Chapter 4
Bennett
The Asian woman is wearing a bright yellow shirt that, frankly, makes my eyes hurt. I suppose some people might consider her cute, but I don’t care.
What the hell is she doing on my porch? This is worse than that red leaf.
She lifts her chin, as if trying to summon courage, and pastes on a smile that’s almost obnoxious in its size.
“So nice to meet you, Bennett. I’m Zoe Shen.” She sticks out her hand.
I don’t shake it—and that has nothing to do with the bag of food I’m holding. I merely gesture for her to explain herself. She better get to it.
“I’m Clifton’s girlfriend,” she says. “Well, ex-girlfriend.”
I don’t let my face betray any emotion, but inwardly, I sigh. What has my good-for-nothing brother done now?
“If you don’t believe me, I have his phone. I can show you some pictures of us.” She pulls out a phone with a familiar case, enters the PIN, and loads the photo app. “He took a few last weekend… Oh shit!” She presses the phone to her chest.
I lean forward. What’s she hiding?
“Show me.” I don’t want any secrets.
“No.”
I make my hand into a fist so I don’t reach out to grab the device that’s currently nestled between her breasts. “Zoe…”
She holds out the phone, careful to keep the screen facing down. “Look, if you want to see a picture of your brother’s balls, be my guest, but I wanted to spare you the experience.”
I wince. “Yes, I could do without that…experience.”
She shoves the phone into her purse and takes out a different one. Hers, I assume. The case is covered in sparkly rainbows. She quickly pulls up a photo and shows it to me. “See? I promise it’s not edited. We really were together.”
“Until…”
“Until Friday.”
She’s still not telling me what I want to know.
“What do you want?” I repeat. “Money?”
She shakes her head, a smile on her face. “No, I want revenge!”
I can hear the exclamation mark at the end of her sentence. I’ve never heard anyone utter that word so cheerfully before.
“You see,” she says, “on Friday after work, I was supposed to have drinks with a friend. But Karina was sick, so I got home earlier than planned, only to find my roommate—my best friend Macy—having sex with Clifton on a kitchen chair.”
“How lovely,” I murmur.
Her story all hangs together. Back in the summer, my parents mentioned that Clifton had a girlfriend named Zoe. They’d never met her, and they didn’t know much other than her name.
The infidelity? It fits with my brother’s character. It’s not the first time he’s cheated on a girlfriend.
I just don’t understand why she’s on my doorstep.
“I was pissed off,” she says, “which is why I stole Clifton’s phone before making my escape. Normally, I wouldn’t care about revenge, but I just lost my apartment and boyfriend and best friend all at once. And to make matters worse, it’s autumn.”
I don’t know why she mentions the season. “Did you sign a lease? Even without one, you have rights.” Though I can appreciate that it would be awkward to stay there.
“I think I was technically a lodger, not a tenant, which gives me fewer rights.”
“Macy owns the place?”
“No, but her parents do. Anyway, I still have to figure out the whole apartment fiasco, but that’s not why I’m here.”
I really wish she’d get to the point. I assume she’s the sort of person who talks a lot when she gets nervous. Or maybe she just talks a lot all the time.
I repress a sigh. “Revenge, you said.”
She nods eagerly. “I want to get back at Clifton.”
“And how do you intend to do that?”
“By dating you!”
I couldn’t have heard that right. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“We should date. Pretend to date, I mean. Then you can bring me to a family dim sum or maybe your birthday dinner in November. We don’t necessarily have to tell your parents about the whole cheating thing. We can just watch him sweat. Worry that I’ll expose what he did.”
Apparently, I heard correctly.
Zoe’s not wrong: my brother would absolutely hate the potential of being embarrassed in front of our parents, especially during a long family meal.
However, it’s still a ridiculous plan.
“You thought I’d agree to this?” I ask.
She bites her lip. “I figured it was worth a shot. I know you’re single—well, I suppose you could be dating someone and Clifton didn’t know, but—”
“I’m single,” I say abruptly.
That other part of my life? It’s in the past.
“And I know you two aren’t close,” she says. “I don’t know the whole story, but he thinks it’s unfair that you’re the favorite.”
I don’t love hearing it put that way, but yeah, I suppose I am.
It’s not like my parents treat him poorly, though. In fact, they extend him quite a bit of grace, and it bothers them that their sons aren’t close.
“When he told me,” she continues, “I was sympathetic, but after everything that just happened, I suspect they have their reasons. Anyway, I thought you might be interested.”
I maintain that it’s a ridiculous plan, though I like the idea of upsetting Clifton. It feels childish, but it holds some appeal.
The mention of my parents also reminds me that they’ve been bugging me about my love life—or lack thereof.
I’m thirty-eight and haven’t dated anyone in well over a decade, which concerns them.
If I could briefly have a girlfriend—one they could meet—it would solve my problem, albeit temporarily.
I don’t need them to sign me up for another co-ed softball league.
“I know you’re a busy man,” she says, “but this won’t take up too much of your time. Will you do it? Please?” She clasps her hands together.
Zoe isn’t the kind of woman I’d date—if I were interested in dating, that is. She’s annoyingly upbeat. Yet she’s the one who’s here, offering a solution to my troubles, and it would be most efficient to agree.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Fine. It will be useful if my parents believe I’m in a relationship. I want them to stop bothering me about dating, so yes, I’ll be your fake boyfriend.” I grimace as I say those last words, but Zoe doesn’t seem to notice.
“Yay!” She grins, then spreads her arms and leans in.
Does this woman want to hug me?
Fortunately, before I need to take an awkward step back, she puts her arms down. “Sorry. I should have asked. I can see you’re not a hugger.”
“Correct.”
“We’ll have to get comfortable with a small amount of physical affection—you know, for our act—but we have time.
I copied your number from Clifton’s phone, so I can text you and we can discuss this further.
I just came to your house today because I worried you might not answer a text or call from a number that wasn’t in your contacts.
” She puts a finger to her lips. “I suppose I could have texted you from his phone instead, then deleted the messages…”
I can feel a headache coming on, but to my distress, there’s one more thing I feel the need to discuss with her. “Where are you staying right now?”
“My brother’s place, but I want to get out of there soon because he’s a newlywed—well, they’ve been married since April. Does that still count as newlywed? Anyway, there are three of us in the one-bedroom apartment, so I don’t plan to stay there much longer. Maybe Karina’s…”
Oh god. I’m going to have to do it, aren’t I?
She doesn’t have a place to live, thanks to my asshole brother’s actions, and I can’t help feeling a tiny bit responsible.
Of course, this isn’t my fault, but he’s my little brother.
We’re seven years apart, and I remember when he came home from the hospital.
There’s a picture of me holding him that day.
I’m not smiling; no, I’m taking my task of supporting his head very, very seriously.
From the beginning, I looked out for him, and I can’t say I do it much anymore, but I still feel some responsibility for cleaning up his messes, especially ones that would cause my parents to lose face.
While that’s not the case here, Zoe is staying in a small apartment with two other people, and I have a whole house to myself, including a guest room that hasn’t been used since my aunt and uncle visited.
I have a feeling I’m going to regret this, but I do it anyway.
“Why don’t you stay with me?”