{{ Rachel }}

I was just about to get into my bed before I received a text message from Garfield.

You free? Just got off work if u wanna still work on our story

I pursed my lips. On one hand I wasn't exactly doing anything important at the moment, on the other I wasn't super enthused about meeting Garfield so late at night. However we did need to get our story straight. I wasn't trying to have our cover blown up after all.

Sure. I'm not in the mood to get dressed to go out so you can just come to my apartment. Here's the address.

I clicked send before rising from my bed. Currently I was wearing an old pair of sweatpants from college and a loose black tee shirt, not exactly my most fashionable clothes. Wait. Why did I care? It was just Garfield after all. But I figured that I should get changed anyway, y'know impressions and all that. I meandered over to my closet where various dark colored clothes hung from hangers; bright clothes really weren't my thing. I decided to pick something casual out, so that it would seem that I didn't just get dressed for him. I decided on a tight fitting black shirt and a warn out pair of jeans. I ran my fingers through my hair, realizing that it would soon be time to touch up my roots again. Purple hair could be such a pain at times.

After sliding the clothes on, I walked over to the living room and took in its spaciousness. I'd had the penthouse for a while now, pretty much since I graduated college actually and yet, I didn't have many great memories here. I mean yeah, it's a beautiful penthouse and I'm grateful to live here but it's always felt a bit…empty. But I like empty... Right?

Right. I've always liked space. Physical space and emotional space. Space between people is what keeps me from getting hurt. I mean, it also keeps me from actually meeting people but I figure that's the cost of avoiding heartache. I looked through the large windows that framed the living area and smiled at the view. The sun had already set and darkness covered Jump City yet the brightness of the buildings and activity of the city buzzing below illuminated the sky. It was beautiful. Suddenly my thoughts drifted to Mal and how much he hated the business of the city. He always hated the fast paced atmosphere of Jump City and almost begged me to move with him to a quieter city. Had it not been for my father's intervention, I would probably be stuck in some small town in the middle of nowhere.

I hated thinking of Mal. I mean, first of all, how lame is it to be obsessing over an ex from seven years ago? Especially when you know he's not thinking of you as much as you are. Second of all, thinking of Mal brought up painful memories that I never wanted to relive. He reminded me of my past life, something I'd very much like to leave in the past. Yet somehow whenever I was alone, I couldn't help but think of him. Perhaps it was because of his influence on such a pivotal point in my life. Maybe it was the fact that he was the only boy I'd ever had real feelings for. Or maybe it was just the fact that he snapped my heart in two. Whatever the cause, I didn't appreciate it. A sudden knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts and for the first time in a while, I was glad to be out of my head.

[[Garfield]]

This place was huge! It was probably the nicest apartment I'd ever seen in my life. I have no idea how a single woman working for a newspaper could possibly afford a place like this but hey, I'm not type to ask questions. Rachel had let me into her apartment ten minutes ago and I was still taking in the beauty of the whole place. I mean the leather couches were kind of tacky in my opinion but I'm a vegan so I may be kinda biased.

"You really live here? Dude, how can you afford this place?" I asked, admiring the view of Jump City Park from her living room window. Rachel shifted uncomfortably, almost as if she were hiding something.

"I make enough to afford it, let's leave it at that." she said, eager to change the subject. Ok, that was weird.

"…Riight. Anyway, I guess we should get going with this whole story thing." I said.

"Yes, absolutely. Do you want anything to eat or drink? I have some leftover chicken in the fridge I think." Rachel said, pointing to her sparkly clean kitchen. Chicken? Gross! I made a face at her.

"I'm a vegan, so I'm going to have to say no to the chicken. What do you have to drink though?"

"Some tea, water, I probably have wine somewhere." I perked at the mention of alcohol. Now that I jive with.

"I'm down for a glass of wine." I turned around to take in the view as Rachel headed to the kitchen. The view from her window was incredible! You could practically seen all of Jump City Park from her window. How can someone with a view as awesome as this possibly be as grumpy as Rachel is?

"Here you go." Rachel said as she handed me a glass filled with red wine. I took a sip of it and smiled, eager to unwind and get this over with. Rachel sat on the chair across from me, visibly uncomfortable. For a moment I wondered if she had company very often but then I remembered who I was talking about and figured she'd probably never had guests in her house before.

"This is really good wine." I said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. Jeez, if this was how our fake relationship was gonna be I'm gonna need a lot more wine than this.

"Oh really? I don't drink much so it's sort of just been collecting dust for a while." Rachel replied, taking a sip from her glass. I nodded. Of course she didn't drink much. She probably didn't smoke either. She seemed like such a straight lace girl it was hard for me to imagine her ever even drinking in general.

"So anyway, as you know, the wedding is in a month. I think that's more than enough time to fabricate the perfect fake relationship. Kori, that's the bride, is having a get together next week and I think that'd be the perfect time to introduce you to her." Rachel said. I gulped my wine. Next week? That's so soon! I barely even know this girl's name, let alone enough to make her best friend believe she actually has a boyfriend.

"Uh, are you sure that's enough time? I mean I don't even know anything about you." I protested, taking another gulp from my glass. Rachel waved her hand at me and nodded.

"Of course that's enough time. There's not much about me you need to know, after all. All we need to do is focus on how we met and anything about you that you think might be useful." Rachel continued, setting down her glass of wine. Nodding, I finished off my glass and poured myself another.

"Alright so, your name is Garfield Logan, obviously, you're 25 years old and a veterinarian correct?" she said. I nodded and continued drinking. I really can't say enough about how good this wine tasted.

"And what do you do for fun? I imagine you're not content to just sit around at work all day." Rachel said. Once again, I nodded.

"You'd be right about that. I mean, sometimes I volunteer at another animal shelter. If you haven't guessed, I kinda love animals. But yeah, I guess I like partying? Is that a hobby? If that's a hobby then that's my hobby." I replied, downing another glass of wine. I felt like I was being interviewed, but I guess that's what happens when you decide to fake a relationship with a journalist.

"Yes, I can tell by the three glasses of wine you've consumed in less than fifteen minutes." Rachel replied flatly. I chuckled sheepishly. Damn, she's observant.

"What can I say? I like to have fun."

"Really? Getting drunk is your idea of fun?"

"Don't knock it till you try it lady. Besides, what do you do for fun?" I countered. That seemed to stump her for a moment. Hah! Take that Miss Perfect.

"I like to write, and read."

"Yeah but that's your job right? Do you do anything else for fun." Once again, Rachel paused before narrowing her eyes at me.

"Well, what about you? Getting drunk can't be the only thing you do for fun." Rachel replied as she took a sip from her glass.

"I mean yeah, of course I do other stuff. I like playing video games and going to the movies aaaand I like hanging out with my friends." I replied. I began to felt woozy and realized the wine was starting to kick in. Woaah, that was quick. Suddenly I hoped I wouldn't get too drunk and make a complete ass out of myself.

{{ Rachel }}

This has possibly been one of the longest nights of my life. So far, Garfield has downed five cups of wine and is in the middle of reenacting various stories from his undergraduate days. Somehow though, I'm not bothered. Maybe it's the two glasses of wine I've drank but I'm actually sort of entertained by Garfield. He may not be the most eloquent speaker but he's a great storyteller and I can't help but feel engaged by his tall tales. For example, right now he's talking about the time he almost set his dormitory on fire and normally I'd be irritated by irresponsibility at that level but I'm actually pretty entertained.

It must be the wine.

"So anyway, we managed to get the hell out of there but shit, that was a close one." Garfield finished, slurring his words a bit. Christ was he drunk.

"And you didn't get in trouble?"

"Hell nah! They didn't know it was us!" he replied, laughing. I only shook my head and smiled. If Mal were here he would have argued about how pointless that story was. For once, I was glad he wasn't here.

"So what about you Roth, do you have any wild stories from your college years?" Garfield asked, pouring himself another cup. That was a hard one. I wasn't exactly the greatest person in college. In fact, I was a pretty shitty person. It was what I got for hanging around Mal and his wonderful assortment of friends. I usually tried my hardest to block that time of my life from my memory, it's not like I had anything worth remembering anyway.

"Hmmm. I have nothing that can top your stories if that's what you're asking." I replied, uncomfortably.

"Come ooooooooon. You gotta have something." he replied, taking a large gulp from his glass. I turned away a sighed.

"Well, one time I snuck into a bar with my boyfriend at the time-he was 21 and I was just 19. Anyway, there happened to be a raid that night because that was the bar everyone with shitty fake ID's went to. Kinda stupid, thinking about it now. But anyway, all the exits were blocked off so my boyfriend and I fled through the windows and this cop chased us for like, ten blocks. I forgot why he stopped chasing us but eventually he did aaand….yeah…that's it. Nothing special really." I said, taking a large gulp from my glass of wine.

"Are you kidding? That's frickin' amazing! I can't imagine you underage drinking in a bar, let alone running from the cops!" Garfield replied excitedly. I blushed and tucked a stray hair behind my ear.

"I was a pretty different person in college."

"Yeah no shit!" Garfield replied, laughing. Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable. I wasn't exactly being truthful. I wasn't just drinking that night and the cop didn't just randomly stop chasing us. We ran to one of my father's safe houses and I begged one of his cronies to help us out. I didn't stay to find out what happened to the officer chasing us but I imagine it wasn't pretty. I felt gross just thinking about it.

"I guess…listen, I need to use the bathroom, I'll be back in a second." I suddenly said as I rose from the couch.

"Yeah, no worries, I'll be here." Garfield slurred.

I felt dizzy as soon as I stood up and shook my head. I've definitely been drinking too much. I fought against the dizziness and made my way to my bathroom, shocked to see my reflection.

My hair was a total mess and my eyes were red and bloodshot. Sighing, I reached for one of my anti-anxiety pills. After taking my recommended dosage, I rinsed my face off once again and prepared myself to walk back to the living room. Only, as soon as I entered the living room I noticed a large slumbering figure slumped across the couch. A small smile made its way across my face and I shook my head. Poor guy.

Wait what. I shouldn't be feeling sorry for him. He's the one who got too drunk and passed out at a virtual stranger's house. Pretty irresponsible if you ask me.

I grabbed one of my blankets from the linen closet and draped it over him, careful not to wake him up. He's lucky I'm in a good mood, otherwise, I would never let him pass out on my couch.