11. James
JAMES
James sat in the kitchen, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, while he waited for Lauren. The “date” had been a disaster. Kelly clearly hadn’t believed they were married. Though Lauren had been unconvincing, James had been just as bad.
Worse, it was all James’s fault that they were in this situation to begin with. He was the one who’d suggested the marriage. If it fell apart, it would be on him.
“Hey.”
He looked up as Lauren entered the kitchen. She was wearing leggings and a hoodie now, and, again, James had to do a double take. She had so many iterations, yet she was always beautiful.
“Hey,” he said.
“Let me make some tea, and we can get started.” She glanced at him. “Are you really drinking coffee this late?”
“I have a strong caffeine tolerance,” James said. He took a long sip. “Yum.”
Lauren rolled her eyes as she pulled a mug out of the cupboard. James didn’t recognize it. It was printed with an image of a deer in a forest, while all his kitchenware was plain white. It must be Lauren’s.
“Also, why didn’t you change?” she continued with a gesture at his slacks and shirt.
“This is comfortable. And it’s my casual wear.”
“You have a strange life.” Lauren sighed. “A life that I’m a part of now. I just want to apologize. I feel like I messed things up for both of us.”
“What?” James frowned.
“I know how tricky immigration paperwork can be. I should have told you more about that before we got married. The truth is that my immigration lawyer reached out to me today. He said I need to submit documentation of our marriage. That’s why I suggested the dinner.”
“It’s okay.” James smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. I was the one who said we should get married. We can fix this. We just need to get on the same page. When have you ever really failed at something when you tried hard?”
“Great. Let’s do it. First off, the story of how we met.”
“We can say we both liked each other for years,” James said. “Equally.”
Lauren laughed. “Fine. So, we both liked each other, but we never acted on it because we were always in competition. Finally, we met outside of work somewhere…”
“On vacation?” James suggested. “We could say we met while staying outside of the city, and when we got to know each other outside of the context of work, we saw another side to each other. I’ve heard of a nice resort in Mexico we could say we visited.”
“Okay,” Lauren agreed. “Although people who know me know that I never take vacations.”
“Good point, same here. Maybe we can say that we met at a wine-tasting event nearby. It could have been a one-day thing. Maybe we even brought clients.”
Lauren nodded. “We’re getting there.”
“Look at how well we work together when you put aside your defensiveness,” James said brightly. Lauren stepped across the kitchen and gave him a playful whack on his shoulder.
“I think this is going well because you’ve finally started to drop your cocky act and actually try to work with me.”
“Who says it’s an act?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Lauren smiled. “You act like you’re the most powerful, confident, self-assured person in the world, but you’re not really as distant as you want to seem.”
James blinked. It had been a long time since anyone had said anything like that to him.
Worse, Lauren was right. He did miss the closeness of friendships or relationships that other people had.
In fact, he was even enjoying this evening with Lauren.
It had been a while since he sat and talked with someone like this without a business agenda and without his to-do list constantly scrolling in the back of his mind.
It had been even longer since he talked to a beautiful woman without remembering all the reasons that he should never have a serious relationship or get married.
It was too late for the latter already.
“That’s a good thing to know about your husband,” he replied. “Well done. Now, where did I go to college?”
Lauren frowned. “What?”
“You should know things like that about me. For instance, I know that you went to the Ottawa School of Marketing and Design.”
“And you went to Princeton,” Lauren filled in. “I’ve done my research on you, too.”
“How many siblings do I have?” James continued.
Lauren paused. “I’m not sure. That wasn’t in any of your bios. But, since you inherited your father’s company on your own, I think you must be an only child.”
“Correct.”
“How many siblings do I have?” Lauren countered.
James bit his lip. “None?”
“Nope.”
“One?”
“Nope.”
“Two?”
“Nope.”
James gave her an appraising look. “Seven?”
Lauren laughed. “No. You were closer before. Three. All younger than me.”
“I’ve never heard anything about them.”
“Why would you have? They’re not included in my bios, either, and most of what we know about each other comes either from teasing or from internet research. This is pretty much the first real conversation we’ve had.”
“I suppose you’re right. So, tell me about your siblings.”
“Their names are Louis, Logan, and Lucy,” Lauren explained.
“Your parents must really like alliteration.”
“They do.”
“Do they all still live in Ottawa?”
“Yes, apart from Logan, who’s in the military. Last I knew, he was posted somewhere overseas. Europe, I think.”
“Good to know. How about your parents?” James leaned a little closer.
Since Lauren had mentioned her parents a few weeks ago, he’d been curious about who they were and what they did.
He was even more curious about her “unsupportive family” comment, knowing that she had three siblings.
Maybe tonight, he’d finally get some answers without prying.
“I…” Lauren shrugged. “They’re hard-working. But I think they won’t come up much. We need to know about each other’s likes and dislikes and histories, not the details of our family lives. What’s my favorite ice cream flavor?”
“Probably chocolate.” James’s lips quirked into a smile. “Or moose tracks.”
Lauren stared at him.
“Because you’re from Canada.”
She kept staring.
“And there are lots of moose there.”
She sighed, though her blue eyes sparkled with amusement. “Let’s put an end to the Canada jokes, okay?”
James raised his hands in surrender. “No promises, but I’ll try.”
“That’ll do for now. And my favorite flavor of ice cream is peanut butter, thank you very much.”
“Peanut butter?” James’s nose wrinkled. “That’s terrible. I’m sorry, but you have no taste in food. Tea and peanut butter ice cream and packaged sandwiches…”
“I’ve seen you eat plain rice, salmon, and broccoli way too much,” Lauren said. “That food is healthy, but it isn’t exactly nice.”
“You may have a point.”
“I always do.” Lauren smiled.
“Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, how about we try another outing?” James suggested. “Tomorrow. I know a nice place by the beach with fresh seafood and nice views. We can both eat something fresh and tasty.”
“Okay,” Lauren agreed. “But only because we need to fix the disaster of a ‘date’ we had today. Come on, we have more to learn before then. What’s your favorite color?”
“I don’t have one,” James replied. “I’m not five.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Really? You like all colors equally? Hot pink, forest green, and eggshell white are all the same to you?”
“Fine.” James thought for a minute. “I like blue.”
“How original.” Lauren smiled. “I like blue, too. Kind of a pale, sky blue.”
“I’m not specifying a shade,” James said. “I’m sorry, but that’s just too much. Who’s your favorite football team?”
“I don’t have one.” Lauren’s smile widened. “I’m not an American guy.”
“So, all teams are the same to you?” James asked in a teasing tone. “The Green Bay Packers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Los Angeles Rams are all equally interesting?”
“Literally, yes,” Lauren said. “Except that means, not interesting at all. I’ve never even watched an American football game all the way through. Once the concussions start, I’m out.”
James chuckled. “Fine. So, we can’t talk about football or favorite colors. Maybe we have something else in common. Favorite movie?”
“I almost never watch movies,” Lauren admitted. “I’m too busy.”
“Me, too,” James agreed. “Same for TV shows.”
“Exactly.” Lauren nodded. “My whole life is work, honestly. I know that sounds sad, but it’s true.”
“I’m the same way. I have to be, or I’d never beat you at anything.”
“Thanks.” Lauren met his eyes and smiled. “What about dating? I can’t imagine you were in a serious relationship if you agreed to marry me, but do you have anything casual?”
“No,” James told her. “I’ve had some relationships in the past, off and on, but the truth is that I don’t have enough time to be a good boyfriend or husband.
You know that as well as I do. If I tried to date seriously, I would just end up disappointing my girlfriend and myself.
You have to be all-in on family, if you go that way, and I couldn’t be. ”
Lauren smiled. “I hear that. Some people end up with families they don’t have the time, money, or energy to care for, and that isn’t fair to anyone.”
Something in Lauren’s words made James think she was speaking from personal experience, and he found he was curious about what she meant.
He didn’t ask, though. She’d already shut him down once when he asked about her parents.
Plus, he didn’t want to encourage her to pry into his life, either.
He didn’t want to have to explain about his distant, manipulative father or his sick mother.
He didn’t want to have to tell her about the impossible expectations that had been placed on him.
“I agree,” he said. “Thank goodness this relationship is fake. A fake marriage is about all I can manage right now.”
“Same.” Lauren pulled out her chair and took a seat beside him. “What else do we need to discuss to be ready for tomorrow? We’ve covered ice cream, football, college, siblings, and how we met.”
“What else could two people need to know about each other?” James smiled, and Lauren smiled back. For a split second, they were closer to friends than enemies. Then Lauren stifled a yawn.