Fakecation

Chapter One

Amelia

Summers in Atlanta were not for the faint of heart.

When Amelia’s alarm went off, she groaned and lay in bed for a good ten minutes. Her AC was blowing, and yet the apartment still felt warm and muggy. It wasn’t even eight yet, but she knew it was going to be a sweltering day.

She slowly got out of bed, doing her usual song and dance of finding an outfit that was both cool enough for her walk to her MARTA stop, and warm enough to keep her from freezing in the chilly office.

She wished the executives would let them work from home.

Glancing in the mirror, Amelia made sure she looked all right. Her tan skin looked decent enough that she could forgo makeup, and her dark, wavy hair fell down her shoulders in a favorable way. She thanked her lucky stars that it wasn’t frizzy today, despite the humidity.

She left her apartment on time, only to get to the downstairs door before remembering something incredibly important.

Her medication.

She cursed under her breath, swiveled on her heel, and jogged back up the stairs to her apartment. The bottle of medication lay on the counter. Amelia took one of the pills and grabbed a banana to eat on the way to work. She knew if she had forgotten it, she would be in a world of pain.

There were times when it was incredibly inconvenient to have to rely on medication to get through the day. Her last boyfriend had certainly thought it was an issue, so much so that in the years since they’d broken it off, she had never been able to forget how he’d treated her and her reliance on medication. And how the real world felt about people like her.

That was fine. Amelia liked being alone.

She left her apartment for a second time in a rush, but luckily, she didn’t miss her train. She may have been sweaty and annoyed, but at least she was on time.

Amelia got to work at exactly eight. A few of her coworkers greeted her in passing. As the HR director, she was the highest-ranking employee who worked in the office building. All her actual superiors were in corporate, and communicated via video chat, unless they were in town. All the people she worked with were technically under her umbrella.

A yawn escaped her before she had even made it to her office, and she immediately changed course, heading for coffee.

The break room was up on the top floor. There were tons of refrigerators for people to store their lunches, as well as coffeepots that were usually empty. There was a sole Keurig that Amelia had brought in, so she walked over to that.

As she bent down to open a drawer to grab a K-cup, she heard chatter.

“Isn’t it so sad?” a woman’s voice asked. Amelia glanced over to see two women by the fridges, huddled together as they spoke.

One of them, Andrea, was an employee of hers. After starting at the same time as Amelia three years ago, Andrea remained in her original position while Amelia pursued a promotion. On the left was Dana, who worked in the customer service department.

“It really is,” Dana said to Andrea. “You can just see it in his eyes. He’s so lonely.”

Amelia immediately knew who they were talking about: Daniel Anderson—the other director in the office.

“I can’t believe they got a divorce,” Andrea said. “They were so cute together!”

“And she is so pretty,” Dana added. “Like, if they had babies, they would win prizes.”

“Right? Such a shame, but I hope he’s happier without her.”

“Isn’t it weird that he’s single now?” Dana asked. “I mean, he’s hot.”

“Isn’t he your boss?”

“Yeah, but I could make it work.”

Nope.

The last thing Amelia needed to deal with was Dana causing an HR nightmare by going after her boss.

She loudly snapped the Keurig lid closed, and both women spun around with wide eyes.

“Um, hi, Amelia!” Andrea said, her face turning red.

“Good morning,” Dana parroted.

“Morning, how are you two?” Amelia asked, her voice even.

“Good!” Andrea said. “Um, did you just get here?”

“Yep.”

“Great!” Dana said. “Well, I need to get back to work. Mr. Anderson runs a tight ship!”

“Yep, he definitely does,” Amelia muttered under her breath as Dana quickly walked out of the break room.

“Did you hear what she said?” Andrea asked.

“I did.”

She laughed, nervously playing with the hem of her shirt. “I don’t think Dana will actually do anything.”

Amelia hummed. “Sure, but it’s probably best not to seduce your boss, right?”

“For sure!” Andrea said. “She’s just . . . being weird.”

Amelia sighed. “Do me a favor and leave the poor guy alone, okay? He’s going through a lot.”

Andrea nodded. “I will! I mean . . . I do leave him alone. We don’t really work together anyway, so why would I even be talking to him?”

Amelia didn’t really know what else to say. Her coffee began to pour.

“Well, uh . . . have a good day?” Andrea called as she scurried out of the break room.

Amelia sighed again, trying to focus on her drink. But her mind wandered to Daniel and his divorce, an issue she was familiar with.

Dana was right about one thing: he was attractive. Amelia could remember her first day, when she’d seen him walking the halls. Her eyes had caught on his impressive jawline, but also his dark hair and deep brown eyes.

At the time, it didn’t matter that she was still trying to get over Andrew or that Daniel was in a management position. She was looking at someone she was ridiculously attracted to.

Then she saw the ring on his finger, and that attraction had been stuffed into a box. Since then, Daniel was simply a coworker.

And that was how he liked to be with them all, anyway.

Daniel was quiet and reserved. He was all business, and other than his wife, no one knew a thing about him.

The only reason anyone knew what was going on was because said wife had stormed into his office to give him the divorce papers before leaving without a word. It had been so dramatic that Amelia almost confronted him about it. Employees weren’t supposed to let things like this happen, and he needed to be held to the same rules as everyone else.

But Amelia took one look at his pinched eyebrows and intense frown and she knew he didn’t want his wife there either. So, she quietly had the woman removed from the list of people allowed in the building.

Amelia didn’t have any kind of relationship with him to be able to ask how he was doing. And she shouldn’t, considering how attracted to him she’d once been.

The Keurig sputtered the last drops of brew into her mug, and Amelia forced herself back into the present moment. There needed to be no more thinking of Daniel. She had too much work to do to get lost in her own thoughts. She picked up her coffee and used a tried-and-true way to force herself to get her day started.

I am walking to my desk. I am going to sit and work. Her mantra worked until she got to the door.

“Shit!” She’d run into someone and put all of her focus on not spilling the very full cup of coffee; she hadn’t even bothered to see who it was. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Neither was I,” a deep male voice replied.

No one else in the office had that voice. Her eyes slowly trailed up, and she found herself gazing at none other than Daniel himself. She could get lost in those dark eyes.

He was freshly shaven and his hair was pushed back. But this close, she could see the slight curls. She wondered what it looked like when it was free from its typical styling.

She dragged her eyes to his, only to find herself wanting to memorize their exact shade of brown. While blue eyes got all the attention, there was something about his eyes’ walnut hue that kept her attention.

That was when she realized she was staring.

“Sorry,” she said, putting on a smile. “I’m a bit out of it before I’ve had my first cup of coffee.”

Amelia lifted the mug to her mouth and took a sip. She silently begged the caffeine to do its magic and make her a fully functioning person.

“Ah. I can’t relate to that.”

“Not a fan of coffee?” she asked.

Daniel shook his head. “More of a green tea drinker.”

She felt relieved. See? she told herself. We don’t even have coffee in common.

“I noticed there was someone who always got into the green tea I stock. Bigelow, right?”

“You stock it?”

“Yeah, why not? We have to have something that keeps people happy around here.”

“Did you somehow convince Cheryl to pay for it?”

“It was either that or she give me a raise to pay for it myself. She chose the first option.”

“I’m impressed,” he said. “Then again, you’ve always been that way.”

Amelia’s heart sped up. Was he . . . complimenting her?

“I mean, at your job,of course,”he corrected.

“Right,” she muttered. She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed at him bringing the conversation back to work. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you to say.”

Thankfully, another employee was speed-walking to the break room and almost ran right into them. Amelia immediately recognized her as Stacey, another of her employees.

“Whoa!” she said, blinking at them with wide eyes. “Wow, hi, Daniel, Amelia. I promise I’m working, I just . . .”

“Need coffee?” Amelia asked, giving her a smile.

Stacey’s eyes stayed wide. She’d always been intimidated by Amelia ever since she’d entered management.

“Yeah, just coffee. And maybe a donut,” Stacey replied.

A moment passed where no one moved or said anything. That was when Amelia realized she and Daniel were blocking the door.

“Sorry. I’m in the way. You do what you need to.”

Amelia went to move and bumped into Daniel again.

He reacted smoothly, stepping back and out of the way right after Amelia had gotten too close. They made it through the doorway with no coffee spilled, but by that time, they were lingering a little too close for comfort.

“Wow,” Amelia said, laughing nervously. “I think I need to be away from people for a while. See you later!”

She turned and walked to her office without waiting for his reply. For a moment, she stared at her dark computer screen, feeling her cheeks burn in the aftermath of whatever the hell had just happened with Daniel.

Their usual conversations were short and to the point. He’d never smiled at her before. Then again, he’d never been unmarried before either.

Maybe he was happier single. He could have been like this with everyone by now, but she wouldn’t know since they both kept their contact strictly professional.

Amelia knew she could turn this over in her head until she’d dissected every second of that interaction. She almost wanted to, just to see if remembering it would settle the subtle buzzing under her skin.

But she had work to do.

She powered on her computer to check her email. What she found was her corporate boss, Cheryl, telling her to remind everyone that no one was allowed to work from home under any circumstances.

Why not just do that themselves? Why did her name have to be on it?

She actually knew why, and she didn’t like it. Amelia was the first point of contact when people had questions or complaints about policy, so it had to be her who sent it out. Judging by the fact that a few people worked from home when sick so they could save PTO, there were going to be issues with this reminder.

After she sent it out, she got exactly what she expected. She spent her whole morning sipping on coffee and responding to emails, which were mostly comprised of people asking different versions of the same question. Can there be an exception to this ridiculous, no-exception rule? By the time it was noon, Amelia was tired of having to deliver the bad news.

Luckily, her phone jingled, reminding her of lunch with her mom. They were discussing the annual family vacation and finishing off the last remaining to-do items before they left this weekend.

Her brother, John, lived in the city. But her parents preferred small-town life and lived about an hour away. Amelia didn’t get to see them nearly as much as she wanted to. The vacation was a way for them to all reset and spend a week in each other’s company.

She rubbed her eyes. She only had about fifteen minutes until she met with her mother, and she wanted to be in a decent mood. It took a lot to get her mom to drive to the city.

She stepped away from her computer, heading for the restaurant on the first floor of her office building, where she and her mom had agreed to meet.

Amelia was the spitting image of her mother, with the same dark hair, light brown eye color, and face shape. Her mom looked nice today. Her hair was curled and lay across her shoulders after a recent haircut. Her clothes were clean and complementary.

Amelia sighed in relief—her mom must have been in a good mental state.

“Hey, Mom,” she said, giving her mother a hug.

“Hi, honey!” her mom replied brightly. “You look like you’re exhausted. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. I’m just busy, as always.”

Her mom raised an eyebrow, but the hostess greeted them, stealing the opportunity to inquire further.

They sat, and the topic of food dominated their conversation up until they ordered. After their menus were gone and their drinks delivered, Amelia swirled her sweet tea, thankful for more caffeine.

“So, has anything big happened recently?”

“Nope,” Amelia replied. “Just the usual work stuff. I’m trying to get everything squared away for next week. But honestly, I just think that everyone is looking forward to having me out of the office.”

“I’m sure they all love you.” Her mom gave her a smile. Amelia wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t say anything. “Any fun dates?”

Her stomach flipped. She should have seen this coming.

“Um, not really.” She hoped the answer would make her mother drop it.

“Do you know Mr. Saylor’s boy?”

Mr. Saylor lived next to her mom and dad, and while she liked her parents’ neighbors, she didn’t exactly know them.

“No, why?”

“Because his son is a doctor and he’s looking for a vacation.”

“And?”

“And I think you two would get along.”

Amelia nearly choked on her drink. “What?”

“I’m setting you two up. I’m going to invite him on our trip so he can get to know you!”

Amelia leaned back in her chair. Her mom was a very determined woman, but this was too far. Setting her up on a week-long trip to the beach?

“Mom, no.”

“Why not? What do you have to lose?”

“It’s just weird,” Amelia said, her anxiety making her sit up straighter. “I don’t even know this guy.”

“Yes, but you could know him.”

“No way, Mom. No,” she said firmly. She hoped this would be the end of it.

It wasn’t.

“Give me one good reason why you can’t let me invite someone on this trip. He can stay on the couch and you can finally test the waters with someone new!”

Amelia pursed her lips, desperately trying to think of a way out. That was when she saw Daniel walking to his car for lunch. Despite her predicament, her mind replayed their interaction from earlier.

Her mother followed Amelia’s line of sight. “Who’s that?”

“No one.”

“I saw that look,” she said. “Is that someone you have a crush on?”

“No.” But Amelia’s eyes drifted back to him, just in time to see him getting into a red Miata. That wasn’t the car she’d pictured for him, yet she’d love to know why he’d gotten it. She’d love to know anything more about him.

“I think that’s a yes, then.”

Amelia blinked, forcing herself to look back at her mother. “What?”

“That man we just saw. He’s cute,Amelia.”

“Yes, he is,” she said slowly, and her eyes returned to his car, where she watched him drive off. His soft compliment that morning flashed in her mind.

“What’s that look for? Are you seeing him? Because if you are, I don’t have to invite Mr. Saylor’s boy on the trip.”

Amelia only registered the last part of the sentence. “That would be great.”

“And we can invite your new boyfriend instead.”

Oh, fuck.

“N-no, Mom. He can’t go.”

“Why not?”

“He’s busy, and we’re not . . .”

“Dating?” Her mom raised her eyebrows. “With how you looked at him, I thought . . . Well, never mind. If you’re not, I can still invite—”

“No need to invite him!” This would have been a great point to clear everything up. She wasn’t dating Daniel, and she didn’t want to be set up, but she knew that the latter point wasn’t enough to convince her mom.

“So, you’re dating him.”

“Y-yes?” Her cheeks burned at the lie, but it was the only way she could get out of this. “But he’s busy.”

“You won’t know until you ask,” she said. “What’s his name?”

“Daniel Anderson,” Amelia muttered. She rubbed her forehead, unable to look at her mother. “Listen, Mom, I know you’re excited, but I think we should just chill and talk ab— What are you doing?”

She was on her phone, lips curved into a smile. “Finding him on social media. I just sent him a friend request.”

“What?”

“And when he accepts, I’m going to ask him myself. If you’re dating someone, then I definitely want them to be invited on our trip.”

This should have been where Amelia admitted she was lying. But now she was flustered. And she didn’t do well when she was flustered.

“I’ll . . . ask him myself.”

“Great!” she said. “Oh, it says he works at the same company you do.”

“Has he already accepted your friend request?”

“No. It’s just on his profile. I can’t stop looking at it. I’m just so excited you’re dating again! What does he do at your company?”

She answered robotically as the horror of her situation dawned on her. “He’s a director too.”

“Oh, wow. That’s so impressive for his age. Unless he’s older.”

Amelia had no clue how old he was.

“I’m not even sure,” she said. Daniel couldn’t be more than thirty-five, unless he was aging slowly.

“Oh, don’t look so embarrassed. You know I’m not going to judge you as long as you’re happy.”

“I’m . . . I’m fine. Just thinking about how I’m going to ask him about the trip.” Or tell him that her mother thought they were dating.

“Talking to your boyfriend shouldn’t be stressful.”

“It’s just new,” she said. “All of it is.”

“Have you guys spent a night together?”

“Mom, are you okay? You seem really worried about this. More so than usual.”

There could be many reasons for that. The main one being something that hadn’t happened in a while.

A manic episode.

“Me?” she asked. “No, I’m fine, honey. I’m just excited for this trip. And worried about my only daughter.”

Amelia nodded, but wondered if maybe her mom didn’t realize it yet. Sometimes, this happened, and she didn’t see it until later.

“All I ask is that you mention it to him. Or I will.”

That made her focus snap back to the problem at hand. “I’ll talk to him.”

Daniel was probably going to laugh at her, or worse, report her to someone. He never talked about personal things at work, and he wasn’t going to be happy that her mother had friend-requested him on Facebook.

But Amelia had done enough lying for the day. When she got back, she would tell Daniel exactly what had happened and deal with the consequences later.