His Contract Wife

12: 45 pm.

Where was Carlson?

Leilani May Collins hated tardiness. They agreed to meet by 12:30 pm but she was here fifteen minutes earlier. Her phone vibrated and she snatched it off the table before it could ring out. It was Carlson.

“Hey,” she said into the phone.

“Hey, Leila.” His voice sounded the same as it did on their previous calls. Freya, her best friend, might have put the idea that he might be a catfish into her head. “Sorry, I’m running late.”

Leila stopped tapping the silk covered table and refolded the napkin. If Carlson wasn’t so handsome and probably a potential man in her life, she might have left the diner. She sipped from her glass of water that had gone warm. He was one point down in her book.

“Alright. How long until you get here?”

“Ten minutes top,” he replied.

“Fine. I’ll be waiting.”

Setting the glass down, Leila played a game of candy crush on her phone until her phone pinged with a text from Freya. She groaned almost immediately at the content of the text. It was yet another selfie from her best friend. Freya was at a wedding Leila refused to tag along to. Following Freya was equivalent to setting herself up for a blind date. It had become Freya’s mission to hook Leila up with any available but eligible bachelor.

The two went back and forth, exchanging selfies and texts. Leila swiped another look at her phone. Twenty minutes were gone. She almost dialled Freya to come get her out of here but on second thoughts, she waited.

Carlson could have a good reason for being late. So far, he has been a great companion. Though this date was happening because she insisted on it, Leila would give him the benefits of the doubt. She would wait an extra ten minutes, then leave. Maybe even delete Tinder. That app wasn’t working for her. It might if she put more effort into making her profile more attractive and used an actual picture of herself instead of Freya’s cat.

Her brown eyes roamed the place, watching other paired diners laugh and hug with a tinge of jealousy. One peek at her wristwatch and she flashed her reflection on the window a grim smile.

Five minutes and she was gone.

Murmurs from the table ahead made her raise her head. A couple were arguing and it was attracting attention to them. While one waiter went to them to diffuse the situation, another came to her table to ask for her order. Leila remembered his face. He had come here twice already. She skimmed through the menu, confused and amused by the items on the list. This type of restaurant wasn’t usually her cup of tea but she wanted to impress this Carlson guy.

“Can I have a milkshake?” The waiter glared at her like she had vomited on their off-white tablecloth. His black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail at the nape of his neck. Might be why he was looking so constipated. “I’ll order when my date arrives.”

On a curt nod, he walked away without a word. She scowled at his retreating figure, was she going to get her milkshake or what? Her phone vibrated on the table. Freya was calling her.

Leila didn’t pick.

The call ended and a text followed. Her best friend wanted to know if her date had arrived and she was having fun. Fun indeed. At this point, she didn’t care anymore. She made to leave but the waiter approached her table with a tray holding her milkshake. She forced a smile to her lips but he didn’t reciprocate it.

“Thanks.”

He probably thought of her as one of those people who stopped at a restaurant without buying anything. Wrong. Leila was only here for one person. And he could go to hell.

Staring at her phone, she gave in to the urge to reply and sent Freya a text with some sad eye emojis. Her phone beeped immediately.

Freya: You should come here. The wedding is almost over.