7. Maddie #2
The usual old-timers have claimed their stools at the bar.
A bunch of new people have shown up to hear this latest band play.
I admit that I checked to see if Nick’s band was playing tonight before I suggested we meet here, because I’m afraid I will not be able to resist a hard sell after seeing him perform.
I tell my friends about my story lead and my plan to interview more people from the repair request database tomorrow.
“Hey… A corrupt infrastructure inspector showed up here and gave my dad a hard time,” Iris says.
“Are you serious?” I ask.
“He threatened to cite my dad for a violation but muttered something about how we could find a mutually beneficial solution if my dad would give a slot to some unknown singer for her to perform. ‘Give a newbie a chance.’ Dad was like, ‘Sorry, I’m not running a charity. And I don’t have any violations.
’ I backed Dad up and said I’d like to see this ‘violation,’ and I wrangled the inspector’s name. ”
“What’s his name?” I ask.
“Demoraux,” Iris says, showing me the ticket.
I’ll google the guy later to find his contact information.
“Dad asked his friend who runs the Chubby Cat down the street, and he did have a violation, so he agreed to let her perform,” Iris says. “He gave her Sunday at five, so good luck to anyone showing up at that time. She goes by only one name: Ophelia.”
“Ophelia?” I google her name and do more digging as the conversation flows around me.
It’s easy enough to figure out her full name: Ophelia Galliano—the daughter of Deputy Commissioner Galliano.
Wow. This is almost too easy. His daughter wants to be a rock star.
And it turns out Galliano is in charge of the Eleanor Roosevelt playground celebration—an event where Nick plans to perform.
As his date, I’ll have access to them at the celebration.
And if Nick really wants to be Batboy to my Batman, he can meet Ophelia and offer to give her advice on her career—and possibly figure out if her father is clearing violations for her benefit.
Fake dating might help my investigation. It’s only going to be three months, so it’s not like my dating “Nick Devlin” at this point in both our careers could make people think less of me as an investigative reporter.
And the relationship was going to be governed by a contract—no emotions.
And the contract was confidential.
And I’d be “dating” Nick. I take a deep breath and put away my phone.
Who can define what dating is? We will be going out on dates, and we are friends.
“Are you done researching her?” Iris asks.
“Sorry. It was too hard to pass up,” I say.
“Understood,” Iris says. She works in cyber-security and understands the thrill of an investigation.
“Did you move all your stuff into Sebastian’s place?” Bella asks Iris. Sebastian is Iris’s fiancé.
Iris nods.
“And here I was, hoping you’d be my roommate,” Bella says to Iris.
“Lily is almost always over at Rupert’s.
” Lily, a librarian, is another friend of ours, who is not here tonight because she’s out with Rupert at some city function.
As a real estate developer, he has quite a busy social calendar.
But he only wants to attend events if Lily accompanies him.
“I’m sorry,” Iris says.
“You’re so not sorry,” Bella says.
“You’re right.” Iris smiles, a contented cat smile. “I’m so happy. He is so sweet. He makes me breakfast in the morning, and we laugh so much together. So far, moving in together has worked well.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to move in with me?” Bella asks me.
“I thought you were moving in with your grandma,” Iris says.
“I don’t know. She likes living by herself,” Bella says. “So, if Nick continues to keep you up at night…”
“About that…”
The waiter brings us our dinner as the band starts playing in the back of the bar. Outside it’s dark and cold, but the sparkly tea lights draped above us give a cheerful glow.
Most customers shift to the back to listen to the band, so it’s only a handful of people eating a late dinner up front.
This is perfect. Bella writes romances, so she knows all about fake dating, and whatever authors think should be included in the contract terms. Iris, though, is not going to be happy about this.
It’s not that she dislikes Nick himself, but because her rocker ex-boyfriend cheated on her, she definitely does not recommend dating a lead singer.
“Did Nick agree to be your date for the press panel?” Iris asks.
“Nick asked me to be his fake girlfriend for three months to squash the media reports of his dating that scammer woman,” I say.
Bella’s eyes widen, and both she and Iris look surprised, their mouths slightly agape. I take a bite of my fish and chips, smirking. It’s not often my friends are stunned into silence.
“You didn’t agree, did you?” Iris asks, as expected.
“She should totally agree,” Bella says. “You agreed, right? You’re like his knight in shining armor coming to rescue him. And fake dating will be perfect—all that time spent together…”
“She might get hurt,” Iris says. “What if she falls for him, with all the close proximity?”
“What if Nick falls for her with all that close proximity?” Bella asks.
“Guys,” I say. “What if nobody falls for anyone and it’s purely a business relationship? That’s the goal. What do you recommend putting in the contract?”
“The skinship terms. What do you feel comfortable with physically?” Bella asks.
“Holding hands,” I say.
“No. I mean, maybe you need a code word before you kiss and a code word you say back so that you give your approval to proceed,” Bella says.
“I can’t kiss him,” I say. That would be so embarrassing.
“Why?” Iris asks. “Because you like him and you’re afraid you’ll reveal it? See?” Iris gestures towards Bella and folds her arms. I’ve tried to reassure Iris so many times that I know I can’t date Nick and I’m not going to let myself get hurt.
“She shouldn’t date a rock star,” Iris says.
I feel the blush rising up my cheeks. “No. I mean, you guys know…what Matt said.”
“You can’t believe him. He was mad that you had to cover a story instead of going to his work event.”
I shake my head. “It seems too oddly specific to be just anger. Kissing me was like ‘kissing a dead fish.’ And that I was so stiff. I don’t want Nick to know I’m a terrible kisser. That’s mortifying. What if he writes a song about having to kiss frogs?”
“There’s no way a rock star will write a song about kissing frogs,” Iris says. “His fans might get insulted.”
“Stop referring to Nick as a ‘rock star.’ He’s not like your cheating ex,” Bella says to Iris. “And they’ve been friends for two years, and he’s done lots of nice things for Maddie, like playing at the Oasis Garden for community events and getting her food when she sprained her ankle.”
“That’s two nice things versus playing until midnight,” Iris says.
“Okay, guys. Seriously, Iris, don’t worry. I know not to fall in love with Nick,” I say. “If we were going to date, it would have happened already. We’re friends. And for that reason, I don’t want to kiss.”
“First of all, I’m sure you’re not a terrible kisser,” Bella says. “And obviously, if you’re clear that this is all business and you don’t feel anything for him, he can’t expect the kiss to be good.”
Does Bella think I’m an awful kisser?
“I’m also sure you’re not a terrible kisser,” Iris says.
“You froze that one time because Nick came home and you were worried he could hear you guys through the wall. I mean, that’s going to put a damper on anyone—if you suddenly think your pain-in-the-butt next-door neighbor is going to tease you about making out. ”
“But what if you have to kiss?” Bella asks.
“Why would they have to kiss?” Iris asks.
“Believe me, when I’m writing a rock star hero with a fake-dating storyline, I can come up with a million reasons why suddenly they must kiss,” Bella says.
“Maybe I shouldn’t agree to this,” I say.
Bella quickly shakes her head. “But that’s fiction. And this is the real world. I still think you should date him. Maybe you will want to kiss him, eventually.”
Iris puts down her utensils and turns to Bella. “You want them to get together?”
“You could start with the no-kissing rule,” Bella says, “and let him suggest that kissing might be required, and then you can make clear that you find that a burden, so he already knows that you’re not thinking he’s doing you any favors by kissing you.”
“That’s good,” I say.
“Surprise,” someone says behind us.
All three of us turn and see that it’s Lily and Rupert, looking dashing in formal wear. We all exchange hugs.
“We were in the neighborhood,” Lily says.
“I was hoping we’d still catch you here, especially because I found this book that the library had put on the discard cart.
” Lily is a librarian at the St. Agnes Library on the Upper West Side.
“It’s about the establishment of the initial Infrastructure Department.
You should ask the deputy commissioners to sign it when you interview them.
It would be a great souvenir of your article. ”
“And she hates to see a book in the discard bin,” Rupert says.
“Just because it hasn’t been checked out in five years,” Lily says. “I want it to find a good home.”
Rupert leaves to buy us all a round of drinks as Lily squeezes in next to Bella.
“What are we discussing?” Lily asks.
“Whether Maddie should date Nick,” Bella says.
“I vote yes,” Lily says. “I’m still grateful to him for playing at the Oasis Community Garden benefit last spring.”
“I’m outvoted,” Iris says with a sigh. Then she stills.
“But Maddie, you can’t look at the comments on social media posts.
No matter what, there will be fans who hate you.
That fan will think that she should be the one dating Nick.
I had to deal with that whenever a photo of me with the band was posted.
They can tear you apart. Will you be okay with that? ”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I am worried about that. It’s hard to resist looking at the comments.
I’ll have to take a page from Riley’s playbook.
” In my article last year about Riley, who’d created a national campaign to stop bullying, she’d explained how she took a break from social media and changed all her settings to private.
“I couldn’t help looking at the comments either, but eventually I had to stop,” Iris says. “But if Nick actually makes it, it will be even worse than anything I experienced.”
“Remember, we’ll break up before he becomes a big deal,” I say.
“If you’re doing this—which I don’t recommend, but okay—make sure he has to be your date for that press panel,” Iris says. “And it should be reported that you broke it off, not him.”
“He’s never going to agree to that,” I say.
“He might,” Iris says. “Then he can write lots of songs about being brokenhearted and betrayed.”
“Great,” I say sarcastically.