It’s Only Temporary by Iona Rose

Connor

Ihadn’t been to my parents’ suite in years. I wasn’t puzzled when Peter came and told me that they wanted to see me. It was the night before my sister’s wedding and I figured that they had some stuff they wanted to talk to us about.

As I strolled down the hallways, I felt at peace, something I hadn’t felt in years. It was as if my life was finally aligning. Angie was out of my life and I was having a passionate affair with a beautiful woman who was fun and intriguing. What else could a man want?

Dinner had been fun too. Bianca and I had sat at our usual table away from everyone else and talked throughout dinner. We never seem to run out of things to say to each other. It dawned on me that we had actually become more than lovers. We had become friends.

I reached my parents’ suite and gave a slight knock. A second later, I pushed the door open and entered into the living room. I sensed the tense atmosphere immediately. A look at my parents faces confirmed that something was not right.

They wore expressions that I remembered clearly from my growing up years when I’d done something naughty. Like flooding the backyard with water in a poor attempt to water the lawn.

“Hi,” I said and sat down next to Sarah.

I glanced at her questioningly but she refused to meet my eyes. Something was definitely cooking. My first thought was that it had something to do with Brian but I’d left him having a ball in the bar with his groomsmen.

“What’s going on?” I said.

“I never raised a man who found it necessary to lie to his woman,” my father said, with a tone I hadn’t heard in decades.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I was genuinely perplexed.

“I saw you yesterday,” Sarah said. “We had gone for a late lunch at the resort and I saw you having coffee with this woman. It didn’t look casual either as you two were holding hands and being cozy.”

I stared at Sarah in disbelief. “Why didn’t you come to me and ask me?” Fury came over me.

“I just thought it easier to tell mom and dad,” she said, a defensive tone in her voice.

She used to do that when we were little. Report everything to our parents, part of the reason why I got into so much trouble.

“I thought you outgrew tattle-telling,” I said.

A guilty look came over her features. We were adults not kids and she should have come to me instead of going to our parents.

“That’s not important Connor,” my mother said, her forehead creased with worry.

I could imagine what was going through her mind. Her son was a cheat and was dangling two women, making promises to one and who knew what else to the other. Looking at her worried expression made my chest squeeze. I hated to cause any distress to either of my parents, especially my mother.

I tried to think of an explanation because clearly, they were waiting for one.

“I know there’s a good reason why you were with that woman,” my mother said.

“I can’t wait to hear it,” my father said, his tone heavy with sarcasm.

“It is but it’s humiliating and embarrassing,” I said.

“It can’t be more that what we think of you right now. We are good people Connor. Why would you do something like that to a lovely woman like Bianca?” my father continued.

I had no choice. I had to come clean with the truth. I shot Sarah an angry look. Why couldn’t she have kept her big mouth shut and come to me instead. I had been congratulating myself on how fast I had dealt with the issue of Angie.

Now, I was going to have to confess to the whole thing. My family would think I was a complete idiot. With the hindsight that comes with time, I saw my mistakes as clearly as if I was looking through a glass window.

I should not have come with Bianca as my fake fiancée. That wasn’t right either because getting to know her was what had opened my eyes to how much I’d been short changing myself with Angie.

I inhaled deeply and started speaking. “It’s true that you saw me with another woman yesterday but it’s not what you think. Her name is Angie and she’s my ex-fiancée. She broke our engagement just before we were to travel here for the wedding.”

“So who is Bianca?” Sarah asked.

That was the hard part. There was no way to explain it without looking like a complete fool.

“Bianca is a friend.” What I didn’t specify was when we had become friends. “I asked her to come with me to Colorado as my fiancée.”

“Why?” my father said.

“So that no one would ask him questions about his love life and when he’s planning on settling down.”

I was relieved when Sarah answered for me.

“Is that true Connor?” my mother asked.

“More or less. I’d already asked Angie to come with me to Colorado and I’d already told you guys that I was bringing my fiancée. I was sure the whole extended family knew. It just seemed easier to come with Bianca rather than explain that my fiancée had dumped me.”

I hoped that I didn’t sound as pathetic as my story was. I was sure I wore a sheepish face. My parents were clearly at a loss for words as they were just staring at me. I could easily imagine what was going through their minds. They were probably wondering whether their real son had been swapped at the hospital when my mother gave birth to me.

If I were them, I’d have suspected the same thing too.

My father was the first to move. He shook his head. “You mean to tell me that you and Bianca made a decision to lie to all of us that you’re engaged?”

I met and held his gaze. “Yes. I know it was a stupid thing to do and I wish I hadn’t but please don’t blame Bianca. She thought she was coming as my girlfriend. I only told her when we got to the lodge that she was going to act as my fiancée. She didn’t speak to me for hours.”

“You coerced her into agreeing to this ridiculous charade?” my father said.

“Coerce is a strong word. Convinced is better.”

“I can’t believe that I actually believed it,” my mother said softly, almost as if she was talking to herself. She turned to me. “You don’t need to lie to us about your relationship status. I do blame myself a little. I guess I do pile on the pressure.”

“He’s an adult Judy, not a twelve-year-old,” my father growled.

He was right. It had been a stupid idea in the first place and if I told them that alcohol had been involved, they would have come to the conclusion that I had a drinking problem.

My mother let out a big sigh and then straightened her shoulders. “Okay, we have a wedding tomorrow. Let’s put this business behind us and enjoy ourselves. For the record, I think Bianca is awesome and I hope you two will see how perfect you are for each other.”

“Your mother is right,” my father said. “There’s no point in dwelling on it. You can tell that nice young lady that she can stop acting now.”

Sarah and I stood up and after bidding our parents goodnight, we left. I was still mad at her and I walked a few steps in front of her. She sprinted to catch up with me.

“Hey, wait up.”

I stopped and looked at her.

“Can’t you be nicer to me,” she said. “Tomorrow is my wedding day.” Sarah put on a lost puppy look.

I shook my head. “You should have come to me Sarah not gone telling tales to mom and dad. We’re adults now, not little kids.” I meant every word. It hurt that my own sister had felt that she couldn’t come to me herself.

“I see that now and I’m sorry,” she said. Unexpectedly, tears sprung into her yes. “Please forgive me.”

Seeing her get so emotional about it evaporated my anger. I opened my arms and she flew into them.

“I’ll always come to you first, I promise,” Sarah said.

“Deal.”

“Are you going to tell Bianca?”

“I don’t know. I’m really enjoying being engaged to her. She’s fun.”

“And sexy. I think there’s something there big bro. You guys are so perfect for each other and she’s mad about skiing like you.”

I smiled at her but did not respond.

Loud music was coming from the bar and Sarah and I made our way there. A party was obviously going on with some people at the bar and others on the dance floor. My eyes scanned the room until they fell on Bianca.

She was seated at a table with my aunts engaged in what looked to be an animated conversation. She was so engrossed in it that she only noticed me when I was standing right in front of her.

She looked up at me with her big, brown, almond shaped eyes and I knew that I had to tell her that we didn’t need to pretend any more. I didn’t want her hearing it from my parents or from Sarah.

“Hey, do you want to go somewhere quieter?” I said to her.

She searched my face and then stood up.

“Party pooper,” my aunts called after me. I got two fresh wines from the bartender and led Bianca to the lounge where it was quieter and we had some privacy.

We sat down on the couch, our knees angled towards each other and I handed her the wine.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yes, I guess,” I said. “My family found out about us.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked so stinking cute when she was puzzled.

“About our engagement being fake,” I said, wondering how it would change things between us.

We had three more nights at the lodge before we had to fly back home and I wanted to enjoy what we had before real life invaded.

“How?” Bianca said.

That was the hard part. “I met Angie yesterday at some hotel restaurant and apparently Sarah saw us. She went and told my parents about it. That’s why they wanted to see me.”

She stared at me with an expression I couldn’t read.

“You lied to me about where you were going,” she said. “I thought we were friends. Friends don’t lie to each other, even by omission.” I read her expression clearly then. She looked hurt.

My chest constricted and I longed to wipe the hurt look from her face. I’d messed up the whole thing. “I’m sorry. I should just have told you where I was going. She texted me and said she was in Colorado and wanted to meet. I agreed just to get her off my back.”

“So this means that we don’t have to pretend any more, right?” she said.

Panic came over my chest. There was so much I wanted to say. Like the fact that I had told Angie I was really done with her. That I wanted to continue with what we were doing and it was the chilliest, most exciting time I’d ever had in my life.

Instead, idiot me said, “I guess so.”

She smiled tightly and stood up. “In that case, I’d better enjoy my new found freedom.”