Chapter 2 - A Deal on the Sidewalk
It was a Thursday evening, and I was walking home from the office thinking about a report that was due Monday. That's when I noticed him.
A man, maybe late thirties, sitting against the brick wall of a shuttered shoe store on Fourth Street. He had a rough beard, a jacket that had seen better decades, and a piece of cardboard that just said, "Anything helps."
But his eyes stopped me. There was something gentle in them, and something sad, like he'd once had a completely different life and still remembered it clearly.
And right there on the sidewalk, an idea landed in my head fully formed. It was reckless and a little unhinged, and it felt like the answer to everything.
"Excuse me," I said. "This is going to sound crazy. Would you be willing to marry me?"
His head came up. "I'm sorry — what?"
"Just hear me out." I crouched down so we were level. "I need to be married, fast. It would be an arrangement, nothing romantic. I'd give you a place to live, clean clothes, real food, some money in your pocket. In exchange, you'd pretend to be my husband. That's it."
He stared at me like he was waiting for a camera crew to jump out.
"Lady, are you for real right now?"
"Completely. I'm Nora."
"Wes," he said slowly. "And you're telling me you want to marry a homeless guy you met ninety seconds ago."
"I know how it sounds. I promise I'm not dangerous. I'm just a woman with impossible parents and a deadline."
May you like
He looked down the street, then back at me, and that spark showed up in his eyes again.
"You know what? Why the hell not. You've got yourself a deal, future wife."
