My heart’s beating so fucking fast I’m at risk of passing out.

I keep glancing at my phone and my watch. D-day—or maybe it should be called D-time—is nearly here.

It’s such a pity I can’t sit where Ethan’s sitting right now. It should really be me who meets the elusive Ms. Winters.

For a while I had toyed with the idea of dressing as a man. I mean, there are plenty of films where the man dresses as a woman. I could have been the Mrs. Doubtfire, except, of course, I was going to pretend to be a man.

As I reflect on this, I realize it’s a lot easier to transfer yourself as a man into a woman. We’re not really built to pretend to be men. Life was fucking unfair.

Of course I should have thought this through a little more clearly, but heck, the whole thing just sort of happened.

I mean, when I started this persona of Mr. BadBoy, I never thought it would involve needing to meet someone in person, and a woman at that.

Fuck.

My fingers go to my mouth, and I start chewing on my fingernails. I feel as if I’m standing outside the principal’s office. I haven’t fucking chewed my nails in like forever.

“Keep breathing. Chloe, keep breathing,” I tell myself and look around.

There’s no one who could possibly fit the description of Ms. Winters.

I check my phone again. No message. She should be here any second now.

What if she was late, or worse, didn’t show at all?

Just then, a woman starts walking toward Ethan—a young elegant-looking woman. This must be it.

In my excitement, I jump up and down on the spot.

As she gets closer, I frown. She seems familiar. I feel as if I know her.

What the fuck was Cassie doing here?

Of course, she must be looking for Ethan. I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. Preparation, fucking preparation was the key to success.

Why had I not thought to lure Cassie away?

On tenterhooks, I watch the events unfold.

I wish I were a fly on Ethan’s shoulder right now to hear what excuse he gives her or what story he’ll tell her to get rid of her.

Shock horror. My eyes can’t believe what’s unfolding in front of them.

No. Please. No.

Jelly seems to invade my knees, and the world goes a little blurry.

This can’t be happening.

How do I get the attention of that fucking sister of mine? She’s about to ruin everything.

Cassie is not moving, on the contrary, she is sitting down.

Grrr.

Fucking twin sister.

Why is Ethan not getting rid of her? Surely he should be able to come up with some excuse, even if it’s a lame one?

Doubt starts to nibble on my insides.

Maybe I should have let her in on the secret?

I sigh. Its’ too fucking late for that.

And then suddenly, a little light flickers within me. The more I ponder, the brighter it burns.

Was Cassie Ms. Winters?

I almost laugh out loud. So absurd is the idea, or is it? Now I’m thinking in fucking double negatives.

There’s only one thing to do.

I leave the safety of my hideout and head to their table. For some reason, the two seem to be getting on remarkably well. Obviously, Cassie’s not the least bit suspicious why Ethan’s sitting there with a cocktail in hand.

Someone steps in front of me.

I’m taken aback by the rudeness and trip over a chair. It takes me a few minutes to regain my balance.

“What—” I stutter and see Aaron also walk toward the same table I’m heading to.

Now I’m totally at a loss of what the fuck is going on.

“Ethan,” I start, and then I turn to my sister. “Cassie, what are you doing here? I thought…”

What did I think? Obviously, whatever the fuck it was, it was incorrect. Truth be told, I hadn’t thought anything when I asked Ethan to stand in for Mr. BadBoy. I thought he would sit down and meet Ms. Winters.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

And what is Aaron doing here? How does he fit into the mix?

“Don’t raise your voice with me.” Cassie flares up.

Ethan turns to me.

“What—” My mouth opens and shuts like a fish gasping for air when it’s held out of the water. It does not make sense.

Cassie shoots me her “don’t judge me before you hear the whole story” look.

And my eyes blaze at her, giving her my “you better have a fucking good reason for being here” look.

“It’s not my fault,” Cassie starts before Ethan can say anything.

“And you,” I say as I turn to Aaron, rage, confusion, and anger taking hold of me. “I thought you have business to attend to?”

Annoyingly, he does not reply to me but instead fixes Ethan with his most steely look.

“Wait.” Cassie’s now sounding close to tears.

I feel other patrons’ eyes on us, and I waver in my confidence. We should not be causing a scene in front of other hotel guests.

“Aaron here,” she says as she points to Aaron, “approached me earlier and asked if I could stand in for him. He said something about impersonating a woman called Ms. Winters. He said…” Cassie starts to sob.

With renewed annoyance, I turn to Ethan.

“And you, what’s your role in all of this?”

Ethan shrugs.

“Cassie here asked me to be someone called Mr. BadBoy. I was to meet a Ms. Winters here. Turns out I’m meeting the woman of my dreams.” He winks at Cassie, who tries to smile at him through teary eyes.

“I mean, if there ever were any doubt about the two of us being together, I’d say the universe has just spoken.” He reaches over the table to take a hold of her hands. “I think we can safely assume we were meant to be together, like peas in a pod.”

I’m just about ready to throw up at so much fucking sentimentality it’s not funny.

Cassie’s nodding.

“It seems as if Aaron here asked me to be Ms. Winters and meet this Mr. BadBoy. And you,” she adds, pointing at me, “asked Ethan to be this Mr. BadBoy and meet Ms. Winters here.”

My jaw hits the ground.

I turn to Aaron for some sort of explanation, but he says nothing.

Instantly, I’m taken back to the moment in the plane where I asked him what he did for a living.

What had he said again—something about there being plenty of time to get to know each other later.

Of course later has not come.

I feel myself go weak at the knees. I feel betrayed—a bit like the woman who finds out her best friend cheated on her with her man.

Was this really happening?

“It seems like we both tried to pull something off that was never going to work.”

I look up at Aaron. There’s a rushing in my ears as if the ocean has taken up residence in there.

What the fuck?

Instead of a replying to him, I turn to my sister.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I don’t mean to sound accusing, but I know I do.

She raises her eyebrows.

“What didn’t I tell you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Silence hangs heavy between us.

“Look,” Ethan starts, but Cassie shoots him an ominous look.

“Yeah. You could have told me first. I’m still confused about what’s going on, but I assume you’ve been masquerading as some dude called Mr. BadBoy. If you’d care to share such delicate information, this might have been able to be avoided.”

You know she’s right, an inner voice pipes up, but I drown it out.

Someone’s popped my balloon.

Tears threaten to spill, and I can’t even say why.

Betrayed.

I feel betrayed the way Caesar would have when he found out Brutus was trying to kill him to get to the throne.

Okay.

That’s a bit of a drastic analogy.

But fuck, I can’t believe Ms. Winters is really Aaron.

“You,” I say as I turn to him, but I’m not sure what to say. What will I accuse him of? Not telling the truth is what I can accuse him of.

But then I haven’t told him the truth either.

Fuck, girl, this is different. You asked him.

Unable to process all of this right here, right now, I turn on my heels and leave.

Space. Air. Space.

I need those in about that order.

My feet cannot carry me out fast enough.

With too many eyes staring at me already, I try and retain some dignity and resist the temptation to break into a run.

Part of me wants to turn around, look at all of them again, and make sure this is not some horrible nightmare, but I keep walking.

One foot in front of the other, and before I know it, I’ll be out the door.

Just a few hours ago, everything was perfect. I thought Aaron and I were finally going somewhere. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Who would’ve thought the weekend would end like this?