Leo and I were married in three days. He was able to pull some strings and get the certificate for us. Neither did we actually have to go to a registrar’s office, and neither was the date correct. According to our certificate, we had been married for six months.

Everything happened so fast since that night at the bar that I could barely keep up. Now, I was married to Leo Cormack, a dream I had often fantasized about in my head, but the reality saddened me.

This was not the marriage I had pictured for us. The only reason he asked me to marry him was to help him save his company. The last thing Leo wanted was for the company to fall into his cousin Marcus’ hands.

He organized for all my stuff to be moved from my apartment to his stately Tudor home, In a neighborhood, I would never have been able to afford. Even though Leo and I were friends, we came from very different worlds.

I still didn’t know how exactly we had become friends in college. All I could remember was that the two of us naturally gravitated towards us each other in class. At the time, we were both sleeping with other people, but we were hanging out with each other more than our partners.

And it continued for the next ten years. We spoke every day. We met each other at least four to five times a week. In my world, there was nobody as important as Leo was, but I still couldn’t tell him I wanted more. If in ten years, he had given me no indication that he had feelings for me too…what was the point in confessing my love now?

It was only when I had arranged all my clothes in Leo’s massive walk-in closet that I had the opportunity to stand back and breathe while I stared at them. Leo was in the house with me, making phone calls downstairs to business associates. He was still trying to get confirmation from clients who would stick with him no matter what.

What was I doing here? I saw my clothes neatly arranged and hanging beside his. I could sense trouble.

We were going to share a house together. Would we sleep in the same bed? To what extent would Leo go to prove to people that we were in an actual happy marriage? Why had I agreed to do this? What more was I capable of agreeing to?

Leo appeared behind me at the door. I caught him from the corner of my eyes.

“Hi.” he said softly, and I turned to look at him. He was standing there in his dark jeans and shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.

“You look all settled in.” he said.

I smiled but couldn’t say anything. I was beginning to grow frightened of my own feelings now.

“Thanks again, Jessie, for doing this. You know it means the world to me. If there is anything I can do for you…absolutely anything…”

We were staring at each other, me in wonder and Leo in gratefulness. He looked much calmer now that he had a plan.

“I’m fine, Leo, thanks. I don’t need anything. I just wanted to make sure that you knew I can’t give up my job. I still have to go to the office every day.” I told him, trying to distract myself from my own racing heart.

“Of course, yes, I wouldn’t expect you to. I’m not that kind of husband.” he said, and a broad smile cracked on his handsome face. I wanted him to kiss me, to take me right there in the closet. Now that we were technically married…I shook my head, trying to drive those thoughts out of my head.

“I’ve arranged for an interview. Tomorrow evening with E News.” he told me.

“An interview?”

“Yeah, just a short interview to introduce you to the media and public as my wife. I’m sure you’ll handle it.” he explained.

I nodded, fidgeting with my hands as I stood there. What else did I expect? I should have known what I’d signed up for.

“I’ll make sure they’re not too hard on us, especially you. Having you there, telling them your side of the story, will help me gain the sympathy vote.” Leo continued. I nodded.

“Yeah, sure, just tell me what to say. We should get our story straight before we go on air.” I said. Leo nodded and smiled.

It was late evening, and I was already tired after the day’s moving and unpacking. My mind was still racing with thoughts of him, and I felt like I needed a break.

“I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight.” I said.

Something had changed between us. I could feel it. We had become more formal with each other. Neither of us was laughing too much. It was like we both knew that things could never go back to normal after this, no matter how much we tried.

“Sure. You should take this room, my bedroom. I’ll be sleeping in the guest room down the hall.”

I gulped, my throat had gone dry. So, we weren’t going to be sharing a bed. It made sense. I had moved all my stuff in here so that if anyone ever walked into this room, they would see all our things together. But that didn’t mean that we had to share the bed too. Leo had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, that wasn’t the kind of guy he was.

A part of me wished that he was.

“Goodnight, Jessie, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you.” he said, smiling at me.

“Goodnight Leo, you don’t need to keep thanking me.” I told him, and then he walked away.