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MidReal Story
Pretend To Be My Love
Scenario:Cooper, an extroverted music teacher at Midlands High School in South Carolina, one day he gets a call from his introverted, bookish college friend Jamie. They haven’t seen each other since Jamie got her master’s 4 years ago. She is now an addiction counselor living in Vermont. Apparently, she is flying back to Ohio in a week, her sister Emily was getting married, and was expecting her to bring her boyfriend. Needless to say, she doesn’t have one and has no clue how her sister got that idea. So Cooper offers to be her fake boyfriend. Little did he know that all the feelings he had for her in college would come flooding back
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Jamie Bennett
She is a 29yearold addiction counselor living in Vermont. She is introverted, intelligent, and kindhearted. Jamie has been living a quiet life in Vermont, focusing on her career and spending time with her sister Emily. However, she harbors a secret longing for Cooper, her childhood friend and former college mate. When Cooper calls her after 10 years, offering to pretend to be her boyfriend for a week to avoid embarrassment at her sister's wedding, old feelings resurface, and she grapples with unspoken emotions.
Cooper Griffin
He is a 30yearold music teacher at Midlands High School in South Carolina. He is charismatic, extroverted, and loyal. Cooper was Jamie’s college friend, where they formed a deep bond despite their contrasting personalities. He has been waiting for the right time to pursue Jamie romantically but never made his move. When Jamie needs a fake boyfriend for her sister's wedding, Cooper steps in to help her, rekindling old feelings and sparking new ones, which may finally bring their relationship forward.
It had been ten years.
Ten years since I’d last seen or talked to him.
Ten years ago, I was leaving for graduate school.
He was staying behind to finish his bachelor’s degree in music education.
We had been friends for a little over two years.
And I had fallen deeply in love with him.
But I never told him.
I was too shy.
Too afraid of losing the friendship we had built.
So, I left and went on with my life.
Until today.
My phone rang as I was locking up my office.
I had just finished a long day of work at the addiction treatment center where I was a counselor.
"Hello," I answered.
"Jamie? Is that you?"
I hadn’t heard Cooper’s voice in ten years, but it was just as deep and smooth as I remembered it.
"Yes, it’s me. How are you?"
"Good. It’s been a long time. What’s up? You don’t usually call me."
"I’m sorry," I said quickly.
"I know it’s been a while. I actually called because I need a favor."
"A favor? Anything you need, I’m happy to help."
"It’s kind of strange."
"Try me."
I took a breath and plunged forward.
"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend."
"Okay," he said slowly.
"For how long?"
"A week."
"A week? Jamie, what’s going on?"
I leaned against my car in the empty parking lot.
"I know it sounds crazy. But I’ve been talking to Emily every week for the past few months. She’s been going through a tough time, so we’ve been checking in regularly. Anyway, there’s this guy at work who keeps asking me out, and I told Emily about it. She got the wrong idea and told everyone that I was dating someone."
I paused, taking a deep breath.
"Now, the wedding invitations have my name on them with ‘plus one.’ My mom is calling me every day to ask about my special someone. And I don’t know what to do."
Cooper listened patiently, occasionally chuckling at my increasingly panicked description of the situation.
"And now, the wedding is in two weeks," I continued.
"I can’t show up alone. Everyone will think I’m a liar."
"Book my ticket," he said firmly, cutting me off mid-ramble.
"I’ll be your boyfriend for the week."
I leaned back in my office chair, clutching my phone tightly as Cooper’s warm laughter filled the line.
My heart was racing, and I couldn’t believe what he’d just said.
"Really?" was all I could manage to squeak out.
"Of course," he replied.
"I’ll be there. Now, let’s get down to business. Tell me about this wedding."
"Um, it’s in two weeks. On a Saturday. At Emily’s family farm in Ohio," I said, fumbling through the details.
"And where exactly are we supposed to have met?"
"Oh, um…"
I hesitated, realizing I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
"Well, I just got back from a trip home to visit my mom last month," I stammered.
"So maybe we could say we met then?"
"Okay, that works," Cooper agreed.
"We can say we bumped into each other at a coffee shop or something. Did you go to any coffee shops while you were there?"
I hesitated again, feeling a twinge of guilt.
"No, actually, I didn’t."
I hadn’t been back to Ohio in months, not since my mom had moved to Florida a year ago.
But Cooper didn’t need to know that.
"Well, it doesn’t matter," Cooper said with a chuckle.
"We can come up with some story. Just tell me what you need me to know about the wedding and your family." "Okay," I said, taking a deep breath.
"It’s at Emily’s family farm on the outskirts of town. The ceremony is at 2 pm on Saturday, and there will be a reception afterwards. And as for my family… well, there’s just my mom. My dad passed away when I was young."
"Okay, got it," Cooper said.
"And what about your coworkers? Do they know anything about this mystery boyfriend?"
"Not much," I admitted.
"Just that his name is Cooper and that we met while I was visiting home."
Cooper chuckled again.
"Well, at least they got the name right."
"Yeah," I laughed nervously.
"I guess I wasn’t thinking too clearly when I came up with that story."
"Don’t worry about it," Cooper reassured me.
"We’ll figure it out. Now, give me your number so I can text you the details of my flight once it’s booked."
I rattled off my number and we said our goodbyes before hanging up.