Chapter 4
Nolan
I was out to lunch with my buddy Tim on Christmas Eve when I noticed a familiar face coming into the restaurant.
“Crap,” I muttered.
“What?” Tim asked.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “There’s just…someone I know over there.”
Before I could say anything else, Joy’s ex, Davis, spotted me and came over to our table.
Straightening in my seat, I feigned a smile. “Hey, man. Good to see you again…” God, I want to punch that guy.
“You too.” He looked between Tim and me. “Hailey and I were supposed to go out with you and Joy this weekend, but she texted me to cancel already. I’m sorry you can’t make it.”
Hmm… “Oh yeah? What did she say?”
“Just that you two had a lot of holiday plans already and maybe we could do a raincheck after the new year. I was bummed because your buddy Ben and his girlfriend are coming, too. Figured the six of us would have a good time.”
Thankfully, I’d confided in Ben about Joy’s lie. Otherwise, he would’ve been hella confused. Scratching my chin, I said, “I see.”
I wondered why Joy had never asked me to accompany her. I totally would’ve gone.
“Anyway,” he said, “talk to her and see what works for you guys after the new year. Would still love to get together.”
I nodded. “Will do.”
After Davis walked out of earshot, Tim narrowed his eyes, looking understandably confused. “Um…am I missing something here? Since when do you have a girlfriend named Joy?”
I chuckled. “Clearly you haven’t been on social media lately.”
He took out his phone. “Let me look at your page…”
Tim’s eyes widened after he pulled up my profile. He began scrolling through all the fake photos I’d generated. “Okay. Wow. She’s a smokeshow. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well, for one, because none of it’s real.”
“She’s AI?” He laughed.
“No.”
He squinted. “What the hell are you talking about, then?”
“Joy is a real person. And that’s really her. But every single one of those photos is photoshopped. We were never together. Not bad, right?”
His eyes widened, and I spent the next several minutes explaining the Joy situation from the beginning.
“That’s some wacky shit.” He paused. “Okay, wait. When we met up here today, you mentioned you had a date tonight that you weren’t all that excited about. Are you telling me that’s with someone else and not the woman in these photos?”
I chomped on some ice. “Correct.”
“So, if you’re not pumped about that date, why the hell aren’t you going out with Joy instead for real? You said she’s single, right?”
I sighed. “I don’t get the impression she’s ready for anything right now.”
He arched a brow. “Based on what?”
“Well, for one, she’s clearly not over that guy Davis. She’s still keeping up this facade. If she didn’t give a shit, wouldn’t she just tell him the truth? Or at least break up with me?”
Break up with me? I sounded like a lunatic.
“So she’s trying to make him jealous. What’s your excuse for feeding into this charade?”
“I told you, I’m just doing it to entertain her at this point.”
Tim smirked. “Because you like her…”
“Well, yeah. But I don’t expect anything to come of it.”
I did like her—a lot. If I were being honest, there was more to my hesitancy than I was letting on.
I was afraid to get involved with someone who was still hung up on someone else.
Engaged or not, it was only a matter of time before that idiot Davis came to his senses and begged her to take him back.
The woman really seemed like the full package.
And if she jumped on that, where would it leave me?
He chuckled. “Well, too bad it’s not real. She’s freakin’ smokin’, man.” He tilted his head. “If you’re not technically dating her, you mind setting your boy here up? I mean, I have no qualms about her still being hung up on that dork we just met. I’d snap her out of that real fast.”
My face felt hot. “Yeah. Not gonna happen.”
Damn. What was up with my reaction? Tim’s suggestion had made me feel flat-out jealous. I did really like Joy.
***
Later that night, I’d finished getting ready for my date with Kylie and had some time to kill before I had to meet her downtown.
I’d made sure to block Kylie from my posts on social media so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea about Joy and me—not that Kylie and I were even seriously dating.
This would only be our second get together, the first of which was the night I’d met Joy.
I remembered being totally distracted, thinking about the woman I’d met at Davis’s party rather than the one right in front of me that night.
I decided to log on and check my page to see if Joy had posted anything new or liked any of my posts. She’d done neither. Was she over the whole thing or just busy? Since she hadn’t said anything about the last few doctored photos, I decided maybe they weren’t good enough. I needed to up my game.
I found a photo of a couple sitting in a horse-drawn carriage in the middle of Times Square.
After inserting Joy’s and my heads onto the respective people, I made up an elaborate story to go along with the post. It was all about how our horse had gotten spooked by a loud noise, veering off its path to end up in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of Times Square.
In the next photo, we were ice skating at Rockefeller Center, followed by an image of us standing in front of Radio City Music Hall.
Boy, we’d been busy—and really getting into the holiday spirit.
I sent her a quick message.
Nolan: Check out what we’ve been up to lately. ;-)
I exited out before calling a ride to head downtown.
Just as the car was about to drop me off at my destination, I checked to see if Joy had written.
My message had been seen a half hour ago—but no response.