Married At First Glance: I Am Not Ugly

“Alex boo, what are you doing here?” A voice asked from behind Marissa.

Marissa turned to look and saw a lady, standing and staring at Alexander. He was obviously in shock as he didn’t expect to bump into Jessie that day.

“Baby, I thought you had a meeting out of the country today; what happened?” he asked.

“The meeting was canceled by the client.” she said.

“Who is this?”

“She’s….. um… my…..” he stammered.

Marissa turned and stood up bringing out her hand for a hand shake.

“Hi, I’m Marissa. I’m Alexander’s childhood friend.” she said.

“Oh! I didn’t know you had a childhood friend, Alex.” Jessie said, as she held out her hand also for a handshake.

“It’s nice to finally meet someone that grew up with Alexander. I’m Jessie by the way. I’m Alexander’s girlfriend.” she revealed.

“Really.?” Marissa asked.

“Mmm-mm.” Jessie answered, nodding.

“If you don’t mind, can I join you guys?”

“Sure…we don’t mind.” Marissa answered.

Jessie sat beside Alexander, who was obviously concerned about Jessie finding out that Marissa wasn’t his childhood friend but is his fake wife and they were there planning their fake wedding for him to secure a contract.

Marissa could sense the tension in the air as Jessie joined them at the table.

Alexander’s discomfort was evident, and Marissa knew that keeping up the facade of a childhood friend would be a challenging task.

“So… you were Alexander’s childhood friend.” Jessie said.

“Yes, I am.” Marissa answered.

“Tell me more about Alexander when he was in highschool. I mean what was he like?” she asked.

Marissa didn’t know what to say because she had no clue how Alexander was when he was in school.

“Well…. um…. Alex….. was uhm…. not really friendly when he was in high school….” Marissa said. “He was more of a loner who liked to do everything himself and not get any help from anyone. He believed that if he must succeed, he must succeed on his own.”

Alexander was impressed as to the way Marissa was handling the situation. He’d never expected that she would know a little about his personality.

He smiled as he stared at Marissa who was still talking about him.

“Wow…. you really are his childhood friend.” Jessie said. “Because he still has that personality.”

“I know right?” Marissa agreed, and the two ladies laughed.

Jessie seemed friendly, and Marissa couldn’t help but notice how affectionate she was with Alexander.

It was clear that they were in a serious relationship, and Marissa felt a pang of guilt for being a part of the deception.

After a while, Jessie excused herself to use the restroom, leaving Marissa and Alexander alone at the table.

Alexander leaned in closer to Marissa, his expression filled with concern.

“You’re doing a great job with the fake story of you knowing me when we were kids.” He said.

“You never told me you were in a serious relationship with someone.” Marissa said.

“Well…. I don’t think it’s any of your business. My private life is my private life. After all, I don’t know if you have a boyfriend.” he said.

“If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t agree to this because I know how painful it would be if he found out that I’m agreeing to a fake marriage with someone I barely know for money.” she said.

“Look, I didn’t want this before alright. But she wasn’t ready to get married after I asked her to marry me, for me to secure the contract. So I thought of an alternative, You.” he said.

“You would have told her about the new alternative so that she wouldn’t get hurt. What if she finds out herself? Don’t you think she would be devastated?” she asked.

“I’ll tell her eventually,” he said. “You just focus on the playing along with the childhood friend story. Please don’t reveal anything about our arrangement to her. I’ll tell her myself.”

“I can’t believe you.” she said.

“Please just do this, alright.” he said.

“Fine, but if she finds out about this, I’m not gonna deny it.” she said.

“Whatever, just continue acting your part,” he said.

Marissa nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.

“I’ll do my best, Alex, but this is getting complicated.”

“I know,” he replied with a sigh. “I’ll figure something out. Just help me for now.”

“Sorry that I took so long.” Jessie said.

“It’s alright.” Marissa said.

“So…. how did you guys end up becoming friends?” she asked.

Marissa looked at Alexander confused on what to say next.

“Um… we met after I transferred to his school. As I said, he was a loner and refused to mingle with any of the kids in school. So no one wanted to hang out with a loner. And I was a loner myself but not as bad as him. So I walked up to him and asked him a funny question.” Marissa said.

“What did you ask?” Jessie asked, curiosity in her voice.

“He was super glued to his books that he didn’t look up, but when I asked him the question, he looked up at me with a confused expression.

“Really?” Jessie asked, smiling.

“Mmm-mm.” Marissa nodded.

“I asked him if we could be friends…. he looked up and said this word so harshly. No!”

“OMG! That was really harsh.” Jessie said.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Yeah, he said that. So I sat in front of him and looked at him. I told him that you think you’re so smart huh, but I’m smarter than you and I’ll beat you in every exam until you surrender to become my friend.” Marissa said.

“Hahaha! You’re funny. And what did he say?” Jessie asked.

“He said he doesn’t need a friend and that I should leave him alone.” she said.

“I can relate.” Jessie admitted.

“So what happened later on?”

“He later accepted after I kept beating him in every exam in class.” Marissa said.

“Not every exams, but yeah.” Alex said, playing along as well with the fake story.