“Is that my line, though? Aren’t men supposed to be the ones getting compliments on their appearance?”
“I believe in equal-opportunity compliments. Come on. I heard they make excellent waffles here.”
The restaurant was moderately busy with other hotel guests, but we found a quiet table by the window overlooking the lake. Morning light sparkled on the water, and the whole scene felt peaceful in a way the previous day’s festivities hadn’t. Over breakfast, we talked more freely than we had at the wedding. Julian told me about his work, about a particularly challenging project he was managing with a manufacturing company resistant to change. I told him about the bakery, about my boss, who was brilliant but temperamental, about the satisfaction of creating something beautiful and delicious that brought joy to people.
“You light up when you talk about baking,”
Julian observed, cutting into his waffle.
“It’s obvious you love what you do.”
“I do. It’s the one area of my life where I feel completely confident. No second-guessing, no wondering if I’m good enough. I know I’m good at what I do.”
“Then why do you let your family make you feel otherwise?”
The question was direct, almost confrontational, but his tone remained gentle. I set down my fork, considering how to answer.
“Because they’re my family. Because some part of me still wants their approval, even though I know I’ll never get it. Not the way Victoria gets it anyway.”
“What if you stopped wanting their approval? What if you decided your opinion of yourself mattered more than theirs?”
“Easier said than done when you’ve spent your whole life being compared to someone and coming up short.”
Julian reached across the table, his hand covering mine.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re extraordinary.”
We finished breakfast and walked outside, neither of us quite ready to part ways. The morning was beautiful, the kind of June day that promised summer without the oppressive heat. Other guests were checking out, loading luggage into cars, heading back to their regular lives.
“I should probably get on the road soon,”
I said reluctantly.
“I have work tomorrow, and I need to prep some things this afternoon.”
“Before you go, can I ask you something?”
Julian’s expression turned serious.
“Last night, watching how your family treated you, seeing how they’ve made you feel small and unimportant, it made me angry. Not just sympathetic, but genuinely angry on your behalf.”
“That’s kind of you.”
“But I’m not finished. What if there were a way to change the narrative, to make them see you differently, to give you back some of the power they’ve been taking from you all these years?”
I studied his face, trying to understand where this was going.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what if we continued this, not fake dating, but real dating? What if we spent time together, built something genuine, and along the way showed your family that you’re not the disappointment they’ve painted you as?”
“Julian, I’m not going to use you to make my family jealous. That’s not fair to you.”
“You wouldn’t be using me. I’m offering because I want to see you again regardless, but I also want to help you if I can. Think about it. Your sister just married a pharmaceutical executive, right? Well, I happen to be someone her new husband’s company needs, someone who could make things very interesting for them.”
A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the morning air.
“What are you saying exactly?”
Julian’s expression shifted, becoming more calculating than I’d seen before.
“I’m saying that Gregory’s company, Bennett Health Solutions, has been in talks with my firm about a major sustainability overhaul. It’s a multimillion-dollar project that would significantly improve their environmental impact and their public image. I’m one of the lead consultants on the proposal.”
“And you’d use that as leverage somehow?”
Leave a Comment