Chapter 4 Leo
Chapter four
Leo
NOW
Itold my crew chief that I would stay until noon. We were making good progress on remodeling the lakefront home for a wealthy older couple. The clients seemed like good people. Besides paying us double time for working over the holiday weekend, they’d provided lunch for the team as well.
“Cutting out?” Charlie asked as I gathered my tools, grabbing one of the delivered sandwiches to eat during my drive home.
“Yeah. Thanks for the save getting the sub. I’ll miss the overtime pay, but it couldn’t be helped.”
“Unplanned visitor, you said?”
“Yeah, my…friend…from California showed up.” I almost said girlfriend because I wanted to try out the word, but it got stuck on my tongue.
“Miranda?” Of course he knew who I was talking about. I’d introduced them several times over the past few years when she’d visited.
“Yep. She, uh, thought she had to work but was able to get off last minute.”
“Cool. Tell her I said hi.”
“Sure thing.”
As Charlie went to sit with Amala, I recalled he’d asked me a year ago if Miranda and I were dating. I’d told him no. I wondered what he’d think when he saw pictures of my girlfriend and me online over the next few days.
Because the project was well ahead of schedule, my company was giving everyone time off until after the New Year once it was complete. My guess was we’d finish the punch list around December 5. Even adding in another day or two for paperwork, I’d have almost a month off.
Funny enough, last week I’d contemplated how I should use that time, and I'd put going to California to set things right with Miranda at the top of the list. After that, I’d planned to spend the Christmas season with James and Marley in Coleman Creek.
I was almost as fond of my brother’s adopted town as he was.
But I guessed this new arrangement with Miranda might require some flexibility there.
And that was fine with me. From the moment she’d launched herself into my arms last night, I’d been filled with overwhelming gratitude that our connection was not irreparably damaged.
Our fight on Halloween had been awful, and I wouldn’t have blamed her for doubting whether she should come to me.
As annoying as it was to watch her berate herself for potentially harming Stone, I would have hated it more if she’d thought I wouldn’t help her and hadn’t reached out.
But she had. Despite everything, she knew I had her back.
I wasn’t completely sold on her assertion that she’d caused this problem, though.
While it was true that she’d accidentally posted a photo she shouldn’t have, Stone could have avoided the PR nightmare by not beginning his deception with Naomi in the first place.
But we’d already had that argument, and it had only caused hurt between us.
At least with this plan, I had something to do.
A way to be proactive instead of just watching from the sidelines while Miranda wrung her hands over Stone.
It felt like I’d been gritting my teeth for a year.
Charlie reappeared at my side as I latched my toolbox. “It’s probably a good thing you’re leaving early today,” he said, reaching into the cooler for a soda. “Amala told me her whole family is visiting for the holiday. All the sisters.”
I smile-grimaced. Amala had three younger sisters, all single, and all looking for boyfriends.
The joke on our crew was that whenever her siblings were in town, our colleague turned from a badass construction worker into a scheming matchmaker.
And it wasn’t like the sisters were bridge trolls or had terrible personalities or anything.
It was just that none of the guys wanted Amala involved in their love lives.
Not that it stopped her. The last time her sisters visited, she introduced them to me several times and orchestrated a few accidental run-ins at the food truck near the jobsite.
“Good thing you’re happily married,” I said to Charlie.
“No doubt.”
It occurred to me that one upside of being in a fake relationship with Miranda would be relieving the pressure of having to answer to anyone about my single status or general lack of dates.
I didn’t have close friends other than Miranda, only acquaintances and coworkers good for the occasional hang.
Still, after they’d asked enough awkward questions to figure out I wasn’t gay, they pretty much all offered to introduce me to women they thought I might be interested in.
On the surface, I understood. I was thirty-six and single, never married, with decent enough looks, a good job, not a weirdo or a psychopath, and could hold my own in conversation.
I enjoyed gaming, but not to excess, ditto with alcohol, and I treated women with respect.
Not in a creepy manosphere vlogger way, but genuine respect.
I liked women. I did. I just didn’t want to date them.
But fake dating, I could do. For Miranda.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll make my escape before Amala can tell me how much her little sisters want to see the inside of my truck.”
Charlie burst out laughing. “Don’t forget to tell your friend I said hello.”
When I left my apartment around six that morning, Miranda had been sleeping off the events of the day before. When I got back, she was still in bed. Only now she was crying.
I heard her sniffles from the living room as soon as I opened the front door. I was on my way to find out what was wrong when another voice came through loud and clear.
Nasally and annoying.
“Darlin’, it’s gonna be okay. I like the plan. With Leo. He’s a good dude, keeping our secret this whole time. This is gonna work.”
Stone. Ugh. Video chatting with Miranda.
At least he hadn’t manifested in my apartment.
But it made me queasy to hear him say nice things about me.
All of this would be less complicated if he were a mustache-twirling supervillain instead of just a thoughtless little twerp.
I resented that I—somewhat—sympathized with Miranda’s desire not to destroy his career.
Not wanting to eavesdrop, I rapped on the hallway wall.
“Come in.”
Miranda scooted up against the headboard when I entered, patting the space beside her on the unmade bed.
She was still in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms, and her hair didn’t look brushed.
Her computer sat open on her lap. Stone appeared to be sitting in a set trailer, with a rack of clothes behind him.
He’d be unrecognizable to most of his fans, who were used to his wild hair and the beachy, shirtless vibe of his videos.
The loveable himbo. The Stone on screen had slicked-back hair and wore a well-fitting black suit with a black button-down underneath, open to mid-chest. His hair had been darkened, and he sported three days of beard growth.
“Hey, Leo!” Stone waved enthusiastically.
“Do you like the threads?” Leaning away from the camera, he pulled out his lapels.
“I’m playing a Mafia enforcer. Pretty cool, right?
It’s only for one season because—spoiler alert—my character gets blown up in the last episode.
Man, I’m really looking forward to filming that—”
“Focus, Stone,” Miranda admonished gently. “Unless you want the general population to wish your blown-up character is actually you, we need to make sure we’re on the same page here.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” He gave an aw-shucks smile.
“I get excited talking about this gig.” Stone stared straight at the camera.
“Leo, my dude, I want to tell you how much we appreciate you doing this. Shoshanna thinks it should all be smooth soon. Miranda is still upset by her oopsy, though, even though I keep telling her I know it was an honest mistake.”
Miranda pressed against my side. “I’m not really crying anymore. Stone just woke me up with a call request—Shoshanna finally got a new laptop to him—and I think it made me emotional seeing his face, after everything that happened yesterday. I’m good now.”
“You’re more than good, babes. You’re beautiful. I’m just sorry we’ve done so much of our relationship this way, over screens, and I wish I could be there in person to tell you it’s gonna be okay.”
I could tell Stone’s remorse was sincere.
As much as moments like this helped me understand why Miranda started dating him in the first place, and perhaps why she’d stayed in it as long as she had, his lack of urgency got under my skin.
He seemed perfectly content to let Shoshanna—and Miranda—solve this problem for him.
On the bed, Miranda burrowed into me, pulling my arm around her shoulders. Stone remained unfazed. I supposed the people in our lives were so used to our affectionate behavior that it no longer merited a second glance. Even from her boyfriend.
To me, she said, “Stone was telling me that Naomi is all-in with the plan. But they also agreed that they’re going to wait to end things until after Valentine’s Day—it would be too suspicious to do it now—so no one freaks out again.
Shoshanna will send out her statement about us within the hour.
By some miracle—or maybe because of the holiday—no one’s revealed my identity yet.
Lauren thinks it looks better that they're releasing my name now, to show we’re not trying to hide anything. ”
“Which means if there’s anyone you want to give the heads-up to, this is the time,” Stone chimed in.
“Are you going to tell anyone?” I asked Miranda.
“Since my sisters are unreachable until next week, I only need to warn my supervisors. I’m going to shoot them an email in a few minutes, letting them know my fifteen minutes of fame are starting.”
I thought about my work situation. “My crew doesn’t need a heads-up. They already assume Miranda and I are secretly together.”
“Really?” Miranda sounded intrigued.
“Mm-hmm. It’s easier for them to wrap their minds around, since they don’t know why I don’t date.”