The Perfect Stranger

Ch-1- Marry me?

Standing in front an old, faded, ugly apartment complex, all he can think of is  that the building is going to fall down on top of him if he takes a single step towards it, well that’s not all he can think of because currently there are a million thoughts running in his brain, it’s just one of the most worrying, the most common thought is that he was regretting every choice he ever made in his life that lead to this day and this event, but yeah, the building falling on top of him was pretty important.

He had already earned himself an unnecessary amount of glares and sneers when he had driven up to the side of LA he didn’t even know existed until he typed out the address onto his GPS, I mean sure it could be worse, there could be drug dealers and killers all around like you saw in the movies and he could have gotten mugged just from the time he has been standing in front of the building, but he still couldn’t get rid of that putrid smell of something rotting from his nose and he was raised in New York, so he knows his rotten smells okay and this was pretty up on his list.

The building wasn’t particularly intimidating despite all its long list of negatives, there were a total of 3 or 4 floors in the building and it was tiny enough to have another two such building blocking it all around in the same strip of the street. He would even go as far to say it was the cleanest building in the whole block, but that couldn’t be taken as a compliment either because the putrid smell just kept bugging at him more and more.

He suppose he shouldn’t complain considering this was the address of his (hopefully) fake fiancé, but then again he really didn’t want to risk his life. He didn’t even know if she really lived there, the man on the phone had sounded surprisingly shady for someone who picked calls for a catering company, and sure he had more or less bribed the man to giving him the address so he himself was being shady, but still he wouldn’t be surprised if the man lied, actually he kinds of hopes the man did lie just so he could get out of there.


“Okay, the first time was cool, but you seem pretty creepy for this to be a coincidence dude” there is a sudden voice behind him and Elliot jumps out of his skin at the sudden intrusion. But the minute he sees the face of his fake fiancé the first thing that washes over him is relief, because this means he doesn’t have to go into the damn building, but then Panic surges again as he remembers why exactly he is here, but still he is happy to hold on to that hint of relief for the time being.


“My friend is a cop” she tells him next, a hand already shoved towards her pocket where he can see a can of mace, ready to attack him at his next movement.

“NO-NO-NO, I am not a stalker” he jumps to assure her, which is kind of lie because he is a stalker in this case, and that’s exactly what a stalker would say.

“Well I stalked you now, but not normally-I mean that’s not my occupation, I don’t stalk people for a living-or for any other reason because stalking is not cool, it’s dangerous and creepy and I definitely do not do that, I don’t promote or support it either-I am totally anti-stalking, I am not a stalker-I think I already said that but-Yeah, I am not a stalker-Hi, I am Elliot” he finally says internally wincing at his own words as he extends him hands out to the girl.


“My Cop roommate has lots of cop friends, the apartment’s not that big so she’ll hear me if I scream” she says instead, still eyeing him warily, which okay, he is pretty sure he would have done the same after hearing the stream of stupidity that came out of his mouth.

“You don’t need to because I am completely harmless, I came in hopes to see you and talk to you, maybe somewhere else privately-not privately as in just the two of us alone because that will look like I did come to kill you, not that I would-I don’t want to kill you, I am not a killer-I mean public kind of private, like a restaurant or something where we can sit or talk-or stand, I am fine with standing-as long as the talking part is in, Please” he almost begs, his eyes pleading to the girl in front of him.

“I am a good person, I swear” he adds when she still has the grip on her mace. After another second of her taking in his stance she finally takes her hands out of her pockets, luckily without the mace.

“I am not getting in a car with you” she says, green eyes finally softening enough to make him feel less scrutinized.

“Okay, that’s fine-I saw a coffee place just nearby, we could walk there, is that okay?” he is quick to jump at the chance. She seems to deliberate for a second, looking between him and her apartment before she hesistantly nods.

“I am gonna text my roommate first, and remember she is a cop” she reminds him for the third time that he is actually starting to doubt the integrity of that fact, besides he is pretty sure a cop could afford a better place than this dumb.

“Sure, got it” he agrees easily, not wanting to freak her out even more by vocalizing his opinions on the matter, as she takes out her phone and quickly writes up something he can’t see.

“I am Harry” she says once the phone is back in the pocket of her seemingly worn out jeans. She extends her hands a second later like he did the first time, Elliot flails to take it and give her his best non-threatening smile.

He kind of already knew that, but he didn’t think telling her that would help.

“That’s a nice name” he tells her instead and she gives him the familiar polite smile in return as they start walking towards the coffee place. Great, that’s done, now to actually tell her that he wanted to fake marry her…..


                       **********



Harry’s met her fair share of guys in her life, and sure only like 2 of them had ever actually expressed romantic interest in her, and out of the two one is her sloth of a roommate who only pretended to want to have sex with her so he could sleep in the bed instead of the couch, which only left her with her one and only Ex as a frame of reference for this scenario, and as nice as that guy was Harry was pretty sure she was the one who asked him out, so she didn’t have a frame of reference at all.

But nevertheless she is pretty sure this random guy was not trying to ask her out, and even if he was he was either doing a terrible job at it or making sure that she never said yes.

“Um, dude not that I don’t appreciate your rambling, because trust me I do and it will be hypocritical of me to say that even if I didn’t-but would you please mind getting to the point, because your stalker vibes are back on” she cuts him off by the time their drinks had arrived and Elliot was still trying to assure her that he did not come to kill her, which is not as reassuring as the guy believed to be.

The guy had seemed like he was stepping into a slaughterhouse from the moment they entered the place, and sure Lenny’s wasn’t her favorite spot to be either, but she knew Maria standing on the counter and she was pretty sure if she were to get killed or kidnapped by this random rich man she would report him, like probably, but apparently the guy had bribed of her address from Uncle Chuck’s and who’s to say he won’t just throw money at Maria to keep her quite , and between money and herself, Harry wouldn’t exactly be the first choice to Maria.

So yeah, it’s pretty distressing. But hey, at least the guy looked just as uncomfortable as her, so that counts for something right?

“You look like a nice person” he says with another one of those puppy dog eyes that had made her relent in the first place, god damn it , she had a soft spot for dogs and this guy looked just like a human golden retriever, a better looking golden retriever of course.

“Um, I hope so?” she questions clearly confused.

“You are, you really are-You are kind of awesome for someone I met at the park, I mean not everyone would have done what you did, and so smoothly too, you pulled it off wonderfully. Paris sent me the adult version of an erotic fruit basket later that day. So umm, I just wanted to ask you this silly little thing-I mean, How do you feel about I don’t know-like maybe, Marrying me?” the guy finishes awkwardly and Harry almost spits out her drink once the words are processed in her head.

“Excuse me?” she chocked as she tried to make sure she heard it right.

“I mean fake-Fake marrying, no I mean getting engaged, FAKE engaged, just pretending one more time-or maybe more than one time, I am not sure about that part, for a little while at least” he repeats.

“Are you crazy?” she voices out her screaming thoughts.

“Slightly, I mean I didn’t use to be, but around the last month I think I have been developing a fair amount of crazy, because I do understand this is crazy. You see you almost did the whole fake engagement thing a little too wonderfully, So when Paris met my mom a few days ago in the airport-and let me tell you, I hate airports now- she may or may not have shown her the picture of us, and my mom may or may not have told the news to the whole family, so Hey now my whole family and friends thinks I am engaged. Yay me” he explains as Harry tries to comprehend the words coming out of this completely absurd rich dude.

She has half the urge to put her head down and scream into something or maybe just turn around and run away for the sake of her own sanity and health, but no, her mother raised her better so she takes a deep breath and takes a minute to process everything the guy just said at rabbit speed.

“Okay-Okay- let me just get this straight, your family thinks you are engaged to me, and you are asking me-a complete stranger you know nothing about- to continue on being fake engaged to you-another rich, creepy, stalker of a complete stranger I know nothing about- instead of telling your family the truth, I am sorry but I fail to see the sense in this thing?” she hisses once she has her breathing in order.

“I can’t tell them the truth, it’s my mom” the guy tells her like she is the crazy one asking to fake marry him.

“Yes you can, there is a difference between an overly attached ex-girlfriend and your own mother dude, and that is the fact you can tell your mother the truth when you mess up, and this is the perfect example of ‘messing up’-You should be talking to your family, not to me” Harry tries to push some sense into this guy.


“My mother is Emilia Zedler, you can’t just tell her that-She would banish me, well maybe not literally-but still, I will be pretty banished as the big embarrassing fool if I back out now. Just marry me-Fake marry me because I kind of actually have a girlfriend and no offence but she wouldn’t like me very much if I married someone else”

Harry’s jaw literally opens up as she tries to make sure this guy is real, and what is coming out of his mouth is real. She doesn’t even know where to start just from that statement alone; she actually opens and closes her mouth like a gaping fish just out of her shock before she is able to find comprehendible words in her brain.

“Oh my god, What the-Are you for real right now? I just-Oh my god. I have a million questions right now but first of all, I’ll admit I have heard the word Zedler a few times but I have no idea who you or your mother is other than the fact you are crazy and seemingly rich. And the point is she is your mother okay, if you tell anyone the truth you are to tell her and last of all, what the hell is wrong with you? Why would you ask to marry me-no why would you even ask me to pretend to be your fiancé in the first place if you already had a real life girlfriend you absolute moron?” Harry shouts while at the same time trying not to shout too loud to grab anybody else’s attention.

She finally understand why Yoshi always tells her not to feed strays, this is what happens when you feed them, they follow you home with all their insanity and asks you to marry them, and holy hell she must be going crazy if she is actually regretting not listening to Yoshi’s advice.

“Well it’s kind of complicated” the guy replies as if that’s supposed to answer her questions.

“Hmm, you know what else is complicated? fake marriage- that shit is the mother of all complications and the only reason I am still sitting here and not running away is  because you, my friend, are clearly insane and I am genuinely curious as to what is even going on in your head” Harry is quick to reply.

He looks about ready to protest, the puppy eyes back on but this time Harry is adamant in not relenting to those eyes, and maybe he must have figured it out too because he just sighs before finally turning to the drink he had pushed away, in a second he has the cup in his hand and is taking a large gulp of the mildly hot drink.

“I am gonna need something stronger than this if I am gonna tell my life story to a complete stranger” he says a second later, with an accusative yet harmless glare at her as if she is the sole reason of all his issues.

“And you are completely fine asking a complete stranger to marry you?” She retorts and he shrugs.

“You might have a point there” he admits as he orders another drink, something seemingly with alcohol when the waiter arrives and Harry settles in to listen to his story, curious despite her attempts to conceal it.

Harry is aware of the words ‘curiosity killed the cat’ circling in the background of her head, but for once she is quick to ignore her own monologue and listen to the stranger’s instead.