Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-Up Christmas Relationship (18 page)

We have been driving for three hours, and haven’t really said a word to one another. It’s all pretty sad. The fact that he had to be so far away when his mom landed in the hospital is my entire fault. I should never have tried to hire a made-up boyfriend.

“Thanks again for driving,” he says, tapping his fingers against the passenger window, breaking our silence.

“Of course.”

“I’m really sorry, too. About how things went down with your family.”

I shrug and wiggle against his leather car seat. “It was destined to happen anyway. But on a plus side, I think I hate Lisa.”

“And that’s a plus?” he chortles.

“Oh yeah. Before I
fucking
hated her. But now it’s just hate.”

“Well look at that. Progress!”

I smile at him, and he gives me that killer grin back. Holding my hand out toward him, I feel him take it and hold on tight. Every mile I drive, I can feel our fake relationship fading away. Stacey calls me twice during the drive, but I figure I’ll call her when I get home because I refuse to ruin my last few moments with Kayden. We don’t talk anymore until we arrive in front of the hospital. He looks toward the emergency room, and I can see his fear of the unknown.

“I’ll come in with you,” I say, pulling into the parking lot. He nods his head once, and we step out of the car. His fingers find mine again, and we walk inside. There’s a lot of commotion inside—people crying, people sitting and waiting to be seen. When Kayden spots his family, his hand drops mine and he rushes over to a girl and wraps his arms around her.

I have no clue who the person is, but he looks better, kissing the top of her head and allowing her to cry into him.

When they pull apart, I see the girl saying that his mom is all right. Next, another guy walks toward Kayden with puffy eyes; he hesitates before wrapping his arms around him. When they do embrace, they hold on tight.

I release the breath I’ve been holding, and I realize our short made-up world has come to an end. Whatever fairytale love story we have created over the past few days disappeared the moment I parked outside. He’s with his family now, and I need to allow that. I’m not part of this world, this story.

Moving toward the door, I exit the hospital and wipe the falling tears from my eyes. The winter chill mocks me as it pushes me around with its winds. My cell phone starts ringing and when I answer it, Stacey screams. “Where the hell have you been?! I’ve been trying to reach you for days!”

“Sorry, Stacey. Service up north sucks, Is everything okay?”

“Um, no…it’s not. You took an actor from the agency?”

“Yeah, so? I told you that. What’s the big deal?”

“What was his name, Jules?”

A knot ties up in my stomach, twisting my insides because the tone in Stacey’s voice isn’t promising. I turn toward the entrance of the hospital to see Kayden walking my way. “Kayden Reece.”

I hear Stacey’s heavy sigh through the cell phone as she plops herself down onto a piece of furniture. “Julie, Kayden Reece isn’t with the agency. I turned him down due to lack of experience… He must have stayed in the lobby and…”

Stacey keeps talking but my phone falls into my pocket.

“Sunshine,” I hear; and Kayden stands in front of me, concern showing in his eyes.

“Is your mom all right?” I ask.

“She was hanging up Christmas decorations and fell. She was unconscious for a while, but she woke up about thirty minutes ago.”

“That’s good. That’s great, Kayden. One quick question though…” I sigh and find his eyes, locking into them, trying to see into who he really is. “Did Stacey sign you at Walter and Jacks agency?” I watch as his face drops and he realizes I know about his lie.

“I can explain,” he insists, edging closer to me, but the closer he gets, the more uncomfortable I become. The deeper green his eyes become, the more confused my mind grows.

Was it always an act? What was real? How far would someone travel with a lie for one thousand dollars?

“It’s okay.” I smile, shrugging my shoulders. “It was just a business deal anyway, right? See, this is why I don’t date actors. You never know if you’re just a part of their show.”

“Jules…” Kayden whispers in such a low tone that it’s almost silent.

“You should go back inside to be with your family.” My voice cracks, losing all its strength. I know it’s time to let go, it’s time to get back to what’s real—to reality. “Merry Christmas, Kayden.”

I turn and rush away as I reach in my pocket to pull out my cell phone. I’m quick to dial Stacey’s number to see if she can come pick me up. I don’t turn around to see if Kayden is chasing after me, because I’m positive he’s not. He knows as well as I do that the act is up.

Waking up two days later without Kayden sleeping in the same room is kind of depressing. What’s even more depressing is waking up alone on Christmas morning. I know it sounds crazy, but I even kind of miss my family’s yelling. And the chaos.

But mainly I miss my car, which is sitting at a random gas station in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. My life is way more dramatic than it was when I played video games with my boyfriend who is probably engaged to some Hanna chick by now.

Pulling myself out of bed, I stumble into my kitchen and glance at the counter where burnt cookies are lying. My eyes shift to the floor, and I notice wet spots leading into the living room. My heart tightens, and right before I let out a blood-curdling scream, I see Dad setting up a Christmas tree in the living room.

“What are you doing here?!” I yell as Mom jumps out of her skin on the couch.

“Julie Anne! You scared me!”

“You’re scared?
You
broke into
my
apartment.”

“No,” she says, shaking her head, “your grandma did.” Grandma, Lisa, and Olivia enter the room from the dining area, and I can’t help but smile. “Listen, Jules. I know we’re terrible people. We are all over the place, we make bad decisions, and we yell too much, but we are your family. And your family is going to sit here and spend Christmas with you.”

My eyes fall on the Christmas tree. “It’s beautiful.” I say, moving to the couch with Mom.

“It should be. It’s the one your fake boyfriend cut down. Where is—” Dad starts, but realizes he doesn’t know my fake boyfriend’s name.

“Kayden.”

“Oh, that’s much better than Richard. Where is Kayden?”

I glance at the engagement ring on my finger. I haven’t taken it off, and it’s a pretty embarrassing fact. I don’t know why I keep wearing it, but the idea of taking it off saddens me. “He’s with his family. Where’s Tim? And Danny?”

“Tim is probably in the Alps right now,” Grandma laughs, eating the nasty cookies. “He was an ugly motherfucker, wasn’t he? And he had a small—”

“
Mom
!” my mother hisses as her cheeks redden from embarrassment at what my grandma almost blurted out. I can’t help but smile at the dysfunctional lives that make up my family. Looking toward Lisa, I arch an eyebrow, wondering where her other half is.

Lisa lifts her daughter and stands near the tree as Olivia hangs some ornaments. “I figured we could use some true Stone family time, without Danny. He’s in LA with his family for a few days.”

“Lisa?” I ask, staring my sister in the eyes. She’s younger than I, but the tiredness in her eyes shows. I wonder how long she has beaten herself up for falling in love with someone who was off limits. “I hate you.”

Her eyebrows perk up and she smiles softly. “You don’t
fucking
hate me, but you hate me?” I nod. She smiles wider. “Best. Christmas. Ever.”

“Oh, and I got you a new car for Christmas,” Dad says nonchalantly, tossing me a set of keys. “Kayden told me how yours broke down when we were ‘rehearsing’ together.”

“I can’t take—”

“Oh shut up already. Just take the damn car,” Grandma hisses, opening a bottle of wine.

Well, I guess I’m taking the damn car.

There are things I’ve learned about families as a whole. They make mistakes. They say the wrong thing. They fall apart. But the ones who really care? They always try to pick up those pieces and glue them back together. Yeah, there are still cracks and it still hurts, but there are also laughs and love floating around. My family’s broken but in the most amazing way.

I plan to be dysfunctional right along with them forever.

New Year’s Eve comes in, my family flies out, and my apartment is silent again. It feels better than before, being alone. The pine needles on the tree are still fresh, still beautiful, and I know it’s not coming down any time soon.

Heading for Outers Retirement home, I pack up some extra cookies to take to my oldies. When I get there, everyone’s still carrying on as before. Eddie is whispering sweet nothings into Ms. Peterson’s ear. It still smells like candy and liniment, and all is well in the world.

Eddie turns around in his wheelchair and thrusts up his arms. “Jules! Where have you been all our lives! Get over here, weirdo!”

I grin. It’s always nice to be called a weirdo by Eddie. What an old butthead he is. Oh how I missed him. Bending down I give him a hug, and he squeezes me tight. Ms. Peterson moves to take out her hearing aids, and I laugh. “Don’t worry, Ms. Peterson. No more complaining and whining from me.”

“Oh? So you’re engaged! Let me see the ring!” Ms. Peterson smiles, reaching for my hand.

“Well, no, I’m not. But I am all right with being single.”

Eddie cocks an eyebrow and snickers. “What the hell happened to you in Wisconsin?”

A boy. A boy happened to me. Leaning in toward the two, I narrow my eyes. “I woke up this morning in my bed alone and I was fine. It felt great to be fine.”

“I don’t believe it. Who are you ringing in the New Year with? Who’s your current fling of the month?” Eddie laughs, poking me in the arm.

“My television, Chinese food, and black and white movies. I don’t need a guy to be comfortable with myself.”

Ms. Peterson huffs and puffs, “Yeah right! You’re engaged!” She scoops up my hand, showcasing the ring Kayden gave me and I laugh at her confusion.

“No, that’s just—”

“My late wife’s ring!” Eddie screams, looking at the ring. “You’re wearing my Eloise’s ring!”

Ms. Peterson’s mouth drops and her hands move to her ears, taking out her hearing aids before she says, “Awkward…”

I chuckle at Eddie and roll my eyes, “No, it probably just looks like the same style.”

Eddie reaches across the table and pulls the ring off my finger. “Yeah it just looks like it says E and E on the inside, huh? Where the hell did you get this? My grandson had it and he would never give this to anyone, unless…” A sudden realization hits Eddie while he looks up to meet my eyes. The palm of his hand slams down on the table, shaking Ms. Peterson’s checkers pieces. “Well I’ll be damned. Kayden’s in love again.”

My face heats up and my hands grow sweatier with every passing second. “What? No. Kayden isn’t your…Kayden is your grandson?! No, that’s not right.” My chair slides across the carpeted floor and I stand. “I have to go.”

“Sunshine,” Eddie cries, and my heart stops beating. He wheels in his chair over to me; and, with shaking hands, he takes my hand in his and slips the ring back onto my finger. Then he pats my hand in his. “Kayden doesn’t fall in love. He chooses to love.”

“No, that’s silly. We’ve only known each other for a few days. It was all an act, anyway. I hired—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t ask for your life story, kid. Look, go down to Hank’s bar tonight, have a drink or five, and then ask Kayden to love you forever. It’s that easy! I don’t see why the kids of your generation complicate things so damn much. Put on a pretty dress, get some lipstick, and then go after my grandson. Just be warned though…he’s an actor. So you’ll probably be paying all of his bills for the rest of your life.”

I grin at the happy old man and kiss his cheek, “Happy New Year, Eddie.”

And I take off running to find a freaking dress.