Cassandra Jones had less than twenty-four hours to create a whole new life for herself. Getting engaged didn’t have to be a problem. The actual process was usually over in less than a minute. Living with someone would be trickier, though not impossible. No, the real problem was that she was completely and utterly single.
She barely resisted the urge to slam her head down on her desk repeatedly until she blacked out. Cursing herself for not bothering to check her email first thing that morning, as she usually did, she took a deep breath and tried to calm down. There was a way out of this. She just had to find it. She read over the email again, as if the solution to her problem was hidden within its words.
Hey, Cassie, great news! I found out this morning that I’ll be in town for a conference next week and I’d love to see you. It would be the perfect chance for us to get together before the wedding. Even better, how about we fly down this weekend so we’ll all have a chance to relax before the work week starts? I know you and Ann will have a blast and I can’t wait to meet Joseph. I’ll call you later this morning with details!
Steven
That short email sent her into a tailspin of epic proportions. The first two sentences had, as much as she hated to admit it, made her happier than she’d been in a long time. She’d actually thought Steven was now single and hoping to pick up where they’d left off, romantically. That hope was dashed with the very next sentence. He was still very much engaged. Ann. Just thinking about her caused Cassie to make what her friend, Julia, referred to as a stink face.
In any case, having her dreams crushed was nothing compared to the remainder of the email. Cassie had gone from laughing out loud at Steven thinking she would have a blast with the likes of Ann to damned near going into cardiac arrest when he mentioned meeting Joseph. The sad thing was, even though it was her lie, her first thought at reading the name was “Who?”
“God,” she groaned, “not a good sign.” She clasped her hands in front of her face as she thought about her options. Closing her eyes, she knew she must have looked like she was deep in prayer. She needed to be.
“Well, well, well,” Julia Carmichael said as she approached Cassie’s desk. “Bringing religion into the workplace are we?”
Cassie opened her eyes. “I’m in trouble,” she whispered.
Suddenly interested, Julia sat down in the chair in front of Cassie’s desk. “What?” she asked in a low voice. “What kind of trouble?”
“Deep.”
A look of understanding crossed Julia’s features. “Oh,” she said slowly. “Well, there are options.”
Cassie gave her a confused look.
“You know,” Julia said, leaning closer, “for women who find themselves in the family way.”
“Huh? I’m not preg — ” Cassie chided herself for being slow on the uptake. “Funny.” She turned the laptop around to face Julia. “This,” she pointed to the screen of the laptop, “is serious.” She crossed her arms and sat back in a huff.
Julia was silent as she read the brief email. She looked up from the screen, confusion written all over her face. “Who’s Joseph?”
“Good question,” Cassie answered dryly.
“Oh yeah,” Julia said as she sat back in her chair, “your imaginary lover.” She laughed. “That is so sad.”
“For your information, he’s not just my lover. We live together, you know.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Cassie wanted to kick herself. She was actually getting defensive about a nonexistent relationship.
Julia was clearly getting a kick out of it. Her eyes widened. “Really? The two of you live together now? Wow, that’s quite a commitment.” She bit back another laugh. “Any plans on taking the next step?”
“As a matter of fact, we’re engaged.”
Julia’s hand flew to her chest as she gasped. “And you didn’t tell me sooner?” She stood and opened her arms to Cassie. “Congratulations! Get over here, you!”
“Shut up,” Cassie groaned. “This isn’t funny.” She let her head drop onto her desk.
“I’m sorry,” Julia said with a serious tone, “but this is hilarious.”
Cassie couldn’t help but smile.
After her laughter died down, Julia became serious. Well, as serious as she ever became. “Did I or did I not tell you that Project Imaginary Boyfriend was a mistake?”
“You did.” Cassie’s voice was slightly muffled by the papers strewn about on the top of her desk.
After several seconds of silence, Julia spoke. “I have an idea.”
Cassie’s head snapped up. “What?”
“Tell Steven that Jacob is out of town.”
“Who?”
“Your boy — I’m sorry, your fiancé.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “His name is Joseph.”
“Whatever.”
The more Cassie thought about it, the more she liked it. She nodded slowly. “That could work.”
“Damn straight. Now let’s go on a bender. Whiskey, Scotch,” she smiled, “it’s all on me.”
Cassie arched an eyebrow. “It’s eleven o’clock in the morning.”
“Yeah,” Julia said, looking at her watch, “so you coming or what?”
Cassie tried to keep a straight face. “Maybe tomorrow morning. It might be better, being the weekend and all.”
Julia pouted and stomped a foot. “But I have an appointment to get a mani-pedi in the morning.”
Cassie laughed. “Get out of my office, woman.”
Julia shrugged, giving Cassie a dazzling smile. “Your loss.”
Cassie rolled her shoulders, letting the tension ease from her body. Julia had put her back on track right as she derailed. She was able to handle anything now. Go ahead, Steven, make that call.
Her cell phone rang.
She took a deep breath and answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Steven.”
Okay, that was kinda creepy. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, who?”
He was silent for a moment. And then Cassie heard his husky laugh. She automatically warmed at the sound and hated herself for it.
“Mean as ever, I see,” Steven said.
“Only to the ones I love.” She forced a smile, though no one was around to see it. If he only knew the depth of her feelings for him, would things be different? Would he still be marrying another woman? She snapped out of her daydream and realized she had missed a good portion of what he’d been saying.
“ … so I figure we can all go — Joseph, too, of course.”
Oh boy. Joseph. “Uh,” Cassie said as she fumbled for words to make her newest lie sound plausible.
“If that’s all right with you, of course.”
If what was all right with her? She had no idea what he was talking about, but one thing was for sure: Joseph was going bye-bye for the next week. “It’s just that,” she began, “Joseph is … ”
Steven interjected. “And this is such perfect timing, isn’t it?”
“How so?”
“Well, when you told me last night that you and Joseph were staying in this weekend, taking it easy, I never knew how well that would end up working out for me and Ann.”
Well, shit. She had, indeed, told Steven that last night. She needed to put him on hold, find Julia, and devise another plan.
Steven chuckled. “Life’s funny, isn’t it?”
“I can’t stop laughing,” Cassie said as she went to the door of her office. Her eyes darted around, searching for that crazy ass redhead with the bright ideas.
“And if it’s no trouble,” Steven said, “I was wondering if … ”
Great. What now? He needs a kidney? She forced some perk into her voice. “Yes?”
“Can we stay at your place?”
“Take a kidney.”
“What?”
Had she said that out loud? This day was not only going to hell in a hand basket, that sucker was coated in gasoline. She gave up her search for the never-present Julia and decided to suck it up. She was a pathetic liar who wanted desperately for her ex to believe she was too busy living and loving to give him a second thought. Her plan to make him jealous had failed miserably and had even backfired. There was nothing left to do but tell him the pitiful truth.
“Cassie, you still there?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say earlier? Something about a kidney?”
Oh, that. “I said, ‘Ya gotta be kidding me’.” She frowned as she thought about it. Close enough.
“Oh, well that makes more sense already.”
Cassie laughed. It rang hollow to her own ears.
“I’m kidding you about what?”
She had to think of something quick. “Just that there’s no need to ask.” She forced a laugh. “I mean, I’ve always said mi casa es su casa, right?” That was so lame. She wanted someone to come into her office and kick her in the shins.
“Yeah, you’ve said that, but I still felt like I needed to ask before showing up on your doorstep. I probably haven’t given you enough notice as it is.”
Hell no, you didn’t! “Are you kidding? You gave me plenty.” Forget the shins; she deserved a complete smack down from the biggest guy in the mailroom. Why not go all the way? “I can’t wait to see Ann.” She was grateful Steven wasn’t there to see that stink face.
“And I can’t wait to meet Joseph.”
You and me, both, Steven.