Possessive Fake Husband

“We’ll go see Rupert Guava next.”

“Rupert… Guava? Are you kidding?”

I grin and shake my head. “Nope. He made his fortunate on this weird drink with guava in it, so that’s why he changed his name.”

“And Rupert?”

“Just his first name.” I shrug a little.

“Okay, right, so he has a weird name.”

“And I should warn you, he’s a little… unconventional.”

She frowns. “Yeah? How?”

“I can’t explain. You’ll see. But listen, he might go for this, he might not. I can’t be sure, honestly. So be ready for anything.”

She nods once. “Yes, captain. I’ll be ready for anything at all.”

I laugh at her and sip my coffee. “Go get dressed. We’re leaving in a half hour.”

“Isn’t it a little early to go meet with this guy?”

“Like I said, he’s a little different. Better hurry.”

She sighs and walks out of the kitchen. I stare at her ass and feel a thrill run through me.

I can’t stew in my anger. I can’t let it hold me back. She’s right, we can still do this. At the very least, I’m going to try my best. She got hooked into this and did something crazy, like marry a total stranger, so now I’d better step up and make it worth her time.* * *We head out into the city, not bothering with the car. I lead Maggie up a few blocks then cut toward the river.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

“Just up a little further.”

“He has an office out here?”

“Not exactly.” I turn down a side street and we stop outside of a rundown old building with a sign out front.

She steps up and reads it. “This is a diner?” she asks, blinking.

“Yep,” I say. “And it’s a real dive. Food’s good though.”

“I didn’t know we were getting breakfast.”

“We’re not. Come on.” I push inside and immediately the smell of bacon and toast hits me, followed by the overwhelming feeling of grease floating in the air.

The Sundown Diner isn’t in great shape. The booths are ripped and patched over with tape, the counter is stained and peeling, and the equipment is all old and rusty. But the place is packed anyway with people sitting, drinking coffee, reading menus. I scan the room and spot a man with frizzy white hair and a big blue bow tie sitting in the back corner. I walk past the waitress with a smile and head toward Rupert Guava.

He looks up from his paper and frowns as I stop in front of the table. He squints at me for a moment. Rupert has long features, a horse-like face, big teeth, a wide nose. His big hands paw at the table top and his clothes barely fit his skinny, long frame

“Why, it’s Josh Cork,” he says then looks at Maggie. “And who is this young lady?”

“I’m Maggie Cork,” I say. “His wife.”

“Ah.” Rupert grins at me. “Now I see why you married the enemy’s daughter.”

I give him a look. “We’re here to chat, Rupert.”

“All right, all right. Sit down then. Order some food. I always eat alone but I can change that for you young people.”

I hesitate then slide into the booth. Maggie sits next to me as I lean toward Rupert. He beams at us, adjusts his glasses, and takes a sip of his coffee.

“I want to talk about the company,” I say.

“Of course. What else would you possibly want from an old kook like me?”

“How do you think the market’s looking for Cork right now?”

He shrugs a little and pushes a salt shaker around in little circles. I glance at Maggie and she’s frowning at the way he fidgets.

“I suppose not bad,” he says. “Although also not good. I can’t quite say, really. We’ve been fighting the good fight for years but losing ground to those giants all the time. I will admit, however, that I haven’t been paying as much attention as I maybe should.”

“Well, Rupert. Your assessment is dead on. But what nobody seems to realize is that Bushings plays a role in our future.”

“How’s that?” Rupert asks.

The waitress comes over, interrupting the conversation. I ask for a coffee and Maggie asks for the same. When she’s gone. I look Rupert in the eyes.

“When Bushings goes under, and that’ll be soon, the big guys will snatch it up. When they do, they’ll force us out of business not long later. It’ll be like dominoes, and they’ll win it all.”

Rupert frowns. “I see what you’re saying.”

“That’s why we want to merge with Bushings,” Maggie says.

Rupert looks surprised and stares at her then looks back to me. “Is she serious?”

“Yes,” I say, nodding. “We want to merge with Bushings. That’ll give us a fighting chance.”

“My word.” Rupert sits back in his seat and stares at me for a long moment before he start to play with the salt shaker again. “A wild idea, I must say.”