“Oh, I’ll take it to-go.” Amy waves for one of the waiters. “Honestly, I come here because you never know who you might bump into, not for the food. I forget to eat all the time.”
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. Choosing to skip a meal is one thing, butforgettingto eat? Clearly, she’s never wanted for food.
Amy packs her salad up into a beaten-up plastic box which, despite its rough appearance, still seems like a luxury to me. “Sid, can I borrow you for a second? I promise, I won’t take him away for long,” she adds with a wink.
“Oh… sure.”
Sid follows her toward the bar. I watch her place a hand lightly on his arm. The tiny gesture makes my throat clench as I wonder if I let my guard down too soon. Is she coming on to him? And if she is… what can I reasonably do about that?
He shakes his head, which plays all too well with the narrative I’m building around them. What if he’s saidnofor now, but she keeps asking? What if she wears him down?
Finally, he comes back and I rise from my chair to greet him, pulling him into my arms so that Amy gets a parting view of how desperately in love we are. As his chest presses into mine, he trembles with laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I whisper, watching Amy leave. “Is she on to us?”
“Not exactly. But she’s a smart girl. She knows something is up.” Sid pulls back from me, a wide grin on his face, despite the flush of embarrassment that colours his usually pale skin.
My heart sinks. What’s so funny? I left out all the stuff about April being sick when Amy quizzed me, but we’ll be in a shitload of trouble if everyone figures out why we’re together.
“What did she say?”
“Well, she’s trying to make sense of why I would get married to someone so quickly.”
“And?”
“Kayla… she thinks I got you pregnant.”
IT TAKES Agood minute for us both to stop laughing. It’s not the best-case scenario, but at least Amy didn’t clock us as people who have never slept together.
After her departure, we both agree we’re tired of playing pretend and want to get home. But I still hold his hand as we walk to the bus stop, just in case. Amy could pop up at any second, so there’s no sense in ending the charade yet.
“You told her I’m not though, right?”
“I did, but I’m guessing I looked guilty as sin.”
“Who, you?” I snort.
“She sighed and said,waiting until there’s no risk of miscarriage?”
“Holy shit! So she actively thinks this is true?”
“So it would seem.”
“Fake married and now fake pregnant. I am building quite the life here.”
If it was a lie we could keep up indefinitely, I would be all for it. It’s such a convenient explanation. Unplanned pregnancies are easy to stumble into. But things willlook suspicious a few months from now when I don’t start showing. Of course, we could tell her we had a miscarriage, but… no. My blood chills at the idea. There are some things I can’t make light of.
There is another solution, of course. Sid could knock me up for real. So what if the baby comes a month late? It might even convince Tom that we like each other. But while I would do almost anything for April, everyone has a line and creating a whole ass human being to support a lie is mine.
A wagon pulls up. Sid helps me into the carriage and soon we’re being whisked back towards the acreage. I allow myself to slump against his sturdy frame, because why not? I’ve concluded that so long as we’re in public, it’s safer to fasten myself to him than not. It keeps our lies consistent—but also, it feels better. While I enjoyed our little friend-date—especially the restaurant—going into town is still overwhelming and Sid’s physical presence creates a nice barrier between me and that chaotic world. Thank goodness it’s over.
Except… it isn’t. Amy wants to parade us around town to get herself in the newspaper. Even if we don’t do that, I promised Sid I would help him with his campaign.
“Sid?” We don’t usually talk much on the bus, but we need to sort this out before we get home. “Are we asking April about that tour Amy wants to do?”
“You don’t want to do it, do you?”
“I mean… she’s your ex. Isn’t it weird for you?”
