The Ruse
Ally stood outside the fanciest restaurant in all of Independence, Kansas with a clash of nerves and excitement rattling her bones. She stared at her reflection in the glass door, making sure her blond curls were still swept up in their tidy chignon bun.
Her eyes appeared dark under the failing daylight, yet were really a sparkling green she spent an hour making up with the perfect amount of cosmetics.
The indents in her cheeks would become full-on dimples when she smiled, but Ally’s insides were far too chaotic for that at the moment. When Finn finally made it to her side, he lifted her hand to tuck it into the bend of his elbow and gave her an assessing survey.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” she confirmed.
He smiled. “Let’s do this.”
The moment they stepped through the double glass doors, the restaurant’s occupants cheered.
“There’s the lucky couple!” Finn’s father, Professor Alvin Dermont greeted, lifting a glass of whiskey toward them.
A large banner hung across the back wall that read:
Congratulations Finn & Allyson
Future Mr. & Mrs. Dermont!
There were a lot more people than Ally was prepared for. To be honest, she hadn’t expected Finn’s Ivy League buddies to show up. Mainly because his boasting about them had sounded exaggerated—but also because they were in the middle of rural USA, not some major metropolis.
It was too easy for Ally to get swept up in all the attention and continuous movement. She was introduced to people she hadn’t met yet from Finn's side, while intermittently embracing friends and family who’d shown up for her. The princess cut diamond on her ring finger sparkled under the lights and everyone wanted the chance to see it.
Waiters swayed through the crowd, offering celebratory flutes of champagne while a spread of hors d’oeuvres was devoured by guests. Ally didn’t even want to think about how much Finn’s parents had paid for the party. For a small town farm girl, it was dizzying and, admittedly, dazzling.
Even if the whole thing was a giant charade.
“Mom? Dad?” Ally asked with a surprised laugh when they approached. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
She hugged her mom first, then her dad before stepping back and smiling to see them so dressed up. Not that it was the first time, but the moments had been quite rare while growing up. Usually reserved only for their wedding anniversary.
“We wouldn’t miss our own daughter’s engagement party,” her mom said. “I know we had a private dinner to celebrate last week, but your dad and I knew how important this night was for you.”
Guilt rose, trying to choke Ally because she believed that. Her parents knew exactly why it was the one night she’d been looking forward to the most, and it had nothing to do with getting engaged. She and Finn were leaving right after the party to catch their flight to Florida.
Ally was finally getting the fuck out of Nowhereville, Kansas and she couldn’t wait. Hence the guilt because no matter how much she’d miss her parents, it would never be enough to make her stay.
And they knew that, which had to break their hearts on some level. Yet, Ally couldn’t change the way she felt.
“And your mother couldn’t pass up the chance to make me put on a suit,” her dad complained lightheartedly.
“Oh, you like it,” her mom dismissed with a wave.
Finn appeared and greeted her parents just as warmly as he always had. It was his unerring respect and fondness for her parents that had made it so easy to agree to his crazy scheme.
“Mr. and Mrs. Renner,” he said, shaking her dad’s hand after kissing her mom’s cheeks. “So glad you could make it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it, dear,” her mom repeated.
“Do you mind if I steal my beautiful fiancé for a moment? There are more people dying to meet her,” Finn said.
“No, of course. Go, go,” Ally’s mom shooed them away. “Mr. Renner can take me to the dance floor to show off his moves.”
“Ally—?” her dad looked to her for help.
“Sorry, Dad. You’re on your own.” She laughed, as Finn led her away.
Of course, she was, too. Next to Finn, Ally continued to smile and answer invasive questions about how they’d met and how they knew they'd found ‘the one.’
Luckily, Finn had foreseen all that and insisted they practice their story so no one would get suspicious. Ally couldn’t be more grateful for that now.
Under the scrutiny of people who would never be as poor as her parents, it was already difficult not to feel like a giant fraud. Her only consolation was knowing she wasn’t the only one lying to everyone’s faces.
When Finn first suggested the elaborate ruse months ago, Ally had nearly laughed him and his idea straight to the curb. He'd quickly convinced her to accept. But it sounded so much easier in theory. Executing the lie in real time had been proving to be quite the challenge.
“Dad invited me to come into the university as a guest lecturer on the Import-Export Industry, and there she was, right in the front row,” Finn explained to yet another one of his more distant relatives. “Those bright green eyes and that gorgeous smile took my breath away.”
That part was true. Actually, most of their story was, which made it so much easier to keep straight. However, the biggest role required to sell the whole thing was their feelings—and that was the lie part.
Ally and Finn were not in love. They weren’t anxious to settle into blissful matrimony and start popping out kids. They were each others’ means to an end. A partnership of convenience.
Finn wanted the extra leg up in business reserved for those who seemed to posses inherent loyal and a dedication to commitment. In short: family men. He liked that Ally was well-mannered instead of a party girl, and gorgeous enough to be deemed a ‘trophy wife'—arm candy that his associates would be jealous over.
Ally just wanted the ocean and she’d do anything to get to it, even if meant being regularly objectified.
The sound of a fork tapping against crystal caused everyone to quiet and turn their attention to Finn’s parents.
“It’s time for cake,” Professor Dermont announced.
Ally and Finn had to cut it together, just like at a wedding, which everyone cheered about. Afterward, while they sat and ate their cake, people started making toasts.
It was difficult for Ally to combat the guilt again when it came to her dad’s toast. Her parents were older than most, and all they’d had to give was a small farm in the middle of nowhere. But they’d loved her when they didn’t have to.
They’d adopted Ally when her biological parents hadn’t wanted her. And for that, she’d spent her whole life pretending to be worthy of their kindness.
Even though she never would be.
Following the toasts, the guests decided to try their turn on the dance floor. Ally was asked to dance by every single one of Finn’s college buddies, which really tested her ability to be polite under pressure.
“You know, when Finn said he’d met the most gorgeous woman in Kansas, no one believed him,” Finn’s friend, Tanner said while they danced. “We’re sincerely stunned to see he was telling the truth.”
The fact that Tanner believed he was being flattering and charming spoke volumes. Ally laughed softly and smiled brighter, imagining how good it would feel to stab the heel of her stiletto right into his polished Oxford.
“Oh, that’s sweet,” she said, trying not to gag.
It was a huge relief when there was finally no one left to dance with. As the evening wore on, Ally’s excitement for their impending flight increased. She was anxious. Terrified, really, that something would happen to delay their trip or stop it from happening at all. And she knew that fear wouldn’t go away until they arrived in Florida and she was standing in the ocean at long last.
No one understood how deep her obsession went, except for maybe her parents. They’d been there her whole life, after all. They’d watched it take shape and grow, likely hoping it was just a phase she’d grow out of. But it hadn’t been.
Ally had collected everything she could get her hands on that pertained to the ocean. Seashells from the five-and-dime, postcards, posters, magazines, stuffed dolphins and orcas. Every night during warm weather, Ally had slept with her window open, listening to the breeze blowing through the wheat fields and imagining it was waves whispering on the shore of some tropical beach.
Her most prized possession had been a small bedside lamp she’d gotten for her 11th birthday. It had seashells hot glued all over and a tiny pewter mermaid secured to the base. She knew her parents had decorated it themselves, yet it had meant the world to her.
Now, her most prized possession was the beautiful bracelet Finn had gotten her as a late birthday present. It was made of delicate spun gold with pink pearls and the tiniest real seashells she’d ever seen.
It didn’t matter that Finn had completely forgotten to give it to her for a full month after her birthday had passed, or that he’d had someone else pick it out. Ally loved it. When she’d first opened the velvet box, her eyes had misted over, a feeling of profound connection igniting in her soul. For that single moment, it felt like someone truly got her, that she was completely understood.
Of course, Finn didn’t, and he never would. But Ally had loved that feeling and that was what the bracelet represented more than anything else.
“Alright, darling,” Finn said, rescuing her from a conversation with more of his friends’ pretentious girlfriends. “If we want to make our flight, we should start saying our goodbyes now.”
It took every ounce of Ally’s willpower not to jump up with a squeal and clap her hands. Of course, some of her happiness faded when she found herself saying goodbye to her parents for a second time. Since they hadn’t known if they’d be able to make the drive from Liberty for the party, she and Finn had made a special trip to have lunch with them that afternoon.
“Make sure you send pictures,” her mom said, just as she had earlier. “We want to see our baby in the ocean, living her lifelong dream.”
“I will, Mom. I promise,” Ally said, squeezing her harder as she fought back the tears and guilt.
Her mom gave her wet kisses on her cheeks, wiping at her eyes as she stepped back to let Ally’s dad get his turn.
Her plan had been simpler once. She’d been all set to go to college in California, so she could live near the ocean while getting her degree. Then her dad had suffered a heart attack and needed a triple bypass. The medical bills had eaten every penny of her college fund and then some.
Her parents had been so defeated, which is why Ally had never told them how much it had crushed her or how hard she’d cried to lose that opportunity.
But she saw it again in her dad’s eyes when he moved in to embrace her. The briefest flash of guilt that she’d had to wait that much longer to get the chance to live her dreams. Or maybe… maybe even a part of him understood that she’d gotten engaged for that very reason. That she was trading her chance at ever finding true love because his health had taken the only independent option away from her.
Neither of those scenarios felt good and Ally hoped she was just reading too much into it.
“I love you, Dad,” she said holding him tighter. “Please take care of yourself. Don’t make mom do all the worrying.”
He chuckled thickly and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll try, Ally Cat, but you know me,” he said.
“Yeah.” She sniffled with a laugh as they parted. “Stubborn as an ox.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Renner,” Finn said as he also gave them farewell hugs again. “I promise she’s in good hands. We’re going to be so happy in Florida and sometime, you’ll have to agree to come visit us.”
Her dad humphed because he hated the idea of flying. “We’ll see,” he said.
Ally just smiled and squeezed his arm, then quickly gave her mom another kiss on the cheek as Finn started pulling her away.
The rest of the guests were just as loud in their farewell cheers as they’d been when Ally and Finn had first arrived.
Ally waved as they hurried out the door to the car. Finn had arranged a rental they could turn in at the airport so they wouldn’t have to cut their party even shorter just to have time to go fetch their luggage. It was already packed in the trunk.
She dreaded the drive ahead, knowing it was going to take at least an hour and a half. Independence happened to be just as far from the airport in Wichita as it was from Tulsa International. So, they’d opted for the latter because it knocked a little time off their flight.
“I think that went even better than we expected.” Finn smiled as he pulled away from the restaurant. “Don’t you?”
“Mm-hmm,” Ally answered distractedly.
Finn sighed. “I know you’re anxious, Ally, but I’m not spending the next hour and twenty minutes talking to myself.”
Ally almost scoffed out a laugh. Finn was attractive and her partner in their fucked up agreement, but the man was also arrogant and loved nothing more than hearing himself talk.
Her words only mattered when they agreed with his or elevated his ego. But she supposed not paying attention to him was, in a sense, like saying he wasn’t important enough to listen to.
“I’m just nervous that something’s going to happen to keep us from getting on that flight,” she admitted. “And don’t jinx it by saying nothing will.”
He gave her a dubious look. “That’s childish,” he remarked. “We control our own fates, Allyson.”
“I’ll feel better when we get there, okay?” she stated, not wanting it to turn into a bigger debate.
“Fine,” Finn reluctantly accepted. “Just remember, when we get to Florida, you can’t go around talking about jinxes and whatever other backwoods superstitions we’re taught as kids. It’s supposed to be a fresh start for us. No one will know where we came from, so you’ll behave just as educated and classy as them. That was our deal, remember? You said you could do this.”
Ally had to swallow the insult of his words and remind herself of why she was putting up with them in the first place.
“I can,” she stated.
There was no lack of confidence in her tone because she’d already been playing a role her entire life. Ally had never truly been as good or decent as everyone thought. The things that went through her mind while she smiled and said 'thank you' were not what good people would think. So, her acting skills were finely honed.
Finn relaxed and smiled, while giving her a patronizing pat on the back of her hand.
“I never doubted you for a second.”
My ass, you didn’t.
Turning her attention out the window, Ally counted down from a hundred, then closed her eyes. In her mind, she pictured herself rushing into the rolling waves of the ocean and smiled.
It was worth it. Everything she’d end up giving to her fake engagement, every insult she’d suffer from Finn or his elitist snob friends, would be worth it.
It had to be. Because she wanted nothing else. Ally had no other dreams or ambitions in life.
So, it damn well better be worth every sacrifice.
