I had a speech prepared in my head for Jessie, but now that she was sitting in front of me, I couldn’t remember it.

She’d always had that effect on me. I felt relaxed around her. I knew I could speak my mind without judgement. I felt most like myself when I was with her, and it made my blood boil to see her with another man. But we were just friends, and friends were not supposed to be jealous of each other’s dates.

Jessie tucked some of her sleek dark hair behind her ears as she took a sip of her drink. She was waiting for me to explain.

“We had that meeting today.” I began.

Jessie’s eyes widened with excitement. She knew exactly what was at stake here for me.

“With your uncle? Oh my God! Congratulations, Leo. I am so happy for you!”

When she smiled, a soft dimple indented her left cheek which I couldn’t stop staring at. Her green eyes shone with excitement.

“Don’t congratulate me yet, I don’t have it. My uncle didn’t give it to me…well, he hasn’t given it to anyone yet, but Marcus is in the running too, now.” I told her.

Jessie looked confused.

“Marcus Horse-face Cormack? Why? How did this happen? Why in his right mind would your uncle even imagine that he deserves it?” she asked, putting her drink down.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

“It’s about Kylie.” I admitted.

Jessie just sat there in silence for a few moments. She was too shocked to hear it. We hadn’t spoken about Kylie in several weeks. We’d both decided it was best to never mention her name again. The truth was that Jessie had warned me against Kylie when I first started seeing her. Jessie’s exact words were - she’s a gold digging lunatic. She’s going to put you in trouble.

I should have listened to her, but I didn’t. Kylie’s runway famous long legs and perfect hour-glass body reeled me in. If I couldn’t have Jessie, the woman I was in love with, empty relationships and meaningless sex would have to suffice.

“Why does Kylie have anything to do with your company?” she finally spoke in a low hissing voice.

“My uncle doesn’t want the company involved in a scandal. He claims there is too much at risk. If I take over the company, there are a lot of people who might not want to do business with us because of my reputation in the media right now.” I replied.

“But that will die down. People will forget. I know you never proposed to her, but so what if you did and changed your mind? People do that all the time.” Jessie retorted.

“But not to America’s top models like Kylie Musgrave. She’s the country’s sweetheart. There are millions of people on her side. Everyone, including the media, sympathizes with her. They think I broke her heart, a week before we were going to elope to Las Vegas. She’s given interviews claiming that I made her promises.” I continued.

Jessie sat back in her chair, mumbling under her breath.

“That bitch. I wish there were some way we could prove it, that she’s lying about everything.” Jessie said, shaking her head with a faraway look in her eyes.

“If I don’t, I’m going to lose the company. I’m going to lose my legacy.” I added.

She looked at me, her delicate heart-shaped face pinched with worry. Jessie always wanted what was best for me. I knew she’d want to help me however she could.

“We need to find a way out of this, Leo.” she said and I nodded.

“I have an idea, but before I tell it to you, I need you to have an open mind. However, tell me to shut up if I’m taking it too far.” I said. She had her brows crossed with concern.

“If I can prove to the media…to the public that I was already married to someone else, that I was madly in love and happily married, then I might be able to sway public opinion on to my side again.” I explained.

“You mean you want to fake a marriage?” she asked.

“Yes, just until people forget. Just until I get the company. But it can’t just be anyone…some random stranger out of the blue. It has to be someone believable, someone who has been a part of my life for a long time. Someone nobody would suspect of lying.” I continued.

Jessie’s eyes were piercing me, her nostrils were flared…she knew what I was saying, but she was waiting for me to actually use the words.

“Jess, it has to be you. I need to pretend that I was married to you the whole time. Kylie would never be able to fight against a woman who has been a part of my life for ten years.” I said.

Jessie didn’t reply. She continued staring at me like she’d seen a ghost. I thought I’d made a mistake. It was too much to ask, even of someone like Jessie.

“All we have to do is get married, for a few months and play ‘house’. Maybe give a few publicized interviews and Kylie has no proof of anything anyway. I never texted or emailed her, there are no photos of us together.” I added, but Jessie still hadn’t said a word.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come to you with this. Forget I said anything. I’ll find someone else.” I said quickly because the color was draining from Jessie’s cheeks.

“I’ll do it!” she snapped, her eyes wild.

“What?” I asked.

“I said I’ll do it. I’ll marry you and pretend that we have an actual thing going. I’ll do it for you, Leo.” she replied. “Of course I will.”

I felt a huge burden lift from my shoulders, and my first instinct was to pull her into my arms and kiss her. But that would have been inappropriate. Besides, Jessie knew me too well. She knew all my faults and all my inadequacies. I would never be good enough for her.