They actually asked for my method of payment before they even confirmed the reservation. I about had a heart attack when I asked to see the prices. At first, they didn’t want to share, but once I talked to the manager and explained to him that they were using the software I developed, therefore, I was not the bum my questions made them believe that I was, he forwarded me a list with all the items on the menu and how much they cost.
As soon as Mona asked for the most expensive steak they had, my left eye started twitching a little. But I knew she was doing it out of spite because I had never spent money like that on her.
“So was it a business meeting or something?” Kyle insists with his questions. “I’m assuming they paid,” he continues when I don’t answer fast enough.
I’m not sure if sharing with him what transpired at the restaurant would be beneficial to me. But then again, I don’thave anyone else who could give me a different perspective. Ever since I decided to get Mona back, I have been questioning all my life decisions. Getting someone else’s opinion might help, even if that someone else is Kyle.
“It was a date with Mona.” I drop the fork in the cake container that’s now close to being empty.
“You went on a date with Mona?” His voice goes up an octave, the same way that he does whenever he’s a bit too excited about something.
I’m not even sure how to respond to his question. I was on a date with her while she thought she was waiting for her date, Julian Lewis.
“Sort of.” I rub my hands up and down my face. “I contacted her on theHolidatesapp.”
Kyle pulls a chair out and drops in it. He makes himself comfortable, like he’s not planning on leaving anytime soon.
“I’ve been waiting for you to report in about that. I thought you were just going to send her a message, though. I didn’t think she’d want to go out with you again.”
Okay, maybe Kyle has better instincts than I thought. When he asked about why I had theHolidatessite up on my computer, I told him that was the only way I could get a hold of Mona. I never shared that my plan was to pretend being someone else, then ask her to meet that way.
“I gave her a fake name on there,” I admit.
Kyle pulls himself back, confusion clear on his face. “What, like she wouldn’t recognize your face in the picture you put on your profile?”
That’s a fair question. I did try to put a picture of something random on there, but I got a pop up saying they had a new rule that it had to be a headshot of the person signing up.
“I photoshopped an old picture of myself. I got the hair to be a lot darker, and I did a few things to the face.”
I initially tried to find a random picture off the internet. But then I figured it would be too risky. What if she happened to have seen it somewhere by chance? I wanted this to look as real as possible, and manipulating an old picture of myself felt like a better idea at the time.
By the look on Kyle’s face right now, it probably was not my best idea.
“So you put a picture of yourself on there, but with a fake name?” he asks for clarification. “It’s got no logic.”
“After I made the changes, it resembled me, but didn’t look quite like me.”
“Yeah, but still,” Kyle huffs and rolls his eyes at me. “Why would she want to go out with a guy who looks like the ex she hates?”
Instant anger explodes in my chest, but I try to temper it down.
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” I speak through my tense jaw. “She came to meet me there.”
Kyle stares at me in awe. “What name did you give?’
I clear my throat self-consciously. “Julian Lewis.”
It is my turn to roll my eyes when Kyle busts out laughing. But then, just as abruptly, he stops.
“Wait, isn’t Julian your middle name?”
I have to say that he connected the dots way faster that I’d have expected him to. He would know my middle name from some of the business paperwork we both had to sign at one point or another.
“It is.”
“Where did Lewis come from?” is his next question.
I am saved from having to answer when my phone lights up with a notification. When I glance down, I see that it’s from theHolidatesapp. Frowning, I pick up the phone, and, as soon as the screen unlocks, I rush to tap on the app, then on the inbox.My eyes widen in surprise when I realize there’s a message from Mona in there.
