Otherwise Engaged: A Fake Engagement Romance

The elevator ride down from Bennett’s office took less than five minutes, but it felt like five hours. I was working overtime not to break down while I was surrounded by office workers coming and going from their lunch breaks, blissfully oblivious to the fact that my heart lay in a thousand tiny pieces on the elevator floor.

By the time I reached the safety of my SUV in the underground parking garage, I was distraught. I barely managed to lock the door behind me before I buried my face in my hands and burst into huge, ugly sobs. Tears streamed down my cheeks, dripping onto my shirt and my lap, as I drew in shaky gulps of air, trying to catch my breath. I tried to remember the last time I cried like this and realized it had also been over him.

What just happened? How did everything go from the way it had been with us all weekend—since Mexico, really—to this? It made my chest ache in an all-too-familiar way. Not only did Bennett actually believe I’d hide something as major as a lease from him, but he also assumed I destroyed his family’s reputation back in high school.

Here I was, thinking he was one of the only people who understood me, when it was clear he didn’t even know me at all.

I didn’t understand. I needed to understand. Between spending the weekend together and those moments in the car, I had let myself start to believe he actually felt something for me. Did none of that mean anything to him? Was I reading everything wrong?

Then another horrifying possibility crept into my mind.

Was any of it even real?

Nausea bowled into me, and my tears restarted again in earnest. Convincing everyone we were an item, salvaging his reputation, winning Callaghan over…All of Bennett’s reasons for being with me were rapidly coming to an end. Was that why he’d been so cold to me upstairs about the lease?

A text from Bennett popped up and I swiped away the notification without reading it, tossing my phone in the center console. What was going to happen after our engagement party? Once Callaghan signed, and Bennett got what he wanted? Had he ever even planned to stick around until Adam and Quinn’s wedding? Maybe our expiration date had been closer than I realized.

Maybe I’d let myself get played by the chess master himself.

I hiccupped, fumbling in my purse for a pack of tissues, and blotted my eyes in the mirror. They were glassy and bloodshot, impossible to conceal. Going back to work wasn’t even remotely an option. I grabbed my phone and quickly texted Quinn to inform her I wouldn’t be returning to the store because I was under the weather. It was true, anyway; I had a severe case of heartbreak flu.

Once I was marginally calmer, or at least calm enough to drive, I quickly checked my surroundings to ensure Bennett hadn’t followed me downstairs and witnessed my complete breakdown. Then I started the ignition, determined to get out of Flux’s parkade as quickly as possible.

Anger, sadness, resentment, and grief mixed together, the chemical reaction forming a cloud of despair. If I’d possessed the ability to string together a coherent sentence, I’d have called Quinn on the spot to chew her out about the lease. Not only did she deserve it, but I also almost wanted to pick a fight with my sister so I could take the way I was feeling out on someone else.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, I holed up at our north location when I knew Quinn would be busy changing up the retail displays at the south store. Bennett stopped by, but I stayed in the back and had our sales assistant, Kyla, send him away. I wasn’t ready to talk to him. He might have had time to get over what happened, but I hadn’t. He’d texted and called multiple times, too, completely disregarding my favor request. Not that I’d expected him to honor it.

By Wednesday, I’d been crying and moping for the better part of two days. Lola had tried to lure me out of my apartment for a drink, but I’d insisted on hibernating instead. Bennett was still a gigantic question mark, and I was going to delay facing that for as long as possible. But I knew I had to handle Quinn.

When I arrived at Lace & Grace shortly after nine, Quinn was perched on a stool by the cash register, sorting a pile of lacy white bras by size. She was the picture of perfection, with a fresh set of beige-blonde highlights, perfectly applied makeup, and a well-rested air about her. I was the polar opposite, with my hair desperately in need of a trim, puffy eyes, and hastily applied makeup after waking up late this morning. After very little sleep and entirely too much caffeine, I was simultaneously both wired and tired. Not to mention, lacking a single shred of patience.

Jaw clenched, I strode to up her and tossed a copy of the lease agreement on the counter. It landed with a loud, confrontational slap. I’d intended to approach the subject in a calm, diplomatic way, but the minute I laid eyes on her, that was no longer an option. I guess I was taking a cue from Bennett on how to start difficult conversations.

Quinn paused, glancing up at me. “What’s gotten into you?” She scanned my face and her eyes turned to saucers. “You look like you’ve been crying. Are you okay?”

I shrugged off my camel Moncler Fleole coat, placing it on the far end of the counter beside my canvas tote. It was bitterly cold outside, but I was already growing hot under the collar at the thought of having this conversation.

“You signed a lease in Adam’s development on our behalf without discussing it with me first? What the hell were you thinking?” I gestured to the papers, but Quinn didn’t bother to look. Why would she? She already knew.

“Oh, that?” She waved me off, her freshly manicured, mauve-colored nails gleaming under the store’s LED lighting. “I was helping Adam with the bid. The Mayor is all about supporting local businesses. In order to win him over, Adam needed some independent stores on the tenant roster to counterbalance the big corporate chains.”

“Well, Adam won.” While I knew going in that this had to be the result of Adam’s machinations, Quinn’s flimsy justification was infuriating. She was oblivious to the destruction she’d inadvertently triggered in my personal life and was apparently unconcerned about the potential fallout for our stores, too.

I added, “Now we’re stuck with a fourth retail space we don’t want or need. You do realize a lease is a legally binding contract, right? There are financial penalties for breaking them, and they’re generally steep.” Maybe she didn’t realize that. I was the one who handled all the legal and regulatory matters—not to mention, all the money. Based on her blasé attitude, I was sure she hadn’t read the lease before signing it, either.

“It’s fine. Adam said he’d let us out of the lease after the project was approved.”

Of course, he did.

“And you believe that?”

Quinn’s tone chilled. “Of course. He’s my fiancé.” She pushed the neatly stacked pile of thongs aside and tore open a plastic bag containing black lace bikini underwear, dumping them out on the counter.

It was a mighty big leap of faith on her part. With no paper trail and zero proof, Adam could easily strong-arm us into fulfilling our obligations contained within the lease agreement. If they were to break up tomorrow, we would be screwed. Quinn’s willful ignorance was exasperating. How was I supposed to stay in business with her when she did things like this without any remorse?

Even more disturbingly, there was a clear relationship between her problematic behavior and when Adam entered her life.

My nails dug into my palms. “We need to talk about Adam.”

“What do you mean?” She stiffened but continued to sort through the pile of black bikinis.

Here goes nothing.

“Let’s take a look at how all this went down, okay?” I said. “Adam randomly bumps into you at a Starbucks, you two hit it off, and he proposes almost immediately—right when he’s trying to get his business off the ground.”

I’d bet good money the Starbucks encounter wasn’t random, either. I wasn’t sure how, but I was certain he’d orchestrated this whole scheme with my sister from the ground up.

A surge of revulsion coursed through me. That probably meant Adam tried to hustle me, too. But he must have seen the writing on the wall when we were having drinks and I confirmed my anti-marriage stance hadn’t changed. Didn’t stop him from sleeping with me, though. Creep.

Then again, I still couldn’t explain why I’d slept with him, except for having been drinks deep—and maybe a little lonely. I’d have taken it back a thousand times if I could.

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Quinn asked. Through the window, a woman pushing a stroller walked by and I held my breath for a beat, praying she wouldn’t turn and come into the store, but she continued past.

I tried to keep my tone non-confrontational, knowing my words were anything but. “Don’t you think the timing of your relationship is a little suspect? And the fact that he needed a large amount of money that you ended up securing for him?”

“I already told you,” she snapped. “That was my idea.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She huffed a sardonic laugh, shaking her head. “I know you’re new to the whole ‘relationship thing,’ but this is how serious relationships work, Thayer. You’re a team. You help each other. Once you’re talking marriage, you have to think about what’s best for you as a family.”

Her last words confirmed what I already knew. Adam had used Quinn’s dreams of starting a family to entice her into helping him—while manipulating her into thinking it was her idea. After all, it’s hard to stay at home with your carload of kids in your big suburban mansion, like she’d always wanted, if your husband’s company has gone belly-up.

“Don’t you see? Adam is taking advantage of you, Quinn. He’s using you.”

“Oh my God.” She shot to her feet, planting her hands on her slender hips. “What is your problem? Are you mad because I’m getting married first?”

More proof that my sister was completely out of touch with reality. I’d never cared about getting married, and even if I did, I wouldn’t see it as some kind of race down the aisle. She knew that, too. Or at least, she would have if she was in her right mind.

“My problem is that you’re in a vulnerable place right now, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Vulnerable was putting it mildly. Lately, the slightest hint of stress caused her to crumble like a macaron from her favorite French bakery.

“Are you having problems with Bennett? Is that what all of this is about?” Quinn demanded. She flopped back onto the stool and crossed her bare legs, anchoring the heel of her pump on the foot rail, and threw me a haughty look. “Kyla said he stopped by the store yesterday and you had her ask him to leave. Is that where this is coming from?”

My throat closed up at the mention of Bennett’s name. For a few painful seconds, I wasn’t able to respond for fear of bursting into tears.

Finally, I choked out, “This has nothing to do with him.”

Quinn tsked in disbelief while I scrambled inwardly to formulate an effective case. If I wanted her to see how selfish Adam’s motives were, I knew I had to resort to the big guns—even though she was guaranteed to pull out her own verbal assault rifle in return.

Even then, I still wasn’t entirely convinced Quinn would listen to me; I could tell her the facts, but I couldn’t make her believe them.

“When did you and Adam start dating?” I asked. “Specifically.”

She glared at me. “Why?”

“Humor me.”

“Late June. Happy?” Quinn returned her attention to sorting through the underwear at the counter, making a point to ignore me.

Though it was closer than I would have liked, there was no overlap. A small silver lining. I closed my eyes and inhaled through my nose, channeling the emotional strength required for what was about to come next. Nausea, which had been my default setting for the past two days, threatened to overtake me again.

“Quinn…” I reopened my eyes, fixing my gaze on her. The words were difficult to force out, syllables jagged in my mouth. “Adam and I slept together a month before you started dating. While you were in Napa with Millie.

“You what?!” Quinn’s attention snapped back over to me, and she dropped the underwear in her hands onto the table. Her voice was shrill. “Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a one-night mistake. He blew me off after and I was embarrassed. When he showed up with you on his arm a few weeks later, I felt like the way he’d treated me was my fault somehow—like maybe he was going to be better to you. But then Bennett said…” My courage faded, along with my voice. If my first bombshell hadn’t set her off, this surely would.

“Oh, this should be good. What did Bennett say?” Quinn placed an elbow on the counter and leaned forward in mock interest. “I mean, he’s known for being so reliable and upstanding himself.”

I chose to ignore her jab. Bennett had at least been faithful, which was more than I could say for Adam.

“He said that Adam was being inappropriate with other women at the club in Mexico. He told me he’s heard rumors about Adam cheating on you, too. From credible sources.”

Quinn laughed, caustic and sharp. “I’m supposed to believe that a womanizer like Bennett has magically morphed into the perfect fiancé, and that my actually perfect fiancé is a player? A player who’s using me for daddy’s money?”

I clamped down on the frustration building within me. Quinn was determined to bury her head in the sand about everything: the lease agreement, Adam, and reality in general. She’d always been this way to an extent, but before, it had been more annoying and harmless than anything. Now, it verged on intolerable and hazardous. What would be next? Was she going to sell the business without telling me?

“It’s pretty clear Adam’s not perfect, according to some of the things you’ve told me. You can’t honestly tell me you think he’s faithful to you. Bennett’s intel just confirmed what you already know, deep down inside.” It came out harsher than I intended, but it was the truth.

“This is hilarious.” She slapped the glass counter with her hand. “The two most dysfunctional people I know, giving me advice about my own relationship. Glass houses much, Thay?”

“This isn’t relationship advice, Quinn, I’m worried about you. I genuinely believe Adam’s intentions are bad, and it breaks my heart. Especially with everything you’re already dealing with.”

Quinn shook her head, raking a hand through her loose curls. “You think you’re so perfect, but you’re a control freak. All you care about is everyone following the rules and doing what you think is right, even if it’s not right for them.”

“That’s not even a little—”

She continued before I could finish. “Your issue with daddy investing in Adam’s company sounds a lot like a ‘you’ problem, Thay. It’s not my fault your relationship with Bennett isn’t as strong as mine and Adam’s.”

My stomach sank to the floor. Little did she know, there was no relationship with Bennett. Just a broken pile of what-ifs, almosts, and could-have-beens.

As for my sister, if this is how it was going to be from now on, continuing to work together was an impossibility. It was like we inhabited two different planets. Two different realities, even. Something had to give; either our relationship or the store, hopefully not both.

A heavy silence fell over the room while I tried to work out what to say. For years, I’d allowed myself to be derailed from pursuing what I wanted in order to make Quinn—and my mother—happy. Postponing business school for one year had turned into two years, then three, and now I was staring down the end of year four. I’d sacrificed too much to stand here and be walked all over like this.

“What?” Quinn snorted. “You’ve got nothing to say all of a sudden? You were full of such helpful insights a minute ago. I can’t believe—”

Something in me snapped.

“I can’t do this,” I blurted out, cutting her off before the tirade could continue. “I’ll help you replace me, but I quit. I can’t keep bending to what you want, what you think, what you say. If you want to run the show, have at it. I’m out. Done.”

It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest; one that I hadn’t even known was there.

Her eyebrows shot up, quickly lowering into a scowl. “Fine.” She leapt out of her seat and spun away, high heels clicking angrily against the hardwood while she stomped into the office.

I watched the door close behind her, my eyes blurring with tears. They started to overflow, warmth streaming down my cheeks. Drawing in a jagged breath, I gathered up my purse and coat, crying in big, ugly sobs. I knew Quinn could see me on the security camera, but I didn’t care. She must not have cared, either, because she stayed in the office until I left.

On some level, I knew I should have been devastated, but all I felt was numb. My life was vacant. No job, no Bennett, no Quinn.

A few days ago, everything had been almost impossibly perfect, and now, everything was broken.