I've always had a weakness for the fake marriage trope and when this story came to mind, the desire to write it was too great to ignore. The plot is of course improbable, as fake marriage stories generally are, but that has never stopped me from enjoying them regardless.
Myka Bering loves her work. She's reminded of this every morning as she reads the title Endless Wonder Book Publishers etched across the glass door before she steps inside the small publishing office. Recruited by Irene Frederic, the founder of the company, the job is tailor made for Myka, a woman who loves literature of all genres, with a scrupulous eye for detail and a keen instinct. Myka loves the challenge of the work, the diversity of it, and the people she works with. Surprisingly, it's her coworkers that have proven to be the most rewarding aspect of the job. Five years ago when she stepped inside the office doors, her only concern was to do her job and do it well. But now, her coworkers are family to her, and she can't imagine her life without them, without one coworker in particular.
As Myka strolls through the office, her satchel slung over her shoulder and coffee cup in hand, she takes in the familiar sights of the office buzzing to life around her. Leena is at her desk, sorting through emails. Claudia sits at her computer, surfing the web with Steve seated next to her, scribbling notes. And Pete, as usual, isn't working but absently tossing a stress ball into the air and catching it effortlessly as she passes.
"Hey, Mykes, happy Monday," Pete greets and Myka nods her head.
"You're in early today, Pete," she comments.
"Ah, you know me. I didn't want to miss the show," he gestures to Artie's office. "They've been going at it for almost forty minutes this morning."
And then there's HG, currently in Artie's office, the way she practically is every Monday morning, arguing. Myka shakes her head and smiles. Some things never change. She knows only too well, after they have finished arguing for the time being, HG will stomp into her office to unleash everything Artie is asking her to do now. Helena Wells has been with Endless Wonder for the last three years, also personally recruited by Mrs. Frederic; only Artie has never understood why Mrs. Frederic insisted on hiring another editor, especially one not prone to following orders as Helena, and Artie has always resented Helena for it. Especially when Helena proved to be exceptional at her job, always seeming to know what work of fiction will make the best sellers' list. But Helena can never seem to convince Artie to publish a story without a battle between them first, as they seem to be in the midst of now.
Myka sighs. "Forty minutes? You really did get here early, why?" Myka asks Pete suspiciously.
"Don't let him fool you, Myka," Claudia interrupts. "Pete only got here minutes before you. But Steve and I have been keeping track of their time," she nods toward the office where Myka can hear Artie shouting. She winces at the sound.
"Forty minutes is a long time, even for them," Myka states worriedly. "And it's not like Helena to come in to the office so early either."
"That's what we thought," Claudia agrees. "I can't imagine what kind of story she wants Artie to publish now."
Myka sighs. "I'm sure I'll hear about it soon enough," she says making her way to her own office.
Setting down her satchel, Myka removes her coat, before sitting down at her computer, sorting through emails, just waiting for the moment Helena will storm into her office to unleash everything Artie disagrees with her about. Today is different however. Helena doesn't come stomping into her office as expected; instead it is Leena at her door.
"Myka, Artie is asking to see you in his office."
Myka rises quickly. "Did he say what it's about?" she asks following Leena out the door.
"No idea, but HG looks rather subdued, so it can't be good."
That is bad, Myka realizes. She's never seen Helena subdued in the three years she's known the often, formidable Englishwoman.
"Artie, you want to see me?" Myka steps inside his office, catching a quick glance at HG who offers her a small smile as she runs her hand through her hair distractedly.
"Close the door behind you," is what Artie greets her with. "It seems we have a situation on our hands," he continues looking at HG accusingly.
"You act as if I did this on purpose," HG speaks defensively.
"Well, you continually like to insinuate how much more intelligent you are compared to me, so it does seem rather ironic you could let something like this happen."
"I've been busy, if you haven't noticed, and I slipped."
"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Myka asks already frustrated by their incessant arguing.
Artie turns to look at her. "Ms. Wells, here," he says with emphasis, "somehow managed to forget to renew her work visa and is subject to deportation almost immediately, unless we can come up with a solution to keep her here. I, for one, would gladly see her back to London, but Mrs. Frederic insists she's needed here, so here she shall stay."
"All right," Myka speaks cautiously. "What exactly do you want me to do – get the visa renewed?"
"It's not so simple as that," Artie speaks. "The renewal can take months and Mrs. Frederic is adamant Ms. Wells not be deported if possible. So…" he falters.
"So…" Myka prods, looking from Artie to Helena and back to Artie again.
Artie sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose as if he would rather be anywhere than where he is right now. "HG did make a proposal."
Helena's laughter filters through the air. "You just made a pun, very good, Artie," she smirks at him. Artie glares back.
"Any pun was unintentional, I assure you."
"Pun?" Myka asks confused yet again. "Will someone please explain to me what's going on?"
Artie groans. "HG informs me that you two are…" he struggles for the proper word, gesturing vaguely with an arm, "that you're…together…a couple," he finally manages to sputter, perturbed that's he's been placed in this position of speaking to his employees about their personal affairs.
"What?" Myka gasps startled, looking to Helena for an explanation.
Helena rises from the chair she was sitting in to approach Myka. "I'm sorry, darling, but I had to tell Artie about us," she speaks, her dark brown eyes searching Myka's, begging her to understand and to go with the ruse. "You see, what Artie is trying to explain, and failing miserably doing so, I might add," she glares at him, "is that if we were to marry, I wouldn't have to be deported."
"Helena, you're not serious?" Myka scoffs nervously.
"I know this is sudden," Helena agrees, "and we've certainly never discussed marriage, but is the idea of marrying me so objectionable then?"
"What? No…I mean…it's not…Helena, this is completely crazy," she utters before seeing Artie's scrutinizing stare. "I mean…as you said, we've never even discussed marriage…and now to marry so soon it's…crazy," Myka repeats grasping her neck and rubbing at it as if in pain.
Helena sighs. "Myka, you're my coworker, my best friend and…lover," she adds glancing at Artie briefly to see him turn away at the word in embarrassment. She grins seeing his sudden discomfort but the grin quickly fades when she turns to look at Myka, who would appear rather pale if not for the faint blush tinting her cheeks.
"Darling," Helena says taking Myka's hand in hers, "I assure you it won't be such a stretch for us to be married. It's only a piece of paper to legalize my stay here, nothing more."
Perhaps Myka is old-fashioned, but she takes the idea of marriage much more seriously. "Are you absolutely sure this is…the only way…that this is what you want, Helena?" Myka asks. "Marriage is a huge commitment," she tries to emphasize, practically begging Helena to consider the possible repercussions.
"While I don't exactly have an aversion to returning to London, my life is here now, in Denver…with you," Helena answers. "Besides, Irene prefers to have me close," she shoots a meaningful look at Artie.
"I still don't understand why," Artie shakes his head. "You're an editor. This day in age, you can edit from anywhere. We can send you the work through email."
"But my life is here now," Helena repeats firmly. Glancing at Myka her features soften to see the worry in clear green eyes. "But I don't want to put you in a situation that makes you uncomfortable, Myka," she speaks gently. "I know this isn't an ideal situation…after all…we've only recently begun our relationship," she says for Artie's benefit, "and you certainly don't have to marry me. I can in fact return to London if need be."
Myka feels her stomach drop at the thought. To not see Helena every day as she has for the past three years is unimaginable and unendurable.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Artie rubs his chin, "but you're going to have to get married if HG is to stay here."
Myka turns to Artie suddenly. "Would it be possible for Helena and I discuss this matter privately before we come to a final decision?"
Artie looks as if that is the best idea he's heard all morning. He nods rigorously. "Go, talk," he waves them off relieved. "Just let me know what you decide so I know whether to celebrate HG's departure or offer condolences to you, Myka."
Helena scowls at Artie but refrains from commenting as Myka firmly grasps her by the elbow to lead her out of Artie's office, through the open space of the office where Myka is keenly aware of the stares of her coworkers, and into her own office where she shuts the door with an unintended slam.
"Marriage, HG!" Myka gasps incredulously.
Helena winces. "Oh dear," she says chagrined. "I know you're upset when you use my initials."
"You just lied to our boss about us having a romantic relationship and you want me to marry you to avoid deportation! Which is illegal by the way! Why wouldn't I be upset?" Myka asks, throwing up her arms before settling them across her chest defensively.
Helena drops into a chair wearily. "I know, it's complete utter madness," she agrees. "But Myka, you should have heard Artie. He was insufferable, practically giddy when I told him of the situation I was in. He would gladly see me return to London, but when he made a call to Mrs. Frederic to inform her of the problem, she told him to find a way to keep me here. He berated me for half an hour before I finally had enough of his insidious comments and blurted I could marry you. I'm still not certain he entirely believes we're romantically involved, but it seems he's willing to turn a blind eye as long as it keeps me here to please Mrs. Frederic."
"But why me?" Myka asks, and this is perhaps the question she wants answered more than anything. "If anyone would do, why not propose a marriage between you and Pete or Steve?" she asks still flustered by the event that has transpired.
Helena gives her a look of incredulity. "There is no universe in which Pete Lattimer and I would ever be romantically involved," she says shuddering at the thought. "And as for Steve…" she tapers off significantly with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, okay," Myka acknowledges the futility of the question she posed as she grasps the back of her neck in agitation and leans on the edge of her desk.
"I suppose I should feel flattered I'm the one you think of spur of the moment when you're trying to convince Artie you're in love with someone," she laughs nervously meeting Helena's eyes.
"You should," Helena replies softly. "Myka…you and I…we make sense," and there is a look of shyness about her at the admission that momentarily takes Myka's breath away. "At least in the sense of fooling Artie about my romantic attachment anyway," she manages a chuckle.
"Helena, this is serious," Myka continues, trying to ignore the swarm of butterflies that are currently fluttering in her stomach at Helena's words. "Marriage…it's a contract, and in this instance, illegal, as I mentioned before, to marry someone just to obtain residence in the country," she sputters. "We could get caught. You could be deported anyway and I'd be sent to jail and…"
"Myka," Helena interrupts moving forward in her chair to lay a soothing hand along Myka's leg and Myka is acutely aware of her touch. "I'm hardly a threat to national security. I'm only an Englishwoman who happened to let my visa expire. I've lived here for three years now. I think your government has more important concerns than my personal affairs, at least I should hope so," she quips.
But Myka doesn't laugh, doesn't even smile. Instead, Helena observes the frown on Myka's face deepen and the look that passes though her green eyes is one of fear.
"I'm sorry, Myka," Helena apologizes. "I meant what I said before, I don't want to put you in any situation that makes you uncomfortable," she says removing her hand from Myka's leg to run it through her raven tresses. Myka misses the contact but watches distractedly as Helena's long fingers filter through her hair. "And you're absolutely right, it is illegal what I've asked of you and I can't do it. I'll tell Artie the truth and return to London," she says rising from her chair.
Myka truly is afraid now. She's afraid of creating this lie to sell to Artie, Mrs. Frederic, and possibly the government, yes, but is it really a lie when she does love Helena? After all, friends get married all the time, why should this be any different? What truly terrifies Myka is Helena walking out of her life to return indefinitely to London, to possibly never see her again. To not see Helena's dark eyes shine with amusement, or hear her laughter, or feel her excitement when she comes across a new story she wants to publish. There would be no more morning meetings talking over hot beverages, or the occasional quiet Friday nights spent on Myka's sofa sharing a bottle of wine and watching a movie. Myka can't let Helena go, she won't.
"No, wait," Myka implores watching as Helena turns dark eyes on her. "I'll marry you," she breathes.
"You will?" Helena asks uncertain.
Myka stops leaning on her desk to stand up straight, awkwardly dropping her hands to her side. "Yes, I'll marry you," she repeats, feeling as if her heart is about to burst from her chest at Helena's appreciative smile. "Admittedly I have my reservations…obviously I do…but…I don't want you to leave, Helena."
"I don't want to leave either," Helena responds and the air between them is palpable.
Myka grasps the back of her neck again, as she tries to grasp for something more to say. "I'm still a little confused how you could let your visa expire in the first place though. It's unlike you to forget something so important."
Helena looks away, combing her fingers through her hair distractedly. "I don't know quite how it happened either," she confesses. "It's not like me to be so careless, but I have had a rather busy schedule of late and there have been…a dalliance or two that have offered some distraction," she concedes with a smirk.
Myka rolls her eyes at this. "You and your dalliances," she mutters under her breath as she steps behind her desk and begins to shuffle through papers.
"What was that, darling?" Helena asks with a raised brow.
It's on the tip of Myka's tongue to say 'nothing' and let it go, but there is something else that bothers her. Something she needs to find out if they are actually to go through this marriage.
"Well, since you brought up the subject…what happened with Giselle?" Myka asks softly, trying to sound nonchalant.
Helena looks away, almost as if she's embarrassed about something. "We've parted ways," is all she offers.
Myka huffs in frustration at Helena's lack of an explanation. "That's all you're going to tell me about this woman you were so infatuated with not more than three weeks ago when you finally introduced me to her?"
Helena remains silent and still doesn't look at Myka.
"Helena?" Myka asks gentler now, concerned by her reaction. "Wouldn't you rather marry Giselle, seeing as you two were actually involved?"
"No," Helena says adamantly then tries to explain. "Myka, things happen…something happened…I made a mistake," she smiles sadly finally meeting Myka's eyes and Myka is surprised to observe a faint blush to her cheeks before Helena quickly turns away again. "At any rate, it really doesn't matter what happened as Giselle and I were never going to be a long term relationship."
"Why would you say that? You both seemed completely…taken with each other when I saw you together," Myka speaks truthfully as much as the remembrance of that meeting still bothers her for reasons she doesn't want to examine.
Helena laughs sardonically. "Evidence that appearances can be deceiving. As it so happens, we broke up that very night, actually."
"Oh," is all Myka manages to say. Stepping around her desk, Myka approaches Helena and gently touches her arm. "I'm sorry, Helena," she says sincerely.
Helena looks up at the touch and Myka finds herself struggling for breath at the sight of those dark eyes looking at her with such vulnerability and affection.
"Thank you, darling, but there's nothing to be sorry about, truly," she smiles even though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Oh, Myka," she says, her eyes suddenly large, "I didn't even think to ask in the midst of all my troubles, but what about you, darling? Is there someone you're interested in, because if so, I don't want to interfere…"
"Helena, stop," Myka shakes her head. "There is no one else."
Helena looks at her critically. "Are you absolutely certain?"
Myka briefly thinks of Sam. A lawyer who happens to work in the same building, they finally introduced themselves after meeting in the elevator several times. They've even met for coffee once in the building's cafeteria, and though Sam is intelligent and kind and seems interested to take things further, Myka is reluctant to do the same.
"I'm certain. I'm all yours," Myka says then blushes at the unintended implication of her words.
Helena grasps her hand and smiles. "Thank you for this, Myka. You truly are a friend beyond compare."
Myka steps away, forcing Helena to drop her hand at the action. "So, I guess we need to make arrangements then. When do we get married?"
"As soon as possible, however, we do have quite a bit to get done. We need to obtain the marriage certificate and find an officiate to marry us, but I think we should be able to get everything done by Thursday."
"Thursday," Myka breathes suddenly weak in the knees at the thought. "That's…really fast," she says sitting on the edge of her desk once more.
"Not getting cold feet already, are you darling?" Helena quips. "Surely our conversation this morning has been more than sufficient to convince you of the infallibility of this arrangement," she smirks.
"Not funny, Helena," Myka says grasping the edge of her desk tightly just for something to hold onto.
"Relax, darling," Helena tries to soothe. "We'll get married and in three months, after I receive my visa, we'll have the marriage annulled as if it never happened."
"Three months. Just in time for Christmas," Myka suddenly realizes.
"Yes, you can consider the annulment a gift then," Helena says a little too brightly.
Myka ignores the comment and clears her throat nervously. "And what about living arrangements during the three months we're married?"
Helena smiles. "There's no reason why that should change. We simply both go on about our lives as normal, only we'll be married now, so you just can't marry another during that time."
"Fine," Myka nods her approval. "I think we should keep this marriage just between us, Artie and I suppose Mrs. Frederic."
"I agree discretion is of the essence."
"I'll tell Artie of our plans then."
"It would probably be better coming from you," Helena concedes.
"Right. Okay then, if everything is settled on that point, I suppose we should get to work. What story is Artie refusing to let you publish now, Helena?"
And just like that, they are back to being coworkers, their friendship firmly in place and firmly unchanged.
Myka spends most of the morning locked in her office after she and Helena have discussed both work matters and the matter of their impending marriage. She's not sure which is harder to believe: that's she's going to break the law, or that she's intentionally doing so to marry Helena. Had it been anyone but Helena, Myka knows she would never even consider this plan, let alone act on it. But it is Helena, and Myka has long since realized where Helena is concerned, there is nothing she won't do for her. She sighs at the thought, wondering how she ever got to this point.
Finally resigning herself to at last to speak with Artie about deportation solution, she stands from her desk to pull on her blazer. Distractedly, she takes a moment to adjust the collar, pulls at the sleeves, tugs at the fit, brushes a hand through her unruly curls before at last walking out of her office, across the main floor and knocks on Artie's door.
"Come in!" Artie barks.
Myka quickly steps inside, firmly shutting the door behind her and strides up to his desk.
"Well?" he asks leaning back in his chair to look up at her.
"Artie, Helena and I…have decided to marry," Myka speaks and hates that her voice quivers slightly at the statement.
Artie looks at her skeptically. "Are you absolutely sure about this, Myka?" he asks and his voice softens with concern.
"Artie, I know you and Helena have never gotten along, but I hope one day you'll see in her what I do. That she's incredibly intelligent, a talented editor, she's caring and loyal and…"
"And you're going to marry her," Artie sighs interrupting her rambling. "When is the wedding then?"
"We're planning on Thursday evening after work."
Artie nods. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Myka."
"I've given the situation a lot of consideration and I know what I'm doing, Artie," she speaks honestly, "I really do. But I wondered if I could ask you a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Please keep our marriage quiet? I know you'll have to inform Mrs. Frederic, but please, let Helena and I keep this between us, at least for now, while everything is…still so new. I mean, we just barely started dating…and now to get married…" she tries to explain, faltering slightly under the lie.
Artie purses his lips in contemplation for several long minutes and Myka feels perspiration begin to dot her skin under his gaze.
"Fine," he finally agrees.
"Thank you, Artie," Myka smiles with relief. Artie just waves her off in dismissal and she quickly exits his office.
"So, what's the news today?" Pete asks startling Myka as she closes Artie's office door behind her.
"What news?" Myka asks confused.
"The news, Mykes, you know. What was the battle royal about earlier this morning between HG and Artie?"
"Oh, uh, you know the usual," she answers vaguely.
"Hey, you okay, Mykes?" Pete asks taking in her appearance, the way her skin is slightly flushed and she almost sounds like she's out of breath.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she asks pulling at her blazer self-consciously.
"I don't know you just seem a little flushed. Did Artie say something to upset you? Did he finally make good on his threats and fire HG?"
Myka shakes her head. "You know Mrs. Frederic would never allow that to happen. Helena is staying for good," Myka confirms, a soft smile gracing her lips.