Page 11 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
“Are you?”
“No,” I said. “I’ve learned she wasn’t really the one I wanted. I was young and dumb. I’ve moved on. It’s the boyfriend I’m not exactly thrilled about seeing.”
“Fiancé,” she corrected.
“Yeah, him either.”
“Do you know this man?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s the dude she dumped me for back in high school,” I growled.
“They’re getting married? That’s impressive. Maybe they really were meant to be. You were the guy in the way.”
“Thanks, Barb,” I said with a laugh.
“You were young. I don’t think anyone knows what love is at that point in our lives. You might want to let that go.”
“It’s not that,” I said. “It’s him. He’s a royal asshole. He went out of his way to make my life hell. Like I said, he was a jock and I was a nerd. I don’t mind supporting her but not him.”
“Just go,” she said. “Congratulate your friend. Besides, look at you. You aren’t that same lanky kid. You’re a strong, powerful man with an empire under your belt. I would say you’re doing alright for yourself.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“I take it this wedding coincides with the class reunion?” she asked.
“Wedding first, then the reunion,” I replied. “Then I’ll probably need a week of intense therapy after revisiting all my childhood trauma.”
She laughed and patted my arm. “I think you can console yourself with your bed made of money. Maybe treat yourself to a new plane. That always makes you happy.”
I grinned. “I did have my eye on a sweet little ride.”
“You always do,” she said. “Go on and get out of here. Try and remember you’re going to be on vacation. Don’t you worry about anything here. Maybe you’ll find yourself a new woman while you’re there.”
“Yeah,” I said with a shake of my head. “I think I’ll just deal with one problem at a time.”
I wasn’t about to tell her I had hired a woman to be my girlfriend already. The idea of finding a woman that wanted my nerdy ass for me and not my money was slim to none. I had been burned one too many times to go down that road again. I wasn’t sure I could put myself out there again.
“I’ll see you later,” I said. I climbed into the plane and started the engine. The hum of it tickled me. The aviation nerd from high school was a full-fledged pilot.
I waved goodbye to Barb and slowly taxied to the runway. I hit the throttle and sped down the black tarmac before pulling back and climbing into the sky. My heart soared the higher I went. It was so freeing. I looked out the window as the city disappeared into nothing but tiny dots below. Once I reached my cruising altitude, I settled in for the ride.
Barb got me thinking about things I hadn’t thought about in a long while, and memories from the past came bubbling up. The pain of Norah dumping me was still oddly very raw. Back then, I was certain she was my entire world. Looking back, it probably wasn’t as bad as it felt in that moment. She and I were never going to last. We were very different people.
Norah was part of the popular group in the exclusive school. They were always talking about their summer vacations in someplace far away. They all had homes in the Hamptons. It felt like their interests revolved around money and prestige and nothing else. I was the guy with my head in the clouds. I had always dreamed of being a pilot. While they spent their weekends at the beach or shopping, I was at the private airports learning all I could. And now I was flying my own luxury private plane to a tropical island.
If Norah hadn’t dumped me, I wouldn’t be here. I withdrew from the social side of school. Not that I was ever really a part of the social scene. With no girlfriend to spend my weekends with, I spent more time studying for my pilot’s license. She tried to remain friends, but her stupid fucking boyfriend made that next to impossible. I used to think he was jealous. At least that was what I wanted to believe. It helped me feel a little better.
I knew there had been plenty of writeups about me in the school newsletter. I was one of the many success stories to come out of that school. While my peers were all born into money and most of them had their futures planned out for them, I was one of the ones that really stuck out. The whole reason I went to Faux’s was because of the most recent alumni newsletter.
They did a big, stupid writeup on me. It was meant to be flattering, but it just drew unwanted attention to me. I was supposed to be this big success story. Maybe I was, but it also made it sound like I should be successful in all aspects of life. If I showed up single with zero prospects, it was going to make me look like the same loser I’d been in high school. I didn’t want to be that guy anymore. I wanted them to look at me and see a guy that got his shit together, personally and professionally.
When I had seen the ad for Faux’s, I knew it was exactly what I needed. No one knew I was doing it. Della thought the woman’s appearance mattered. It didn’t. Not to me. I knew she was thirty-three, which was perfect. I wasn’t trying to impress my old classmates with a hot model on my arm. My only goal was to prove I wasn’t alone. Still.
Norah had actually signed my yearbook with some goofy message about looking for someone to share my life with and to get my nose out of a book long enough to do so. Showing up single would totally negate the professional success I had.
No one was going to give a shit about my success if I lived up to the geeky image I had in school. The truth was, I had put in a lot of time building my companies. I got more of a thrill flying than I did dating. That led me to find myself in a persistent state of bachelorhood. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, but I didn’t want Norah and her rich, pretty friends that had probably all been married at least twice by now to pity me. It shouldn’t matter what they thought about me, but it did. Despite my success, I was still the insecure boy from high school. I wanted to be one of the cool kids.
