Page 42

CHAPTER 42

Cami

Bestie Friend

Why aren’t you picking up the phone?

Me

OMG sorry I was getting ready for knitting club

Bestie Friend

Oh, fun!

Me

Yeah, I’m excited. I also think we need to get together soon, we probably need to talk about a few things

Bestie Friend

I don’t know whether to be excited or nervous.

Me

Maybe a little bit of both

I shove my knitting supplies into my bag and run out the door, heading to the subway. I haven’t been able to attend knitting club with the ladies in a while, and when I got a call from the retirement home demanding my presence I knew it had been too long.

I am running a few minutes late, and I know I’ll be getting some comments from Gladys about it, but I’m almost excited for them at this point. I miss these women when I don’t get to spend time with them. I finished my strawberry cardigan the other night while Charlie and I were watching a movie, so it’s time to start something new which is always intimidating.

I push through the front door and smile at Shauna before heading to the community room. Four sets of eyes and a heavy silence meet me when I pass through the threshold. They all look equally relieved, happy, and angry. I hesitate when no one speaks, standing near the door but not coming inside. Are they mad at me?

“What are you doing just standing in the door, girl?” Gladys says.

“C-can I come in?”

“Well, of course you can,” Linda replies.

“We’re just a little shocked to see a celebrity in our midst,” Rhonda chimes in.

“What do you mean?” I ask as I move into the room and over to the couches where the women sit.

“Shauna has been keeping us up to date on your romantic escapades,” Emery says. “We’ve been seeing the news articles with you and Charlie and all of your social media posts.”

First, I’m shocked that they have had any sort of access to the articles and posts that have been made about Charlie and I. These ladies have always been disconnected from the outside world aside from the few news channels they watch, and news about my relationship is not featured on those channels.

Second, I panic when I realize that they all know that this relationship is fake. They cannot tell anyone about our fake relationship, and I didn’t think it would be a big deal when I told them because who would talk to them about it? I guess I didn’t think through that one enough.

“Did anyone say anything to Shauna about the ahem, situation, with Charlie and I?”

“You mean that it ain’t real?”

“Gladys,” Linda exclaims as she swats Gladys on the arm.

“What? She told us it was a secret. No, we haven’t said anything.”

“Okay, good,” I say. “I, um, missed you ladies.”

“We missed you, too, sweetheart, these three are just stubborn old hags.”

“Well, now I’m more mad at Linda than I was at Cami.”

Linda shoots me a wink and I smile at her, falling back into the familiarity of spending time with them. I stand and pass hugs around, and the ice in the room slowly melts. I pull my materials out and get comfy in my seat as they finish up whatever conversation they were having when I arrived. A few minutes later, the interrogation begins.

“So,” Emery starts. “Do you care to give us a little update on this whole situation you’ve got going on?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Rhonda answers.

“Well, I’ve been dating Charlie for almost two months.”

“Fake dating,” Gladys says. It stings a little to even hear her say it, but it’s the truth.

“Right, fake dating. It’s been going well and the public response has been fantastic, so I think it’s helping.”

“And with your family? Has it helped there?”

“Well, I haven’t really spoken with them much lately. But it will come in handy when the wedding festivities start to happen.”

“You just make sure you’re getting your end of the deal too,” Linda says.

“Oh trust me,” I reply. “I am getting plenty out of the deal.”

Silence .

“Dear,” Rhonda says. “What do you mean by that?”

“A lot has happened.”

“You’re being very detailed with your answers,” Linda jokes.

“Just tell us,” Emery says.

“So, things have been going really well. We’ve been getting closer and a little bit ago I moved into his penthouse.”

Gladys chokes on the sip of water she just took.

“What do you mean you moved in ?” Linda asks as she pats Gladys’s back as she coughs violently.

“The paparazzi found out where I lived and he didn’t think I would be safe there alone, so he wanted me to stay at his place. We weren’t staying in the same room…until last night.”

“Okay, I am seriously going to throw you out the window if you do not start telling us the entire story from top to bottom. Do not leave out a detail, do not say some cryptic sentence with no context. I am too old for this,” Linda says. I bristle at the directness in her tone, but then I start giggling and I can’t stop.

“Oh no, she’s clearly drunk on love. This isn’t good,” Emery says.

“I’m sorry,” I say in between laughs. I take a second and gather myself. “Okay, I’ll tell the whole story. So we started fake dating and things were good. We established some guidelines of when we could be affectionate and how far that would go and everything was going well, but once I moved into his place the lines blurred.”

“Naturally,” Gladys says.

“Right. I mean, I tried to hold out but it was like we were playing house. Little by little the kisses only in public started happening in private, too, and cuddling on the couch became the norm.”

“I knew this would happen,” Rhonda chimes in. I ignore her and keep going.

“I went to his game last night and he played against a high school rival. It got nasty.”

“Oh we saw. We’ve been watching his games,” Gladys says.

“Aw, that’s nice.”

“Yeah, yeah keep going.”

“So after the game we had a talk and things…escalated. He shared some big things with me and we connected and one thing led to another…”

“And you banged.”

“Oh my gosh, Rhonda, don’t put it like that. Ew.”

“What, is that not what the kids are saying these days?”

“That’s not what I’m saying these days,” I say with a laugh.

“So are you two just dating for real now? Or still fake but with benefits? What is going on?”

“Honestly, that’s a good question. We had a conversation and he suggested we try out being real until the end of our arrangement and re-evaluate things then. I think he was just trying to help me feel better.”

“You feeling a little spooked?”

“Just a little. It’s a lot and I don’t want to ruin anything especially because he’s Alana’s brother. If something happened and it ended badly it would tear our group apart and might even ruin Alana and I’s friendship.”

“You know good and well Alana wouldn’t let that ruin your friendship,” Emery supplies.

“You’re right. It just makes me nervous.”

“That’s understandable. So, you’ll do what he suggested and try it out and then see how you feel after the wedding,” Linda says.

“Yep, that’s the plan.”

“When are you going to bring this boy so we can meet him? If it’s turning into something a little more serious.”

“Well, you know how bingo is happening tomorrow?” They all nod. I can tell they don’t really understand where I’m going with this. “He’s going to host it.”

“Like, he’s calling the numbers?”

I nod.

“You better stay close to him, sweetie, these women in here will pounce,” Gladys says and I laugh.

“I’ll be sure to let anyone who gets close know who he belongs to, don’t worry.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun.”