My Pretend Fiancé

Lenina hadn’t yet woken up for breakfast the very next day, and if it weren’t for Leonard’s later schedule for that day, he never would have known. Usually, he would have to leave the house at 7:30 in the morning, but on days like Tuesdays, his schedule started at one in the afternoon and ended at three. This meant that he was free until twelve when he finally had to start leaving to make his way to work. The fact that he was at home waiting for Lenina to get out of bed but never did, given that the time was nearing fifteen minutes to twelve was what worried Leonard. When he was in his bedroom fixing his tie, he couldn’t help but sigh at his reflection in the mirror. He was disgusted by his actions, and it led him to think: Would I really do that to my real fiancé? Combing his hair back, Leonard felt a strong wave of exasperation surge through him along with some small Goosebumps, but he only shrugged it off and thought quickly about making amends as soon as possible.

He knew he would have to start pulling some strings to make something go Lenina’s way, for once. He was certain that she would appreciate it. Smiling briefly to himself from his brilliant plan, Leonard grabbed his car keys from the small hook on the top of his mirror and straightened his tie one last time.

“Lenina,” he called from the bottom of the stairs in a soft but firm voice. He waited a blink’s moment to hear her voice, but it didn’t resonate throughout the house today. “If you’re awake, I wanted to let you know that I’m leaving now, alright?”

Still, the silence lingered on, as Leonard closed the front doors of his home behind him.

--

She was awake.

Lenina never fell asleep. Her eyelids felt heavy over her eyes, and although the occasion certainly called for it, they were still bereft of tears. She had done her fair share of crying, as she was sure that her best friend, Tori, had been doing as well. It was all her fault, she would keep repeating to herself as her tears slowly made its way down her cheeks. She created troubles for Leonard, and complicated things with Danny, and now Tori was hurting. Perhaps it was better that she just listened to everything they told her to do… Yes, that plan would have to do. Surely, no one would question her as long as she just nodded and agreed with that they had to say. After all, that’s all they’ve wanted her to do this entire time, right? ”Lenina, stop answering the phone!” “Lenina, don’t go running off!” “Lenina, don’t set the apartment on fire!” Or else it was “Lenina, you’re fired” in so many ways.

That’s right. All she had to do was obey this time.

-- 1:49: p.m --

“Um…” Leonard found it difficult to remember his new secretary’s name. He was African- American, but Leo definitely did not want himself to look like a racist ass by not even acknowledging the man with the right name. Was it Tashawn? He was beginning to look awkward standing in front of his mystery secretary with three sheets in his hand, not knowing quite how to tell him his order.

The man looked up. “Yes, sir?”

Leonard blinked. He was already looking like an ass, anyway. It didn’t matter anymore. “Yes,” he said in sudden response. “I’m sorry, but what’s your name again?”

“Tashawn, sir.” He smiled amiably up at his boss. “Ms. Jennifer hired me earlier on this morning.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry, I’m just not used to, um… remembering…” Oh, how could he ever explain to Tashawn that he was not so skilled in remembering African- Americans’ names? Oh, Leonard definitely knew he was a racist pig at this point.

“Can’t really keep my name in mind, right?” Tashawn finished for him, and Leonard only nodded shamefully. “It’s alright, sir. Now, what can I do for you?”

Noticing that his new secretary had gray eyes, Leonard nearly blushed with jealousy. He could already tell that this man was more than capable of attracting women with the unique color of his eyes alone. Meanwhile, what did he have that women could fall for? An endless pile of cash? Oh, yes, absolutely. Women always fell head over heels in love with the mention of the word when he went on dates with them. “Alright, Tashawn,” he sighed tiredly. “I need you to call my fiancé at this number, and ask her if she would like to spend the afternoon with me after work. Can you do that?” He handed Shawn a small yellow post-it and watched him, wanting to make sure that if he couldn’t remember his name, he at least wanted to remember his face, although his eyes did most of the work on that category already. Suddenly, he wondered what it would be that women could possibly love him for if it weren’t for his status and money. What did Lenina like about him?

“No problem, sir. I’ll call her right away,” he answered dutifully, and stuck the note on a brown clipboard near the phone. “Anything else, sir?”

Leonard shook his head. He found it somewhat awkward to walk away from this man now, as if Tashawn had something more alluring to him. “But I’ll, uh, I’ll be back in about ten minutes to check with you if she said yes,” Leonard told him with a swallow. God knows he was nervous and most definitely anxious to hear about her reply. Lenina was so unpredictable. For now, all he could do was try and prepare himself for an expected rejection. But Tashawn said to him, “No, it’s fine, you can call me from your desk, and I’ll let you know. You won’t even have to get up. No worries.”

“Yeah, no worries,” Leonard repeated unknowingly to himself.

“Are you alright, sir?”

“Oh, yes, I’m just, uh…” He rubbed his temples lightly. “We, uh—my fiancé and I, we got into an argument last night, and I don’t know if she’s forgiven me, yet.”

“Well, one thing’s for certain, sir,” Tashawn said matter-of-factly. “You know she’s right for you when she at least makes the effort to work things out with you, which would be accepting your request with her for the afternoon. You just know.”

Leonard thought about what he said for a moment before leaving his secretary’s desk and making his way back to his own. You just know.

--

“Hello, may I speak with Mrs. Kingsley?”

“U-um,” Lenina began to stutter into the phone. “Speaking. May I know who’s calling?”

“This is Mr. Kingsley’s secretary, Tashawn,” he informed. “And he would like to know if you would like to spend time with him for the remainder of the afternoon.”

Lenina walked over to Leonard’s sink and started washing her finished bowl of cereal. “Tell him yes, I would love to.”

“Lovely, Mrs. Kingsley. I’ll be sure to relay the message.”

“Thank you.”

This was quite nerve-wracking to Lenina since she had not been able to face Leonard since last night, and now, he suddenly wanted to spend time with her? This was most unusual, but she needed to stick to her plan. Right! Obey, and that’s it. Everything should be okay. She should try dressing like a grown woman, too. She knew that Tori might have thought childish of her, so now was the perfect time to show her otherwise. Unsure of how a “grown” woman could possibly dress like, she placed the phone on Leonard’s kitchen table and rushed upstairs. She was almost sure that Tori had given her something of value to this event.

-- 3:32 p.m. --

When Leonard arrived back at the house to pick her up, he called the house from across the street and waited for her to come outside. His heart was beating ever so loudly against his chest, and he feared that Lenina might hear. He took out a small mirror from the backseat and fixed his hair hastily before he heard the front door close, and he threw the material behind him suddenly in panic. He squinted directly across the street and saw a slender woman in a dress colored from gray fading off into a delicate pink down her knees. Her shoes were a strappy-looking pair of heels, as far as his fashion sense was concerned. He was never too crazy for the brands, although he was very much aware of them, but preferred a blank shirt that fit tightly against his fine build instead.

Telling himself that he shouldn’t be surprised that the very woman he’d been staring at was Lenina, Leonard couldn’t exactly pry his eyes off her, either. He almost felt like a pedophile staring at a little girl from a distance. That was, after all, how Lenina usually acted. Sometimes, he felt as if she should be treated as such, and yet at other times, his obsession for sexual satisfaction would lead him to think about ravaging her each time she walked into his living room to ask if she could watch a movie with him. He would, of course, never deny her the privilege for her company was gold to him, whether Lenina was oblivious to it or not.

By the time Leonard was able to grasp the reality of Lenina’s beauty, she had already gotten into his car before he could even open its door for her, and he felt shameful of depriving her momentarily of a man’s gentlemanly act. When she had settled in comfortably in her seat, Lenina seemed to only be looking straight ahead, her eyes never wandering. Leonard turned to her curiously; she never dressed this way before, but instead dressed how a young woman who attended college was supposed to dress, with that entire thin scarf around the neck and tight skinny jeans and whatnot. Trends didn’t bother him, but since it was all he’d ever witnessed Lenina wear, he never really expected to see her in much of anything else.

“Uh, thanks for coming to see me,” he told her as he began to drive away from the block, and Lenina only nodded in response.

“Mm-hm. Thank you for asking me out.” Her voice sounded a bit deeper—much deeper than usual, and it was highly provocative to Leonard. Her hair was fixed in a simple ponytail fixed on one side of her shoulder and its soft, lithe curls lay gently atop her breast. She had even applied a bit of mascara and some brown eye shadow to define the color of her eyes. Something was amiss, though to pinpoint the matter would be an altogether different problem for the moment. First, he needed to get his apologies straightened out.

Leonard turned a block and cleared his throat. “So, uh… I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and now that I’ve pulled a few strings, I was wondering if you’d like to work with me.”

“Work with you? In your building?”

“Well, no, not necessarily, but instead the building next to mine,” he said, taking a swift glance at her reaction. She looked thoughtful.

“Yes, I suppose so.” There was something irregular about her mannerisms today, and Lenina didn’t even seem as playful. “Yes, I would like to, actually. It would bring me closer to my fiancé.” She then smiled at her statement and turned to him to flash Leonard a breath-taking smile. On the other hand, there was something extremely artificial about it, and it bothered him endlessly.

“Are you alright, Lenny?” he asked with slight concern, though it was slowly intensifying.

“Yes, why do you ask?” Lenina turned to face the road now, and her smile had suddenly faded into a still statuesque beauty.

“Nothing,” he lied. “So! Where would you like to go today? It’s a beautiful afternoon we have to ourselves.”

“Yes, it is. Have you anything in mind?” she asked him apathetically.

When Leonard told her that his primary plan was to bring her to a restaurant, she smiled the same smile as before and agreed and claimed that that would be “delightful.” Lenina never used the word before. Parking right outside the small and intimate restaurant of Olive Gardens, Leonard made sure that he opened the door for her this time, and it pleased him to see that as soon as his fiancé exited the car, all eyes around them turned to her. The feeling was exhilarating, as if he had a good reason to boast what was his. Finally settled in the far back of the restaurant for two, they sat across from each other and made an order and waited. Lenina’s eyes wandered everywhere although her body never shifted. She was still with her hands on her lap, and her back erect—very much like a proper lady would act.

“Leonard?”

The question in her tone made him shiver as he dared to lift his eyes to hers. However, the playfulness was not there. “Yes, Lenina?”

“Will you kiss me?”

He looked around. “Um, yes, I guess.”

Lenina stood up carefully and leaned over their table, revealing her voluptuous cleavage. Their lips hadn’t even touched yet, and he already found it difficult to breathe. But…something was wrong. “Wait, Lenina, I can’t.”