Rent-a-Boyfriend

by Celia Fay

  Face turned toward me, Kai winks.

  Everything has been absurd ever since I met him.

  When the main dishes come, the conversation turns slightly toward work.

  “Jackson,” Mr. Fiscone suddenly says. My head snaps up at the mention of my name. “You’ll be in charge of the publishing project, correct?”

  “Yes, it’ll be an interesting venture for us,” I answer.

  “What are your goals?”

  My father’s eyes are sending ‘don’t fuck this up’ vibes at me. I ignore him. “Actually, I plan on finding popular and high quality novels from different countries to translate and promote in America. We’re already a diverse country, but we need more voices from all around the world.”

  “Like mangas?” Rose pipes up.

  “You like reading mangas? We can discuss them later,” Kai says.

  I cough awkwardly. “Perhaps, but also other literature. I’ve already contacted some Chinese authors.”

  My father looks like he’s going to explode – totally expected, since I haven’t told him any of this before. But Mr. Fiscone nods and says, “That’s a great idea! Very forward-thinking and mindful of other cultures. We will need more than just talk to succeed, of course, but it’s a good start.”

  A proud smile creeps onto my face. “Of course. I have business plans and proposals and all that, but it’ll probably ruin this awesome dinner.”

  He chuckles, and so does my father. I can’t believe how successful this is going. “I’ll look forward to reading all that paperwork.”

  “Okay, enough talk about work!” Mrs. Fiscone exclaims. “Kai, dear, please tell us more about yourself!”

  My chest tightens as if someone was about to interrogate me. The actual one in question, though, seems at ease. Kai laughs and it sounds like wind chimes. “There’s not much to talk about. My life was boring before I met Jackson.”

  I choke on a pea. “Stop saying sapping things,” I say through coughs and over Rose’s giggling. My family looks like they’ve choked on a fly too. Kai sends me a dazzling smile.

  Now that all the nerve-wracking things are over, I can finally look at the Fiscones fully. Mrs. Fiscone is a curvy woman with matching curly hair. The tips are graying and wrinkles form when she smiles, but she still looks full of energy. Her husband is a sturdy-built man with salt and pepper hair. His beard reminds me of a teacher from high school. And Rose is hot. Damn…

  “I’m a writer, so I just lock myself in my room and sit in front of the laptop,” Kai continues smoothly. Honestly, I need to learn how to talk like him. He always seems so at ease.

  “You’re a writer?” Mrs. Fiscone asks in interest. “Maybe you can help Jackson with the new venture!”

  “Too bad I’m not an international writer,” he replies dryly. “But if you need a Japanese translator, hit me up. I’ll give you a discount.”

  He winks and I gag again. But it’s all in good humor and it seems like everyone likes Kai more than they like me.

  Jennie jabs my side and I glare. “What,” I hiss.

  “You’re going to piss Dad off even more if you hire him.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Are you giving me ideas?”

  She rolls her eyes and goes back to ignoring me.

  The dinner ends smoothly, without either of my parents talking much to me. The Fiscones offer to show us around the mansion, but my father declines politely. They see us out the door and Rose calls, “Kai, remember to add me and follow me back!”

  I have no clue what they’re talking about. Kids these days…

  Pointedly ignoring my family, I walk with Kai to my car. It’s still where I parked it – under a tree across the street. There are fallen leaves all over the windshield.

  Kai notices them, too. “Time and fallen leaves,” he murmurs. Brushing them off, he says, “Damn, it looks and feels like we’ve been in there for a whole cycle of seasons.”

  “You’re turning poetic.” I wait for him to finish and get into the car.

  “What are you talking about? I’ve always been poetic. And everyone loves me,” he sing-songs, getting into the seat beside me.

  I start the engine and we’re cruising into the night. “Yeah, that was kind of impressive.”

  I can feel his wide eyes on me without even looking. “Did you just say something nice about me?” He gasps dramatically.

  “Bitch please, I say nice things all the time.”

  He doesn’t get out when I stop in front of his apartment building.

  “That wasn’t a one-time thing, right?” he asks lightly. I cock my head. “Like, we still have to meet up and date, right?”

  “Uh… do you want to?”

  “Yeah, it’s fun! But you should take me to more fancy places so I can get the whole dating-a-CEO experience.”

  I immediately make a face. “Okay, get out.”

  He laughs and obeys. But before going into the building, he swings over to my window, tapping it until I roll it down.

  “What,” I say flatly.

  “Where’s my kiss?” he teases.

  “When will you stop asking for that?” I mutter.

  But for some reason, I blow him a kiss.

  Chapter 6

  Grudgingly, I return to the house. I don’t even try to slip into my room without anyone noticing because I know that it’s impossible. And there’s no use avoiding it anyway.

  Seeing my father’s face when I get called into the study, I just wish that Kai is here with me. He’d give me some reassurance. And take the brunt of things.

  For a good five minutes, my father and I stare at each other in silence. The ticking hand of the annoying vintage grandfather clock is the only sound.

  “Do you expect me to believe that you suddenly turned gay?” he finally asks.

  I try not to roll my eyes. “I didn’t suddenly turn gay, Father,” I answer pointedly. “No one turns gay.”

  He snaps. “Enough of that homo shit!”

  It’s amazing how I never knew how homophobic he is. Thank god I’m not actually gay…

  Taking a deep breath, he controls his rage a little. “Now, tell me what you thought you could achieve with that act tonight.”

  He looks down on me, even though I’m standing and towering over him. Suddenly, I feel like I’m five years old again and getting yelled at for whatever stupid thing I did.

  “Since you don’t believe that Kai and I are actually dating, I don’t know what to say,” I finally reply. “Except that maybe you’re wrong about a lot of things.”

  His expression is stormy and I suddenly realize the full stupidity of everything. “I can take back everything I gave you and make sure no one will ever hire you again,” he threatens.

  My eyebrows fly up. Things are getting dramatically out of hand. “I’d be happy that you finally understand I’m not a good fit for your company. But let’s not make things too ugly.”

  He scoffs. “I know you’re trying to make a point, but what’s the point? I thought you had matured these years, but at 23 years old, you are still so reckless.”

  “Are you still sure you want to force me to do important things?” I raise my eyebrow, challenging him. “I might ruin everything, just how I always do.”

  My father sounds genuinely sad when he says, “I am so disappointed in you. I had thought…”

  How did it go?

  Mark's text is waiting for me when I finally get back to my room. With a sigh, I call him.

  "Did I agree to this when drunk?" I start off. "I'm fucking stupid and you're even more stupid."

  "That bad?" Mark's tone is sympathetic.

  I make a face, even though he can't see it. "The Fiscones really loved Kai for some reason. But my family wasn't taking any of this shit. They know I'm not gay-"

  "Are you sure you're not the least bit gay for Kai?" Mark interrupts.

  "That's not the point here."

  "Aha, you're not denying it!"

  "Shut up. Mr. Fiscone fully suppo
rts my proposal and now I suddenly don't want to leave the company."

  "Wait, woah, I thought you just wanted them to get off your back about arranged dates. And maybe piss your dad off a little. What's this about leaving the company?"

  Rolling around on my bed, I groan in frustration. "I can't hold my temper. I always say stupid things when I'm pissed."

  Mark snorts. "Good job, Jackjack."

  "Shut up," I grumble.

  "You probably inherited it from your dad and he just says stupid things when he's pissed, too," my friend says wisely. "I doubt he's going to make you jobless and homeless."

  "Can I live with you if he kicks me out?"

  "Go live with your boyfriend!" Mark laughs.

  "Stop making fun of me," I complain. "This is a serious problem."

  "Honestly, you're good at everything you put your heart to, even if you hate it. And if you get to the top level, you can just use all your money to do stuff you like."

  I narrow my eyes at the old plushie (from high school) next to my pillow. "Are you saying I should..."

  "Yeah, make up with your dad?"

  "No way."

  "He was an ass to your mom, but hating him like this will only make your life harder."

  Sighing deeply, I say, "I'll think about it. What about Kai, then?"

  "The contract's for 3 months. You can definitely ask him out officially and date him forever."

  "Uh... that wasn’t what I meant. Whatever…"

  I'm about to hang up, but Mark suddenly says, "You need to keep doing my mission dates with him, though! You can't keep ignoring my messages!"

  So I hang up on him.

  My phone vibrates with an incoming text. It's from Mark, of course.

  Mark

  The next stop is a bookstore date.

  Jackson

  First the planetarium, now the bookstore

  Do you think we're nerds?

  Kai K

  I'm a nerd!

  Jackson

  Wtf

  Is this a group chat?

  Mark

  Yeah dumbass

  Kai K

  LOL you're so cute

  Mark

  So tomorrow, go to the 2nd hand bookstore and explore

  Have fun~

  Kai K

  Yeet

  Jackson

  I guess I'll pick you up?

  Kai K

  No, it's close to your place

  I'll come over and we can walk there

  Jackson

  Okay?

  After lunch?

  Kai K

  Aww...I wanted to eat lunch with you

  Mark

  Yeah, eat lunch together

  Jackson

  :|

  Mark

  You're being annoying like Kris

  Jackson

  Shut up

  Kai K

  Who's Kris?

  Should I be jealous?

  Jackson

  No

  I dream of Kai that night.

  It's a stupid dream – I’m in the kitchen making an egg sandwich. It may be just two pieces of plain bread and a single fried egg, but it’s my birthday gift for him. And I'm positive he's going to love it. When he sees it, his face is going to practically split in half with his trademark wide smile.

  But he comes into the kitchen without warning and I freak out. To keep it a surprise, I eat the sandwich. He waits until I finish before leaving and I make another one.

  He comes in again and I eat it again.

  It keeps repeating until I'm entirely filled and fried eggs spill from my mouth.

  Weirded out, he breaks up with me. I drown in grief as I stuff my face with more egg sandwiches.

  I wake up swearing.

  "What the fucking fuck was that dream," I mutter to myself.

  Flipping over my pillow to the cold side, I try to fall back asleep. But now my thoughts are full of Kai and I can't get rid of his stupid laugh.

  I'm getting too into pretending to date him that it's not uncomfortable to have gay thoughts...

  To be honest, I've questioned my sexuality in high school. But I fell for and got fucked by so many girls in college that I forgot about it. And now, the questions are back in full force.

  Amber's voice pops up in my mind. "You could be bisexual, you know."

  I scoff quietly, muffled by my covers. "Wouldn't that be convenient?" But it doesn't sound like that bad of an idea...

  I wonder what we're gonna do at the bookstore tomorrow...

  I wake up late and wander into the dining room. For some reason, everyone's home, even my half-brother Kevin. They all stare at me and the atmosphere turns icy. I remember what Mark said.

  "Uh... good morning?" I say.

  "Mornin'!" Kevin greets brightly.

  I sit down, but before anyone can say anything else, the doorbell rings.

  My father and Lisa gaze at each other and I get a bad feeling.

  A few moments later, a maid comes and announces, "Jackson's friend is here to see him. His name is Kai."

  Oh. Fuck.

  "Now you're inviting him over to my house?" Lisa exclaims.

  "N-no-"

  Kai prances in and my voice dies. "Hi, Jackson! I was just going to wait outside, but your maid let me in."

  Taking a piece of plain toast, I stand up. "Okay, we're going now."

  Without another word, I grab Kai's wrist and drag him out the dining room.

  "What the fuck," I hiss.

  "I swear I was going to wait outside!" he protests.

  We're finally out the house, the door slamming shut behind me. "I don't care, I'm still blaming you for fucking up the chance to slightly fix things, goddammit!"

  In anger, I shove the entire piece of toast into my mouth and swallow it, despite choking slightly.

  "I'm sorry."

  I glance over at Kai, surprised by his tone. He looks genuinely upset and this weird feeling overcomes me.

  "I-it’s not your fault. I guess," I mumble. "I'm just so stupid."

  "Yeah, you are," Kai agrees without hesitation. "Who the hell dates me for so long and doesn't kiss me?"

  All my apologetic feelings jump out the window.

  "But I get you," Kai says, sidling up and latching onto my arm. "Oh, we're turning left at the stop sign."

  "What do you get?"

  "If I had the chance, I'd try to fix things with my parents too."

  I don't reply, but I move his hand from my arm down to my hand. For some reason, it just feels right.

  We don't really talk, except for Kai's random "oh, look, a squirrel!" or "puppy!" until we get to the second hand bookstore. It's hidden behind bare autumn trees and there are only a few cars parked before it.

  A bell rings when I push the door open, but I can still hear Kai's stomach rumble.

  "Did you not eat?" I mutter.

  "Mmm," Kai hums.

  "Let's go eat." Taking his hand without waiting for a reply, I lead him out the bookstore.

  He seems surprised, but quickly reacts. "Aww, you're being such boyfriend material today," he coos. "I'm so blessed."

  "You can shut up if you want it to continue."

  He mimes zipping up his mouth and throwing the key away. But he opens it again and keeps talking anyway. "Black hair looks so good under the sun," he runs a hand through my hair, straining a bit because of the height difference. "It shines."

  "You have black hair, too."

  "And it looks good, too, don't you think?" he does a hair flip to prove his point, and I grudgingly agree with him.

  "Where's the eating place?" I ask, changing the subject.

  He stops playing with my hair and points. "Right there."

  "Chinese food?" I exclaim.

  "Really Americanized, but yeah, baby."

  "Don't call me that."

  "Okay, JJ-bae."

  I chase him all the way to the restaurant.

  I thought I could get away with it, but I get dragged back
to the bookstore after a lunch of nameless homey dishes. That's how things are – my mom always cooked things that were very Chinese, but you could never put a name to it. At least, not anything like kung pao or orange chicken.

  "Do we have to?" I ask one more time.

  "You're whining. Am I rubbing off on you?" Kai teases. I purse my lip and refuse to reply. "And what do you have against bookstores?"

  "I don't know..."

  "You just don't want Mark to get his way, don't you."

  "You know me too well," I grumble.

  He gives me his trademark smile and pushes me through the door. "Being surrounded by books will help you with your job."

  Clearly, Kai – the writer and nerd – is in his element. Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, he forgets about me and prances to a book. Shaking my head, I wander over.

  "I've been looking for this book since forever," Kai cries quietly.

  I take a look. The Caged Bird Does Not Sing is the title. "Deep," I mumble.

  He forgets about me again. Ten minutes later, he has a few books under his arm. He assures the owner that he'll definitely buy these and plops down into a padded chair.

  "Are you just going to sit here and read?" I ask, incredulous.

  He glances up at me with wide eyes. "Yeah. Why don't you have any books with you?"

  I open my mouth but realize that I actually can't argue with him. There's no reason why I can't enjoy this afternoon. I go and grab a random teen romance novel and sit down on a worn out sofa. With a groan as warning, Kai launches himself from his chair to the spot next to me. He lands perfectly on my lap.

  Gazing down, all I can mutter is, "Umm... PDA?"

  "This spot is comfortable. Mind if I stay here the entire time?"

  "Am I allowed to say no?"

  "Good, you're getting the hang of things," he says with a teasing smile.

  I can't believe he really does stay in my lap. He's so warm and I'm hyperaware of how he shifts his weight, putting pressure on different parts of my thighs and lower body. Sometimes, I almost groan out loud. It's impossible to concentrate on my love story.

  When the sun starts setting, it's my stomach's turn to grumble. Kai looks up at me. "You can come to my place for dinner. I need to get ready for work, too," his bright eyes suddenly curve into crescent moons. "You want to come visit me at work today?" he asks with a wink.