Jessie’s POV

*Four Weeks Earlier*

I struggled against the ropes,feeling the chair roll slightly beneath me.

A cold breeze hit my face and even my toes felt cold.

“Wait,were my shoes off?” I thought to myself,

“Hello?,Is anyone there?”

“If this is a prank show,you guys took it way too far”.

Suddenly,the blindfold was yanked from my face and I realized,I was on a rooftop with no boundary walls.

Standing before me was a tall woman,smiling like she was about to enjoy torturing me.

“Jessie Green.So you’re Ryan Anderson’s new girlfriend?Though I cannot understand why he dates so beneath his league”

She said mockingly,eyeing me from head to toe,

“Uh,yeah,I get why you’re confused.I really do,but that’s no reason to kidnap me.We can discuss this on the ground floor of a really nice cafe.My treat”

My heart jumped into my throat as she kicked my chair closer to the edge.

“How much do you love Ryan?” She asked.

“Oh my God,are you one of his exes?I swear I don’t love him and I know he doesn’t even like me.We’re just pretend dating!”I responded with fear still gripping me.

She leaned closer,narrowing her eyebrows,

“Pretend dating?”

“Yes,completely fake!Why would he date me for real?Im no one important,I can’t even pass the bar exam.I failed three times”

One of her bodyguards handed her a file,

“Yes,I did a background check.I know you’re a loser,also you’re just as heavy as you look in your pictures.I thought the camera was adding ten pounds”

“Look,you obviously don’t relate,but some of us eat carbs when we’re stressed.Like I could really use a family sized bag of chips right now”

She kicked my chair again and I screamed again,

“Why are you ruining your lovely gottebas kicking me around?”

She looked at me like I had said something stupid

“My what?”

“You know,your gottebas?my sister has the same designer heels.I hate for you to scuff them.Okay,Im shutting up.Just tell me what you want?”

She stared at me sharply

“Jessie,since you are suddenly Ryan Anderson’s new sweetheart,fake or real,I don’t care.You’re going to help us retrieve something from him”

I was confused,

“Something?Like his soul?,his dignity?He lost that the moment he met me,lolz.”

I laughed nervously,she looked at me irritated,

“No.He recently bought an artifact at an auction that once belonged to our family and it holds something very important to us.”

I scoffed and laughed but stopped almost immediately,

“What?sentimental value?.Sorry humor is my coping mechanism”

She smiled coldly then gave my chair another nudge.My feet dangled over the rooftop’s edge,

I screamed for dear life,

“Oh my God!I’ll get the artifact! I’ll rob him blind!I’ll even loose ten pounds!.Don’t let me die!I havent arranged anyone to clear my browser history! And please don’t let my family find my body in these stockings!!”.

*Back to the present*

My life’s been smooth sailing before this,but things started spiraling last month.

The morning I had my third attempt at the bar exam and it’s not like I’m dumb or something,it’s just that whenever I’m under pressure,my brain decided to take a hike.

That morning,I jolted awake to total silence,instantly realizing my alarm didn’t go off

because Lord Beethoven had drowned my phone in his water bowl.

I jumped out of bed trying to rescue my phone,

“Why do you hate me?I picked you up from the garbage and made you a prince”.

I grabbed my bag and bolted out the door.Of course,I missed the bus,stole my 8-year-old neighbor’s tricycle,pedaled furiously to the exam venue,and still didnt make it on time.The security guard won’t just let me in.

I tried to plead with him,

“Please Im begging you,I’ll name my first born after you.Actually I can change Lord Beethoven’s name,today”

He just stared at me like I was crazy and walked off.As I sank to my knees in despair,I noticed a guy approaching me with a smile,

“Oh God,he’s cute” I thought to myself.

“This fell out of your bag”he said handing me my book titled,

“Desperate and Dateless 101:Ways to trick a man into loving you”

“Can you please just walk away and pretend you never met me?”

As if I hadn’t had enough humiliation for a year.The next evening I had thanksgiving dinner with my family;my very accomplished,over achieving family.

My mother held up a wine glass,tapping it with a fork,

“Okay,everyone,let’s take turns saying what we’re thankful for”

“Please just let the turkey explode or something”I prayed silently.Mum started,

“I’m thankful your father and I just completed our groundbreaking anti-aging research on mice.In a few years,we’ll look young enough for people to mistake Jessie for our mum”.

Everyone at the tabled laughed.My older sister,Janice,smiled smugly.

“Im thankful I got to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut and going to space this year.They say the sky’s the limit,but clearly it’s not.

Cousin Chloe chirped in next,

“Im thankful I married the love of my life in a magical castle wedding in Scotland.Fairytale dreams do come true”

Next,my brother Andrew announced,

“Im thankful that Forbes listed me in their thirty under thirty.Again.”

“Oh for crying out loud”

Then everyone turned to me.I quickly searched my brain for something to say,

“Uh,I’m thankful that this is the year I decided to grow my own herbs.The parsley and the basil kept dying on me,but the mint is thriving.I have it with my instant noodles,my eggs,of course,it’s great with chocolate,makes good tea,and I have minty fresh breath all the time”

Everyone stared at me blankly,everyone was silent.Eventually dad broke the silence,

“Jessie,honey,your time will come too.”

“Thanks dad.You make me sound like an avocado waiting to ripen” I responded sarcastically,

Janice interrupted with a smug look,

“Speaking of unripened avocados,we heard you tanked the bar exam again”.

“Uh,how did that remind you that?” I responded,

Janice continued,

“Anything interesting going on in your love life to distract you from your career failures?.

As everyone stared at me,I felt my cheeks and my neck burning.Just then,I spotted the muted tv behind dad’s head.Ryan Anderson was on screen,smiling and shaking hands at some charity gala.He was the billionaire heir who had just returned to town to take over his family’s luxury hotel empire.My best friend,Tiana,who worked as a secretary in his office,was swooning over him like 24/7.

And suddenly,words i didn’t know my brain had decided on flew out of my mouth.

“Oh,actually,yes!I am dating someone and it’s pretty serious.It’s him.”

Janice scoffed,

“Him who?Jessie,imaginary boyfriends are only cute when you’re five years old”

I responded looking at the tv screen,

“Him,Ryan Anderson”

I was both thrilled and a little offended at the disbelief on everyone’s faces.

Janice responded looking at the tv screen.

“The guy on tv right now?”

I nervously but confidently responded,

“Yep,that’s my boyfriend.My very serious boyfriend of three months.Tiana works for him.She introduced us.We’ve been keeping it on the down low cause he’s a public figure,so keep it to yourselves for now,but I’ll send pictures of us in the family group chat.Surely i could bribe Tiana into getting me a few chummy selfies with him.

Janice raised her eyebrow,

“Uh,wow.Can’t wait.Also,Im visiting your town next week,I’d love to meet him.”

“Even better,he’d love to meet you too” I told her

“Oh God,what had I just done?”I thought to myself

Of course the next logical step was to fall on my knees and beg Tiana for help.

Tiana sighed,

“Jessie,it’s not like he’s the cute barista down the street.He has bodyguards and he already has a restraining order against a stalker.”

I looked at Tiana with my best pleading puppy dog eyes,

“Tiana,I know I messed up,but my psychotically perfect family has a way of pushing me over the edge.”

“And what happens when Janice turns up next week?” She asked.

“Well,I’ll just have to dump him by then,won’t I?.We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.Right now,I just have to show them something or look like an even bigger loser for lying”

Tiana exhaled,

“Ugh,fine.The event photographer at Ryan’s gala tomorrow called in sick.I can give you her badge.Please don’t make me lose my job and just act normal for once”

I scoffed,

“Oh please,normal is my middle name.Okay,it’s actually Vanessa but close enough,right?.I promise I’ll be the picture of normalness”.

The next evening,I was wobbling around the glamorous gala in a gown,lugging a camera i borrowed from my neighbor.I just had to inch my way close to Ryan take his pictures and then request a few selfies.I could act convincingly like I was covering the event.How hard could it be?

I aimed the camera at a couple having a heated discussion and snapped a series of blinding photos.The couple turned to me looking very angry.The lady snapped at me,

“Excuse me,does it look like I want the moment my marriage is falling apart to be captured on camera?”

I quickly apologized,

“Oh,Im so sorry.You’re just so photogenic when you’re frowning.Carry on.”

I quickly turned away and snapped another random picture,startling an elderly man and causing his drink to spill down his tux.

“Oops,my apologies.Great shot though,very fluid,very dynamic”.

Realizing my lens was smudged,I decided to clean it and then I accidentally set the flash off in my face.I staggered backwards,then tripped on my gown and crashed into someone pushing us both straight into a twelve foot flower arrangement.Before I could catch my breath,I was lifted off the ground by men in suits and realized the person I crashed into was Ryan Anderson.

A moment later,I found myself seated in a back room.Ryan,glaring at me.

“What’s the name of your agency?I swear Im gonna fire that secretary of mine.”

I immediately pleaded,

“No,no,please don’t.I found out the photographer hired for the event was sick and I stole her badge”

Ryan got angrier,

“Why? Who are you?the paparazzi?I need to know who sent you!”

“I-I sent myself” i confessed,

“Listen,Im Jessie Green,and I just need a couple of selfies with you where need to look like you’re rather fond of me.Even in love maybe?so you can’t be glaring at me the way you are right now.”I nervously said.

He exclaimed,

“What?!”

“See,this is just because my mother is Benjamin Button and my dad called me an unripened avocado and my sister’s an actual astronaut,my cousin’s a Disney princess and my brother is Elon Musk and all I’ve got is enough mint to start a toothpaste factory,a garbage cat and a pretend billionaire boyfriend and that’s sort of where you come in,you lucky guy”

I chuckled nervously.

“Pretend boyfriend?” Ryan asked,

I sighed,

“I may have accidentally told my family we were dating,just a little bit”

He folded his arms looking annoyed,

“And you picked me?because you have a crush on me or something?”

“No,your face was on the tv screen at that moment.Trust me,it was exactly as random as all of this sounds.”

He paused for a moment,stroking his chin,

“You’re insane.”

I responded sarcastically,

“Really?no one’s ever said that to me before”.

He turned away and walked over to his bodyguards saying something to them in hushed tones,which made me even more nervous.Eventually,he came back and sat down opposite me.

“Fine Jessie Green,I’ll be your boyfriend”

I was shocked,

“Uh,you’ll what now?”

“So the thing is my ex-fiancé dumped me a few months ago” he said in a sad tone,

I felt a little bad for him,

“Wow,that’s rough.I guess we’re both losers”i joked,

He stared at me blankly,

I nervously corrected myself,

“And no,only Im a loser”

“Here’s the deal,I’ll be your fake boyfriend and you’ll help me show her I’ve moved on.It’ll be extra intriguing for her thinking it’s someone like you.”

“What was that supposed to mean?nothing good I was certain.” I said thinking to myself feeling a bit offended.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Completely”he responded.

He stood up walking towards me,

“Think you can walk back into the party without tripping over your face?”

“We’re really doing this right now?”I asked him feeling a bit nervous to walk out with him.

“That’s why you came,isn’t it?.Are you in or out?”he said offering me his hand.

I gave him my hand.My heart was hammering as Ryan led me back to the gala.