Games of Love: Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

My father’s eyes seemed to light up. “That’s where your mother and I met; in a coffee shop in California.”

“I know,” I said quietly, looking away from him. I didn’t want to see it. I had heard the story many times. My father, who had been seeking out new job opportunities after his mom kicked him out at 18, had stumbled into a coffee shop in the desert, desperate for a good cup of joe. There, he found a barista named Lizzie Blake, serving coffee haphazardly and looking like everything Elias had ever wanted. She didn’t think much of him at first, though she grew to love him entirely. It wasn’t the same after his wealth grew though, and after I was born, she left us both high and dry once we moved together to New York. I always assumed she went to find herself, though I wasn’t sure why she couldn’t have done that with her family or at least taken me with her. I remembered love and flowery perfume, and that was all I had left of her. She was out there somewhere, though wondering where exactly didn’t bother me much now. I knew it still ached like an open wound within my father when he recalled her departure.

“I should get going,” I said, stepping back from my father and the sadness of the past that was like a veil hanging over him. The actual filming of the matching was today, and I didn’t want to be late. As I thought my next words over in my mind, I almost felt bad for lying to my father, strangely. “I have to go uh—meet her. We’re meeting up.”

Elias nodded, turning back to his computer. “You better get going then, son. Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting. You never keep a pretty woman waiting.”

To my own surprise, I laughed at that, nodding.

Elias went back to his work and I turned, grabbing my laptop bag, and heading back down to the parking area.

Nora was waiting for me and she patted down her curly hair and adjusted her glasses from where she leaned her plump body against the door. “Ready to go?”

I nodded, hopping in once the door was open. Nora always knew to use discretion when it came to my private life. Ever since I was a teenager, she had been keeping secrets from my father for me. I was immensely grateful to have her in my life and I trusted her with most of my antics. I was almost sure she was probably aware of what was going on, though she said nothing. I sat back in the seat, taking a deep breath. The car jolted over the road, zooming through traffic, and I thought of Sadie.

Five months with someone I knew nothing about was not ideal, though if it would get my father off my back, it might be worth it. I never planned on winning the entire show, no matter what she wanted or needed. I didn’t come to win or to stay the entire duration of the game, in actuality. I just wanted my father to think I was capable of a real relationship, at least in his eyes. It was frustrating that I couldn’t be a real man in his eyes until I had the love of a woman. If Sadie really needed the money, we could probably work something out between us, but I had no interest in months of deception. It would be too annoying to deal with. I really didn’t think I could last the entire time anyway. Nora finally pulled the sleek black car into the studio parking lot and I sighed morosely, watching the other contestants leave their vehicles and head for the doors to the studio building. I couldn’t actually see Sadie, but it didn’t matter. She would be there eventually, or she would be cut from the show. Then I would be paired with someone else though and perhaps that new woman would be awful. I shook my head as I pulled on my coat and stepped out of the car, waving goodbye to Nora as I did. She would be back by later to pick me up and I knew she would most likely be headed to a nearby coffee shop or diner in this chilly, New York weather.

“Oh, hello, hello,” the small, excited woman, Amelia, squealed at me as soon as I was inside the warmth of the building. She stood by the doors, checking in contestants as they wandered into the building from outside. “Lennox, is that right?”

“That’s right,” I nodded, looking around at the dull building and my gaze fell on the broad reality show set, where a couple of people were lounging on the long couch. I caught sight of the girl Sadie Harlow left with the day before, with her booted feet propped lazily on the coffee table. The expression on her face let me know that she certainly was not listening to the man she had been paired with, who was sitting right next to her on the couch, chatting animatedly about anything and everything.