Fake Marriage Box Set

“Because gray goes with everything. Never forget that,” she said and kissed my cheek. Her arms trembled as she leaned against the table, and it seemed as if she was having trouble holding her head up. She was growing weaker, and I wasn’t sure how I could possibly watch her get worse.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

She shook her head and pressed a palm to her forehead.

“Cold one second, and hot the next. One minute I’m famished and the next I want to puke just thinking about food. My bones are weak, and my skin always hurts.” She shrugged. “It’s always the same.”

“I can ask for stronger painkillers,” I offered. “If your dosage isn’t helping.”

Mom ran her fingers through her thinning hair and shook her head.

“I don’t need drugs, Gavin. I need a daughter-in-law and a grandkid,” she said.

“Mom, you didn’t mention anything about grandchildren,” I said. “I relented on the whole wife search, but I can tell you right now I’m not having a child in six months.”

“I know,” she said and held my hand. “I just want the promise of grandchildren before my time is up. And I would like to at least meet the mother of my grandchildren.”

“Like I said, I’m working on it,” I said and checked my watch. “I should go meet Maddie for dinner.”

“You look handsome,” she said and kissed my forehead. “Maddie has no chance against you.”

“Don’t make it sound like I’m on the hunt,” I said. “It’s unsettling.” I stood and said goodbye to Karen. Mom insisted on walking me to the door.

“Don’t forget that tie,” she said and hugged me. I laughed and promised her I would change. She blinked away tears as I kissed her cheek. “I’ll always be your mother,” she said.

“Always,” I replied and left to get my gray tie. I checked my watch one last time, 20 minutes until dinner. I hoped I still remembered where that tie was.

I arrived at an upscale and chic restaurant in the gray tie that my mother loved. I’d only been to dinner at such a sophisticated place a handful of times; it was just never my style. Still, as Maddie sat at a table tucked away in a dark corner, she looked as if she belonged. Her brown hair was styled in loose waves that nearly reached the small of her back, and her dress was an off-the-shoulder black cocktail hour dress with a conveniently placed hole just below her collar bones. Her dress hugged her curves and showed off her voluptuous breasts in a way that I’ve never noticed before. In fact, she had always been Ron’s awkward younger cousin; I wasn’t sure if I had ever seen her as anything else.

The restaurant had dark walls with gold flecks glittering throughout, and a hostess in a tiny dress that barely covered her ass led me toward Maddie’s table. The hostess swung her hair over her shoulders and laughed at our small-talk, and I wondered if she would have been so easy to please had I not been wearing my most expensive suit and watch.

“Here’s your table, sir,” she said as her eyes scanned me. I thanked her politely and took a seat, offering the hostess a small smile as she hesitated a moment before leaving.

“She couldn’t have been more obvious,” Maddie said in the way of a greeting.

“What do you mean?” I asked. I wasn’t playing dumb on purpose; I guessed the hostess had ulterior motives in the way her body had gravitated toward mine, but Maddie had only watched us for hardly a moment.

“Really?” Maddie laughed. “She would have thrown you on the table and ripped your clothes off if the restaurant was empty. Actually,” she paused and tilted her head. “The restaurant probably doesn’t even have to be empty. She seems the type to enjoy an audience.”

I nearly choked on my water. “You’re definitely not the same sweet Madeline from Ron’s family albums.”

“I told you, it’s Maddie now,” she said. “And I think we’ve all grown up. I mean, look at you,” she gestured at me. “There isn’t a single woman here who isn’t gawking at you.”

I glanced around; she was right, it seemed. I had the eyes of plenty of women, young and elders alike. It was somewhat of a new experience; I hadn’t always taken care of my body, and the attention of women hadn’t arrived until several years prior when I began going to the gym twice a day. The larger the muscles, the more attention I received, especially as the years flew by and my jawline hardened and eyes softened.

“You have quite the admirers as well,” I said. The bar against the opposite wall was full of young, eligible bachelors, no doubt rich thanks to their billionaire fathers and trust funds, and they all were staring at Maddie and gawking at me at the same time. She smiled and waved in their direction, and shortly afterward a cocktail arrived at our table addressed to Maddie.

“Compliments of the young men at the bar,” our waiter said. I ordered a whiskey on the rocks, and we decided on an appetizer.

“Young men at the bar,” Maddie said as she sipped on her drink. “How am I supposed to know which one paid for it?”

I fidgeted in my seat. “What would you do if you knew who it was?” I asked.

“I’d thank them personally,” she said. “I probably should introduce myself, and give them my handle name, so they know how to follow me.”

“Follow you?” I frowned. “Why would you want that? And what’s a handle name?”

She laughed, covering her heart-shaped smile with a slender hand. “Gavin, you’re not on social media, are you?”