“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on?’ We fell in love and got married. That’s that.”
She crossed her arms. “Something’s up, though. You just cringed when you said ‘in love.’”
“Did I? If I did, it was an accident.”
I didn’t like this. I was being exposed to an interrogation—by my friend. If Phoebe was going to give me the third degree, I was even more worried what other people might ask.
Fellow employees.
Bosses.
Most importantly,the immigration office.
What were the repercussions if they found out our marriage was a temporary ruse? I hadn’t looked up the consequences of using a fake marriage to overstay one’s visa—mostly because I never in a million years thought I would actually take Phoebe’s off-handed suggestion and run with it.
“It’s your fault, you know,” I winked. “You were the one who first planted the idea of a marriage.”
“Well, you’re welcome for giving you that great—although totally sarcastic—idea. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
I shrugged. “It’s wild, I know. But, I’m really pumped for a life together with him.” I wanted to vomit in my mouth as I saidlife together.
Phoebe let out a small gasp. “Whoareyou, Catarina Vidal?!”
Just then, I saw Dustin striding down the aisle with two coffees. Not like I could have missed him—not like anyone could.
He was tall with stubble and devilishly handsome. The people in the auditorium turned to stare at him as he came in. Most doctors weren’t known for their physiques—not their faultin my opinion since they worked long hours saving lives—and Dustin seemed quite out of place.
“Hey baby,” he said as he approached. I had to hand it to him. He was a fantastic actor. He sounded like it was the two-thousand and fifth time he’d called mebaby.
I stood up to take the coffee, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Medium vanilla latte, not too sweet, just how you like it.”
Phoebe’s jaw opened, and I thought it might fall to the ground.
“Hey there,” Dustin said, putting a hand out to her. “Doctor Reynolds, so nice to see you again after our outing yesterday. How’s Chip?”
“So ... it’s ... for real?” she asked with a confused face. “I’ll be honest. When Chip and I saw the video, we thought this was a total practical joke.”
Dustin took me by the waist and kissed me.
“For real? Yes, of course. I love the fuck out of this girl. Knock ‘em dead up there, babe,” he added.
I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
On the podium, I felt extremely lucky to have my notes and the coffee.
I started my talk with an informational overview of where cancer research was going the following year. From there, I branched off into the true seriousness of the profession and the life and death we dealt with each day. Toward the end, I had lined up a couple of light-hearted jokes that encouraged donors to up their contributions.
The laughs were much louder than a normal conference speech, and when I looked up, I realized there were more people in the room than there had been for any speech I had given in my career. And everyone seemed to be reallylistening.
My stomach, all of a sudden, felt rock hard.
I was glad I hadn’t taken the time during my speech to look around the room, though. There were people standing. Andcameras.Why were there cameras?
The CSC never had any cameras. Every year was a battle to get people to actually care about the research we were doing. Why were they suddenly very interested?
On the surface, I kept my expression even as the moderator walked out.
