The Lying Game

3.

"This is going to be the wedding of the century!" William's Grandmother Agnes explains. "I will make sure of it." I roll my eyes and cross my arms. Is this her wedding or mine? All day we have chosen things for a wedding that Agnes envisions and almost nothing was my choice.

"Now onto the dress." Imagine Agnes as the most debutante person who was supposed to live in the Cinderella movies but in real life. Her little minions click away in their Prada heels after Agnes. My feet hurt and I could give anything for a foot rub right now. And some Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

"Voila," Agnes says in front of the dress. Her minions smile in approval in front of the dress as well. I look at the dress in its clear zipped up sealment. It's a strapless princess dress with the top beaded with I'm pretty sure diamonds. The bottom half is poofy and it glitters in the light. This is any girl's dream dress. Any girl but me.

"No." I say.

"What?"

"Can anyone even walk in that thing?" I huff.

"This isn't some kind of backyard shotgun wedding that your people are used to. Any normal girl would fawn at the sight of this dress."

"Excuse me-"

"Grandmother!" A deep voice booms. "That is no way to treat Emani. Please don't disrespect my soon-to-be wife." William walks this way with his arm around the waist of Sarah. I roll my eyes once again. He curtly nods to me but I look the other way.

Sarah, I've learned is William's girlfriend. They've been together since college. In the contract, William is allowed to have romantic relations as long as it's discreet. The contract allows me to be romantically involved with someone if I wanted to. That only adds more to my plate, which I don't want. Sarah also works on the campaign as a Media Consultant. So I get to see her model-esque face everyday and be reminded that I'm in a polygamist marriage.

My parents would have a heart attack if they knew.

"Grandmother this is still Emani's wedding, remember that." He kisses her on the temple of her forehead. Agnes mutters something under her breath.

"I brought Sarah here as your aid to help with anything you need for the wedding." Willam turns to me. "I don't care about anything you decide, just as long as it's nice." He looks between the ladies in front of him. "Uhm-yeah-goodbye." He awkwardly waves and quickly walks to the exit.

Agnes turns to me once we hear the door close. "Veil."

"No," I demand.

"I can't work with her." Agnes waves her arms in the air. "She's impossible."

"Veils have no importance and I'm not wearing one." Agnes scowls at me and I return the favor.

Sarah gets in between us. "Miss Agnes it's not that big of a deal if she doesn't wear a veil."

"Fine, let me go check on the flowers."

"How did you get through to her?" I ask.

"It's called being white." We both laugh at her joke. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

"Hey sorry for all this. I have no idea how it must be for you." I say.

"No worries. I'd like to think of it as it's only a job. You just have to keep this charade up for maybe one or two years. Plus, I know Will and I love each other nothing can change that."

"Yeah," I pretend that comment didn't hurt. " you two are cute together, total couple goals."

"Thank you." Sarah smiles and I smile back. Sarah is pretty chill. Maybe I can cross her off as being the crazy girlfriend. "Let's go see what other damage Grandma Agnes has done to your wedding."

"Child, you don't even know." We both laugh and walk in the direction of Agnes.We take a break from finalizing everything. Sarah eased most of the tension between Agnes and I. My phone rings. I excuse myself to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" A voice screams into the phone. I know that voice.

"William, I'm at the banquet hall. What is it?"

"What the fuck are you still doing there? We have the interview."

"Interview? What interview?"

"The interview with Charlotte Heat. I told Sarah to remind you it's today. We're supposed to be on air in forty minutes."

"Okay, I'm on my way now." I hang up the phone and walk back to Sarah who is laughing with one of the workers. They all look at me, as I grab my purse.

"I'm sorry but I have to go," I say in a rush as I bolt for the door.

"Where are you going?" Sarah asks. Her eyes widen and she covers her mouth as it dawned on her. "Oh fuck the interview." She frantically searches for her phone. "Will is going to kill me."

"He hates me more, he's probably gonna kill me first," I say.

"Emani, I'm so sorry. I totally forgot. The driver is on his way right now. Let's go." We quickly got to the studio with 20 minutes to spare. The crew did my hair and makeup. Before I got there, I'd put my hair in a bun, concealing my purple hair.

They are urging me to " fix" my hair before the wedding. I can't derail the inevitable for much longer. I quickly rushed to the stage in time for the countdown. I ignore William shooting daggers through the side of my skull and put on my best smile. The producer's fingers go to one and Charlotte faces the camera.

"Welcome to The Heat," Charlotte says. "This morning I have with me New York's finest bachelor and socialite William Harrington and young entrepreneur Emani Tolbert." William and I smile at the camera in greeting.

Lord give me strength.

♠️♠️♠️

"So any plans for the honeymoon?" Charlotte asks.

They both look at each other with amusement laced on their face. Emani bites her lip coyly.

William raises his eyebrows. "Should we tell her?" He asks Emani.

"Yeah" She nods.

"Well Charlotte, we won't be going anywhere, our honeymoon will be spent campaigning," William says confidently.

"Campaigning for the election in November?" She looks at them eagerly waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I'm running for Governor of New York."

"Well, you have it here first." Charlotte looks into the cameras. "William Harrington has just announced his candidacy for governor. just looking at this beautiful couple, he already has my vote."

"That's a wrap." The producer says. William and Emani remove their mics off of themselves. They stand up from their seats. Charlotte congratulates them on their engagement and Will and Emani happily smile. They bid their goodbyes and walk off stage together.

♠️♠️♠️

We walk to Sarah. Phoenix walks up to us.

"Hey, I saw everything you guys were great." He says.

"Yup Willani and Harrington4NY2017 are already trending." Sarah checks her phone. "Hey Emani, I'm sorry again for getting you hear late."

"No worries." I playfully hit Will's shoulders. "Nice job out there. Willani is killing it."

Will ignores me and goes onto his phone. "Let's go, the car is waiting." I sigh and follow behind him. Not daring to look at Phoenix and Sarah.