Faking it

“Sometimes I think it must be hard being an actor faking it all the time, and then I see a movie like this,” Aiden said, shaking his head. They left the cinema and he grabbed Donilee’s hand pulling her through the crowd. She had to take two and a half steps to his one, but she managed to keep up with him as he led the way to his car in the far reaches of the parking lot. He always parked in the boondocks in the hope no one would hit his new car.

She laughed and breathlessly commented, “It wasn’t exactly Academy Award material, you know. That makes a difference.”

“Come on, Donilee, anybody could have played that role, even me. He was just a plain ordinary guy, doing plain ordinary things in a plain ordinary way. You call that acting?” he said derisively.

“You just wish you could make out with that not-so-plain-and-ordinary sweet young thing, whatever her name was,” she retorted. “I know kissing doesn’t take much acting skill if you like your partner.”

“She was good…I mean acting-wise. She had a much tougher job with her role. She had to cry and all that. She had lots to do. The guy was.... just there,” he insisted as they continued darting between cars and narrowly avoiding being run over.

“Oh, please! Crying is nothing. Any girl should be able to cry at the drop of a hat. I can,” she told him smugly.

He cast a skeptical glance at her and laughed. “Sure you can, Donilee.”

“You doubting me, Aiden?” she said smiling playfully up at him.

“No, I’m sure you can do it when you’re PMS-ing. Kidding, kidding, just kidding!” he said quickly before she could smack him. They finally could see the car and he rushed forward still pulling her behind him. He clicked the key ring and unlocked the doors. As he held the door open for her he saw her lip tremble and her eyes flood with tears.

“Donilee, what’s wrong?” he asked. He stood in stunned silence as big fat teardrops ran down her cheeks, her nose turned red and she started sobbing as if she had just lost her mother.

“Donilee! Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry, Donilee!” he shouted. He tentatively put his arms around her and patted her back. He never did quite know what to do when girls cried.

 Just as quickly as she started she stopped and looked up at him with a triumphant grin. “Now do you believe me?” she said as she pulled out of his arms and grabbed a tissue out of her purse. She wiped at her eyes then blew her nose while he stared at her with his mouth hanging open.

“You weren’t really crying?” he asked, incredulous.

“Of course I was. You saw the tears, didn’t you?” she said.

He opened and closed his mouth several times before finding something to say. “You were faking it?”

“Acting actually. Did I do as well as the hot babe from the movie?” she asked smirking and still wiping her eyes.

“Better, way better. Your makeup didn’t run like hers. Freakin’ amazing,” he said in awe.

“Why thank you, kind sir,” she replied with a tiny curtsy.

He closed the car door again and leaned on it still astounded. “But how the heck did you do that, Donilee?”

“Easy. I just had to think of something very sad,” she said with a careless shrug.

He frowned. “I could think of sad things until my head hurt, but it still wouldn’t make me cry like that,” he answered.

“I did say girls could do this. I never said guys could and a macho guy like you? You probably didn’t even cry when Old Yeller died,” she grumbled.

“Actually I did but I was only five then. I thought it was real, too,” he said seriously. “What could possibly make you cry like that just by thinking about it?”

She hesitated a bit then shrugged. “Nothing much,” she replied evasively.

“Come on, Donliee. We’re friends, you can tell me. What made you that sad?” he asked curiously.

She looked up at him and gave him a rueful grin. “I pictured you lying dead in a car wreck.”

He stared at her aghast. “Me? You pictured me dead?” he said incredulous.

She nodded as her eyes swelled with tears again.

“Hey, stop that!” he shouted desperately. “Don’t cry. I’m fine, Donilee, see? I’m fine!”  He pounded his chest for emphasis.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s hard to stop sometimes. Got an overactive imagination, I guess.”

“I can see that,” he said half relieved, half baffled. It made no sense. They were friends, yes, good friends but he never knew nor suspected she ever felt so strongly or cared that much about him. But perhaps she felt that way about all her friends and he was making more out of this than necessary.

“Do you cry like that when you think of all your friends dead in the street?” he asked albeit casually.

“Well, it’s not like I go around picturing all my friends dead,” she said exasperated. “You didn’t believe I could do it and I wanted to prove I could. You just happened to be right in front of me and it was easy to do. You travel so much it’s a very likely way for you to go.”  She looked down at her hands avoiding his stare.

“Donilee, you’re not going to cry again, are you?” he asked anxiously.

She giggled and looked up at him. “I think I’m done for the day if you believe me now.”

He nodded emphatically. “I do. Please, don’t ever cry like that, okay? It freaks me out,” he said.

“Then don’t ever die,” she quipped.

“Do you really care that much about me?” he asked softly.

“Of course I do. You’re one of my closest friends,” she said shyly. She could feel her cheeks burning. Good thing it was dark or he might notice it.

But he did notice it and some other things too, though not about her, about himself. He remembered how he felt two weeks ago when she went home to White Bear Lake, a four hour drive, to visit her mother. He had begged her to put it off a couple of weeks so he could take her himself, but she insisted on going alone. He had worried the whole time she was traveling and insisted she call him the minute she arrived. He recalled not being able to concentrate that whole day until she called four and a half hours later. Relief had flooded him. It had not meant anything to him then, but it did now.

What if she had died on that trip? What if he had never seen her again? What if she had died before he could tell her she meant the world to him? What if he never got to tell her he had been stupidly in love with her and not even known it?

Emotion filled his chest to the point he could barely breathe. His eyes stung as he stared at her. When she looked up a tear slipped down his cheek.

“Aiden, what’s wrong?” she said placing her small, soft hand on his rough cheek. He suddenly pulled her into his arms crushing her to his chest and holding her tight.

“I love you, Donilee. It took me this long to figure it out. I’ll promise not to die if you promise the same,” he said in a shaky voice.

Shocked to her toes, it took a while before she could do anything more than cling to him. “Okay,” she answered in a tiny squeak. “I love you, Aiden. I only figured it out lately, too.”

He pulled back to peer into her face. “When?” he asked brushing her hair out of her eyes.

“When I went to visit my mom. You were so sweet, Aiden, worrying about me driving all that way. But it wasn’t until I called you and you sounded so scared. You thought I was dead already somewhere just cuz it took me a half hour longer. You forget, I don’t drive 80 miles an hour like you. But that’s when I realized you really cared. I felt so happy I told my mother I was in love and then she scolded me for not bringing you along.”

He burst out laughing then she did, too. He kissed her, kissed her again and then again. “You know what this means now that we’re a couple, don’t you?”

“What? We can’t be friends anymore?” she said.

“That and we’ll have to take another trip to White Bear Lake and see if your mom approves of me. If she does I’ll ask permission to marry you, that is, if you want to marry me. Will you, Donilee?” he asked tentatively.

“No fair, Aiden. You made me promise never to cry and then you say something like that,” she replied as the tears slipped down her face again.

He pulled her into his arm hugging her right off her feet. “This one time we’re both allowed. After all, we’re a couple of really good actors, aren’t we?” he said grinning broadly.