the table, honey.” She ran her finger down the buttons on Chad’s shirt, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. Chad turned to her and rubbed his nose against hers. “Bye, Jeremy,” Kenley said. She wiggled her fingers at him casually. “Take care.”
“Yeah,” Jeremy said. He still looked stunned. “You too.”
***
“That’s your ex-boyfriend?” Chad asked once they were out of earshot.
“Yes,” Kenley said. They were walking back to the table where Alyssa and Jay were waiting. Kenley had felt a sense of happiness and vindication at the look on Jeremy’s face when he’d seen her with Chad, but the high was short-lived and now she was starting to feel defeated. It was demoralizing, honestly, to realize that someone you didn’t even like that much might have cheated on you.
And if Jeremy hadn’t cheated on her, he’d obviously broken up with her to be with someone else. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was thinking about the fact that she’d stayed in that relationship so long that he had been the one to end it. What the hell was wrong with her?
“Did you like the way I nuzzled your nose?” Chad was asking, sounding proud of himself. “I thought that was a nice touch, you know, very intimate. By the way, that guy looks like a tool.”
Kenley nodded, lost in her thoughts.
“Hey,” Chad said. They still weren’t back at the table, and he stopped. He put his hands on her shoulders. Kenley looked down at the floor, unable to meet his eye, and he reached down and tilted her chin up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged, not really wanting to get into it. “It just sucks, seeing your ex.”
“Yeah.” He sighed, but Kenley knew he probably didn’t get it. A guy like him was definitely not used to having a ton of broken hearts. But Chad surprised her by asking, “You want to get out of here?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m fine.” It was halfway true. She wasn’t freaking out or anything, but she wasn’t really in the mood for socializing, either. Damn Jeremy and his stupid, boring face! She’d been in such a good mood before he got there, and now she’d been forced back into thinking about all her problems. “You’re not fine,”
Chad said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“But Jay and Alyssa… ”
“Please,” he said, and rolled his eyes. “Jay and Alyssa don’t care. It’s the least rude thing I’ve done to Jay in my life. Besides, they’ll probably be thankful that we’re leaving them alone. They can make out without feeling embarrassed.”
“What will you tell them?” Kenley asked.
“That you’re not feeling well.” He rubbed her shoulder. “You wait outside, okay? I’ll tell them and then call the car.”
She nodded, thankful that he was taking care of her. “Thank you,” she said, and then turned around and walked out into the cool night air of New York City.
Chapter Eight
“Do you want to order food or something?” Chad asked as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Kenley had been quiet on the ride back to Brooklyn, and he was starting t
o get worried about her. There was no way she could be that upset about that Jeremy dude, could she? He seemed like such a douche, with the dumb suit he was wearing and the way he was so obviously trying to hide his receding hairline by cutting his hair so short. Kenley was way too good for a poser like that.
“That sounds great,” she said. “I’m starving.”
Chad relaxed a bit. If she was starving, she couldn’t be all that upset. “Great,” he said. “We can get Thai food if you want, there’s a great place down the street.”
“That sounds amazing.” She dropped her purse on one of the chairs in the living room. “You can order me pad thai,” she said. “I’m going to go and change.”
“Okay.” He picked up the phone and ordered a bunch of food – pork dumplings, pad thai, crispy friend noodles and two orders of vegetable spring rolls. His stomach grumbled as he hung up the phone.
Kenley came out of the bedroom, looking sheepish. “Hi,” she said shyly.
“Hey.” He sat up on the couch and swallowed hard. She’d changed into a pair of loose gray pants and a soft gray hoodie. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and she’d scrubbed off the make up she’d been wearing earlier, leaving her skin looking smooth and radiant. Jesus. He’s have figured there was no way she could have looked even better than she had when they’d left for dinner, but she did. He wanted to reach out, to grab her, to keep her close and kiss her all over. The urge to do so was so strong that he was relieved when she chose to sit on the chair across from him instead of next to him on the couch.
“Sorry,” she said. “I feel really stupid.”
“No,” he said. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“Yes, I do.” She twisted her hands in her lap, and the gesture was so adorable Chad could hardly take it. “You’re paying me a lot of money to be out and about with you, and I couldn’t even do that.”
“It was fine,” Chad said. “They got their pictures.” It didn’t even matter if they did. Right now she could do anything, and it wouldn’t matter as long as she was here with him. He looked away and tried to clear his head. Jesus, this girl was turning him into some kind of character in a cheesy romantic comedy.
