1
“His real wife?” I repeat in shock.
My fingers can’t keep a strong hold on the suitcase as I’m caught off
guard by her comment. It drops to the floor, and with one of the zippers
broken, some of my panties come tumbling out.
Embarrassed as hell, I duck to pick them up when Leo does the same.
As he attempts to pick one of them up, I say, “No!”
“Let me help you,” he says, but I shove him aside.
With a flushed face, I stuff them in my suitcase and stand up, breathing
out loud as I gaze at Leo. “What in the hell is going on?”
“Long story, darling. Too long for you to know,” Marilyn says.
“What? How dare you …” I mutter.
Marilyn makes a face, but before she can respond, Leo says, “Lyn,
you’re only making it worse.”
“Lyn?” I scoff. “Well, I guess I should’ve known I wasn’t the only girl
you gave a nickname to.” I’m disgusted by what’s happening here. His real
wife showing up? Like, who the hell is she and why is this happening?
“Your real wife? Seriously?” I say.
“Yes, it’s the truth, if you doubted my statements,” Marilyn muses,
smiling obnoxiously. “Am I really too late, Leo?”
“Yes. Why the hell are you here, Lyn?” He grabs her arm.
“Because I wanted to help,” she says.
“No, you said you didn’t want to do it, and now all of the sudden
you’re here? What is going on?”
She shrugs. “I changed my mind.”
“On what?” I yell. I look explicitly toward Leo, as I don’t want that
woman interjecting again. “You still haven’t told me what the fuck is going
on.”
The whole lobby is looking at me right now, and I feel shitty for
shouting, so I shut my mouth immediately.
“Okay, remember when I told you I got drunk and married a friend?”
he says, frowning. Then he cocks his head, aiming it at her. “That’s her.”
“Hi,” she says, waving as if she’s all cute and stuff. Oh, fuck off.
“She’s your wife …” I mutter.
He bites his lip and mulls a bit before saying, “Yes.”
My jaw drops. Quiet for a second, I just stare at him, unable to speak a
proper syllable. “Your … wife… You mean you’re still married? To her?”
“Technically … yes,” he says with an apologetic face.
“Don’t be so surprised, darling,” Marilyn says. “I mean who doesn’t
want to be married to this?” She laughs, but it doesn’t feel like a joke to me.
“Lyn …” Leo says. “You’re only making it worse.”
“Yes, Lyn, this isn’t right. Did you know your husband asked me to be
his pretend wife?” I say, making a face.
She folds her arms. “Actually, I didn’t, but this just makes it all the
more fun.”
“Fun … Fun?” I’m fuming right now. “You call this fun?” I direct my
attention to Leo. “You have got to be kidding me.”
In a fit of rage, I waltz right past him. I can’t bear to look at his face
right now. What I want to do isn’t legal, and I’m sure as hell not ending up
in jail for this asshole.
“Sam, wait,” Leo says, walking after me. “Let me explain.”
“What’s there to explain? You have a wife. Explains enough, doesn’t
it?” I spit.
“No, it doesn’t, and you’re getting this all wrong.”
“Oh, I’m getting this all wrong?” I scoff.
“I didn’t mean it like that. If you stop running, I can tell you what’s
going on.”
“No, thank you. I think I’ve seen and heard enough.” I stomp forward.
“Stop,” he says, standing in front of me. “C’mon.”
“No,” I say, frowning. “Now get out of my face before I throw my
panties at you.”
This makes him laugh, which pisses me off. “I’m sorry, that was bad,”
he says.
“Yes, it was. Just like everything about you,” I snap.
“Ouch …” he says. “Sam, please, let me explain.”
“What’s there to say? You’re married! I thought you’d already annulled
the contract and that you wanted me as your pretend wife only for a little
while until you could tell your parents the truth. Wow, was I wrong there.” I
roll my eyes. “Jesus, you’re really good at fooling women.”
I clear my throat and walk past him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have
a plane to catch.”
“Wait,” he says, grabbing my hand. “There’s way more to it than that.
You haven’t given me a chance to—”
“To what? To tell me how I was only used for show? How your real
wife could show up at any time to take over? Like, seriously, what is this?
Are you for real?”
“It’s not like that, at all. I wanted you to be my pretend wife because
she refused to come with me to meet my parents.”
“Oh, so you got me to play the role instead? How chivalrous.”
He frowns. “I got myself in some deep shit, all right, but that doesn’t
mean that I did this to hurt you. That I don’t care about you.”
“Say that to the woman you married in the first place.” I point at
Marilyn. “Because we both have no fucking clue what’s going on. And now
you’ve cheated on us both.”
“Cheated? What, no, you’re taking this whole thing way out of
context,” he says.
“Really? I’m taking it out of context? Because I seem to remember you
were the one who fucked your fake pretend wife, knowing that you still had
a real wife on the side.”
The look on Marilyn’s face right now is priceless.
I wince. “You’re disgusting. Now let me go.” I jerk my hand free and
turn my head. The annoying twitch in my nose is starting up again, and I
don’t want to feel it. Just like I don’t want to hear his irritatingly sultry
voice.
“Samantha!” he yells, but I ignore him. “Where are you going?”
“Home,” I say. “Without you.”
And then I stick my middle finger up in the air.
