A Girlfriend For A Weekend

Lars rolled his eyes when his sister asked him: "What if you date again?" For some reason his sister thought he was feeling lonely, so she tried to set him up with one of her friends. He accepted twice, and those times were enough. Emma started talking about how pretty her friend Sara was when he said suddenly.

"I can't… I'm dating someone"

"What? Really? Since when?" Emma asked him intrigued.

"A couple of weeks ago…"

"That's great! Now that I remember, Antonio and I will be in the city this weekend, maybe I could meet her"

Nothing came to Lars mind, he just said:

"Ok, I'll see you then" and he hang up.

"What I did?" he thought. Now, he needed a girlfriend soon… or tell her the truth and have another awful date. Minutes later, his friends visited him.

"That you what?" Mathias said laughing.

"You haven't dated in years. Did you try to talk with her and ask her to stop?" Matthew asked him.

"I tried, but she always insists"

Mathias and Matthew looked at each other, Lars was a serious person, but he definitely didn't know how to deal with that kind of problems. Both felt glad to have a partner and don't have to deal with blind dates. They talked for a while, thinking about an excuse to solve his problem, when someone rang the bell. Lars opened the door and a woman appeared.

"Hi, the postman mistook our mailboxes again" she said, giving him his mail.

"Thank you" Lars said shyly. Then they talked for a while, he seemed to forget he had visitors. Mathias looked at Matthew as if they could read each other's mind; they seemed to have an idea. So, when Lars returned, they told him:

"What about her? She could be your new girlfriend"

Lars raised an eyebrow. Mei was the new neighbor. They talked sometimes and spent some afternoons in each other's apartments to drink tea and coffee, they were a sort of friends, but ask her to be his girlfriend was crazy.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course, you need a girlfriend, she can help you, she is your friend, and it'd be just for a weekend"

Lars hesitated for a while, but he was so desperate that he kept it in mind. He thought it was a very stupid and ridiculous plan, but they told him that or he asked Mei to be his girlfriend for a weekend or he'd date another Emma's friend again. That convinced him and accepted.

The next day, when he got home from work, she did the same; she carried lots of bags with groceries, so he stopped to help her. They entered to her apartment, and put her groceries on the table.

"Thank you for your help, would you like to drink something?" she asked him.

"Sure, thanks" he felt nervous; she always made him feel that way.

They talked for a while. She made some comments about the apartment. Honestly, the principal reason she liked about living there, was him. Even though he wasn't talkative, but she liked him. At least they were friends.

He didn't know what to say and much less how to talk with her about the favor he needed. Maybe she could save him of other awful date. He took a breath and finally tells her about his problem with no much detail.

"Then, you are dating someone?" she said almost as a complaint.

"Not exactly"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not dating anyone, it's a lie, but my sister is going to visit me this weekend, and she wants to meet my girlfriend. Then my friends had this crazy idea about 'a fake girlfriend'. I am pathetic, am I not?" he said embarrassed.

"No, I think it's understandable" she admitted "but also I think that your sister's intentions aren't bad, she cares about you. And have you asked someone to be your girlfriend?" she asked, trying to not sound interested.

He looked at her. Maybe this was his chance. It was now or never.

"Well, I was wondering… if maybe… Would you like to be my girlfriend?" he blushed and looked at the floor.

Mei almost spit her tea. She was shocked. Lars closed his eyes waiting for a slap and her eternal hate. But she was quiet.

"I'm sorry; maybe I didn't have to say that, probably you are the one who is dating someone, of course, I mean you are young and pretty. I should go, sorry for wasting your time"

"No, wait, I'll do it… I am not dating anyone either."

He couldn't believe it, but he felt really grateful with her. They spent that evening talking about how to make of their relation something credible and inventing their love story.

"Brother!" Emma said happily when he opened the door and hugged him "Where is she?" she asked.

"She'll come later" he said a bit annoyed.

Antonio seemed worried. Last night, she didn't stop talking about Lars' girlfriend; she wondered what kind of person she would be, and feeling a bit of pain for her friends who wanted a chance with him. Then someone rang the bell. Lars opened.

"Say hi to Mei, my girlfriend" he said embarrassed.

"Hello, nice to meet you" Mei said, smiling.

Emma was surprised; Mei was so much prettier than she thought. Also she seemed to be a nice person. Very different from the woman she imagined for her brother, in fact, she seemed better: sweet and kind. She was surprised for her brother's choice.

"I am glad she is real" Emma told Lars quietly.

"Of course she is" he replied annoyed.

Emma wanted to know how they met, and they told her that she moved to the building and he helped her since they were neighbors. They started to get to know each other better and go out on dates, which was partially true.

Lars put his arm around Mei shoulders, both blushed, but stayed calm. Mei decided to go to the kitchen and cook something. Then, she realized she didn't know that kitchen. She asked him for help.

"Sweetie, could you help me?"

"Of course… honey"

Emma smiled, definetely, they were a cute couple. Also Antonio seemed calm and happy.

"Could you…?" Mei asked, pointing at a frying pan in a higher spot.

"Sure" he said. He gave it to her, they were very close.

"Thank you" she said, trying to focus on the food.

He helped her to cut some vegetables and clean. They were in silence, but soon she started singing a song that he didn't recognize, her voice was so sweet and comforting, that he stayed there.

"Wow Mei, you are a great cook!" Emma praised her.

"Thanks"

"Of course she is" Lars replied.

Mei smiled at him and he felt his heart beating fast. Also Mei was glad to give them a good impression. She felt a little bit sad because all that was a lie, but at least she could enjoy being by his side for a weekend.

He felt relieved. His sister truly believed that Mei and he were a couple. In some hours he could finally be free of those dates. And everything thanks to Mei. He looked at her, he noticed she was actually very gorgeous, and she made a cute gesture with her nose when she smiled. He liked to spend time with her. Also she smelled so good…

He didn't notice it, but in that moment while Emma and Antonio were praising her cooking abilities, he was playing with her hand. A delicate, small and soft hand compared with his. She interlaced her fingers with his, and both got flustered, but they had to act as a couple.

The rest of the day, they talked about not very relevant things. The next day, passed in the same way, with the difference that they went out like in a double date. Emma and Antonio sometimes held hands or he put his arm around her shoulders. So, Mei and Lars tried to imitate them.

They went to eat and later on a walk for the city. When they got Lars' apartment, they rested in the living room and drank some coffee and tea. Then Emma said something as a joke that scared them.

"Mei, I am really glad to have met you, for a moment I thought that you two were faking a relationship"

Mei laughed nervously, but Lars got defensive.

"Of course no, I liked her; I've liked her since the first time I saw her, for 3 months, 2 weeks..."

"… 4 days and 5 hours…" both said at the same time.

Lars looked at Mei. Antonio seemed very surprised to hear him saying that in such a passionate way, because he thought Lars didn't have that kind of feelings. Emma gasped.

"Lars, I understood. It's obviously you like her, you haven't stop looking at her. Relax, you make a cute couple. My intention today was to know what kind of person she is; now I am very satisfied."

Moments later, Emma and Antonio said goodbye. When Emma hugged her brother, she murmured in his ear.

"Don't ruin it; I think she is a keeper"

Then, Mei and Lars sat down on the couch and sighed relieved. She looked at him and tried to smile. But she was waiting for his gratitude words and they would be back to where they were before, to be friends or maybe just neighbors to forget this awkward situation. She talked first:

"Well, you are free now. I guess it's over" she stood up but he took her hand.

"Mei, could you stay with me for a while?"

She did it. She was still confused about what he said, how he knew exactly for how long they had met, she wondered. He seemed nervous, looking at her and then looking down. He took a breath and said:

"Mei, what I said it's true. I like you"

She looked at him confused, and happy and nervous, all at the same time.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because, we are friends, I just realized it. I'm sorry"

"No, don't apologize; after all, I like you too"

He was content, and then both approached awkwardly to embrace each other. He felt grateful with his friends and their crazy idea, although, it wasn't that crazy and they probably knew that he liked Mei.

They spent the rest of the day together, talking about their feelings and the new details they had to add to their love story that was real now.