My Fake Girlfriend

ATHENA

I rolled my eyes reading the text. I was already regretting my decision, and it hadn’t been twenty-four hours yet. Last night, Dad had even called me to tell me how proud he was that I’d purchased my own restaurant and that he’d visit soon.

Ares was such a jerk for involving my family.

I left the kitchen and exchanged my chef whites for jeans and a top before leaving through the back door. An expensive, black SUV was waiting for me in the parking lot. Ares’s assistant opened the door, and I thanked him as I got into the car.

“I thought I fired you,” Ares said. “Why are you so stubborn?”

“I’m a chef, Ares. I love to cook.”

He rolled his eyes and gestured for the driver to go. “Well, stop going there. You have a restaurant of your own to run.”

I looked at him and narrowed my eyes as I buckled my seatbelt.

“What?” he asked.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you need a fake girlfriend so bad? If your reputation is the problem why don’t you just…stop being such a manwhore? You know, grow up like the rest of us did after high school.”

“Me? Grow up?” He pointed at himself, looking offended. “It’s not me that’s the problem. It’s the old men that think a guy can’t have fun and run a business at the same time.”

He shrugged. “Besides, relationships are boring. And since I don’t want to get married, I’d rather have a fake girlfriend that my family and colleagues will love so they’ll give me a break for a while.”

“You don’t want to get married?” I asked, genuinely curious.

He waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t believe in love.” There was a hint of hurt in his voice, but I’d rather not go down that road, so I remained silent.

He continued, “I love my job, so I’m planning on keeping it. And when I came up with this idea, you’re the first person that crossed my mind.”

“Why?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure there are lots of other independent women out there.”

“I remember when we used to hang out between classes. You were sweet, kind, easy to talk to. You were interesting and…not interested in me. So, that made you…cool.”

I laughed. “Cool?”

“You’re also beautiful, and your body is—”

I shot him a glare, silencing him.

He held up his hands in defense. “What? I’m being honest.”

“Whatever.” I crossed my arms and sighed, looking out of the window. “I don’t know how I’ll survive if I have to see you every day.”

“That’s one of the reasons I picked you, Athena. You don’t like me, so you won’t fall in love with me.” He winked.

I snorted. “When pigs fly.”

“Speaking of seeing each other, I’ll be requesting a lot of your time this month.”

“Why?”

He counted on his fingers as he said, “Tomorrow is my grandmother’s seventy-fifth birthday. After that, my sister is planning her wedding, and I’m one hundred percent sure she’ll want you—”

“Ares, I’m your fake girlfriend, not your wife. Do I have to—”

He put his index finger on my lips. “I’m not finished, love.”

I bit his finger, making him yelp and hold it to his chest.

“Hey! Why did you do that?!”

“You’re annoying, and I hate you,” I said matter-of-factly.

“You better behave when we’re in front of my family.”

I pulled an ugly face, causing him to chuckle.

“You always used to do that when you figured out a puzzle before I did,” he said.

I smiled at the memory. “I mean, you were pretty slow.”

“I wasn’t slow. I just let you win.”

For my sixteenth birthday, my dad gave me a Japanese puzzle game. It was so difficult that I brought it to school to solve during lunch.

That’s when Ares walked past me and stopped to ask about the puzzle. It was the first time he’d tried to talk to me outside of class.

He helped me to solve it, and the next day brought a puzzle of his own to show me.

We bonded over them and ended up buying a few puzzles together. We would solve them after school while he cheated from my homework, or copied notes that he hadn’t bothered to take during class.

“Do you still do puzzles?” he asked.

“No. I stopped years ago when I got too busy. How about you?”

“Me too…”

There was a minute of silence between us. It wasn’t awkward, but enough for us to look at each other before quickly looking away.

Ares broke it. “I know my family will like you, Athena. I’m pretty confident my sister will ask you to tag along for her wedding prep. And my grandmother will like you too, so she might ask you to come by a lot. So, it’ll be a busy month.”

“Oh, gosh…,” I groaned. I wasn’t nearly a good enough actor to pretend to love Ares.

“Six months, Athena. Fool them for six months, and you’ll have your own restaurant. We’ll go our separate ways after that, and I’ll never bother you again. I promise. It’s in the contract.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

The car stopped.

“All right let’s go see your new baby,” Ares said.

My jaw dropped as I got out of the car, looking at the two-story building in awe. Ares grabbed my hand and dragged me to the door, then handed me a key. I took a deep breath and swung the door open.

My heart stopped for a second. The walls were a deep gray, and the tables made from white marble with flickering candles in glass jars. The chairs were gold, and the small chandeliers matched.

Polished black stairs on the right led to the second floor, where a balcony overlooked the dining room. It was modern and chic, but cozy at the same time. It was exactly what I’d had in mind, and I was speechless.

I turned to Ares. “How did you…?”

“I don’t know if you remember, but two weeks ago, your head chef gave you a questionnaire to fill in.”

“But that was for ideas to refurbish Skye.”

He smiled. “That’s just what I told them. You wrote everything exactly as you would have done it, and I had a team make it happen. Nice taste, by the way. Classy,” he said as he gazed around.

“Ares…” I covered my mouth as I walked through it and into the kitchen, tears filling my eyes. Everything was new and silver and shining under the bright lights. I couldn’t believe it. It was like he’d taken the design straight from my dreams.

Which he had, I guessed.

Everything was perfect.

“I hired a team for you,” Ares said. “You’ll have three chefs working with you, and the restaurant manager will organize everyone else. All you need to do is come up with a menu and arrange an opening—oh, and name the place.”

“Ares, take a seat.” I took his hand and directed him to a table.

He sat across from me and raised his eyebrows, confused. “What? Did I miss something?” He looked genuinely concerned, which somehow warmed my heart.

“Firstly,” I started, “I want to thank you. I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity, but I don’t want to take everything for free.”

He tried to protest, but I stopped him. “Let me finish. I know that you gave me this restaurant as payment for helping you, but…this place is in the heart of Beverly Hills. Plus, you’ve already furnished it, filled the kitchen, and hired the staff. It’s…”

I shook my head. “It’s too much for me to take, Ares. I don’t want to do this unless I can pay you back.”

“Athena, that’s not—”

I held up my hand, my mind already made. “I’m going to pay three thousand dollars back every month until the debt is covered. That includes the design fee, the furniture, the equipment…everything.”

“Athena, you already signed the contract.”

“But you never mentioned…this.” I motioned around the place. “It’s too perfect, Ares. If you refuse to let me pay for it, I’ll refuse to be your fake girlfriend.”

There was a long silence. Ares was looking at me with amusement in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it right away.

“Thank you for doing this for me,” I said, “but I don’t want to take this for free. I’ve been working so hard to save up for an opportunity like this. So, please…let me earn it.”

He sighed, relaxing back onto the golden seat. “Fine.”

I smiled. “All of this effort, when I could have said no. You always knew you wanted me to be your fake girlfriend, huh?”

“Yes.”

I glared at him playfully, hating the fact that he didn’t even try to hide it. “Well…thank you.”

“Rather than thanking me, how about you cook me something? I’m hungry.”

I took my phone out to check the nearest market. “Sure, but I have to buy some ingredients first—”

“The fridge is stocked. Improvise.”

I looked at him and saw his smirk and the challenge in it. It reminded me of how my dad used to teach me when I was a teen, which made me smile. “Got it. Give me twenty minutes.”

“I’ll wait.” He smiled and took out his phone to make a call, and I headed into the kitchen.

In the walk-in, I found a variety of basic, fresh ingredients. I emerged with my arms full and laid them out on the counter: potatoes and carrots, pasta, steak, herbs, and spices. In my mind, they came together and a recipe formed.

First, I prepared the steaks and set them on the stove to cook alongside the boiling pasta. Then I searched until I found a food processor to make some fresh pesto from the garlic, basil, and parmesan I’d found.

As I tasted the mixture, my heart started to race and I almost dropped the spoon.

Why am I so nervous?

It’s just Ares.

He won’t judge me as harshly as Dad—right?

I brushed a little of the pesto over the steaks, then set them aside for a minute while I drained the pasta, drizzling in a little olive oil.

Then I quickly crushed some blueberries and strawberries in two glasses, added ice, and finished up with sparkling water.

Finally, I took a couple of deep breaths to calm my nerves as I sliced the steaks into neat strips to arrange over each nest of spaghetti, then poured over the remaining pesto.

I walked out of the kitchen carrying the two dishes. Ares wasn’t at the table, so I placed them down and went back to collect the drinks and silverware. When I returned, I noticed that he was on his phone outside.

I waved to get his attention, and he nodded, showing me a finger to wait a moment.

I sat down first and waited anxiously as Ares came back inside.

He sat and placed his phone face down on the table. “Sorry about that. I’m a busy man.”

“It’s okay.”

“Smells nice. I can’t wait to try it.”

He grabbed a knife and fork, cutting the steak slowly. I intertwined my fingers, putting my chin on top of my hands to watch him nervously.

He took a bite, maintaining eye contact, and chewed a few times.

He swallowed and said nothing.

“You don’t like it?” I asked quietly.

He shook his head. “No, it’s good, Athena.” He smiled.

I sat up straighter. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You’re talented.”

I smiled, the tension inside me leaving, and we ate together in silence until Ares’s phone rang on the table, vibrating on the marble.

He picked it up. “Talk,” he said and listened for a moment. “Okay, I’ll be there soon. Tell him to wait.” He hung up and wiped his mouth on a napkin. “A client needs to meet with me, I have to go,” he said to me.

I quickly got up too. “Oh, okay.”

“Thank you for the meal, Athena. I look forward to seeing what you can do with this place.” He smiled for a second. “Tonight, I’ll send my assistant by your apartment with a dress for tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at ten.”

With that, he left without so much as a goodbye.

It’s all business, ~Athena~.

I sighed, cleared our dishes, and cleaned up the kitchen.

I spent the rest of the day in the office behind the kitchen, figuring out the menu and the name of the restaurant. I wanted this place to be unique, but also familiar enough that it wouldn’t scare anyone away.

I would add some decorations of my own too—maybe some paintings on the walls to match whatever cuisine I decided to go with.

Evening came, and my phone buzzed on the desk. I hadn’t moved in a few hours to turn the office lights on, so the screen almost blinded me when I checked who had texted. Surprise, surprise. It was Ares.

I called a cab, turned off all the lights, and locked the doors. All the way home, I couldn’t stop smiling. It felt wrong because blackmail had got me here, but I could make this work for me. I always did.

When I arrived at my apartment building, Ares’s assistant was already waiting for me in the lobby.

“Good evening, Ms. Matthews. I have a package for you from Mr. Anderson.” He handed me a big black box, tied with a thick white ribbon.

“Thank you so much, um…”

“You may call me Will, Ms. Matthews.”

“Athena.” I smiled. “Please call me Athena. And thank you so much, Will.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

Back in my apartment, I put the box on the coffee table in my living room and untied the ribbon to see inside.

A beautiful, pale-pink summer dress was folded inside. I lifted it to see the details, admiring the short split sleeves and delicate floral pattern, then gasped when I noticed the brand label.

I’d never owned anything so expensive!

My phone vibrated in my back pocket.

I rolled my eyes, but managed to smile and hung the dress in my room.