Love in his Lie

Shoes

I spent the next day doing everything I could to drown out the thoughts in my head. With my ankle propped up on a pillow and a bowl of cheese curls within reach, I binged on whatever caught my fancy on Netflix. It got easier once Mindy came up from the bakery; her work done and her body exhausted. She slumped down next to me and I spent the rest of the night catching her up on my shows so we could enjoy the episodes together.

However, night eventually rolled around and Mindy had to get up early to work, even if I didn't plan to. With the quiet settling back in, the thoughts returned and my doubt caused a headache that split my skull in two. Taking a sizable dose of aspirin, I limped over to my bed and did the best I could to find sleep.

"Do you think these jeans look too frumpy?" I asked the next morning, holding up a pair of pants for Mindy to inspect. "Like mom jeans? Maybe it's the shirt... I should try pairing it with that floral blouse from before..."

"Shouldn't you be off that ankle and cozied up in bed with like a giant bowl of cereal and some more episodes of Complacent Househusbands to watch? If I didn't have to run the bakery all alone today, I'd go outside right now and trip over a storm grate just so I could have such a luxurious day off."

"Well, I am off so I can do what I want with today... Plus, I ran out of episodes. They only had one season up." I paused, looking over at Mindy, who leaned against my bedroom door frame wearing a jelly-stained apron and a pitying smirk. "Shouldn't you be downstairs helping with the breakfast crowd?" I growled.

"Morning rush is dying down and Sara told me she could handle it for fifteen minutes while I came up here to make sure that if you're going to do this, you at least do it on time." She then nodded towards the digital alarm clock on my nightstand. It was nine in the morning and I had a half hour train ride before I'd reach the airport. "So either pick something to wear or listen to common sense and not walk straight towards a tornado."

"This is not a tornado," I mumbled as I tossed the jeans onto the bed and then grabbed my blouse to weigh against the plain tee I still had in my hand.

"If it looks like a disaster and smells like a disaster, then it's..."

"Look," I said, throwing both tops on to the bed, "I don't want to do this..."

"Yet, you're doing it."

"Hush, I don't want comments from the peanut gallery right now," I said, jabbing my finger at her. "Now I don't want to do this. I can't think of anyone who would willingly stick themselves into a situation where everyone is about to find out that you've known the elephant was in the room the whole time. However, it may not be that bad. I mean, if Justin really wanted us to be married and believes we are legitimately engaged, then he'll be happy to see me and all is well in the world."

"Except you don't want to be engaged to him and if he thinks that all of this is okay, he's got serious problems that need to be addressed."

"And..." I continued, ignoring her interruption, "if this is a misunderstanding, then maybe Justin will play it off until we can properly talk. I mean, he does international sales. He must be quick on his feet."

"You realize that this is the best-case scenario in this situation... Best. Case."

"I need to talk to him, Mindy," I said with a huff as I took a seat on the bed. "I can't let this go on any longer and I can't wait for him to come seek me out. My only means of finding him and talking to him is meeting him at the airport."

"There's always social media," she offered. "He must have an account on some site you're on."

"This needs to be an in person conversation," I replied with some unconcealed aggravation in my voice. "Also, the last Facebook post he made was months ago and his email isn't public."

"And what happens when this goes south? Because this will go south."

"Did you not just hear the two positive possibilities I gave?"

"I'd argue only one of those possibilities was vaguely positive," she answered before taking a seat next to me. "Now you always plan an escape route for every situation imaginable. What is the escape route, Dani?"

"There's..." I sighed and looked out my window, only to find the same boring brick wall that's always there. "There's an elevator right next to the women's restroom at the baggage claim. If things get ugly, I'll excuse myself to the bathroom, head in for a bit, and then slip out and over to the elevator, disappearing into the crowd."

"Well, at least you have that planned. Now you just need an outfit, which I don't know why you're agonizing over."

"I want to look good for Justin."

"You're killing me Dani," groaned Mindy. "Are you playing the field?"

"He's my actual fiance, not Wes!"

"Is he though?"

"If you will not be helpful, you can head back down to the bakery and get me that basket of bear claws I made for him this morning."

"You really didn't take the order to stay off your ankle to heart, did you?"

"Randall said I needed to stay off it for a day or two. I busted it Sunday afternoon, so it's been about a day and a half, and I had dutifully kept to bed rest until this morning when I made those bear claws."

"And a few batches of donuts, a tray of croissants, and several dozen danishes," added Mindy. "Sara was actually upset she would not get to do more this morning."

"I couldn't sleep."

"Shocking."

"Are you going to get those bear claws?"

I popped off the bed and then returned to my search through my closet.

"Wear that pink tee of yours with the v-neck, give the guy some cleavage to admire, but add the khaki moto jacket so you look a bit more modest to the parents. I'd go with the black jeans because they make your butt look good. Also, don't forget your sneakers so you can run away comfortably."

"I might just do that, though I'll wear flats instead of sneakers."

"You'll ruin your arches sprinting in those, especially with that ankle."

"Thanks Mindy. I'm sure Sara is calling you."

"I'm going, but hurry up. Time's a ticking and you don't want to make a bad impression on your in-laws."

She shut the door behind her before I had a chance to toss my shoe at her head.