Married At First Glance: I Am Not Ugly

“I promise that when I get back, we’ll spend some quality time together. Just you and me. No work, no distractions, just us.” she said, her voice filled with love.

“I’d like that. I’d like that a lot. I promise to be patient until then. I just want you to know that I miss you and I wish I could be with you right now.” he said, his voice sounding a little forlorn.

“I know. And I wish the same thing too. Just know that I’m thinking of you and that I’m looking forward to seeing you soon. I promise.” she said, her voice reassuring.

“Okay. I believe you.

I’ll try to make this trip as short as possible. And when I get back, we can spend some quality time together and just enjoy each other’s company. I’ll even cook you a nice meal. How does that sound?” she asked, her voice hopeful.

“That sounds wonderful. I’ll look forward to that. And you know I’ll help you out with the cooking.” he said, a smile on his face.

“I gotta go babe. I’ll call you when I get there okay?” she said.

“Of course, just be safe and don’t work too hard. Take care of yourself. I love you.” he said, feeling a little sad that they had to end the call.

“I love you too. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye, Alex.” she said, sounding a little reluctant to hang up.

“Bye, Jessie. Talk to you soon.” he said, hanging up the phone. He sat there for a moment, thinking about how much he missed her and how much he was looking forward to seeing her again.

After the call ended he thought about how whenever he tried to be honest with Jessie, something just stood in his way.

Was it a sign that he shouldn’t tell her?

Just then he received a message from Marissa asking him if he was coming over today or if he was spending the night with Jessie.

“Hey, are you coming home tonight or are you planning on staying over with Jessie?” Marissa asked via text.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Alex looked at his phone and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He didn’t know how to respond. He felt like he was caught in a difficult position, and he didn’t know what to do.

Should he be honest with Marissa, or should he lie to her?

After a few moments of hesitation, he decided to reply to her text that he was coming over.

“Hey, Marissa. Yeah, I should be home soon. I just closed from the office.”

A few minutes later, Marissa replied, “That’s great to hear. I guess I’d see you soon then…” she said via text.

Alexander read it and leaned on his chair and sighed deeply.

Should he cancel and just return to his apartment or should he go?

He placed his hand on his hair as he thought about what to do. He was at a crossroad. He loved Jessie but he likes Marissa but right now he doesn’t know what to do about Marissa.

He guesses that this whole fake marriage thingy has caused a lot of issues for him even though he was the one who brought up the idea.

What if Jaime finds out about it? He wouldn’t hesitate to inform the client about it and make them cancel the contract and he would have to pay for damages as well as breaching the agreement.

~~~~

Meanwhile, Marissa returned to the apartment after she had spent some time with her younger brother Samuel Preah.

She checked the time and realized that it was almost time for Alexander to close and return home.

She wondered if he was going to come over today or stay at his other apartment to spend time with Jessie.

“Should I call him?” she asked herself while staring at her phone.

“I don’t think I should. Maybe he has plans with Jessie. Why should I call him after all he isn’t my boyfriend or husband.” she told herself.

She shook her head and decided it wasn’t the best idea to call him and make him feel uncomfortable after all he had redefined their relationship as strictly business and nothing more so why was she raising her hope up.

She decided to get herself busy with house chores to keep herself from thinking about Alexander and his other life.

She started by cooking a light dinner for herself. She loved cooking as it had always been a hobby of hers since she was a teenager. She didn’t mind doing the cooking herself when she was living alone. In fact, she preferred to do it herself so she could control what she ate.

Once she was done with dinner, she checked the time and realized that Alexander would have closed from work.

So after much hesitation she decided to text him and he replied that he would be available. She couldn’t explain it but part of her was happy that he was coming over.

She guessed that maybe Jessie was busy with work and so they couldn’t hang out together that day.

An hour later, she heard a knock on the door and opened the door and was surprised to see Jessie in front of the door.

“Jessie? What are you doing here?” Marissa asked surprised as she didn’t expect Jessie.

Jessie didn’t respond and just entered. Marissa could tell by the look on her face that she was angry.

Jessie walked in and sat down on the couch and placed her bag on the chair and crossed her leg.

Marissa walked over to where she was and spoke.

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” she asked Jessie, but Jessie didn’t respond.

“Okay… I guess you don’t want coffee….” she said and sat down. There was silence in the air as everywhere was filled with tension.

“What are you supposed to be to Alexander?” she asked Marissa after a while of silence.

“I…um… don’t know what you mean….” Marissa said.