Run that by me one more time, we're going to the party as who exactly?
The echo of Monica's words made Samantha feel uneasy. As an actress she'd taken on different personas effortlessly. Creating backstories where there were none and melting the identity of her character so far into her DNA that for hours she became the character. It was easy to pretend to be a bad-ass cop who didn't take shit from anyone and tracked down the bad guys. Zero effort was required to give the convincing performance of a scared hostage who lowered her gaze whenever her captors made and entrance. But, this time was different. This time it wasn't effortless. No character in her repertoire had prepared her for what she was about to embark on. Samantha Swift was about to pretend to be Eddie Valetik's wife.
Well, Sarah Wilcox was the lovely wife of Jaxon White, the owner of a security firm.
"Sarah…Sarah…"
The annoyance behind Eddie's words snapped the olive skinned beauty back to reality.
"I…uh…could you say that again? My mind was somewhere else." Samantha gave Eddie an apologetic look and quickly lowered her gaze toward the ground. As brunette curls cascaded down her face she couldn't help but notice that her fingers were tightly interlocked with Eddie's.
The private investigator ran his free hand across the stubble on his chin and laughed slightly. "My wife's had a long day, I apologize for her…spaciness."
Wife. That's right, she was his wife. Well, the persona she was embodying was his wife. Monica and Eddie had taken this reconnaissance mission to another level. It would have been a lot easier for Eddie to slip in and out of the event unnoticed. No one knew who he was. There weren't thousands of pictures of him on the internet documenting every single one of his life choices. Everyone knew who Sam Swift was and no amount of makeup or expensively priced wigs could disguise her identity.
With Samantha by Eddie's side they were constantly being stopped and told how cute they looked together. Which was quickly followed by an inquiry as to how they'd met. Instead of focusing on their mission they had to stop and retell the same made up story they'd agreed on during the drive over.
"Where was I?" Eddie had lost his place in the fictional story he'd been divulging to the blonde haired hostess.
Sam unlocked her fingers from Eddie and took a few steps away from her husband. She began scanning the room for the blonde haired girl that was hell bent on finding her boyfriend's killer.
"Your friend Chris had set you up on a blind date." The woman gave Eddie a very eager smile before reminding him of where he'd left off.
"Right, I hadn't dated in a while so my best friend Chris thought it'd be a great idea to set me up with one of her friends. So, I showed up at the restaurant and waited for my date to arrive, but she never did." Eddie was taking the lead. Easily sharing the bullshit story about knowing Sarah was the "one" the moment he laid eyes on her. "Sarah was sitting alone at the bar, so I decided to introduce myself." The private investigator gave his partner a look that told her to focus on the task at hand. "Why don't you tell them the rest, sweetheart?"
Samantha gave the P.I. a frustrated glare. All she wanted to do was make her way around the room and find Lynette, but here they were wasting time talking to some random woman. "No, it's okay. You're way better at telling the story than I am." And apparently a whole lot better at bullshitting people too.
"Go on honey, tell her." Eddie placed his hand along the small of Sam's back and nudged her back into the conversation.
Offering the woman a forced smile she quickly pushed Eddie's hand away from her slender frame. "Funny enough, I was also waiting for a date that never showed. Unlike, Jaxon I hadn't been set up by a friend. I'm not as old as him when it comes to technology. I found a guy on a dating app who seemed nice enough and we arranged a date at my favorite restaurant." How did the rest of the story go? Maybe she should have paid better attention while Monica briefed her on Sarah's storyline. Licking her lips slowly she tried to bullshit her way through the conversation. If Eddie could do it, so could she, right? "After an hour of waiting I decided to head down to the bar. That's when I got a text from my date saying he was stuck in the office. So, I ordered a couple shots of tequila and that's when Jaxon sat down next to me and took one of the drinks without asking." Samantha tried to make the story sound amusing. She was trying hard to sell the farce. Am I selling it too hard?
"I was being charming." Eddie gave the woman a beaming smile and for a moment Samantha Swift actually believed the lie.
How are you so good at this? I'm the actress here not you! She watched him in awe. The woman was completely twisted around his finger. She hung on his every word.
"You were being annoying." Sam slid her fingers down the palm of his left hand and locked them tightly. "I allowed you to take my drink. Then, we had a few more and a few more. Before long we were talking about our childhoods, professions, and plans for the future. It was so easy talking to him that I knew I was completely head over heels for him."
The blonde woman placed a hand on Sam's upper arm and smiled, "Well aren't you a lucky duck, bagging a man like this guy. I must say, I really am jealous."
Don't be. It's all bullshit. No one actually falls in love like that.
Sam returned the smile and tried to disguise her discomfort. "Honey, it's getting pretty late. I have an early meeting tomorrow, remember?"
Eddie got the hint and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're meeting. I almost forgot." He extended his hand out to the woman, "It was nice meeting you."
"Oh nonsense!" The woman slapped Eddie's hand away. "It's barely 9 o'clock. There's still a lot of party left!" She made her way toward Sam and locked her hand through the actresses arm. "Come on, I have some people I want you to meet."
Sam glared at her partner. I really hate you right now! This was definitely not part of the plan! How was she supposed to find Lynette when she was being paraded around the party by a brainless host.
Sensing her frustration, Eddie immediately pulled Sam towards him, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled away slightly and moved his lips toward her neck, "Keep her busy. I'm going to look around and see if I can find our girl." He whispered the words against her skin.
The warmth from his voice made the young actress feel dizzy. Gripping his arm tightly all she could do was nod in agreement. How are you so good at this? Looking into his eyes the desire to kiss him once more infiltrated her senses. "Be careful."
"Always." Tucking a strand of hair behind Samantha's ear he offered her a soft smile. It was almost an apology. Almost.
"Alright you two!" The woman tugged on Sam's arm, visibly annoyed by the public display of affection occurring in front of her. "I promise I won't take her away for too long."
As she was tugged through the crowd of strangers Samantha looked back at the P.I. and mouthed, "You owe me."