Romantic One Shots & Imagines

One Shot #62: The Double Date

     Estelle sat waiting on her porch. It was a warm evening with a light breeze. She watched the bottom of her skirt twirl in the wind as she wondered if she'd been stood up, and by Nathan of all people. She thought back to when she agreed to do this for him. She didn't want to let him down. It was the look on his face that cemented her decision.

     As regret started to linger in her mind, a pair of headlights floated into her driveway. Rolling her eyes, she stood up and began to run down the front steps. Nathan quickly exited the car to greet her.

          "Hey, what's the rush?" Nathan asks as he stops her at the last step. They stand equal, staring at each other eye to eye.

          "We're going to be late." Estelle begins sternly. "You were supposed to pick me up 15 minutes ago."

          "Well, see, I had a tie malfunction and---" She goes around him and enters the car before he's able to catch up and open the door for her.

          She responds as he gets into the car. "You're 31 years old and you still don't know how to tie a tie?"

          "That's why I have you." He playfully yet adoringly replies. She rolls her eyes but quickly breaks a coy smile, unable to hide it any longer.

     During the drive to the restaurant, Nathan gives her a rundown of her new identity. Everything's basically the same, except that she is now his wife. He starts from their beginning, how they met, and ends with how he predicts the evening will go. She agreed to be his wife-for-a-day because of the evening's predicted events. That and Nathan's puppy dog face. A few weeks ago, Nathan received a Facebook message from a person he used to travel with back when he was in his wanderlust phase. He and Jason met at an Irish pub because they were the only Americans there and stood out like sore thumbs. Long story short, Nathan's new friend saved him from getting his teeth knocked out. He thanked Jason by buying him a pint and promising to buy him dinner if he ever came to visit Chicago, his hometown. Well, that time finally came. Almost five years later, Jason found him on Facebook and took him up on the offer. Nathan compared his life to Jason's Facebook page and deemed it not up to par. Ever since then, Nathan has been scrambling to impress him, hence his fancy suit and wife-for-a-day.

     Despite being late to pick up Estelle, they made perfect timing driving to the restaurant. Hand-in-hand, the feigned couple walked into the building practically at the same time as Jason and his fiance, Annie. The two women stood back as Nathan and Jason had their bromantic reunion.

          Nathan pulled back from the hug and turned to Estelle. "This is my wife, Estelle." She steps forward and shakes Jason's hand. "And you must be Annie. Jason would talk about you all the time." Annie is the only reason why he felt the need to create a fake wife. Nathan fell stagnant in his life, but being older than Jason, believed that he should present himself as being more accomplished.

     A plethora of "how are you's" and "nice to meet you's" went around before a hostess interrupted to offer them a table. The small talk didn't stop when the menus were passed out.

          "Chicago's your neck of the woods, what do you suggest I get?" Jason asks Nathan. Never being the type to go to a fancy restaurant unless he was invited, Nathan was unsure of how to answer. He hummed and looked back down at the menu.

          "Well---" Nathan begins.

          "This place is known for their pastas. When Nathan took me here for the first time, we shared the Ragu di Carni Bianche. It's a dish with these wide noodles, I forget the name, and a white meat sauce. It's my favorite and he even tried to make it for me at home for my birthday last year but, God bless him, he almost burnt the kitchen down." She places a hand on his chest as everyone laughs at the sweet story; no one as insincere as Nathan's. He was blown away at how effortlessly she was playing the role of his wife.