Family
I marched to the kitchen island and flipped open my laptop. For the very first time in my perfectly ordinary life, my fingers typed the words: Hire a fake boyfriend.
A reputable boutique talent agency downtown answered my panicked inquiry within the hour. The woman on the phone sounded incredibly cheerful and completely professional, as though women hiring handsome strangers to pretend to love them happened every single Tuesday.
“Just for a few hours,” I explained, my voice trembling slightly. “He doesn’t have to do much. I don’t need a grand performance. Just… stand beside me. Hold my hand maybe. Smile like he’s happy to be there.”
Romance
“Of course, ma’am. We have excellent talent. He’ll play whatever role you need to perfection.”
After ending the call, I rested both hands flat on the cool kitchen counter, staring at my reflection in the dark microwave glass. Somehow, I had become a cliché: a desperate woman paying a complete stranger to make it look as though she was still worthy of being wanted.
—
Meeting the “Boyfriend”
We arranged to meet at a busy, bustling downtown coffee shop the afternoon before the big party. I arrived twenty minutes early, my stomach doing gymnastics. I ordered nothing and spent the time nervously shredding a paper napkin into tiny, snow-like pieces.
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When Clark walked through the glass doors, the bell chimed, and I instinctively looked behind him. I was entirely convinced that someone that ruggedly attractive had to be meeting someone else. He was tall, with thick dark hair, incredibly warm brown eyes, and the kind of effortless, magnetic confidence of a man who belonged in a high-end cologne advertisement.
A handsome, dark-haired man smiling warmly while sitting across a coffee shop table.
When Clark sat down, I was sure he was meant for a different client.
He scanned the room, spotted me, and walked directly over. He sat across from me and offered his hand with an easy, breathtaking smile.
“You must be my client. I’m Clark.”
I shook his hand, feeling the warm, strong grip of his fingers. I couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating sigh. “Look at you,” I murmured, gesturing to him. “Nobody is going to believe you’re with someone like me. My ex-husband will take one look, laugh right in my face, and know it’s a scam.”
Clark didn’t flinch. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “What do you do for a living?”
The question caught me completely off guard. “I… well, I raised four children while he built his corporate career. I ran the household. I managed the schedules, the finances, the homework. I kept absolutely everything together while he cheated on me for a year behind my back.”
Clark nodded slowly, his brown eyes focused intensely on mine. “So, let me get this straight. You kept an entire family standing, completely on your own, while a grown man lied to your face every single day?” He paused, letting the words hang in the air. “That’s not weakness. That’s incredible strength. That’s the kind of person anyone would be proud to stand beside.”
Family
A sudden, intense heat rushed into my cheeks. I stared down at the pile of ruined napkin shreds. “You’re being paid an hourly rate to say things like that to me.”
“I’m being paid to play your boyfriend tomorrow afternoon,” he replied smoothly, his voice dropping a register. “I’m saying this to you now, on my own time.”
