Page 55 of Things We Fake
“Ah, a classic. Haven’t seen it.”
I stared at him, scandalized. “You must! I have to fix that. Okay, what’s your favorite sport?”
“Hockey. Yours?”
“Hockey.”
He beamed. “We could say we went to see a hockey game on our second date.”
“Sounds perfect.” I looked back at the screen. “Let’s see… Dreams and Future… What’s the one thing you most want to achieve before you die? Wow, that’s deep.”
“I want to give back to the world as much as I can.”
His answer was so swift and simple it took me by surprise. “Well, that’s noble of you. I would guess most people’s answers include love, money, traveling, but this… I haven’t heard this one before.”
He shrugged and reached for another slice of pizza. I thought it was a decoy to hide his embarrassment. This was an exceptionally multi-layered man, and as I peeled off each layer, I discovered I liked him more and more. The worst thing was that I wanted our relationship to be for real.
“What’s your answer?” he asked.
I brushed my fingers over my keyboard, thinking. I had no idea. Like most young people, I was too busy with life to think about death or big goals.
“I don’t really know,” I admitted. “Getting through each week and paying my bills until my next paycheck occupies most of my time.”
I stopped myself before making a comment about him not understanding those issues. He’d been on a tight budget once, and he’d been brutally hurt because of it. If he was rich now, it was because of his hard work and smart risks. Oddly enough, I almost forgot he was a wealthy man. He was so down to earth I never thought about his financial situation.
In the end, I took a deep breath. “My answer isn’t nearly as noble as yours, it’s probably silly, but here goes. I want to have the kind of love Baby and Johnny have inDirty Dancing. Crazy, passionate, fun, idealistic… But not one that only lasts for the summer. I want a love that will last forever. I want someone who will make me feel loved and in love even after twenty years together.”
When I took a chance to look up, his eyes were intent on my face. I’m not sure what had changed, but the air between us was charged with tension, with longing, with unspoken promises and a sweetanticipation of the unknown. Without touching me, he sent a ripple of awareness over my skin, like a gentle caress.
“I want to change my answer,” he said.
“To what?”
“I want to watchDirty Dancing.”
We shared a slow, quiet smile. I noticed he had a lot more laughter lines than frown lines on his handsome face. I liked that about him. I liked everything about this man.
“Then we’ll watchDirty Dancingtogether,” I promised.
As we finished eating, we went over the most important questions and things we needed to know about each other. I was a Gemini and he was a Leo—an excellent match, if you believed that sort of thing. My favorite number was nine; his favorite number was twenty-three. We both liked animals, rock music, detective shows on TV, and Christmas movies. We had a pretty heated debate on whetherDie Hardwas a Christmas movie, but since we were pressed for time I conceded that it was—it’s really not.
Finally, we talked about our hopes and dreams. I told him about my lifelong ambition to be a teacher, and he explained the love affair he’d always had with computers.
“Why did you name your company Omega Software?”
He grinned. “I wanted it to be the last word in computers. Chuck loved it. He and I used to be close until Brittany ruined it for us. Maybe with her out of the picture we can try to get some of that friendship back.Speaking of friends, will you tell yours the truth about us?”
A shadow fell over my face. I had several messages from the girls, but so far I had ignored all of them. “I don’t know. They’ll never buy this insta-love, insta-engaged story. I mean, lying to my family is one thing, but friendship is sacred. I trust the girls with my life. Would you mind if I told them the truth? It’s not just my secret to keep, it’s yours too.”
“Of course not, if they promise to play along and make sure they keep it to themselves. Since I’m new in town, we probably don’t have friends or acquaintances in common, except for you.”
“I’ll make sure they’re discrete. Let’s get back to the questionnaire.”
He set down his empty can and reached for my plate. “We can do that later. Now we need to go shopping again, and if you don’t want to be late calling home, we have to hurry.”
“Shopping for what?” I finished my beer and stood up.
“An engagement ring.”
