Chapter 3
lunch date
Jax
The diner was our spot, it always has been .
We’ve been coming here since high school.
Red vinyl booths patched with duct tape, a jukebox that hasn’t worked ever since we started coming here, and the faint hum of grease sizzling from the kitchen.
It smells like fries and faded memories, the kind of place where you can kick back and not worry about who was watching.
Usually, Morgan and I are here to catch up and fill one another in on the craziness that happens in both of our lives, except today I was here to pitch the wildest idea I’d ever had. My palms were sweating, my heart was pounding, and my stomach was doing somersaults.
I’m sitting in our usual booth, the ones beside the cracked window with the huge blue stain on the table. Morgan wasn’t here yet, which was normal. She tended to be a chronically tardy person. I check my phone. No text. She’s show, though. She always did.
Melinda, the waitress who has been here longer from before I was born, shuffled over. “Burger and fries? Extra pickles? Or are you on your diet? Chicken Salad?” she asks.
“You know me too well,” I say, forcing a smile. “Morgan is on her way, let’s get her usual too, with two vanilla sprinkle milkshakes, please?”
“You got it, kiddo.” She scribbles something on her notepad and wandered off, once again leaving me alone with my thoughts. Come on Jax, you’ve got this. Sell it like it’s any other business deal. Morgan is your oldest friend. She knows that if you’re asking for this huge favor, that it’ important.
The bell above the door jingles, and there she is.
Morgan Stevens, my best friend. She’s gorgeous, always has been.
Long honey blonde hair piled into a messy bun sitting atop her head, high cheekbones, small upturned nose, and bright green eyes.
She slides into the booth across from me, wearing a faded band tee, and a mega-watt smile.
“Sorry, I’m late. Surprise, surprise, right? I had one of my old clients ask for a rebrand of their business. They’re a pet grooming business and instead of paws and such, they wanted a skull and bones theme. So, I spent the last hour trying to talk them out of it.”
“And did you?”
“Thankfully, yes. How are you? I saw some of the stuff about your last interview. That was rocky.”
“Yeah. I’m fucked. I’ve been dodging everyone. I’m a mess right now, that’s why I need you.”
“So, what’s happening with management?” she asks.
“Coach says that I’m one screw-up away from a suspension,” I admit, watching her face. “You’ve seen the headlines. Bar fight, bad press, all that crap. They think I’m a loose cannon and say that all the negative stuff is starting to affect everyone.”
“I agree. You are a loose cannon. You need to make a change.”
“That’s why I need you. Mike, my agent had an idea. He thinks I need to look, I guess — settled. Like I have my shit together, like I’m turning a new leaf or some shit. So, with that, I was thinking, that you could help me spin a story. Be my fake girlfriend?”
She stares at me, her mouth half-open, before she lets out a laugh that echoes through the diner. “Okay, so you were serious. I was seriously expecting that it was a total joke when you called me yesterday. You can’t do community service or therapy?”
“I’m sure that will also make me look better, but Mike tends to think that I need someone to make me look good. But, just for a bit. Not for the rest of time. We don’t have to get fake married.”
“People would know it’s fake, especially those that know the both of us.”
“Not if we play it right. Think about it. We’ve got history. We’ve been friends for eternity. And maybe one night, we realized that we had feelings for one another. It’s like a romance novel.”
“Yeah, we’ve got history, that’s for sure, but we would have to lie to everyone. I would be thrust into the spotlight, and what if my name got dragged down by your past behavior?” she asks, having very valid concerns.
“I know it’s a lot,” I say, my voice dropping. “But I’m desperate, Morgs. If I don’t pull this off, I’m out. It could be career ending, because no one will want me. An upside, fancy dinners, movie premieres, you’d be spoiled rotten, and you wouldn’t be doing it for free.”
She tilts her head, curious despite her worries. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Think about it. The Wolves have deep pockets — sponsorship deals, marketing budgets. If we can make this happen, I can get you in with it all. Mike is trying to work out a package, that will hopefully entice you as well. Think about it, you’d be the woman who cleaned up my image, and made me fall in love with her.
Then we can amicably break up, and hopefully, I would have my shit together. ”
I see the gears turning, she was tempted, but still wary. “And what’s this all entail? I have to parade around with you, like arm candy?”
“Kind of. Think of it as we’re just hanging out as friends, we’re comfortable around one another, so occasionally there would be moments where we would be super close.
We’d keep it simple. We’d go on dates, photos would be taken of us, maybe a game or two.
Honestly, it’s like you’re getting paid to be my friend, but sometimes we have to kiss.
Because we’ve been friends for so long, I feel like we can really sell it, make it look real. ”
“Real.” She echoes, her voice dry. “Because faking a relationship with my oldest friend is totally normal.”
I wince, but press on. “It’s temporary. A couple of months, tops. Just until management backs off.”
She sighs, rubbing the back of her neck. “Jax, this could tank everything for the both of us. What if it gets out that everything is fake? My reputation is all I’ve got.”
“So is mine. We can make it convincing. We can be intentional with every step of the way. You’re amazing at your job.
Sure, you’re more of the marketing type person, over PR, but you know how to sell things.
Point is, we’re a team. We can do this. I know it’s serious for you.
It’s the same for me, that’s why I can’t fuck it up. ”
Morgan’s eyes search mine. “This isn’t kid stuff, Jax. It can get complicated. What if it messes us up?”
My stomach twists, but I shove away any negative things. “It won’t. We will keep it clean, We communicate every step of the way.”
Her gaze drifts to the window beside us. She silence stretched, heavy and thick, until Melinda drops off our plates on the table. My salad and her BLT sandwich. Morgan picks at her fries, her brow furrowed. “Let’s say I say yes,” she says finally. “What’s step one?”
Relief hits me, but I keep it cool. “We start small. A public date like coffee or something. Let the rumors build naturally, but also be seen. Somewhere other than this place, to get people talking.” I lean forward, “once we get traction, I’ll have Mike set up a meeting with the organization and see how your services could be beneficial.
You add PR crisis into your company and we’re hopefully golden. ”
She chews on her bottom lip, then nods slowly. “Okay, but we’ve got to have rules. No PDA unless its planned. No sneaking into my business. And if it starts hurting my business, I’m out.”
“Deal.,” I say, my heart racing. “You’re the boss.”
“Damn right.” She says, smirking. “You’re going to owe me though, big time.”
“Name your price,” I say, digging into my plate. “Coffee for life? Pizza once a week? My first born?”
She laughs, the sound bright and sharp, cutting through the tension. “I’ll settle for you not screwing this up.”
“Done,” I say, grinning back.
We continued to eat, slipping into our usual rhythm of teasing, joking, as if nothing was about to seriously change.
As she talked about the latest drama surrounding her sister, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d just lit a match.
Whether it’d warm us up or burn us down.
I had no clue. All I knew was that because I have Morgan in my corner, I had a fighting chance.