Triplets Make Five

Oh, I knew exactly what he meant. I couldn’t mistake what that hand on my knee meant, and I wanted it. I wanted that hard man right now.

As quickly as his hand was on my leg, the quickly it was gone. He got up off the table, walked around it, and picked up his clipboard. He made a big show of checking over a bunch of job application forms under the clip.

He waved the clipboard sideways. “Well, Gabi, I think we can safely say this interview is over. You can have the job if you want it. It pays thirty thousand dollars a month for twelve months, plus bonuses for press conferences, photo shoots, and a generous spending allowance every month.”

I stared at him aghast. “Thirty thousand a month! Are you out of your mind?”

He set down the clipboard. “I would have to be if I agreed to this nonsense. I wouldn’t go through with it at all if we didn’t have a candidate as good as you. What do you say? You’ll have to go through a legitimate wedding ceremony. Once that’s over with, you can relax and kick back in my penthouse until the end of the year.”

“Will you be living there?”

He shrugged. “Unfortunately, I have to live at the same address as my.... you know, my wife. That’s the only way to make the thing look legit. I have a separate guest wing. I’ll live there while you take the master bedroom.” He glanced down at my chest and rolled his tongue around his mouth. “If that’s what you want, of course.”

I looked away, but I couldn’t hide my red-hot cheeks. My heart hammered in my chest. Was I really doing this? Thirty thousand a month? Jesus.

“All right. I accept.”

5

Gray

I peered through a window on the second floor of the courthouse building. Police officers shut down the whole block outside. They linked elbows to hold back the roaring crowds. Girls craned their necks across the barricade to snap photos of the courthouse decorated with white roses. Reporters trained their video cameras on the building, the crowd, the decorations—everything. My PR team let every major news outlet know what was going on. And of course, my brother had to be in attendance.

An immaculate white limo crawled through the crowd. The screaming girls crushed the police officers forward until they tumbled into the street. They pressed their bodies against the car so it could barely move.

At last, it eased up in front of the curb. My heart thumped in my chest. I had to keep cool right now. I had to stay calm until I got through this.

The police fought back the crowd until a tiny pocket of space opened around the limo door. Two police officers blocked the door when it swung open. A white figure in streaming lace and satin bows stepped out and glanced up at the courthouse towering above her.

I reeled on my feet. Rockets exploded in my head. She looked even more stunning in that dress than I dared imagine. She looked right at me hidden behind the window.

I couldn’t look anymore. I hurried back to the clerk’s office. My brother and best friend Felix waited there for me. I tugged my jacket down and adjusted my tie. I took a wide stance next to Felix and crossed my hands in front of me to await my fate. Lewis stood on the other side of me, two secret service flanking him.

They had to sweep the whole place before he arrived. Totally shut it down. The crowd outside was for both of us. Lewis was only forty when he took over the White H

ouse. Forty and single. Everyone loved him.

“Here we go little brother,” he leaned across Felix to whisper to me.

“Yeah, all thanks to you.”

“Never saw myself as a matchmaker, maybe it will be my next profession.”

Felix laughed, “You mean when you’re done being the leader of the free world.”

“Yeah, early retirement and all that.”

Minutes passed. The noise outside escalated to a deafening crescendo. All at once, the courthouse door swung open downstairs. The noise broke up the ringing staircase. Then the door banged shut, and the noise died to nothing.

High heeled shoes echoed up the stairs. Sweat stung my neck. She was coming closer. A white apparition floated up the stairs and stopped right in front of me. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I could only stand there and stare.

Her face hovered under an organza cloud. Her eyes cut me to the core. Was I really going to marry this girl? How did I ever get lucky enough to find someone like her? She must be one in a million.

She crossed the foyer. She took one step after another on a beeline straight for me. She knew exactly what she was doing.

The clerk bustled forward. “If you don’t mind, miss, we need your signature on the register.” He pointed to a book laid open on the table nearby. “Just print your name here, and sign and date here.”

She bent over and scribbled. When she stood up, her eyes snapped to my face. No hesitation. How did she stay so calm when I wanted to break down right there? I was supposed to be some kind of iron man. She showed me up.