Seven Day Wife (Fake Marriage Office Romance)

by Mia Faye

  “I go over to her quickly, check to see if she’s okay, but I can’t get her to stop crying. Then I hear footsteps, and I look up, and the only thing I see is this blurry motion, and I don’t know how, but the next moment, I’m sprawled on my ass on the floor.

  “Turns out, the lady was this little girl’s mother, and she thought I had done something to her daughter, so she hit me. It was quite the scene. I would have been embarrassed, but she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and once we cleared up the misunderstanding, I gathered up the nerve and asked her out.”

  He beamed happily at Vicki, who gave him a stiff smile in return.

  “I suppose that little girl was Emma?” I asked.

  “Yes. And she’s still obsessed with cars, that rascal. I don’t know where she gets it from.”

  Of course. It all made sense. Emma had taken a liking to the car, and she would have pestered her mom about passing by the dealership every chance they got, just to look at it. The repeated visits must have warmed her to Mike, the flustered salesman who was always nice to her when she came by. And who seemed to like Emma.

  “Can I use your bathroom?” Vicki asked suddenly.

  “Uh, sure,” I told her. “You can use the one down the hall.”

  She stared at me with her signature scowl, but she got up quietly and left.

  “Emma is really amazing,” Mike told me. I felt my jaw clench. “She’s such a delightful child. Smart, energetic, willful… I think she has big things in her future, that one.”

  “You have a daughter, too, is that right?” I asked him.

  “Elaine,” Mike said. “She’s a few years older than your Emma, but they get along very well. Hopefully, you can meet them soon.”

  “Definitely,” I said.

  I could see what Vicki meant about Mike. No doubt he could turn even the blandest topic into small talk fodder.

  “We should move to the dining area,” Yvette said after a brief silence. “I think we’re ready to serve dinner.”

  “Wonderful,” Mike said. “Maybe we should wait for Vicki?”

  I got up, shaking my head. “No, you two go ahead and set up. I’ll go check on Vicki.”

  I walked over to Yvette and kissed her full on the mouth. Display of affection, just like we discussed. Mike looked away, pointedly.

  Vicki wasn’t in the bathroom of the hall. Which did not surprise me in the least. I went from room to room, looking for her, knowing she had gone snooping. I eventually found her in my bedroom. I should have guessed that was where she would go. The woman was calculating beyond belief.

  “Bathroom’s over that way,” I said, pointing back the way I had come.

  Vicki was standing over my dresser, rummaging through my clothes, her face pinched and unpleasant.“Who is she, Cam?” she asked me.

  “Who? Yvette? My wife, of course.”

  “You’re sticking with that?”

  “What, the truth?”

  “That woman doesn’t live here, Cam. Please don’t insult my intelligence.”

  “And what makes you think that?”

  “No sanitary products,” Vicki said, holding up a handful of my underwear. “I’ve turned this room over, and there’s no single sanitary item here. If she lived here, there would be something.”

  “Wow, Sherlock. What an incredible deduction. And, incidentally, an invasion of privacy. I’m going to need you to get out of my bedroom.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘our’ bedroom? Yours and your wife’s?”

  “Out, Vicki.”

  She threw the boxers back into the drawer and came storming over to me by the door.

  “Like I said, Cam. I know exactly what you’re trying to do. And it won’t work. I’m going to have private investigators crawling so far up your ass you won’t remember the meaning of privacy. Good luck keeping up this charade with your ‘wife.’”

  Chapter 17

  Yvette

  I had never been the best at reading people, but I had no problem decoding Vicki. I had never met the woman; this was our first interaction, yet I was confident I had her completely figured out within minutes of meeting her.

  The thing about Vicki was, she was gorgeous. Not just beautiful, which she was, but stunningly gorgeous from head to toe. She was tall and skinny, with the kind of body you could expect to see in a magazine. Her breasts were a bit of an anomaly, though. They were large and heavy, pushed out to full glory by whatever bra she was wearing, and accentuated further by the low-cut blouse she had on. I could tell she often got her way just by bending over and giving men an eyeful of cleavage. She had long, brown hair that fell past her shoulders, and her face was thoroughly made up, the highlight being a bright red lipstick that seemed to glow in the light.

  So, stunning. Without a doubt. And that was key to who she was. I doubted Vicki had ever worked for anything in her life. She probably smiled and things just fell into her lap. She had the air of someone who always expected to get their way, which obviously meant she turned ugly when she didn’t. She had perfected the art of charming her way out of situations and into places. Which meant she was incredibly entitled. And when that was threatened, she became downright nasty. It explained the way she was with Cam.

  From the minute she saw me, she had been assessing me. Sizing me up, and when the smile tugged at the corner of her lips, I got the sense she was satisfied she had nothing to worry about. I wondered what it was she whispered to Cam when she dragged him aside. I was dying to know what Cam told her in response because she didn’t look too happy about it. I did notice, however, the subtle way he glared at her when he picked up my panties from the floor and stuffed them in his pocket. And when he slid an arm protectively around my waist. Possessively. Showing me off. Letting them know I was his.

  I knew I wasn’t, but it was a great feeling.

  Mike was a little different. He was nice, but the kind of nice that often nagged at you and made you weary in the long run. He was friendly and conversational and clearly comfortable with pretty much any social setting. The problem with that was that I would have to be the one to deal with him. I would have to smile and nod and pay attention to his ramblings, responding often enough to encourage him to keep talking. It was the absolute worst part of being a host.

  I loved everything else about it, though. Playing house. Being the dutiful, domesticated wife, which I would never have thought of myself as being. Running around, serving drinks, then sitting around to make pleasant chit-chat. It was all very 70s housewife, and I was having a blast with it.

  But there was more to it. I felt it in the way Vicki pranced about the house, eager to show me that she knew her way around, that she had been here before. I heard it in her voice when she spoke, in the way she directed her questions solely to Cam and not to me. Then there was the subtle interrogation Mike was subjecting me to. I didn’t need Cam’s wink to figure out what was happening. We were being observed, studied, tested. Whatever it was Cam wanted her to think, she was already wise to the notion that she was being deceived and was determined to snuff out the lie. As confident as I was in our preparation, I didn’t think we could survive the intensity of these two.

  Cam seemed confident. There was something he wasn’t telling me, a reason behind his confident smile. It took me some time to figure out what it was about them that bothered me so much. And, to my surprise, it was Mike who voiced it.

  Cam had just gone off to ‘check on Vicki,’ which I found completely unnecessary and highly suspicious. Mike was helping me set the table, and I think he noticed me throwing looks in the direction Cam and Vicki had gone.

  “Drives you crazy, right?” he said, and he flashed me a knowing smile.

  “Huh?”

  “Those two,” Mike said. “There’s so much tension between them, except it doesn’t always seem like hatred. You know?”

  “I’m not sure I do,” I said.

  “You know what they say. There’s a very fine line between love and hate. A lot of negat
ive emotion isn’t that different from positive emotion. And it’s all just that: emotion.”

  “I’m still not sure what you’re saying.”

  Mike sighed. “What do you think of Vicki?”

  “I… I don’t know enough about her to have an opinion.”It was the politically correct thing to say, and we both knew it.

  Mike smiled.“Right. Well, what do you think of her with Cam?”

  “I think there’s a lot of history there,” I said, but I was beginning to see where Mike was going.

  “You don’t have to be afraid. You can speak plainly to me. They hate each other, right? They’re always yelling at each other and calling each other names, and they go out of their way to make each other miserable… But do you have any idea how much effort that actually takes? It’s exhausting, carrying around that much resentment. It’s enough to make you wonder, why do they do it?”

  “What do you think?” I asked him.

  Mike smiled. “I think it would be very easy to assume there is still some lingering affection there. I mean, they made a baby together. It’s not completely unreasonable to assume they still have feelings for each other, no matter how complicated. My point was that, as the third party, I understand that worry, that nagging feeling of doubt, and I’ll bet you understand too.”

  He was making way more sense than I was comfortable with. I recognized all the beats he was hitting on. And I realized it was the same thought that had run through my mind, more than once, often subconsciously. Why was Cam so hung up on his ex? Why did it matter so much to him that he showed her how good his life was now? Was he only using me to make her jealous?

  The problem with that theory was what it said about me. What it demanded I admit to myself. What we were doing, Cam and I; this was a business transaction and nothing more.

  “I guess I hadn’t thought about that,” I told Mike.

  He smiled again, with that frustrating knowing look in his eye, but thankfully he dropped the topic. We carried on setting places on the table, and I doubled my attempts to keep my eyes from the hallway.

  Cam and Vicki reappeared moments later. From their expressions, it was clear something had happened between them. The thought popped into my mind, horrid and disturbing that maybe they had been intimate in some way. I looked over at Mike, and his face was back to pleasant and good-natured. If he was as troubled by the dynamic between Cam and Vicki, he hid it well.

  Cam walked right up to me and pecked me on the cheek. His hand slid down my back and onto my ass. He cupped my right buttock and gave it a playful squeeze, surreptitious but not completely out of sight of the guests. I remembered his words; we need to be all over each other. Well, he was certainly doing a great job of that.

  “This all looks wonderful,” he commented, nodding at the dinner setup.

  “Thank you,” I said. I turned to Mike and Vicki. “Please, sit.”

  The chicken recipe I’d followed was my mother’s, and it was one I was particularly proud of. It had turned out great, too; the chicken was tender and flavorful, and the puttanesca sauce was thick and delicious. It was a bright moment for me, watching Vicki take a bite and try to conceal the fact that she was impressed. Mike wasn’t as shy with his reaction.

  “This is delightful!” he gushed, taking another forkful of chicken and chewing slowly. His whole face lit up, and he nodded appreciatively. “Wonderful!”

  “Thank you, Mike,” I told him.

  “She’s a hell of a cook, this one,” Cam said, looking over at me with a fiercely proud glint in his eye.

  “That she is,” Mike agreed. “You have to give me this recipe, Yvette. I’m not much of a cook, but if I can get anywhere close to this, I think I would take it.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. It’s an old family recipe, and I haven’t written it down anywhere…”

  “Well, then you must inform me next time you’re making it, and I’ll hurry over with pen and paper, yeah?”

  “Sure.”

  “So,” Vicki spoke over Mike, dropping her fork loudly in a bid for attention. Everyone turned to look at her.

  “I hear old man Wyatt is retiring,” she said, directing her comment at Cam.

  Cam fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. No one knew about Wyatt outside the company. Or at least, no one was supposed to.“Uh, I don’t know anything about that,” he said, slightly defensively.

  “Oh, come on, Cam. It’s an open secret. Everyone knows the old man is going down fast.”

  “And who exactly is ‘everyone’?”

  “People talk, Cam. And I know a lot of people in the publishing industry. Let’s just say the word on the street is that Wyatt won’t survive the year and that Penguin Publishers is working on a replacement.”

  “Even if I knew anything about that, Vicki, I wouldn’t be talking about it with you. That’s company business.”

  “I hear it’s you,” Vicki went on, undeterred.

  “What?”

  “The replacement. I hear it’s going to be you.”

  Cam opened and closed his mouth. I could almost hear his brain working furiously, trying to come up with a believable lie. But his hesitation was enough confirmation for Vicki, who gave her an arrogant smile.

  “Of course,” she said. “It makes sense, from their perspective. You’ve worked there the longest. You have the most experience. And the board actually likes you. I imagine it seemed the only logical choice for them. You know what, Cam. Good for you. I’m actually thrilled for you.”She grabbed the nearest glass to her and raised it. She probably meant it as a congratulatory toast, but the impression I got was that she was mocking him.

  “I’m sure you’ll do a great job,” Vicki said, her glass in the air.

  Mike raised his as well, hesitated, then, noticing that neither Cam nor I was raising ours, let his hand drop slowly.

  “Like I said, Vicki. I don’t know about any of that,” Cam said, resolute.

  “I understand if you’re not able to talk about it, Cam,” Vicki said. “I also understand that a promotion would be problematic for your bid to get custody of Emma. You already spend half your time at that damn office already. I don’t imagine your schedule is going to clear up when you have more on your plate.”

  “How about you let me worry about that?” Cam said, and now his voice was a little frosty.

  “Right. Just thought I’d mention it, seeing as you’ve suddenly decided to be a good father.”

  “Can we not do this now, please?” Mike cut in, his voice sharper than I’d heard all night. “Darling,” he turned to Vicki, “our hosts have made us this wonderful meal. We’re having a nice, quiet dinner. How about we keep it that way, hmm? Maybe save the unpleasantness for later?”

  Vicki dropped her fork for the second time in a row. She looked at Mike like she was hoping to burn holes into him. But Mike didn’t falter. And suddenly, their dynamic made a whole lot of sense. Mike was nice and friendly, but he was no pushover. Clearly, he had no problem putting Vicki in her place. I glanced at Cam, and we exchanged smiles.

  Vicki put her hands on the table, and she moved as if to push herself out of her seat. But she seemed to be having difficulty. I glanced down at her perfectly manicured fingernails, and that was when I saw it. There was a nasty red rash spread out across the backs of her hands, and it looked to be spreading further up her hands by the second.

  I pointed, horrified, unsure what to say. Vicki looked down at them, and then her hand shot to her throat, and she was choking for breath.

  Mike was out of his chair in seconds. He rushed to Vicki’s side and helped her up, whispering urgently in her ear.“What the…? Darling?”

  Vicki was waving her hands, gesticulating in the direction of her plate.

  Cam stood up too, but his confusion froze him in place.

  “Wait,” Mike said suddenly. He leaned down to Vicki’s plate and gave it a good sniff. Then he turned to us, comprehension mingling with mild horror. “Are there
pine nuts in this?”

  “Uh, I… yes… I think… I’m not… No, wait. I did use pine nuts in my sauce, yes.”

  “She’s allergic,” Mike said simply. He gave Vicki a reassuring pat on the shoulder, whispered something to her, and then turned and dashed away.

  I should have asked Cam to confirm any allergies once we knew Vicki was coming over. But then again, he should have known about her allergies. It was almost ironic that I had gone for this particular dish because of how simple it was, and here we were, with the guest choking. Maybe to death.

  I looked over at Vicki, and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Her skin was red and splotchy. The rash had spread all the way up her arms and onto her face. Her eyes were swelling fast, and tears were streaming freely down her cheeks. And from the way she was gripping her throat, she was having trouble breathing.

  I had no idea what to do... should she sit? Stand? Lie down?

  Mike returned moments later with an EpiPen. He helped Vicki back to her seat and then parted her dress slightly and administered the injection.

  We watched in stunned silence as he did, and afterward, he slid into his seat beside her and watched her with concerned eyes.

  It took some time, but the redness eventually started to fade. Vicki’s expression softened, but only just. She still looked like a bad Halloween monster, and when she finally got her voice back, I wasn’t surprised to hear the vitriol coming out of her mouth.“You tried to kill me,” Vicki said, her eyes locating and staying on me.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Vicki,” Cam said. He had been silent so long I’d almost forgotten he was there. “Yvette would never do that.”

  “Come on, darling,” Mike said to her. “We need to get you to the hospital. You could have a second reaction.”

  Vicki looked like she wanted to argue some more, but she appeared to think better of it. Mike came around and kissed me lightly on the cheek, telling me it had been an excellent meal. He shook Cam’s hand and said thank you, and then he gathered their things and guided Vicki out the door.

  It was such a weird, unceremonious ending to the night, neither of us knew what to say. We just sat there, silently, looking anywhere but at each other, until the awkward tension got to be too much.