Authors: Virginia Jewel
I blushed, “I know I should have taken it off, but it just feels good to have one on.”
Josh raised an eyebrow at me.
“It’s a girl thing.” I stuffed my hand under me. I didn’t have the heart to admit that I had started to wonder if I’d ever have a ring on my finger. Stephen had messed me up, and I hadn’t seen anyone since. Wearing the ring, a meaningless ring, was somehow better than no ring at all.
“I think it’s too late to admit the truth now.” I sighed as I stared at the floor.
“It’s okay to like the feeling of an engagement ring. It does suit your hand actually.” Josh smiled at me.
I made eye contact with him, “That’s not what I’m talking about, Josh. This thing has gotten out of control and if we try to step out of it now, then it is going to get ugly. It’s not just us anymore. If we go on television and tell everyone that it was all a joke then we’ve made all our friends and family members look like fools. If not fools, then they look like liars, and I don’t know what’s worse.”
Josh nodded, “So, what do we do then?”
I took a deep breath, “I think we have to go through with it.”
Josh didn’t say anything. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
“What are you thinking?” I asked when I couldn’t take the silence any longer.
“I think you’re right. We have to do this or we’re going to end up hurting a bunch of people.”
We sat in the hall together for a minute before either of us spoke.
“Did you go to work today?” I asked quietly.
He nodded.
“Did anyone say anything to you?”
“It’s all people wanted to talk about.”
“So, I guess there’s no hope that no one will say anything to me at work tomorrow?”
“Not a chance, Trip.”
I threw my head back against the wall.
Josh laughed and added, “Oh, by the way, your mom wants us to come over for dinner Friday night.”
8.
I woke up the next morning with a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. I was confident that Josh and I were making the best decision for our situation, but it only helped a little bit.
Josh was waiting for me in the kitchen, boxer shorts and all, with a bowl of raisin bran and a jug of milk.
“Eat up! You’ll need your strength.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and he just laughed and poured the milk into my bowl.
“Was it really that bad?” I slid the bowl towards me after he’d finished drowning the cereal in milk.
“No, but I’m a dude. All the women at your office are going to want to see the ring and ask you all kinds of questions. You’ve got a long day ahead of you.” Josh rolled his eyes.
“At least I won’t have to retell the story of how you proposed. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve had to sit through over the years.”
“See now, I finally did something right. I saved you the trouble of having to retell the story of how I proposed by doing it in public so that someone could record it and put it up on the internet.” Josh gave me a wink and a grin.
“Wow! Thank you so much,” I said sarcastically. “The only problem with your plan is that our marriage is a sham, dear.”
Josh got up from the table, “Who’s marriage doesn’t end up being a sham? We’re just ahead of the game.”
“You’re optimism inspires me.”
“Is that why you’re marrying me?” Josh leaned down and kissed me on the top of the head.
“No, of course not,” I called after him as he left the kitchen, “I’m marrying you for the sex!”
Josh laughed loudly as he disappeared into his room.
It felt good to have Josh back. One day of not speaking to him was almost more than I could bear. I knew that going back to work and facing the ladies of the office was going to be rough, but Josh made me feel better as I started my day.
I parked myself in my cubicle and turned my computer on.
“Hey Mel, I saw you on TV the other day. Congratulations on getting all that free stuff!” Tim shouted across the office.
“I saw you!” Connie leaned across my cubicle. “Let me see that ring! It looked gorgeous on television!”
The rest of the day was just one long interruption. I wasn’t able to get any work done because people kept stopping by to talk to me, look at the ring, or congratulate me.
By the time I got home, all I wanted was a big glass of wine and something with chocolate in it, on it, or made completely of it!
When I walked in the door to the apartment, the sound of the radio blaring and the smell of lasagna greeted me. Josh came sliding out of the kitchen wearing my apron and holding a huge glass of red wine.
“Hello darling! How was your day at work?” Josh handed me the glass of wine and took my jacket from me.
“Wow! Look at you! Aren’t you just the perfect housewife?” I smiled broadly at him and took a big gulp of wine.
He laughed and headed back to the kitchen. I followed him and continued drinking.
“Is this what being married to you is going to be like, because, if so, then we should have done this a long time ago!”
“I thought you were just marrying me for the sex?” Josh put his finger in his mouth and struck a provocative pose.
I laughed at him and drank some more wine.
Josh was back!
The next two days at work were just as miserable. The congratulations messages had turned to teasing as more commercials and promos for the wedding started airing. I could hear them being played in the cubicles around me all day. People who had never even glanced at me before stopped by my desk and commented on the upcoming event.
Thankfully, Josh and I kept up the dinners. It was such a pleasure to come home and hide from the rest of the world. No matter how the day had gone, when I came home it was just me and Josh again. We ate dinner together, watched movies, and even played video games. When the work day was over, it was just me and Josh. It was great!
As we sat down to eat on Thursday, Sam West called to remind us about the interview.
“Hey guys! Are you getting excited about the wedding?” Sam asked us when we put him on speakerphone. He’d called Josh’s cell as we sat at the table eating another fabulous meal made by Josh.
Josh and I exchanged a look and answered, “Yes!”
“That’s great! We are getting some fantastic buzz about you guys. People from all over the country are calling in and leaving messages on the website. They are so excited to see this thing go down. You cannot believe the numbers we are getting because of this.” Sam sounded like a child on Christmas as he spoke about our fake wedding.
Josh pretended to stick his finger down his throat and I giggled.
Sam laughed, but then switched into business mode. “Look, this interview tomorrow is crucial to our upcoming promotional push. I don’t want to tell you what to say, but if you guys could maybe gush a little about how excited you are, then that would really help us out.”
“No problem, Sam. We’re so excited we just can’t stop talking about it!” Josh’s voice sounded excited, but he was making faces at me the whole time.
“Great! I can’t wait to see it.” Sam answered excitedly. “Listen, I wanted to run something by you two. I was talking to Nathan, from SuperMart, and I know we had originally planned to hold the reception in a separate location, but he really thinks we can make it work in the store. He’s suggested that we rope off a section and just keep the guests separated from the shoppers. What do you think?”
I shook my head vehemently at Josh as I answered, “I don’t know about that, Sam. I’m not sure that I want our reception to be in the store. I don’t want our guests to feel like animals at the zoo.”
Sam was silent for a bit, but added, “I hear you, Mel, but I think that you’ll be happy with what Nathan has planned. Trust me on this.”
Josh shrugged, “I guess we don’t really have a choice since we’re not paying for any of it.”
Sam laughed, “Please don’t think of it that way, but I do think you’ll be happy with what he wants to do for you. This is a big opportunity for their company and they don’t want to blow it.”
I took Friday afternoon off so that we could prepare for our interview. I hurried home to change my outfit. I was on my third attempt at looking fashionable when Josh came home.
“Do I look good in this shirt?” I asked him before he’d even closed the front door.
“Is this a trap?” He looked around as he pulled his tie loose. “Is this the new ‘Do I look fat in this?’”
I tilted my head to one side and gave him an annoyed look, “Have I ever asked you that?”
He laughed, “No, but I wasn’t sure if that was something that came with marriage.”
“We’re not married, Josh.” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Just answer my question please. Do I look good in this shirt?”
“Wear the purple shirt with the cream pants,” he answered and kicked his shoes off.
I thought about it for a second, nodded, and smiled at him.
I came out of my room wearing the outfit Josh had suggested to find him sitting on the couch wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
“That’s not what you’re wearing is it?”
He looked down at his shirt, “What’s wrong with this? It’s clean.”
“Josh, if you wear that then I look way too dressy!”
“No you don’t, you look fine.” He waved a hand at me and went back to his game.
“Josh, please just change into something else. What you had on earlier was nice.” I gave him a cheesy smile in an attempt to persuade him.
“Oh come on, Trip. I don’t want to wear my work clothes.” He whined at me and flopped back against the couch like a child throwing a tantrum.
“What about a polo shirt? Can you put on a polo with those jeans?”
He moaned and slid further down the couch.
I grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and dragged him back to his room.
My eyes scanned the cluttered floor. “Good grief, Josh. This room is a mess. Does it look like this when you bring girls here?”
He wiggled his eyes at me and fell back on the bed. “They are usually so taken with my charm that they don’t notice anything else.”
“Point me in the direction of the polo shirts.” I said as I stepped carefully through the mess, “The clean polo shirts, please!”
He laughed and pointed to the closet.
At the television station, one of the local news anchors greeted us. He took us on a tour of the set and asked us a few questions about our experience at Wake up America. He was very easy to talk to, and within minutes both Josh and I felt comfortable and at ease. By the time we sat down for the interview we were all laughing and having a great time.
“This shouldn’t take very long. I’ve just got a few questions that were sent to me by a producer from Wake up America, and then a few questions of my own.” He flashed a friendly smile.
The cameras were set and ready for us as we sat on the couch on the informal interview set. Josh smiled at me while they did the little last minute things before the cameras started rolling.