11. James #3
“I’m out with my family.” Cameron nodded at a pretty, short-haired woman and two young kids who were sitting at a table on the far corner of the terrace. “But I had to come over and say hello.”
“We’re glad you did,” James said.
“So, tell me. How does marriage work when the two of you run rival PR companies?” Cameron asked.
“Well,” Lauren said, shooting a smile at James. “It’s all about separation of church and state. At work, we’re rivals, but at home…” She trailed off suggestively.
“I see.” Cameron looked between the two of them. “How long have you been married?”
“Just a few weeks,” James admitted. “But we’ve been seeing each other longer than that. We just wanted to keep things quiet until we knew it was real.”
“Understandable,” Cameron agreed. “Tell me, though, how did you keep your relationship a secret? It must have been hard. People like us are high-profile enough to have our relationships all over the tabloids.”
“True,” James said. “But we found plenty of ways. Part of it was continuing to keep our distance and be rivals in public. Part was finding ways to slip out of the city so that we could spend time together.”
“We took a lot of day trips,” Lauren added. “And short overnights, when we could. It was actually kind of romantic, in a cloak-and-dagger kind of way.”
Cameron nodded. “Well, I must say, the two of you seem better as a couple than as rivals.”
“Thank you,” Lauren said.
“We certainly think so.” James reached across the table to take her hand. “Sometimes, love comes in the most unexpected places.”
“I can agree with that. Well, I’d better head back to my family. Nice to see you both.”
“You, too.”
Cameron walked away, and Lauren and James exchanged a look. Lauren’s blue eyes were glowing with enthusiasm.
“That was great!” she whispered. “He totally bought it!”
“Good job,” James said. “I guess all our preparation paid off.”
“Sure did. Ha. I can’t believe he said we were better off as a couple than as rivals.” She rolled her eyes. “Can you imagine?”
“Ha,” James said. The truth was, though, that he almost could imagine it.
It was easy to picture them both coming home to each other each evening, laughing, teasing, sharing stories from their days.
It was easy to imagine pulling Lauren in for a kiss, twirling her around when one of them was successful at work, and sharing meals together.
Of course, James would never act on the mental image. For one, Lauren clearly didn’t feel the same way. And, just as importantly, the problem of not being able to balance work and a family hadn’t gone away. It never would.
Their food arrived, and they both dug in. As they ate, they talked. This time, they swapped stories from particularly difficult clients they’d worked with in the past. James found that the time flew by. Before he knew it, the food was eaten and Lauren was paying the bill (at her insistence).
“So, to the beach?” she asked.
“Maybe we should head back to San Valentino proper,” James said. “I have some work to do.”
“So do I, but we came all this way. I’m not giving up just because you picked the wrong clothes.” Lauren tugged on his arm. “Come on!”
“Fine.” James let himself be pulled onto the sand. Lauren kicked off her sandals, holding them in one hand, while James bent to take off his loafers and roll up his slacks. Lauren had been right. Slacks and a button-down weren’t exactly the best clothes to wear on the beach.
“Come on!” Lauren repeated. She was already running across the beach, little sandstorms kicked up by her bare feet, her hair streaming behind her. James followed at a more sedate pace.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” She turned back to him, beaming. “I love Ottawa, but there aren’t any beaches. Not like this. I didn’t see the beach for the first time until I moved to San Valentino in my twenties!”
“Really?” James’s brow furrowed. “That’s hard to believe.”
“My family… we didn’t have much money for vacations,” Lauren explained. “I…”
But whatever she’d been planning to say, she didn’t say it. She was cut off by the ringing of her cellphone. With an apologetic look, she answered.
“Lauren Maddox, Sunflower PR. How can I help you?”
There was a pause as a muffled voice spoke on the other end.
“Of course. And you need that right away?”
Another pause.
“Consider it done. Thank you.” She hung up and turned to James with a sheepish look.
“Let me guess,” he said. “We need to head back to the house?”
Lauren nodded. “You guessed it. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have work to do, too. You were the one who wanted to walk on the beach.”
“Oh, well. Next time.”
They headed back to San Valentino, James driving while Lauren worked on her phone in the passenger seat. Despite himself, James was disappointed. He’d been curious about what Lauren wanted to say. And he’d been enjoying their day together in a way he hadn’t expected.
However, this was the perfect example of why a real relationship — or marriage — between the two of them would never work out. Lauren was just as busy as he was. Neither of them had time to devote to the other, and neither could put work aside, even for an afternoon.
It was good that this was all fake.