Believe Me, I'm Lying

“I don’t get it,” Caleb Turman states as he leans up against the bar. He shakes his head and takes a sip of his beer before looking at his best friend and saying, “She’s a horrifying human being. I actually don’t even think she’s human. She’s-”

Kyle Burns, who’s standing to the right of Caleb, coughs loudly, elbowing the red head in the ribs and giving him a warning look. Caleb simply shrugs and rolls his eyes, not really even caring what Kyle has to say about this.

“Honestly, Jack. Why are you doing this?”

Jack Barakat, who has been standing on the other side of Caleb, simply smiles slightly, knowing that Caleb will never really understand his reasoning, but figuring he can at least try to explain anyway, “Because. If I marry her, I get an even bigger part of the company, not to mention my father’s love and respect. If I don’t, then I will more than likely lose every piece of the company that’s mine right now, and, I’ll lose my father’s love and respect. Now, tell me. What sounds more appealing to you?”

“I’d rather be happy with no money at all than be in a relationship that makes me miserable. And I know for a fact that Ashley Boening makes you miserable. She has since day one.”

Kyle makes a funny noise – sounding much like someone who has just choked on their drink. He coughs and sputters as Caleb hits him hard on the back. “Sorry,” He apologizes when he is able to speak again, “It’s just… her last name, you know…”

Caleb’s teeth clamp down on his lower lip to contain his laughter as Jack narrows his eyes and asks, “What about it?”

“Well…” Kyle rubs at the back of neck awkwardly, “It sort of reminds me of ‘boner’. You know… ‘Boening’…’Boner’…”

At first Jack looks angry, and Caleb tries to figure out an explanation and an apology in his head as quickly as possible. But then the dark haired boy cracks a smile and shakes his head, causing the other two to sigh in relief and lean more against the bar.

“You guys are so immature,” Jack laughs, “And you wonder why Ashley hates you.”

“She hates us?” Kyle asks, sarcasm lacing his words, “Since when?”

“Ah, shut up,” Caleb suggests, turning back to the bar, “Let’s have a toast for Jack.” He raises his beer bottle and clears his throat, “Jack, I hope you realize you’ve just sentenced yourself to a lifetime of hell. And, if you have a brain like I think you do, please get out now.”

*

The following morning at six, Jack wakes up with his girlfriend – oh, wait. His fiancé wrapped up around him. Her arms are keeping a tight hold of his waist while her legs are tangled with his and he frowns as he stares up at the ceiling. He needs to get out of bed without waking her, because he really doesn’t want to hear her voice this early in the morning. He wants to be out the door before she can wake up and hopefully she’ll just go back to her own home.

You’re probably wondering why he’s speaking about her like this. But, the truth is, he really doesn’t care much for her. She’s a convenience – and that’s all she’ll really ever be. But she doesn’t need to know that. Not when her father and his own share a company that will one day be his entirely. He really cannot risk that. Not for anything.

So, with a small sigh, he gently removes her arms from around him and untangles their legs, wrapping her up in the sheets so he doesn’t have to see her naked. It’s bad enough that he had to see her last night when she wanted sex. At least he was drunk then.

He smiles as he steps into the shower a little while later, recalling the small gathering between him and Caleb and Kyle at the bar. It was mainly to celebrate his new engagement, but both Kyle and Caleb know how Jack really feels about Ashley, so it was basically just an excuse to drink. Not that they really ever need one.

Jack has been spoiled his entire life, as have Kyle and Caleb. They’ve been best friends since they met at the private elementary school they attended, and have been inseparable ever since. Jack couldn’t ask for better friends, even though Ashley really wishes he would. She doesn’t like either of them, simply because they’re a little bit immature and a little bit more level headed than others in their social group. She deals with it, though, thankfully.

By the time he’s done getting ready, it’s nearly seven thirty and he has to get going soon if he’s going to make it to work on time. He scribbles a note telling Ashley that he left for work and that he’ll call her later, sticking it on the fridge and heading out of his house. He gets into his shiny, sleek black Honda, backing out of his driveway and heading towards the local college campus.

Jack doesn’t really need to work. He has enough money in his bank account to get him through the next ten years, really. But, he likes to keep himself busy, and he figured he really shouldn’t let his college education go to waste. So, he works as an art professor at the community college in Towson. He’s a pretty laid back teacher and his students tend to love him, so naturally he has no problem waking up and going to work each day. But still, when the time comes for him to take over his dad’s company, he won’t even think twice about dropping this job.

Before getting to the school campus, he first stops at a small café located about five minutes away. He gets coffee here at the Coffee Bean every morning. Because his father is rather well known and, more than likely, supplies most of the people here with jobs, he usually doesn’t have to wait on any lines. By now, they know his order by heart and they normally have it ready for him by the time he walks in the door. All he has to do is leave two bucks on the counter. Except this morning it seems that that’s not the case, because when he walks through the door at his usual time, there’s no coffee waiting for him on the counter. Well, there goes his plan of getting in and out of here in as little time as possible.

He’s never been one to make a scene – that’s Ashley’s job – so he just stands on the back of line, leaning over every so often to get a look at the person behind the counter. They’re probably new, he decides. And he guesses, since they’re new, he won’t blame them. Too much, at least.

By the time Jack actually gets up to the counter, he’s only got five minutes to make it to work if he wants to be on time. He suppresses his irritation at this fact and covers it with a smile when the boy at the counter – who is clearly new – asks him for his order.

“Medium black coffee,” He states simply, pulling two dollars from his wallet as the boy types in the numbers into the cash register.

“Okay, that’ll be-”

“Two dollars, I know.” He throws the dollar bills onto the counter and steps off to the side to wait for his coffee. He’s annoyed, simply because he’s running late and he hasn’t even gotten his coffee yet. He has half a mind to go and complain to the manager. But he won’t, because he doesn’t really have the time for that.

He sits down in a seat near the window, pulling out his blackberry to email the secretary of his department at school to inform her that she’ll have to cover for him if anyone of importance drops by. It’s really just a precaution, because he can pretty much get away with anything. His father has donated so much to the college, including a brand new library and cafeteria, that Jack’s job is fairly secure.

“Uh, sir? Here’s your coffee.”

Jack looks up from his phone, finding himself face to face with the boy who took his order. He looks terrified – and Jack can’t help but want to laugh. Because really, Jack’s not exactly intimidating. “Thanks man,” he reaches out and takes the cup, shoving his cell phone into his blazer pocket, “Are you new here?” He lets his eyes settle on the boy’s name tag, finding that his name is Alex.

“Y-yeah,” the boy admits, chewing on his lower lip and tugging self consciously on his green work shirt, “I just started today. They didn’t tell me until now that I was supposed to have your coffee ready-”

“No big deal,” jack assures him, taking a few seconds to take in his features. He’s tall and on the thin side– not as tall as Jack, but still a little taller than average. He looks younger than Jack, too. Maybe twenty, if Jack were to guess. His hair is a light brown with blonde highlights that don’t look natural, but still look good. It’s boys like Alex that make Jack’s homosexuality more than obvious. In his head, at least.

“I’ll have it ready for you tomorrow, I swear,” Alex mumbles quietly as Jack stands, “H-have a nice day, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir – makes me feel old. It’s Jack. And thanks, you too.”