Festive Fake

22 - Hey, maybe you know him.

The line for the valet was huge when I arrived five minutes before I was supposed to meet Joby and my parents for lunch. I hated being late for anything, but especially when Mother was involved.

It would just be another thing to make her frown at me, not to mention my casual dress, denim jacket, and boots. A pink dress. What was I thinking? It was as though I wanted to give Mother things to pick at. I could imagine her pinched expression as she said something about pink not being flattering with auburn, but on a blonde, it's lovely.

I didn't consider my sex-hair bun. If I focused on it, there was a solid chance I'd cry or drive away, leaving Joby to handle them on his own. That probably wasn't the best way to restart our siblings-who-are-also-friends, relationship.

With a deep breath, I reminded myself I looked cute. Beautiful, according to Andre. Thinking of him brought a boost of confidence and brightened my outlook for the day.

Yes, lunch would be uncomfortable at best, and an embarrassing and hurtful scene at worst. But after that, I'd go home and prepare for my date with Andre and Laurel. Even though my job there was to see what I thought of Enzo, I was excited.

Crossing my fingers, I hoped the early lunch crowd on a Friday was a little less fancy than the pictures I'd seen online for the restaurant. Maybe other women would be recovering from an amazing night of almost no sleep.

As a young valet dressed in all black helped a tiny older woman amble toward the hotel, my blood pressure spiked. It was sweet of him, but I needed to be walking in there too! Someone move her car!

There wasn't enough time to wait. When I spotted a space across the road, I decided to be a big girl and brave parallel parking on the busy street.

Peering over my shoulder, I put the car in reverse and inched toward the person behind me, hoping they'd give me enough room to get out of the line. A loud knock from the passenger side made me squeal. Clutching my chest, I glared at the window and my brother peeking inside.

He pointed at the lock, and I let him in with a sigh. "I'm really glad I didn't need to pee, Joby. You scared me."

"You're late." Joby directed me around the line. "Back out and go that way. There are employee spaces beside the valet lot."

I did as instructed, but as I turned the corner, a gate with signs saying employees only beyond this point made me nervous. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be there?"

"Yeah, I cleared it with the hotel manager." Sarcasm dripped from his tone.

"Sorry. I forgot you run this little world."

Joby directed me to a spot beside an employee entrance. "Mom and Dad are at the table. I told them you had a work thing to handle, and you were using my office."

"They don't know I'm late?"

"Nope. I figured that wouldn't help anything."

We got out of the car and he led the way. I grabbed his arm and tugged him to a stop for a hug. "Thank you. Running behind had me so freaking stressed."

"No problem." He pulled away with a furrowed brow. "Why do you smell like cologne?"

Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I ran my fingertips over my hair, making sure it was smooth leading up to the ponytail holder. "I had a date with Andre."

"And now you're blushing, so that was enough detail for me."

I wrinkled my nose at him and poked out my tongue. Joby ignored me and entered the building, leading the way down an empty hall. Our shoes tapped out a steady rhythm on the shiny marble floor as we passed an office with his name beside it.