Chapter 83 The Genie
“Kind of a lousy way to spend Thanksgiving, don’t you think?” Luke asked.
Hallie shrugged. “Fighting with my family is always lousy. I’m sorry you had to leave because of me, though. And now you’re alone on Thanksgiving, like me.”
“I’m fine. We don’t even have Thanksgiving in Sarkadia.”
Maria came back and asked for Luke’s drink order. He said, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
“I like that,” Maria said, giving Hallie a ‘meaningful’ look as she went to mix the drink.
“What kind of holidays do you have?” Hallie asked in idle curiosity.
“We have the Winter Sled Festival. It’s all about sliding down snowy hills and grabbing lollipops.”
“Did I hear you correctly?” Hallie was surprised to find herself cracking a smile.
“Yes, grabbing lollipops that are planted upright in the snow,” he said calmly, making her almost certain he wasn’t making it up. “It’s kind of a winter sport.”
“Sounds fun!”
“My favorite is the Spring Balloon Festival,” Luke said wistfully. “All the flowers are blooming, and people ride hot air balloons over the mountains.”
“That sounds awesome too,” Hallie said. Suddenly, the image of alpine flowers scattered over mountain sides burst into her mind’s eye. She could almost smell the fresh spring air...
Maria returned with a glass of rum and coke.
“Mmm,” Luke said, savoring his first sip of the dark, sparkling liquid. “This is good stuff. But as much as I enjoyed living in Texas, I miss my home. I was going to wait to tell you this, but maybe it’s better you know now. I’m returning to Sarkadia soon.”
It made sense that he would leave now, allowing her to start her life over with a blank slate. Hallie couldn’t help feeling a sense of loss, even though he was the person she trusted least in the world, even less than Terry.
“I guess that means I’ll be out of a job,” Hallie said, trying not to sound too disappointed.
“On the contrary,” Luke pointed at her invoking the image of ‘Uncle Sam’, “I want you to come with me and finish the project.”
Hallie realized this wasn’t the worst night of her life after all. She had always wanted to travel and see the world, and she had imagined her career taking her to different places. Now those dreams were all coming true.
Of course, it was Luke making the offer, so she realized it was like one of those scenarios where the genie from the magic lamp makes some fool’s dream come true in the most ridiculous way possible.
“Is this really about work?” she asked.
“Of course it’s not all about work,” Luke said, his eyes lighting up mischievously. “You could come as my fiancée... my fake fiancée.”
Hallie nodded her head. “Of course, it sounded too good to be true. Why would you want a fake fiancée? You’ve seen how well this fake relationship turned out for me!”
“Maybe I want to play a prank on my parents too? Imagine their surprise when my fiancée is a commoner from Texas! That’s what they get for sending me away.”
“I thought you said your family has suffered enough,” Hallie objected.
“This is actually good for them,” he replied calmly, “It’ll open their mind to the idea that there are other people in the world, not just royals and nobles.”
Hallie knew that this was the most high-profile job she had ever worked on. In fact, it was the only job she had ever worked on, other than the family ranch.
“So, what do you say?” Luke asked.
“I guess I like working on the solar energy project, and I’ll have a paying job so... yes.”
“You’re not going to regret this!” Luke exclaimed, “It’s going to be amazing!”
She sighed, already knowing she was going to regret it. “I’ve alienated my whole family, so I might as well stick with you because I have no one else.”
“That’s not true,” Luke said, uncharacteristically serious, “you have lots of people who care about you, especially your family.”
It didn’t feel completely real at the moment, but somewhere deep in her heart she knew that her family still loved her.
And if she was really honest with herself, she was the one who had caused all this. Luke just happened to be the person she used to try to build herself up.
“I’m a terrible person...” she said, staring at the pinball machine and slot games with unseeing eyes.
“If you keep me by your side,” Luke suggested, “you’ll always have someone more terrible to compare yourself to.”
“That’s a lovely sentiment,” Hallie said. But although she meant it sarcastically, there was something reassuring about him being there. If she was going to start over, at least she didn’t have to do it alone.
She had always known that her life wouldn’t be the average life of a Texas rancher. Although running the ranch would have been an amazing adventure in and of itself, Hallie had always wanted to see the world. Maybe she was asking for too much, but she couldn’t help dreaming big.
Ever since she was a little girl, she had pictured herself having amazing adventures all over the world, meeting fascinating people, and seeing things that she had not yet even imagined.
She sensed that with Luke by her side, it could all happen.
He would be an asshole all the way, but it could all happen.