My Fake Canadian Wife

by M. Hollis

  I took a look at Abby, seeing her lost and confused. I pulled her hand, bringing her closer to me.

  “Pretend they aren’t here. We’re two friends having fun at the park,” I said in a whisper.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

  We smiled at each other and walked once more right as Julie yelled action. This time, they didn’t make us stop. Abby and I swung our hands happily in between us as we walked around the old building, sharing a loving look as we arrived back where we started.

  And just like that, our first shot was finished.

  “Cut!” Julie said. “Come back here. Let’s try another.”

  We did the same scene ten times before the girls decided we were done. Next, we sat on a nearby bench. After so many takes, I felt more comfortable sitting close to Abby.

  “Can you put your arm around her shoulders?” Cam asked.

  I turned to Abby, wondering if that was okay with her. She nodded, and I moved one of my arms as Abby moved closer. She didn’t feel as cold anymore, and the scent of her strawberry perfume was more noticeable.

  Julie and Cam filmed us for three takes this time. On the third shot, Abby rested her head on my shoulder. I smiled, happy knowing she felt comfortable enough to be like this around me. I had a pretty girl by my side, even if we were recording ridiculously romantic scenes about our fake love.

  Ah, the wonders of life.

  And still, in these brief minutes of playing pretend, there was a part of me wondering when I’d get the real thing.

  “Can we do just one more?” Julie asked.

  “Sure.” I turned to Abby. “If you’re okay?”

  “No problem,” she said.

  Julie positioned us on the swings that were being set up for The Children’s Festival later that day. I sat on one and Abby stopped behind me.

  “Improvise a little,” was all Cam told us to do.

  Abby started to push me slowly, and by pumping my legs, I made myself go higher. In only a few seconds, I was going fast enough not to need Abby’s help anymore. I dropped my head back by my shoulders, spotting Abby a few feet from the swing in motion. I laughed and then stuck out my tongue while upside down.

  Abby laughed back at me. It took us a moment to hear Julie yelling cut many times from afar.

  “Cuuut!” Julie yelled again, her voice only background noise in my mind.

  I wanted to stay there on the swing, looking at Abby upside down, in a world where there was only us. But this was real life, so I lowered my legs, bringing the swing to an abrupt stop. As I got up, I felt a little wobbly, and it took a moment or two before I was steady again.

  The shot was over. Magic left the scene.

  Chapter Eight

  ABBY AND I became more used to being around each other. She would come to the café a few times a week, to catch up with Paige and spend some time with me. We didn’t play with the cards anymore, but we kept the texts coming.

  I knew about her fear of spiders, about the collection of colorful glitter pens she started in third grade and that she still had the habit of buying them for work. They were all little details, but they were beginning to give me a better idea of who she was.

  Abby also appreciated that I’d get her a strawberry donut, her favorite one, every time she came to see me at work.

  “So things are going well with you two, I assume?” Paige asked me as soon as Abby left the store.

  I got up from the table, ready to start another shift.

  “We’re okay, I guess,” I said, trying to hide how warm my face was.

  “It’d be more believable if you put a little more effort into it,” Paige said.

  I stopped on my way to the storage room, turning back to Paige. “What do you mean?”

  “I was watching you two, and I can believe you are friends now, but I think you need to start making people believe you are a couple. I already know you. How about someone who doesn’t know any of this is a lie?”

  She did have a point.

  “Give it some thought.” Paige patted me on the shoulder and turned to talk to a new customer.

  LATER, AT HOME, Abby sent me more texts about a book she was reading as I folded my clean clothes. Julie came in and I tried to hide my cheesy grin. She was holding a gift-wrapped box in her hands and had an excited glint in her eyes.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “It’s your payment for helping me with the movie,” she said.

  I stopped folding my clothes and sat on the bed. “I thought it was just a favor.”

  Julie shrugged and walked in. “I still wanted to give you something.” She offered me the box and smiled widely. “Open it!”

  I rolled my eyes but smiled, nonetheless. It took me a few tries before I found a good part to rip. I left out a loud gasp when I saw—a new camera!

  “That’s expensive,” I said quickly. “I can’t accept it.”

  “Yes, you can!” Julie said. She sat beside me, opening the lid to show me her gift.

  It was even better than the previous one I had. A new model, all black and shiny. I touched the camera with the tips of my fingers, unable to believe it was mine. After a moment of appreciation, I took it from the box.

  “I’ll let you have fun with it.” Julie got up to leave but stopped halfway through the door. “Oh, and let me know what your girl likes so Cam and I can get her something nice too.”

  “She’s not my girl” is what I wanted to say. But I was too enamored by the camera to care. Once Julie was gone, I paced around my bedroom, messing with the settings and getting used to the feel of a camera again. For the first time this year, I felt that familiar itch to see the world through a camera lens again.

  I looked around my room, trying to find inspiration, to no avail. And then, I stared at the world outside my window. I walked closer, taking my time to admire the sky changing colors. Everything was pink. I raised the camera to take the shot, feeling that familiar rush I only experienced in moments like this.

  I clicked the button and then took a look at the picture. It showed the upper floors of the buildings outside, with the wide, pink-tinged, cloudless sky taking up the rest of the shot. In the middle of it all, I could see a small orange ball. The sun almost leaving the picture. It was perfect. A few adjustments with Photoshop, and maybe it’d even be an acceptable picture to post online. I went back to my bed, opening my laptop and connecting the camera with the USB cable. I was feeling alive and energetic again.

  While I waited for the program to update, I sent a message to Abby, explaining what Paige had told me earlier about our plans.

  It took a few minutes for her to reply. In the meantime, I edited my picture, playing with the new color palette and filters. There was a constant smile on my face, unusual these last months.

  I was about to post the picture when my phone vibrated.

  I may have the perfect solution for this! My family invited me over for Christmas weekend. You could come with me.

  Another message came right after that.

  If you don’t have any other plans, of course. Sorry, it was wrong of me to think you had nothing to do on Christmas.

  I fidgeted with the phone in my hands. My past Christmases in Canada involved being on my own. One year, Julie invited me to spend the night with her family but they were all odd like her, talking about movies and new projects all the time, and I barely understood their conversation. Last year, my mom didn’t accept having me so far away, and we did everything through Skype.

  I didn’t have anything planned so far, and I had become more indifferent to Christmas since my arrival in Canada. It was simply another day for me at this point.

  Was it a bad decision to pretend in front of Abby’s whole family? We could just tell the truth if our plans fell through, but that still felt awful. Or maybe we’d say things didn’t work out and we broke up after a while. Everyone did this all the time. But I still felt anxious as I’d never had a relationship that lasted very long bef
ore.

  As far as I knew, neither did Abby.

  Suddenly, a new message came through. I read it with a deep frown, my mouth becoming dry as soon as I saw the Caller ID, “IRCC.” The text said I only had seven months left to regularize my status.

  Now was not the time to be scared of abrupt decisions. Especially when I hadn’t prepared my proposal for Professor T yet.

  I think that’s a great idea. I don’t really have anything to do on Christmas. How long would we have to stay?

  Only the weekend. Should I let my mom know I’m bringing you? They are all very chill, don’t worry.

  Sure, do it.

  Cool :)

  I stared once more at my laptop, looking at the picture of the pink sky I had just taken. I clicked the post button on my Tumblr and logged out immediately.

  Chapter Nine

  THREE DAYS LATER, I packed my things in my ugly maroon backpack and walked down the stairs to wait for Abby. We’d be going on a little road trip back to her family home in Stratford, a few hours from Toronto. She had borrowed a car from a cousin who had to cancel her own trip home at the last moment.

  Julie came with me downstairs to keep me company as I waited in the cold. It was freezing outside. Three layers of clothes and I still felt like an icicle.

  The first time I had seen snow, I was completely fascinated by it. In Brazil, there were very few places with snow, and one had to be lucky to go there on the right day. Here in Canada, every winter gave us a beautiful white carpet covering the streets. I loved making snow angels and snow people everywhere in the parks. Julie didn’t find it that funny, but she was clearly amused by my happiness.

  That didn’t mean the cold was bearable for a girl who wasn’t used to it.

  “Are you nervous?” Julie asked.

  “No… Maybe.”

  Julie laughed, and I glared at her.

  “It’ll be all right. Try not to talk too much and be around her, put your arms around her shoulders, etc. These kinds of little things give a relationship away.”

  I nodded, saving her words for later.

  A blue car appeared at the end of the street, and I perked up. Abby parked in front of our building, waving at us through the window. She was wearing a cute red beanie today, and it made me feel a little bit less cold just to see her.

  I turned to Julie, trying to stop my silly thoughts. We hugged for a few seconds before moving away.

  “Merry Christmas, have fun,” Julie said.

  “You too.”

  I walked to the passenger side, got inside quickly, and threw my backpack on the seat behind me. The car was incredibly cozy after getting out of the cold outside.

  “Ready to go?” Abby asked in a quite excited voice.

  “Yep.”

  Abby’s face fell at my apathetic reaction. I was about to say this was my normal morning grumpiness when she turned on the radio and an old rock song started playing. She stared at me from the corner of her eye, seeing my surprised expression. It was heavy metal, not exactly the kind of music I was expecting from her. I was impressed she could go from “Mamma Mia” to heavy rock, but that seemed to fit her well, from what I was learning lately. Abby wasn’t the kind of person who liked only one thing; she was a mix of many different tastes and opinions. She was sweet and sarcastic, feminine and tomboy, all at the same time, depending on the day.

  For the first minutes as we drove toward the 401, things were okay. But after half an hour, I was getting sleepy, and the music was starting to bother me.

  “Can you turn this down?” I asked, sounding more grumpy than usual in the early morning.

  Abby frowned slightly but reached over to lower the volume until the music was background noise inside the car. But the silence woke me instead of putting me to sleep, and it lay heavily between us.

  “We’re doing a stop in the middle of the trip. Getting food and going to the bathroom,” Abby said.

  “Donuts?”

  Abby blushed. “That too.”

  I smiled, thinking she looked cute when embarrassed. She grinned sheepishly at me, and just like that, the atmosphere in the car lightened.

  I turned my head to the window, watching as the scenery outside changed to more rural the farther we got from the city. There were no more tall buildings and cranes around us, only trees and snow as far as the eye could see.

  I ended up falling asleep at some point. My dreams were blurry and confusing. But I had a sense of warm arms holding me, a cute giggle, and felt happier than I usually did.

  The car stopped and woke up with a jump, fixing my messy curls in place.

  “Sorry, we’re doing our stop now,” Abby’s voice brought me back to reality.

  I blinked a few times until the world came into focus again. Abby had pulled into a gas station with a small store, and the smell of food made me realize how hungry I was.

  “Are you coming in?” Abby asked as she opened her door.

  “Definitely.”

  While Abby went to the bathroom, I walked to the counter. The sweets here weren’t as good as the ones in our store, but they were okay for a road trip stop.

  “Can I help you?” a young woman asked me with a smile.

  “Do you have strawberry donuts? Oh, and give me a few of these chocolate ball things.”

  By the time Abby came back, I was already at a table with all our food spread in front of me. She smiled when she saw the donuts waiting for her.

  “Thank you,” Abby said.

  “Only the best for my babe,” I said in a sweet singsong voice.

  Abby groaned as she sat. “Is this how we’re going to be all weekend?”

  “We can be whatever kind of couple we want us to be.”

  “Can we be the normal and boring ones with no pet names?”

  “We can try. But don’t act like you hate me in front of your parents.” Maybe it was my imagination, but Abby looked hurt for a moment. “In fact, what should I expect from your parents and your family? What exactly did you tell them about me?”

  “Well, I told my parents I was bringing a girl.”

  I waited for her to elaborate, but that seemed to be it. “Are you kidding me? You didn’t even tell them I’m your girlfriend? Abigail! Are you ashamed of me?”

  “Of course not! I said, in these words, ‘Mom, I’m bringing a girl.’” She stressed the world girl.

  I couldn’t help myself and burst out laughing. “Fine! Are your parents okay with it? You never told me much about them.”

  “They are more than okay. We are from a small town, but we’re not all closed-minded assholes. Mom’s an editor, and her job allows her to work from home, and Dad’s a retired mechanic. But he still works at his place sometimes.”

  She stopped at that. I frowned, thinking about her expensive apartment in the middle of Toronto where she lived all on her own. There was something else she was hiding from me. Maybe this trip would help me find the missing piece about her life.

  “You do know we have to figure out the wedding part soon, right?” I asked, testing her reaction.

  Abby dropped her donuts for a moment. “I…I kind of thought it’d have to happen soon.”

  “So?”

  “So what?”

  I licked my lips. “I have a feeling this will be our biggest test. If we can make it until the end of the trip with no problems, we should mark a date. What do you think?”

  “I think it’s a good idea,” she said, her small voice betraying her words. This was the first time I actually had the feeling she wasn’t a hundred percent sure about our arrangement. I opened my mouth, but before I could say something, Abby got up from her chair.

  “I’m done,” she said, mouth still full of her last donut.

  We walked back to the car, and for the rest of the trip, I slept like a baby.

  SOMETHING TAPPED ON my shoulders, and I tried to push it away.

  “It’s too early,” I whined.

  “Come on, Dora. We’re here.”

&
nbsp; Here where? I opened my eyes slowly. We were parked in front of a cozy-looking two-story house decorated with Christmas lights and a big red sleigh made of wood, with fake reindeer and everything. It was like a doll house but in full size. My brain took a moment to remember we had to pretend to be a couple in front of Abby’s family.

  Oh, shit.

  I sat up straighter, trying to fix my curls before getting out of the car. A huge Labrador came running through the open door and jumped up to lick Abby’s face. I smiled at the adorable scene.

  “This is Jelly Bean!” Abby said in a baby voice.

  “She’s so cute,” I said.

  A woman in her fifties with short blonde hair and a large winter jacket came out of the house. She smiled upon seeing Abby, waiting for the dog to leave her before they hugged.

  My hands were sweating inside my gloves. I remained still, watching as the two women greeted each other. It took them a minute to remember I was standing there.

  Abby came to my rescue, turning to me with a reassuring look as she held my hand.

  “This is my mom, Ashley. Mom, this is Dora, the girl I told you about.”

  Ashley’s blue eyes studied me for a moment, and I thought she was going to guess everything as if she could read my mind. But then, she gave Abby a cheeky look before moving to hug me too.

  “Welcome, sweetheart,” she said once the hug was over. “We’re so happy Abby finally brought you here.”

  Ashley gestured for us to go inside. As she turned her back to us, I mouthed to Abby, “Finally?”

  “I may have told her we were dating for a long time already,” she said in a whisper.

  I rolled my eyes. Great, this was starting on a good fake note.

  “Don’t look so tense,” Abby said right before we crossed the doorway.

  We left our coats in a small hall closet and then turned into a comfy living room. This was nothing like Abby’s apartment back in the city. Three couches were facing each other around a coffee table where a few people were chatting and drinking hot chocolate, the scent embracing my senses and making the scene even more perfect, like something straight out of a Hallmark movie. There were green and red garlands everywhere, and fake candles lit throughout the room. A tall Christmas tree full of colorful blinking lights and little angels sat in the right corner close to the windows, with presents clustered around the base. There was even a fire lit in the fireplace with logs and everything. It looked just like what a Mom’s house should be.