A Valentine Surprise (2 page)

Kendra's heart skipped a beat in excitement. “What is it? Tell me the secret,” she squealed impatiently.

“My cousin Benny is a waiter there and I can have him take care of the seating arrangements that night-he owes me a favor.”

Libby gave the two of them a skeptical look. “I can't believe you are encouraging her, Josh. I thought you agreed with my wisdom that it's best for her to move on and forget about Mark.”

Josh shrugged and lifted his hands, palms up, as if weighting the options. “Forgetting about him or getting back at him for sweet revenge...there are many paths to moving on, you know.”

“
I just hope it doesn't backfire on you, Kendra. Are you doing this to make him think you're over him and don't need him OR are you doing this because you want him to see what he's missing and want to take you back?”

“
Libby, bite your tongue! I'd never go back to that jerk! After what he did to me, are you kidding?” But even as she spoke, Kendra kept her fingers crossed under the table and prayed that her friend couldn't see through her lie. Because the truth was, in her heart of hearts, she was secretly hoping that he
would
ask her back. And if he did, she didn't know if she'd have the strength to turn away from him.

“
Valentine's Day it is, we have a date.” Josh winked at her and smiled to himself, obviously proud and a little in shock that Kendra had agreed to it. And Kendra was also a little in shock that she had agreed to it.

*

Home from work and feeling rather exhausted, Kendra kicked off her shoes and plopped on the couch. Though her body was tired her mind was busy as ever, planning her revenge and fantasizing about possible scenarios that would play out from that plan.

Her fantasies about Mark becoming wildly jealous after seeing her with somebody else (the fact that the someone else was Josh wasn't a part of her fantasy scenario yet) lit a fire in her, consumed her in a way that she knew wasn't healthy. She wanted him to beg her to go back to him. To realize that he'd made a huge mistake and that he'd do anything to get her back.

It was such a dichotomy, a battle between her heart and her head. Her head was telling her what Libby had tried to get her to see; that it was a foolish plan and her obsession with Mark and Ashley was not healthy. But her heart! Oh, that heart that couldn't let go of the man who had made her feel more special than any man had. But it been a month now that he'd broken up with her. So why was it so hard to forget about him?

Kendra looked around her apartment and realized that she wasn't making it any easier to forget-all around her were little reminders of him. The very couch she sat on, where he'd fed her chocolate covered strawberries and they'd snuggled together watching romantic movies, where they'd made love many times. On her bookshelf was a photo of them in a crystal frame, a gift from him. The picture had been taken at a wedding, they were dressed up, she was on his lap and they both looked so happy. She had never seen a picture of herself looking so happy so she kept it up there (she told herself) as a reminder that it was possible for her to be that happy and that she would be again someday.

Next to the frame on the shelf sat a book of love sonnets that he'd given her, just out of the blue...what kind of man does that?
The kind of man who makes you fall head over heels for him before moving on to the new flavor of the month,
answered her head.

She went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She thought it was time that she confront the part of her plan that involved Josh and probably needed a bit of alcohol to come to terms with the fact that he was the one she'd chosen to play the part of her lover. Oy!

Josh would need some coaching, definitely. Suave wasn't a word that came to mind when she thought of him. And there wasn't much time. She should call him. Yes, that's what she should do, call him so they could talk about their plan. Did she have a plan? Maybe to give him a background story, something that they could use in case Mark saw them and wanted to meet this man who will make his blood boil with jealousy. But would he get jealous over an elementary gym teacher and kids' basketball coach?

She sat down at her tiny, two seated white tiled kitchen table with her glass of wine and a small notebook to take some notes. She put her auburn hair into a ponytail. For some reason, she always did her best reason when her hair was up.She started to brainstorm different occupations he could pretend to have. Bank President? Too stuffy. Movie Producer? Too swarmy. It had to be something that could afford a lavish lifestyle and a position of power. CEO? Attorney? Those sounded better, she'd have to run them Josh to see if he had any ideas. Hopefully he wouldn't feel crushed that she didn't think the job he did in his real life was not good enough for her pretend dream date.

She was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She smiled when she saw that it was Josh.

“
Hey there pretend boyfriend, I was just thinking about you,” she said into the phone.

“
That's something I like to hear!” She could hear him laugh and even over the phone his laugh was so hearty and infectious that it put a smile on her face.

“
Kendra, I was thinking that maybe we should get together some time to get our game plan down. Unless, of course, you think we can just talk about it during lunch breaks. So, whatever you think works best, I guess.”

Kendra thought he sounded a little bit nervous, which wasn't like him and hoped that he wasn't getting cold feet. “No, I think it's a great idea,” she reassured him. “I was actually about to call you with the same idea. I'm going shopping with Libby tomorrow to find a dress to wear and was wondering if we could meet later in the evening. You could come over to my place. Does that work for you?”

“Yeah, tomorrow night would be great! I'm looking forward to it! How does seven sound?”

“
Seven sounds perfect. And Josh...I just want to thank you again. I really appreciate it.”

“
It's my pleasure, Kendra. I'm happy to do this for you.”

*

The shopping trip with Libby had been a success. In fact, not only did Kendra find the perfect dress, she found TWO perfect dresses and such a hard time choosing between them, she made the obvious decision: she bought them both. One was an elegant strapless dress in classic black. She looked great in black and fell in love with how it looked on her when she tried it on in the store. The other was in a sexy Valentine's red. It was a curve-hugging dress that was a little more eye-catching than she was used to wearing but would work perfectly for her purpose; she wanted to capture attention.

Standing in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom, she was holding up both dresses trying to decide which one to wear when the doorbell startled her. She looked at the clock above her bed. Seven o'clock on the dot. Josh was prompt, she'd give him that.

When she opened the door, her breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. There was a tall, dark and handsome man standing there and that man was...Josh?

He flashed her a dazzling smile and said, “What do you think?”

She just stood there, mouth gaping. It was Josh, but a transformed Josh. His hair was cut, gone were the shaggy locks that curled on his neck and hung in his eyes, replaced with a style that made him look like a GQ cover model. And the rest of him matched that hair. He wore a blue button down shirt that brought out his piercing blue eyes with dark dress pants and obviously brand new shoes. Kendra was speechless.

“Um, is it ok if I come in? It's a little chilly out here.”

“
Oh! Sorry, of course you should come in!” Kendra heard herself giggle nervously as she let Josh in, not able to take her eyes off of him.

“
Josh, I couldn't believe it was you! You are positively dashing?”

“
Dashing? Then you like my new look?”

“
Like it? I love it! You look amazing, it's perfect!” And Kendra did mean it. She hated to admit it but he was looking much hotter than Mark. Perfect for the role of the hot new boyfriend. Things were looking up.

“
Thank you! And thank Libby, too. She's the one responsible for this.”

“
Libby?”

“
Yeah, I told her I was going to get a haircut and she thought that was a great idea until I told her I was going to Cheap Cuts next to the gas station by school. She put her hand over her heart and I thought she was going into cardiac arrest!”

Kendra laughed. “That sounds like Libby! She's so dramatic!”  Secretly though, Kendra thanked her for keeping Josh out of Cheap Cuts or she'd probably be standing in front of a man with either a bowl cut, buzz cut or spike top.

“So she set up an appointment for me at the salon she goes to and told them the story about how I was helping you and everyone there wanted to help me do it, I was shocked. They only charged me for the hair cut but they gave me a facial, shaped my eyebrows, they even gave me a manicure,” he said as he held up his hands in proof.

“
Very fancy!” Kendra smiled and touched his smooth hand. She felt butterflies flutter in her stomach at the touch.

“
And that's not all Libby did for me. I went to the mall today and she met me to help pick out some clothes to go with my new look.” He turned around in a circle.

“
Wait a minute, how could Libby have met you at the mall, she was with ME at the mall today.”

Josh smiled smugly.

“I know she was. She actually snuck away from you and met me in secret. She's really fast about picking things out, she knew exactly what would look good on me. Seriously, it was spooky. She definitely has a gift. It was when you guys were at lunch. She didn't want to tell you because she wanted it to be a surprise.”

“
Ohhhhh...” Kendra nodded in understanding. “That explains why she left me at the lunch table for so long; I thought it was the Chinese food she ate-she told me had to run to the bathroom because her IBS was acting up.”

Josh laughed. “That's a good one, I'll have to remember that. She didn't tell me that part. But it was either new clothes or I would have had to bring out my dressy sweatpants.”

“Dressy sweatpants? Is that the surprise you had in your closet for me?”

“
Yeah, I think those would not have made as much of an impact. So, anyways, I hope you're surprised.”

“
Well, I'm definitely surprised. I owe Libby big. And you too, I can't believe how much you must have spent today. I'll go grab my wallet so I can pay you for it.”

She turned to head into the kitchen for her purse when Josh grabbed her arm. Butterflies again with his touch. What was going on with that?

“Wait, you don't have to pay me, honestly. I really like my new look and if it wasn't for you I never would have done it. You should have seen all the attention I got from women at the mall. I'm not used to that. I kind of liked it.” He flashed that infectious smile with dazzlingly white teeth-did he get his teeth whitened, too? Kendra felt just the slightest twinge of jealousy but pushed it aside quickly. Josh was her friend, why would she have to feel jealous that he enjoyed female attention. They were only f
riends
.
Friends
.

“
And I like the new clothes I bought. I'm pretty lucky that I have a job where I get to wear sweats and sneakers but that doesn't mean I can't wear something nicer when I go out.”

“
Do you go out a lot?” She asked casually. “I mean, we never really talk about your love life at work, do you go on a lot of dates?”

He smiled coyly at her, “The reason I don't talk about my love life is because I really don't have one. A few dates here and there, but it's been a long time since there was someone serious.”

The pain in his eyes betrayed his light tone and she wondered who it was that broke his heart.

“
I'm a good listener, if you ever want to talk about it. And I may have been burned once or twice myself as you've heard.”

“
Not really much to talk about. The last time I was serious with someone was my senior year of college. I was playing basketball and having a great year, all set to go pro when I graduated. I had a serious girlfriend, everything seemed to be falling in place for me. And then I got injured. Really bad-three surgeries, no more ball for me. Then my girlfriend-who it turns out was most likely only with  me because she wanted to be the girlfriend of a professional athlete-dumped me. I'm not going to lie, it really hurt and was a hard way to finish what started as such a stellar year. So, that's why I haven't really jumped into anything serious since then. I want to make sure I found someone genuine...like you, for example.”

Kendra laughed. “Me? Having you pretend to be my boyfriend to make my ex jealous doesn't really sound very genuine.”

“Oh, that, yeah, I guess...but I can see why you would do it. You had your heart broken and want to show him that you can be happy without him, I understand that. I'd do the same thing with my ex if I had the chance. But I'm talking about how you are kind to everyone, not for what they can do for you, but selflessly, just because that's how you are. Kids love you, adults love you, you're just a great girl.”