Day Two
Afternoon
The couples massage didn't exactly go to plan.
"Why would you think the masseuse was holding your hand?" Allison questioned with narrowed eyes. "Obviously, it was me."
"You held my hand?" Cole checked unsurely.
Allison groaned, her eyes shutting as she said, "They put our hands together, it was a couples massage!"
"Well, I didn't know!" Cole exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.
"So, instead of just looking, you projected yourself off the table and ran out of the room?" Allison went on harshly. "You nearly ripped my hand off!"
"I'm sorry!" he cried out for the tenth time. She shook her head, walking ahead of him in the direction of their room.
"Are we supposed to wait for Scarlett and Nate?" Allison asked over her shoulder.
"Nah, I saw them head out a bit ago from the window," Cole told her before remembering they had that dinner later with her boss. He picked up his pace a bit to walk in stride alongside her. "Should we go over a game plan for tonight?"
She gave him a questioning look. "What's there to game plan?"
"You know how I am under pressure," Cole reminded her seriously.
"Yeah, I know. But there's no reason to panic, okay? We just act like we're fine," Allison explained in a matter-of-fact voice. "Don't add any details that don't need to be there."
Cole nodded. "Right, no extra details."
When Cole was under any sort of pressure, he tended to... extend the truth, a bit.
But tonight, he would be fine.
This was Allison's boss, he had to make sure to not panic.
Cole was sure he would be fine.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Cole was not fine.
"Yeah, it was a hard choice, but it made the most sense in the end," Cole concluded in a strained voice. Allison stared at him blankly in astonishment before blinking herself out of her trance. They both turned towards the couple who were listening to the story, expecting to be caught in the lie.
Cole had just finished telling them about how he went through all those years of med-school just to decide to be an accountant in the end.
Needless to say, that wasn't exactly the case.
But they asked him about how he decided to be an accountant and he didn't just wanna say, "It was the first one on the list of majors and I didn't wanna read anymore." So, what was he supposed to say?
Robert placed his hand on his chest, nodding with a sideways smile. "I respect that, man."
"Thanks, Robert."
"Call me Robby?"
If Cole heard this man ask him to call him by one more nickname... he might just lose his mind. There were certain people that you met in life who you just knew you wouldn't be friends with. Unfortunately for Robert, he was one of those people. They just weren't the kind of people to click, per say. But Robert didn't seem to get that impression.
The dinner had been going... well, "fine" would be an overstatement. A new lie spewed out of Cole's mouth every time he was asked a question. He didn't mean to, but it was just easier for him to make up some story on the spot rather than tell the truth. Because the truth was that they were on the brink of divorce, and he'd rather lie than let the conversation somehow hint at that.
He wasn't good under pressure, okay?
"Maybe, man," Cole decided on as he took a sip of his beer.
"You guys haven't done as many trips as you used to!" Eden pointed out, redirecting the conversation. "Allison nearly ran out of vacation days last year."
"Well, when you're on the verge of divorce you're not exactly planning vacations." Was what Cole wanted to say.
"Well, you know how it is with kids at home," Cole went with instead, his eyes widening immediately. He wasn't sure if that was even much better. Allison didn't even try to stop herself, she turned towards him slowly with a blank expression on her face. She inhaled sharply, turning back to the other two with a tense smile on her face.
Eden gasped excitedly, clapping her hands together once. "Allison, I didn't realize you had kids! We should get ours and yours together for a play date soon."
Allison cleared her throat, nodding. "Right, I'll let you know when works."
"Are your kids with you? I'd love to meet them," Eden asked, looking around as if they would appear out of thin air.
Just say they're at home, Cole told himself calmly.
"We lost them," Cole blurted out in panic, shutting his eyes as soon as the words left his mouth.
"He's joking," Allison interjected immediately, letting out an awkward laugh as she placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard. "They're staying with my parents back home."
"You know, I've lost our kids loads of times," Robert admitted with a laugh, waving his hand in the air. "There was the one time—"
"Eat your sandwich, Robert," Eden snapped directing his hand to the bread. Cole's eyes widened but he smiled politely, turning his attention back to his own food.
Robert paused for a moment before barking out another laugh. "We got the kids back, is the moral of the story."
"Glad to hear it," Allison said kindly.
Eden cleared her throat, taking a sip of her wine before asking. "So, Cole, thoughts on Alli's new job?"
Cole froze.
New job.
No, the reason she had been working so much was because she was working to get the new job.
She didn't have it yet.
There wasn't any chance she had it yet, or she would've been home more.
"I know the hours were killer before, but at least it paid off now," Eden added on, rambling slightly to fill the silence. "I mean, you got off, when? At four o'clock the other day? That is my dream."
Allison hadn't been getting home before seven at night, and that was on a good day. Some nights it wouldn't be until nine o'clock. He didn't want to think about where she could have been. He couldn't let his mind go there, though. Because even after all this, Cole trusted her implicitly. Trust was all they had left.
"I'm just proud that someone so hard working is the mother of my children," Cole responded, seeming slightly unsure of what he was saying. He did his best not to grimace at his words and didn't dare to see the look on Allison's face. "She's an inspiration—"
"Isn't that sweet?" Allison interrupted swiftly before turning to her husband with a warning look in her eyes. "Cole, can you come with me to the bathroom? Think my zipper is caught in my hair."
"Oh, I can help," Eden offered as she began to stand up from her chair.
"Oh—" Allison started unsurely before grimacing, not coming up with a lie fast enough. She seemed incredibly defeated as she settled for, "No?"
Eden blinked once before settling back into her seat. "All right, then."
"Let's go, honey," Cole insisted stiffly, placing a hand on the small of her back and ushering her away from the table.
They were both seething by the time they got to the bathroom. Neither said a word on the way, but the silence said enough. It boomed around them and was suffocating. Once they reached the single-stall bathroom, Allison shut it firmly behind them, whipping towards Cole with fire in her eyes. He lifted his eyebrows expectantly, ready to fire back his qualms as soon as she said her own.
"Why are you telling them all that stuff? It's not even true! We have an actual relationship we can go off of, we don't need to add lies to it!" Allison rushed out in a low voice, eyes wide with bewilderment. "You really went with us losing our children? That's what you went with? That's my boss, Cole!"
Cole didn't miss a beat, immediately asking her, "Why didn't you tell me you got the promotion? When did you get it?"
She turned her head but didn't take her eyes off him. "Cole—"
"Where were you? Huh? All those days you got off at— when was it?" Cole asked bitterly, pretending to think for a moment before following with, "Oh yeah, four o'clock. A dream, according to Eden. So, where were you?"
"I was not cheating on you, if that's what you're seriously implying," Allison spat out quietly, her eyes flashing something furious.
"Then where were you?" Cole repeated slowly in a firm voice. It was killing him not to know. The possibilities were eating at him.
Allison inhaled sharply, turning away from him momentarily. "We don't have time for this, all right? We need to get back out there."
"This conversation isn't over," Cole told her before she could leave.
"Yeah, it is," Allison corrected hotly, whipping towards him with a newfound ferocity that went well past the stakes of this conversation. "Because one thing we've never been exactly good at is talking about anything wrong."
Well, there wasn't much he could say to that.
Actually, there was. But he didn't say a word.
It almost felt like they were competing, at this point. Who could hit the other where it hurt the most?
They walked back to the table without uttering another word. Eden seemed to sense some tension when they returned, asking: "Everything okay?"
Cole blurted out, "We're trying for another baby."
"Oh my god!" Allison couldn't help but cry out loudly in defeat, her face falling into her hands. It seemed almost like a reflex, and Cole couldn't even blame her. That was easily his worst option.
"Was... was that you two... 'trying'?" Eden asked in a voice that really made it clear she hoped the answer was no.
"No, god, no," Allison hastily, shaking her hands in front of them. "Really, no. Our doctor had just called us with something. You know, the time difference."
Robert shook his head in confusion. "Is there a time difference?"
"Our doctor is in California," Allison struggled to explain. "He's... virtual. He's the best of the best."
"I bet you have all the connections," Eden added, her voice still slightly tense. "Being a former doctor, and all."
Cole gave her a strained smile. "Right!"
And then things really took a turn for the worse.
"Is there a doctor in here?" someone called out suddenly, glancing around in panic. The table looked in the direction, noticing someone holding their hand to their throat and looking red in the face. Cole's eyes widened at the sight, hoping someone was around to help.
But then Cole realized the situation he got himself in.
Eden's head darted towards Cole, which made his heart plummet into his stomach. "Hey, you're a doctor!"
"Well, not practicing, you know—" Cole began, shaking his head rapidly in panic.
"Right here!" Eden shouted at the group, grabbing Cole by the arm and pulling him over.
"There might be another one! We should really let them shine!" Cole attempted to protest but Eden continued to drag him in the person's direction. "Really, I don't have much experience."
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
It would just be the Heimlich, right?
He could manage that.
Allison picked up the pace to walk next to him, eyes bulging from her head as she leaned up to talk in a hushed voice. "Can you do this?"
"I guess we'll find out?" Cole answered unsurely.
"Cole," she scolded lightly.
"Just... call an ambulance in case, yeah?" he told her in a low voice. She nodded as she pulled out her phone, stepping to the side to make the call.
"You might have to trach him," the server said a bit too excitedly.
"Let's not jump to anything drastic," Cole dismissed as he felt a whole new wave of panic come over him. The woman next to the choking man stood up, a distressed look on her face.
If Cole had to cut someone's throat open, he was the one who was gonna need medical assistance.
"Please, help, I think it's a tomato or something from the salad," the woman pleaded as she grasped Cole's arm, ushering him over to the table. He stood frozen over the choking man's body, raking his mind for what to do.
"Well, he seems to definitely be choking on something," Cole observed as he nodded rapidly, scanning the person's body as if an eject button would be found somewhere if he looked hard enough.
"Cole," Allison reprimanded, placing her hand over the microphone of the phone before turning her attention back to the call. He gave her a helpless look, throwing his arms out in defeat.
The server came back with the absolute longest knife Cole had ever seen. "Got you this."
"Holy shit!" Cole cried out in shock as he jumped back from the boy holding a knife half the size of his body. "No, put that thing down, oh my god."
"I think you need a straw or something too," the server muttered absently as he pushed the dull end of the knife towards Cole who took it with a choked noise.
"Do something!" the woman next to him cried out desperately, grabbing Cole's arm again.
"Okay!" Cole shouted back loudly as he put the knife down in the table. He moved behind the man in the seat, putting his fists together as he lifted him from the chair. He sucked in a deep breath, hoping this would work before pressing his hand against the man's lower stomach. Cole pulled in harshly upwards... nothing.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
"Try it again!" the woman called out, waving her hand around.
Cole tilted his head and said a silent prayer. He pulled his hands again, and by some miracle, something flew out of the man's mouth. The man instantly began coughing, heaving in gulps of air. Cole sat in shock for a moment before letting out an incredulous laugh.
Cole threw his arms in the air. "Holy shit! It worked!"
"Of course, it did," Allison pointed out in a tight voice, giving him a firm look. "You studied to be a doctor, honey."
"Right, that." He nodded slowly, snapping his finger at her.
"Med-school taught you... all that?" Eden asked disbelievingly, pointing a finger in his direction.
Cole gestured to the man on the floor who was still recovering. Breathlessly, he said, "Worked, didn't it?"
"Hey, I'm still feeling kinda dizzy," the man breathed out, hand grabbing towards Cole. "Is that normal?"
"You betcha," Cole shot at him with a grin and a thumbs up.
"Is that your official diagnosis?" Allison asked tensely, shaking her head once.
"No!" Cole exclaimed, turning back to the man. "No, just take it easy, man. You just need to catch your breath, yeah?"
"Now that sounds like a doctor!" Robert commented happily, pointing a finger at Cole. "My man!"
"Does it?" Cole muttered to himself before turning back to the others with a loose smile. "Right on, Robert."
"Call me Robby?" he asked hopefully with raised eyebrows.
Cole scrunched his face up. "I'm good."
The rest of the evening finished up with only a few more bumps in the road. Few more lies about how they met and how many kids they had. Neither Eden nor Robert seemed to doubt anything they said. At least, not too much. If they did, they didn't care enough to ask. Which was probably for the best anyway, because Cole probably would've struggled to come up with a lie for their lies.
Allison seemed pleased by the end of the night. It took a bit for Cole to calm down for the events that occurred, which let Allison do the talking for a while. Eden seemed delighted with everything she was saying. Robert seemed a bit lost, but that might just be his default setting. She managed to even negotiate getting her own office.
There were things they needed to discuss. Things Cole wanted to talk to her about, but he didn't know how. He wanted answers on why she didn't tell him about the promotion yet. But he wasn't even sure he could blame her, they didn't talk much these days about anything. Still, it stung. And he hated it.
But still, even with that nagging him, the dinner ended smoothly and they managed to make it through.
For now.
So long as he never had to pretend to be a doctor again.