24

Linda

“…Is it?”

“Sure. You wouldn’t believe the amount of women who throw themselves at me. I get marriage proposals from people I’ve never met. All because of what’s in my wallet. Instead of what’s in my head, or my heart.”

The word ‘heart’ seemed to hang around in the atmosphere long after Axel had finished saying it, a small, glowing thing that stung my cheeks. I caught myself blushing in one of the mirrored walls of the restaurant.

“And me?” I said, practically swallowing with nerves as I said it.

“You see me for what I am underneath it all. And you aren’t impressed.”

“You don’t think you’re impressive?” I said, amazed.

“I’ve been lucky,” said Axel. “If anything went wrong in my career—if one of my bars had failed when I was starting out, or I’d made a bad investment—I’d have been just another guy on the street.”

I thought of the old man I’d seen earlier on the corner at work and felt a tiny shudder of fear run through my body.

“I like you for who you are,” I said. “Not your money.”

“But you do like me?” said Axel. I saw something in the corners of his eyes, as they narrowed a little.

What are you up to? I thought.

“Sure I do,” I said. I had to be careful. I couldn’t lie. I did like him and knew it wasn’t just a friendship. But at the same time, the idea of letting Axel into my life, of dating the father of my child. It was unthinkable.

“So, how would you feel about getting married to me?” said Axel.

And for a moment, everything was quiet in the restaurant. I felt like the volume had been turned down on the world. And then I felt my heart hammering in my chest at an impossibly loud volume.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be a real wedding,” said Axel. “But Zeke and I have been talking, and we’ve come across this interesting loophole in the laws concerning fraud and…”

His voice seemed to go quiet, and I stopped listening.

“Of course not,” I said, in a toneless voice. “Not real.”

“Yeah. You’d just have to pretend. Of course, the marriage license would have to be real, though. Otherwise, I might be up for more than one count of fraud. But we’d divorce afterward.”

It was like Axel was speaking in a foreign language. I caught different words here and there, but the world had gone silent since he asked me that question. And in the space remaining, a horde of unpleasant, nasty voices crept into the silence. The sum of all the years of bitterness spent waiting to hear from him until our chance encounter.

Of course it would never be a real wedding, they hissed.

No one would ever want to marry you, they sneered.

Only a fake wedding.

And the worst part?

When I looked into his face, past his strong, chiseled features, and to his bright, blue eyes, all I could see were Macy’s eyes.

“Say, Linda…” said Axel. “Are you feeling all right?”

I was shaking, and there was a stinging feeling at the corners of my eyes, as though I was about to cry.

“I have to go,” I said.

“No, Linda…” said Axel.

“I have to,” I said, and didn’t even finish the sentence this time.

I stood up, and felt my legs, trembling, seizing as I went down the stairs of the gallery, and out through the front door of the restaurant.

Axel

It was the second time I’d chased Linda through the streets of Manhattan. And this time, I’d very nearly lost her.

I was standing on the corner of 54th and 7th, wondering where she’d got to, when I finally saw her, zigzagging on the pavement up towards Central Park.

I folLindend her at a distance into the Park. It wasn’t dark yet, so I knew she’d be safe. But I couldn’t just leave her like this. I knew that whatever my question had triggered, it was important. And if I didn’t explain to her now, there might not be another chance.

When I finally caught up to her, she was sitting on a park bench, under a crowd of apple trees, staring down the rolling fields and meadows of Central Park. It was a warm evening, and I could see pollen floating through the air.

“I think I need to explain myself,” I said, as I approached her and sat down.

“You’re damn right you do,” snapped Linda. “What do you think I am? A wife-for-hire?”

“No,” I said, quickly. “I told you. If anything happens to me, then I need someone I trust to keep the businesses intact.”

“I have a child, Axel,” she said. “And you know what? Somewhere down the line, I was kind of hoping to get married for real.”

“You can,” I said. “Like I said. Once we can prove what Luca’s up to, we can get the ceremony legally annulled.”

“How do you think it feels,” said Linda, “for someone to tell you that they’d like to marry you as a joke? As a prank?”

“It’s not a prank,” I said, bemused.

“No, it’s a lie,” said Linda. “A lie. I thought you were an honest guy. But now I see what they mean about billionaires and millionaires all being crooked. Nothing’s sacred to you, is it?”

“That’s not true,” I said.

“So what do you believe in? If getting married’s such a joke to you that you’d fake one to save your restaurant?”

“I believe in you, Linda.”

I really meant it. The trust I was placing in her, the confidence I had in her to carry this through. Couldn’t she see that?

She laughed in a dry, hollow sort of way. “You’re joking, right?”

“I mean it. For this to work, I need someone I completely trust. Someone who wouldn’t get nervous, or abuse the position they’re going to be in. As my legal spouse, you’d have more than a little control over my life if you wanted it.”

“What? So I could divorce you and take half your money if you pissed me off?”

“Yep,” I said, nodding. After all, it was true.

Linda looked at me.

“You’re really desperate, aren’t you?” she said.

“Really. I wouldn’t have asked you. Especially if I’d known it would upset you.”

“It’s not that you asked, Axel,” said Linda frustratedly, looking down at the green grass around her. Against the verdant scenery of Central Park, her hair stood out, streaked with the fading sunlight.

“Then what is it?” I said. And not for the first time since I’d met her again, that dark feeling of foreboding rose in the pit of my stomach. Was there something Linda wasn’t telling me? For some reason, I thought of that night in her apartment. The little girl with the striking blue eyes appeared at the door to the living room.

“I guess I’m still angry about you leaving me, all those years ago. When I needed you.”

“But why?” I said. “Why did you need my help?”

She looked at me, and for a moment, I thought she was about to say it, and somehow I already knew what it was even though she hadn’t told me.

But then, Linda looked away.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “It’s in the past.”