"Good morning, everyone." Holly chooses that moment to walk into the room, like some sort of super villain in a Marvel movie, and her icy gaze turns to me.
"Ah, Gina, good to see you. I'll get an update from you after the meeting."
"Yeah, sure," I say slowly, not really knowing what I'm going to say. I feel sick just thinking about the conversation I have to have with Holly.
"Everything okay?" Emma whispers as Holly heads to the front of the room and starts a PowerPoint presentation. I'mgrateful that Jenny S.'s attention is off of me, but that unsettling feeling still hasn't left me.
"Girl, you are not going to believe what happened," I whisper, not able to wait until after the meeting to tell her what had gone down with Hunter.
"Oh, no." Emma looks taken aback, and there’s a flash of fear in her eyes. “This doesn’t have to do with Patrick again, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t have to do with Patrick. Patrick is old news, girl.”
“I’m just saying, if you were going to ask me to spy on him again, I was going to say no.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have asked you." I glare at her. "Anyway, this is crazier than that."
"This is crazier than us spying on your ex?" She gawks, and I want to groan.
"Listen to me," I hiss at her, though I'm not mad, just dying to tell her what’s been going on. I felt like there is a ticking bomb in my head, and the only way to detonate it safely is by talking about it.
"What happened?"
"Guess what Hunter asked me...."
"Not to have anal." Her eyes widen, but I see the wicked smile on her face that lets me know that she's teasing me.
"Really, Emma? Why would you say such a thing?"
"I don't know. Guys ask weird things, but anyway, just tell me."
"He asked me to pretend to be his fake girlfriend."
"What?" she says, blinking rapidly. This time, I can tell she's as taken aback as I was. I never heard of people in real life needing to be in a fake relationship, and I don't know how I feel about being in one either. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know exactly. I guess he said the paparazzi's in town and they're trying to get a story from him and?—"
"Shit, are they trying to get the story about his engagement?" She blinks rapidly as she processes everything. "But wait, if he's engaged, why would he ask you to be his fake girlfriend?"
"Girl, it kept me up all night," I admit, though the kiss had kept me up even longer. How could he be in a relationship and kiss me like that? "Here's what I'm thinking," I say, lowering my voice to make sure no one can hear me.
"Yeah?"
"I think that something crazy is going on. Like maybe some sort of double play."
"Huh, what do you mean?" She looks confused.
"I was thinking, if he's engaged, why would he be kissing me and asking me to be his fake girlfriend. Like, wouldn't his fiancée be upset?"
"He did what?" Emma screeches loudly, and the entire room goes quiet. My heart thumps as I see faces swivel towards us. I really don't want the attention right now.
"Is there something you want to share with us?" Holly says, looking over at us and frowning slightly. She really could audition for a theatrical role as an ice queen.
"No," Emma says quickly. "Sorry, I was just about to sneeze."
"Yeah, okay," Jenny says, rolling her eyes. Holly frowns and gazes at us for a few moments, then shakes her head and goes back to talking at the front of the room.
"He made out with you?" Emma whispers again. "Like, you guys got hot and heavy? What is going on?"
