by Claire Adams
Her bright attitude was infectious, and soon the entire room was covered in a bubbly fog of alcohol as they laughed and joked and enjoyed each other’s company. Mona was the happiest of all, a cheerful presence beside her son who seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. He had emptied his glass twice by the time I had just started on my second, and he didn’t stray far from his mother.
Several women offered their condolences to Gavin throughout the night, and I watched as Mona frowned each time Gavin waved them away. I realized Mona had been serious about her wish, and Gavin not so serious about the promise he had made. I couldn’t blame him; how could he even spend more than a moment thinking about woman and marriage and a wife when his mother was dying?
He had this giant, empty mansion and apparently enough money that no one in his family would ever have to work ever again, and yet I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave it all away the moment his mom was gone. Ron told me how hard it was for Gavin to sell his father’s company, but they needed the money for Mona’s hospital bills. I watched Gavin make small talk with the wealthy businessmen that Mona had worked alongside her entire life. He seemed uncomfortable in the room, always pulling at his collar, itching beneath his cuffs, scratching his ears. I couldn’t stop thinking about the promise he made his mother.
My mind was full of wine as my thoughts spun wildly. Surely Gavin had connections in the entertainment industry somewhere, maybe a talent scout in Hollywood who owed him favors? Someone with as much money as him would have to have a connection for a woman like me, and it just so happened that he had a predicament that I could help solve.
The evening was nearly over, and guests were beginning to leave. Mona thanked everyone profusely and apologized for the sorrow announcement.
“Don’t you ever apologize again,” Ron said as he hugged her. I stood awkwardly to his side as Gavin and Mona said goodnight to the both of us. “Just call when you need a drinking buddy, alright? Or a smoking buddy, whatever you need.”
“Don’t try to get my mom to do something illegal,” Gavin warned. I had caught a moment between Ron and Gavin earlier, a serious exchange about Gavin’s feelings and thoughts. I couldn’t bear eavesdropping on such a conversation and walked away just as Gavin admitted he was lost.
“It’s whatever the lady wants,” Ron said. Gavin winced as his mother agreed. I knew instantly what was on Gavin’s mind.
An idea had been forming in my head, a thought that was too fresh to voice. But it would solve both of our problems, more so Gavin’s, and I felt that his desperation might need it. I didn’t want to offer it just yet.
I said goodbye to Mona and gently tapped on Gavin’s shoulder as he said goodbye to Ron. My cousin said he would meet me at the car, and I pulled Gavin to the side, out of earshot of his mom.
“I’m glad you could make it,” he said, though it sounded forced and rehearsed.
“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” I said and turned to face him. “Look, I think I have a solution to your problem.”
“Problem?” He frowned and raised an eyebrow.
“The promise you made to your mom, before dinner,” I said. “If you’re interested, we could discuss it over dinner sometime?”
“Like a business meeting?” he asked, disbelief in his voice. I was worried he’d refuse.
“Nothing fancy, just somewhere away from this crowd. Tomorrow night, at that steakhouse on Third?” I asked. “I think you’ll like this idea, if you want to keep your promise, at least.”
“Of course I want to keep my promise,” he argued and sighed. “Alright, I’ll meet you there at six.”
I smiled and shook my head. “See you then.”
I met Ron at the car. He couldn’t keep quiet about the shock of Mona’s declaration, and I voiced my agreement. But the more I thought about it, the more nervous my idea made me. Was I really going to propose such a crazy plan? And more so, what would Gavin think?
Chapter Seven
Gavin
Karen hadn’t bothered forcing a smile as she greeted me at the front door.
“It hasn’t been a good day,” she said. There were three plates of uneaten food waiting on the kitchen table, and two glasses full of orange juice.
“Has she eaten?” I asked.
“She couldn’t even keep the pudding down,” she said. “She just got out go the shower; I’ll go let her know you’re here.” Karen left me sitting at the dining table staring at a plate of mashed potatoes and corn. In mom’s defense, it didn’t look very appetizing.
I felt stiff and uncomfortable in the formal suit that I had chosen for dinner. It wasn’t a date; I actually had no idea what Maddie was planning, but it was important that I dressed like it was. I didn’t want Mom to think I was spending another Saturday night drinking on my yacht with Ron. I wanted to make her feel like there was hope for me, at least.
Karen returned a few minutes later with mom leaning against her arm. I stood immediately and offered my own arm, and helped mom sit at the table.
“Do you want me to heat anything up?” Karen asked.
“I can’t even think about food; I’ll puke,” mom said and noticed my outfit. “Now why are you dressed up all fancy?”
“I have a date tonight,” I said. “With Ron’s cousin, actually. I think you’ve met her a few times?”
“Madeline?” she smiled. “That beautiful girl? How did you get so lucky? I always thought she’d end up with some handsome actor and go live in Hollywood.”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say to your son,” Karen said. “He’s not so bad looking himself.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “It’s okay, Karen. I know my mother doesn’t mean it.”
Mom slipped a finger in my empty collar and pulled.
“Well, if you’re going on a date with a woman like that then you have to at least put on a tie,” she said. “Really, Gavin, haven’t I taught you anything?”
“I don’t recall going over proper dress etiquette,” I said.
“Gavin Hayward, do not tell me you’re actually going on a date without wearing a tie,” mom scolded me. “If your father were here he’d be so disappointed in you.” There was a small smile on her lips as she spoke.
“I’ll go put one on before the date,” I said. “Do I need you to pick it out as well?”
She eyed my outfit. “That nice gray one would go with it.”
“You always suggest that one,” I said.
“Because gray goes with everything. Never forget that,” she said and kissed my cheek. Her arms trembled as she leaned against the table, and it seemed as if she was having trouble holding her head up. She was growing weaker, and I wasn’t sure how I could possibly watch her get worse.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
She shook her head and pressed a palm to her forehead.
“Cold one second, and hot the next. One minute I’m famished and the next I want to puke just thinking about food. My bones are weak, and my skin always hurts.” She shrugged. “It’s always the same.”
“I can ask for stronger painkillers,” I offered. “If your dosage isn’t helping.”
Mom ran her fingers through her thinning hair and shook her head.
“I don’t need drugs, Gavin. I need a daughter-in-law and a grandkid,” she said.
“Mom, you didn’t mention anything about grandchildren,” I said. “I relented on the whole wife search, but I can tell you right now I’m not having a child in six months.”
“I know,” she said and held my hand. “I just want the promise of grandchildren before my time is up. And I would like to at least meet the mother of my grandchildren.”
“Like I said, I’m working on it,” I said and checked my watch. “I should go meet Maddie for dinner.”
“You look handsome,” she said and kissed my forehead. “Maddie has no chance against you.”
“Don’t make it sound like I’m on the hunt,” I said. “It’s unsettling.” I stood and said goodbye to Karen. Mom insisted on
walking me to the door.
“Don’t forget that tie,” she said and hugged me. I laughed and promised her I would change. She blinked away tears as I kissed her cheek. “I’ll always be your mother,” she said.
“Always,” I replied and left to get my gray tie. I checked my watch one last time, 20 minutes until dinner. I hoped I still remembered where that tie was.
I arrived at an upscale and chic restaurant in the gray tie that my mother loved. I’d only been to dinner at such a sophisticated place a handful of times; it was just never my style. Still, as Maddie sat at a table tucked away in a dark corner, she looked as if she belonged. Her brown hair was styled in loose waves that nearly reached the small of her back, and her dress was an off-the-shoulder black cocktail hour dress with a conveniently placed hole just below her collar bones. Her dress hugged her curves and showed off her voluptuous breasts in a way that I’ve never noticed before. In fact, she had always been Ron’s awkward younger cousin; I wasn’t sure if I had ever seen her as anything else.
The restaurant had dark walls with gold flecks glittering throughout, and a hostess in a tiny dress that barely covered her ass led me toward Maddie’s table. The hostess swung her hair over her shoulders and laughed at our small-talk, and I wondered if she would have been so easy to please had I not been wearing my most expensive suit and watch.
“Here’s your table, sir,” she said as her eyes scanned me. I thanked her politely and took a seat, offering the hostess a small smile as she hesitated a moment before leaving.
“She couldn’t have been more obvious,” Maddie said in the way of a greeting.
“What do you mean?” I asked. I wasn’t playing dumb on purpose; I guessed the hostess had ulterior motives in the way her body had gravitated toward mine, but Maddie had only watched us for hardly a moment.
“Really?” Maddie laughed. “She would have thrown you on the table and ripped your clothes off if the restaurant was empty. Actually,” she paused and tilted her head. “The restaurant probably doesn’t even have to be empty. She seems the type to enjoy an audience.”
I nearly choked on my water. “You’re definitely not the same sweet Madeline from Ron’s family albums.”
“I told you, it’s Maddie now,” she said. “And I think we’ve all grown up. I mean, look at you,” she gestured at me. “There isn’t a single woman here who isn’t gawking at you.”
I glanced around; she was right, it seemed. I had the eyes of plenty of women, young and elders alike. It was somewhat of a new experience; I hadn’t always taken care of my body, and the attention of women hadn’t arrived until several years prior when I began going to the gym twice a day. The larger the muscles, the more attention I received, especially as the years flew by and my jawline hardened and eyes softened.
“You have quite the admirers as well,” I said. The bar against the opposite wall was full of young, eligible bachelors, no doubt rich thanks to their billionaire fathers and trust funds, and they all were staring at Maddie and gawking at me at the same time. She smiled and waved in their direction, and shortly afterward a cocktail arrived at our table addressed to Maddie.
“Compliments of the young men at the bar,” our waiter said. I ordered a whiskey on the rocks, and we decided on an appetizer.
“Young men at the bar,” Maddie said as she sipped on her drink. “How am I supposed to know which one paid for it?”
I fidgeted in my seat. “What would you do if you knew who it was?” I asked.
“I’d thank them personally,” she said. “I probably should introduce myself, and give them my handle name, so they know how to follow me.”
“Follow you?” I frowned. “Why would you want that? And what’s a handle name?”
She laughed, covering her heart-shaped smile with a slender hand. “Gavin, you’re not on social media, are you?”
I shook my head. “No. I think Ron made me a profile, but I don’t even know the password.”
“Do you know what I do for a living?” she asked. I tried remembering what Ron had mentioned over the years.
“You’re an actress, right? Ron said you’ve been in a few commercials, and had two big parts in some sitcom show.”
“Two big parts,” she repeated and finished her cocktail. “Dead girl number one, and abducted girl number two. I guess you could consider those big parts.”
She seemed to grow uncomfortable as the conversation continued.
“Yeah, I’m an actress and model, but that doesn’t pay enough, so I’m also a promoter. I sell myself on social media. I get followers, and take lots of pictures with products, and get those followers to buy those products. It doesn’t pay that well, but that combined with shoots and small roles, it’s enough.” Our appetizer arrived, and she ordered another cocktail.
I glanced at the men still ogling her at the bar. “So you’d flirt with all those men, give them your social media name, promote products to them, and get paid?” It was an insane thought.
“That’s how it works,” she said and tore off a piece of bread. There was a plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar at our side, and she dunked a fluffy, sourdough piece into it.
“How is it coming along? The modeling and acting, I mean,” I asked.
“I get about one photo shoot every two weeks, and an acting gig every few months,” she said. “My friend, Nancie, triples that. She actually just got an offer to model in Hollywood. She’ll probably be leaving at the end of the month.”
“That’s incredible,” I said. “Is that what you want to do?”
“More than anything,” she said as her second drink arrived. I finished my first. “Photo shoots are fun, but it’s the acting that really gets me. I don’t know why, but there’s something special about just closing your eyes as yourself,” she lowered her eyelids. “And opening them as a different person.” When she opened her eyes and looked at me, I could have sworn there were literal stars in them.
“And I’m good at it. It’s the one thing I can say that I’m, without a doubt, good at. I love transforming myself into someone else. I go crazy about it, what their background is, how they would feel about certain things. Sometimes, if I’m playing a part in a play at a local theater, I’ll pretend that I’m my character for all the months leading up to opening night.” She smiled and gazed behind me, toward the ceiling. “There aren’t many talent agencies in Alaska, and of course no one ever really shoots here. Hollywood is where my dreams are.”
“Then you should go,” I said. Maddie blinked as if realizing I was still there, and a blush spread over her cheeks.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I just gushed like that. I’m sorry, Gavin,” she said. “I didn’t even know what I was saying.”
“You were just talking about your dreams,” I said. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”
Our dinner arrived, with a second drink for me, and we spent our first moments of eating in silence. I had a flaky salmon that melted in my mouth, and Maddie enjoyed a roasted duck with a sweet potato puree. She took her time eating and followed each bite with a sip of water.
“What about you?” she asked. “What are your dreams?”
I finished my whiskey and leaned back against the seat. “I don’t have any crazy ambitions like you, that’s for sure.” I considered it a moment and realized that I hadn’t planned anything for my life. Especially not past six months.
“There’s nothing you want to do?” she asked. “Travel the world, start a company, write a book?”
“I wouldn’t mind writing a book,” I said. “I used to write horror stories from middle school all the way to college. They were popular, if you can believe it.”
“I think I remember one!” she leaned forward. “About a little boy lost in a hospital, and each room was a different nightmare, right? With clowns, and I think a fucked-up Santa Claus, and another little boy that followed him with a bloody knife.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You read that? You must have been like 10.”
> “Ron wasn’t the most positive role model,” she said. We finished our entrees at the same time. “I remember loving it though, and it scared the shit out of me. But it was amazing. I think you could write an amazing book.”
“That’s a nice thought,” I said. The whiskey was beginning to make my head fuzzy, but I didn’t refuse a third glass as the waiter delivered it. “I don’t really have to worry about money, not since I sold my father’s company. So, I could just lock myself in my room all day and write without a single worry.”
“I completely forgot about that,” she said. “That must have been hard.”
“The circumstance wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” I said. Our waiter brought over a plate of truffles, each a different type of chocolate. I let Maddie bite into each of them first as I nursed my drink.
“That reminds me,” she said and took a deep breath. “The entire reason I even asked you here.”
I didn’t understand what she meant at first until it dawned on me. She had a proposal for my predicament. Up until then, it felt like a natural first date.
“Oh.” I shifted in my seat and finished my drink. I was beginning to regret ever drinking at all. “That’s right.”
We left the rest of the chocolates untouched as she dove straight into a speech that sounded rehearsed.
“You promised your mother that you’d marry a woman before she passes away, but according to Ron you haven’t even spoken with a woman in years, other than the occasional one-night stand,” she paused, and it looked as if she were forcing the words out of her mouth. “I’ll pretend to marry you. Mona likes me, and my family, and it’ll be easy to convince her that you and I have sort of been talking for a while. Our families have always been in each other’s lives. It’ll be fake, but real enough for your mom.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried processing her words. I was beginning to sober up instantly, but there was still a slight blur at the edge of my vision making it impossible to see anything else other than her.
“A fake marriage?” I clarified, and she nodded. “To convince my mom that you’re my wife.”