“You really think so?”
“No.” Zack smiled at her and she laughed. “But I think it’s worth a try.” He stood up and held out his hand. “What do you say?”
Annie sighed. “Okay.” she smiled up at him as he pulled her up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Then they made their way back inside.
“If all else fails and you decide you really don’t want him here, I’ll be glad to throw him out,” Zack offered teasingly.
Annie laughed. “As long as he doesn’t say something mean, I think it’ll be fine.”
“Can I at least shoot him a few dirty looks through dinner?” Zack asked hopefully.
“Most definitely,” Annie replied.
****
Two hours later, Zack answered the door when Lance and his wife Amelia arrived.
“Well well, look who it is,” he said with a handshake. He led them into the living room where Jen and Mr. and Mrs. Hansen sat.
Introductions were made and they made their way into the kitchen where Annie was helping Aunt Gabby. She greeted them with as much maturity as she could muster, trying to squash the old feelings of anger and betrayal that still lingered after so many years. Zack served them a glass of wine and twenty minutes later, everyone seemed more relaxed.
After they were all seated, Aunt Gabby picked up her glass and lightly tapped it with a spoon to get everyone’s attention. “I want to thank you all for being here tonight,” she began. “It’s a really important thing for me to have my family here with me.” She smiled at Zack, Annie and Jen. “And also my friends.” She gestured towards the rest of the table. “It’s been an interesting and amazing year for me. I was able to get to know my niece, which has been an answer to my prayers. I know there aren’t many people my age who are surrounded by so many people they love and who love them so…” She raised her glass and everyone followed suit. “Here is to family, to friends and to love, which is the most important of all emotions.”
“To love.” Jen raised her glass.
“To love,” the rest of the guests resounded.
Annie finally began to relax and settle into the meal. She was actually surprised how easily everyone seemed to converse. This night might actually end up being a success, she thought.
“So Annie,” Amelia started, “what do you do?”
Annie glanced at Zack quickly then back to Amelia. “I’m a nursing student at Penn State.”
“Oh wow, a nurse.” She seemed impressed. “And Zack, aren’t you a doctor?”
“Not yet,” Zack said as he took a sip of wine. “I start my internship at the first of next year.”
“Family of achievers.” Amelia smiled. Annie and Jen looked at each other and Jen rolled her eyes.
“How long have you been together?” Lance gestured to Zack and Jen.
“Three and a half months,” Jen said and smiled as Zack reached for her hand.
“And you already live together?” Amelia gasped.
Annie’s heart suddenly felt tight as she saw Jen’s annoyed expression. She knew it well, since she had gotten the same look the first few times she and Jen had met. It took some time for the two of them to become friends but judging from the look on Jen’s face now, Amelia wasn’t someone she wanted to spend any more time with than she had to.
Luckily, Zack also saw the look and spoke before Jen was able to. “There are some people that know sooner than others. For me, I knew right away that I wanted to be with her forever.” He smiled his most dazzling smile at Jen and she blushed slightly. They shared some silent I love you’s and Mrs. Hansen, a slightly overweight, cheerful woman awed at them. “There is nothing more romantic than young love,” she giggled.
“That’s true,” Amelia went on. “You are lucky to find someone like that. Lance and I dated for almost four years before he asked me to marry him. But I’m glad he finally did.” She gave Lance a sidelong glance and he smiled back uncomfortably.
“What about you Annie,” Amelia asked. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Well… I,” Annie stammered. This was the question she’d been dreading.
“Annie’s in school full time so she’s very busy, not to mention she volunteers for every goodwill organization there is,” Jen quickly said before Annie could continue.
“Is that so?” Amelia said with mock interest.
Aunt Gabby gave Amelia a look as she and Zack simultaneously included more of Annie’s good deeds. Annie cringed as the two of them spoke at the same time.
“Annie doesn’t need a man in her life. Besides, there isn’t anyone good enough for her,” Mr. Hansen chimed in.
“There is someone for everyone,” Annie heard Mrs. Hansen say. She prayed it would stop there, but the chatter seemed to get louder as Jen and Zack agreed with Mrs. Hansen and went on their own spill about finding the right person. Somewhere to her left Annie could hear Aunt Gabby talking about how she has never been married and she’s just fine. Life doesn’t end just because you don’t have a significant other. Lance and Amelia were in their own argument, Annie assumed because Lance was upset with her for bringing it up in the first place. Annie’s heart was pumping so fast she could barely breathe. She hated contention, confrontation and anything to do with an argument, especially when it had to do with her. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed it to stop. Stop, she just wanted it to... “STOP!” she yelled.
The table went silent and everyone looked at her. “Just stop talking about me,” she said, so frustrated she could hardly speak. “It just so happens…” She looked around the table. “That I have met someone.” What are you doing? her inner voice urgently asked. “I met him at school and we’ve been dating for several weeks now.” Stop! Stop now while you can! “And I was going to bring him today but I thought it might be a little early to bring him to a family holiday.” You’re not a liar Annie, why are you doing this? “So you can all stop worrying about me. I’m fine.”
“Who is this guy?” Zack asked, “You didn’t say anything to me about him.”
“Well, like I said. We’ve only been dating a few weeks and I didn’t want to rain on your relationship parade.”
“Oh Annie, I hope you don’t feel like our relationship is any more important than yours,” Jen said, clearly concerned they might have hurt Annie’s feelings.
“No, not at all. It’s just been kind of hectic and I didn’t get around to saying anything.” She smiled the best she could and everyone seemed to believe her.
“What’s his name?” Aunt Gabby asked.
“His name?” Annie repeated. “Uh… his name is… Marcus.”
“And you met him at school? Is he a good person?”
“Yes, Aunt Gab, he’s a perfect gentleman.”
“What’s his major?” Jen asked.
Annie looked at her, searching her brain for anything that sounded legitimate. “He is studying, um… mechanics. I mean, he’s a mechanical engineer. Or, well, at least, that’s his major.” Annie could feel the sweat on her forehead and took a large bite of her potatoes before anyone could ask her more questions.
“A mechanical engineer, hot damn!” Zack said enthusiastically. “Well I hope we get to meet this guy sometime soon. Maybe Jen and I will buzz on over there and we can all go to dinner together.” Jen smiled and nodded, obviously excited at the thought.
Annie smiled and nodded as she tried to swallow the potatoes with the growing lump in her throat.
Lance and Amelia had said little more up to this point but suddenly Lance seemed to find his voice. “I’m really happy for you Annie. I’m sure he’s a great guy.” His smile was sincere and Annie suddenly felt bad about not wanting him to come to dinner. She sneaked a look at Amelia who looked like she’d taken a bite of something nasty.
“Why don’t you bring him during the Christmas holidays?” Aunt Gabby offered.
Annie heard the words but hoped against hope that if she ignored them, they’d go away.
“Annie,” Aunt Gabby said tapping her sh
oulder.
Annie winced internally. “Yes?” she said, smiling as brightly as she could.
“I said, why don’t you bring Marcus with you during the Christmas break?”
Annie stared at her blankly and then she heard Jen. “That’s a great idea! My dad is coming out here to be with us for Christmas. It’ll be great to have everyone here.”
Annie couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe; her life was careening out of control and she had no idea how to stop it.
“It’s settled then,” Aunt Gabby said as she thumped the table with her palm. “Do you think Marcus will be able to come?”
Annie stumbled and squeaked a couple words before just nodding and smiling feebly.
While the rest of the people around her continued with the celebration of their Thanksgiving meal, Annie sat quietly, her mind reeling. Did that really just happen? How had she gotten herself into this mess? How in the world was she going to find a boyfriend in the next month and convince him to go home with her for the holidays? Suddenly, she couldn’t wait for this dinner to be over and couldn’t wait to be back at Penn State, but at the same time dreading the time going by any faster than it most certainly would.
“I hope your boyfriend is up for Aunt Gabby’s homemade eggnog,” Zack teased.
“Oh Zack, I made that one time.”
“No, it was more than once...”
Their voices faded as Annie sank deeper into her thoughts. I am such a liar! Why would I do such a thing? Don’t panic, a month is plenty of time to find someone and bring him home with me… Don’t kid yourself Annie; you’ve never dated anyone that wasn’t from your home town; you don’t even know how to talk to men you haven’t seen for years and years! As her thoughts continued to berate her, Annie suddenly realized there were two things that she absolutely had to do. One, she had to get back to school so she could think more clearly, and two, she had to find herself a boyfriend.
Chapter 3
Annie lay staring at the ceiling in her dorm room. The Thanksgiving holiday had been great… except for the lead boulder that had settled itself in the pit of her stomach. Several times she had gone to tell Zack she’d lied about having a boyfriend, but she just couldn’t seem to get the words out. When Annie left Jen had hugged her and exclaimed how excited she was to meet ‘Marcus,’ and even then it took Annie as few seconds to remember who Marcus was. Oh yeah, my imaginary boyfriend that I lied to everyone about? I think you’ll really like him. Annie shook her head as if trying to rid herself of the entire ordeal. Whatever happens, you deserve what you get. You’re the one that made up the whole thing so whatever happens, it’s your fault. Annie sighed heavily, she was stuck.
“Okay, what the crap is your problem?”
Annie sat up; Roxy was looking at her, one eyebrow raised, her face bored and annoyed.
“I’m a horrible person,” she told her in a pathetically sad voice.
“Oh. Shut. Up.” Roxy rolled her eyes. “If I believed in heaven I would definitely say it was filled with people like you.”
“I lied to my family,” Annie said woefully as she played with the stitching on her comforter.
“So,” Roxy scoffed. “I lie to my family all the time.”
“I told them I have a boyfriend! They were all arguing about me and my love life, or lack of and…” She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Before I knew it I had created a fictional boyfriend named Marcus.”
Roxy stared at her with a blank look. “I don’t see the problem.”
“I told them I have a boyfriend and I don’t, Roxy. And I told them I would bring him to Christmas dinner. How can I bring a boyfriend that doesn’t exist?” she moaned.
“Holy shit woman,” Roxy said loudly. She slammed her laptop closed and walked over to Annie’s bed. “Listen to me.” She plopped down on the bed, the dark makeup around her eyes making them seem more intense. “This time, and this time only, I’m going to give you some advice. And just to be clear, this doesn’t mean we’re friends, and in the future you are not allowed to ask me personal questions or expect me to care about your problems. I’m only helping you now so you’ll shut the hell up about it.”
Annie nodded and sniffed, fighting back tears, but said nothing; Roxy was a very intimidating person.
“Ok, first off. Stop being so freaking whiny! You’re giving me a headache.”
“Sorry,” Annie apologized.
“And second, why is this bothering you so much. You are fake dating the guy so fake break up with him. You’re off the hook.”
“I told them I’d bring him for Christmas,” Annie told her quietly.
Roxy gave her a ‘you’re stupid’ look. “You lied to them about having a boyfriend, but you feel bad about lying to them that you broke up with the boyfriend that you lied about in the first place? Wow, your morals are all screwed up.”
Annie took a second to think about what she said. “That’s true I guess.”
“So then the question is why didn’t you tell them the truth? Why did you let the fake boyfriend thing go on?”
“I just…” A tear slid from Annie’s eye and she quickly wiped it away. Roxy rolled her eyes again, clearly disgusted with Annie’s lack of emotional control. “I’m the only one in my social circle that’s still single, and for just one night, I wanted to be on the same level with everyone else. I don’t like being the third, seventh or ninth wheel.”
“You gotta stop giving a crap what people think. Most of the human race is pathetic losers and it has nothing to do with whether or not they’re getting any.”
“I just got tired of everyone feeling sorry for me. You should have heard them, they were going on and on about all my so-called qualities, trying to prove to this Amelia chick that I wasn’t a total loser because I’m not dating anyone. I wanted them to stop trying to protect me and just let it be. So I made up this guy Marcus. And now I’m stuck in this mess.”
“So you want people to think you have a boyfriend so they’ll stop hounding you?” Roxy asked, an edge of annoyance still in her voice.
“Yeah, I guess I do. I just want them to know that I can go out and make relationships on my own.” Annie felt ridiculous saying all these things out loud, especially to Roxy, but at the same time, it felt good to let it out.
“So, it’s simple. You just gotta go get you one,” Roxy said evenly.
“One what?” Annie asked.
“A boyfriend stupid. I know where you can find a Marcus.”
“You do?” Annie asked, not sure what she meant.
“Yeah, I know a guy who knows a guy. I’ve even used them myself once or twice.”
“Them?” Annie wasn’t sure she wanted to get into whatever it was that Roxy was using.
“Yeah basically, you call them up when you need a date. If you have a description you give it to them. Then you meet them for coffee or lunch and discuss the details of your contract and, voila! For a small fee, you have a boyfriend who will be anything or anyone you want him to be.” Roxy smiled for the first time during their conversation.
“Soooo… you’re suggesting I hire a boyfriend to take back to my family for the holidays?” Annie wasn’t sure if the idea was brilliant or insane.
“Yeah.” Roxy got up and went back to her laptop. “That way, they still get to meet him, ya know, so they can see that you’re doing fine on your own, and when you get back the contract is up and you just tell your family that you broke up. No one has to know you lied and no one gets hurt. It’s really pretty freakin’ sweet when you’re in a pinch, and their prices are reasonable.”
Annie’s mind was whirling; she didn’t even know these kinds of things existed in the real world. Would it even work? Would the people back home buy it? A hired boyfriend? He would have to be pretty convincing to get past Aunt Gabby. But still, it could work, couldn’t it? Roxy was right, no one would get hurt. She could hire a guy, go home for the holiday, get back and go on living her life. Annie’s biggest issue with the entire thing was the fac
t that it was so very deceitful, and she generally wasn’t a deceitful person. Or at least… she hadn’t thought she was.
Roxy threw a crumpled piece of paper onto Annie’s bed. “That’s the number you need to call. The guy’s name is Todd Connors. If you tell him I referred you I’m sure he’ll give you a good deal. He’s a cool guy and easy to talk to so don’t be nervous.”
Annie looked at the number. “I don’t think I want to do this,” she said finally.
“Oh come on,” Roxy said in exasperation. “Look, you can do whatever you want, but this will fix your problem if you want it fixed. If you don’t want to, then call whoever you need to call and tell them the truth. Do whatever but make a damn decision and DO it instead of sitting in here huffing and puffing like your life is over. If you want things to change, take charge and change them!”
Annie opened her mouth to speak but Roxy cut her off.
“No more advice from me,” she said, pointing a finger at Annie. “I don’t want to hear another thing about it unless it’s to tell me that it’s all been worked out.”
“Okay,” Annie said quietly. “Thanks.” She stared at the number and could feel Roxy’s dark eyes on her. Annie glanced up and Roxy gave her a look, but then went on typing.
****
Annie picked up her cell phone for at least the fiftieth time and glanced down at the number written on the paper. By now she had it memorized. This time, she actually dialed it and put the phone to her ear, trying hard to concentrate on something other than her rapidly beating heart. It rang once, then twice. After the third ring Annie was just about to hang up and call the whole thing off, but the deep voice that suddenly came on the line stopped her.
“Hello,” the voice said.
Annie swallowed hard. How do you begin a conversation like this?
“Hello?” the voice said again more gruffly.
“Uh, yes… hello,” Annie stammered. “I um, I got your number from Roxy.” She waited for the reply.
Love For Hire: The Helena's Grove Series Book 2 Page 2