***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons is purely coincidental.
***I posted this story recently, but had it removed to fix some mistakes in the story.
...
Nick strolled into the office with a big smile. It had been three weeks since he had been there because he was stuck at home with COVID19, staying away from everyone he knew. He was fortunate that he only had the milder symptoms of the virus and got to work from home, but now it was time to go back to the real world.
Out of nowhere, his closest work friend, Rachel ran up to him and hugged him hard. She had gotten the vaccine, so she didn't mind hugging people.
"I missed you so much," she said before she let go of the hug.
"I missed you too," said Nick.
He was greeted by more of coworkers who were happy to have him back. He told them what it was like to have the virus and the shows he got to binge watch while in quarantine. His coworkers got him a welcome back cake; Nick knew it was just an excuse to get a cake for the office but he didn't care.
When he got to his office, the smile disappeared from his face. Despite how he appeared to his coworkers, he was actually miserable. During his quarantine, he found out his girlfriend, Karen, had broken up with him after she revealed she had been cheating on him.
He later found out on Facebook the guy she was cheated on him with was her ex-boyfriend, a man who did not treat her very well. Besides constantly cheating on her, he was very insulting and was constantly taking her for granted.
Nick had known Karen for several years before they started dating and learned early on that she had a thing for guys who didn't treat her right. He didn't have it in him to be a total jerk, so he never had a chance with her. When it finally seemed like she was done with those type of men, he decided to go for it and asked her out.
In the beginning things were great between them. But after a few months he saw how bored she was getting with him being a nice guy. He tried acting a little like a jerk to her to keep her interested in him and it worked. He never acted horrible to her, just made some bad comments occasionally and pretended to neglect her, simple things to keep her interested.
Eventually, he couldn't keep up with the charade and slowly slipped back into his normal persona. He hoped that she would adjust to who he really was, but evidentially she didn't.
Nick tried to focus on his work, but his mind kept going back to Karen. He got some good distractions from the occasional coworker who came by to chat with him. He was getting tired of talking about how he had coronavirus, but it was a welcome distraction from having to think about Karen.
Around 1pm, Rachel came by to get him to join her in the break room for lunch. There, he told her more about his time in quarantine. They discussed a few things about her and she got him caught up on the office gossip he missed out on. She was shocked when he told her about what happed with Jessica.
"That bitch," she said. "But I did warn you about her when you two started dating."
"Yes, you did," Nick replied.
"I warned you about how you being a nice guy and her history with men who mistreated her was not going to end well."
"Yes, you did."
"And how you shouldn't be trying to act like a jerk just to make her happy."
"Yes, you did," he said. "Are you done proving how you right you were?"
"Yes," she said with a smug smile. "So, are you going to start dating soon now that you're out of quarantine."
"I don't know it may be too soon," Nick replied. "Karen and I were together for two years. I want to go out again, but I don't know if I'm ready yet."
"Maybe what you need is a practice date," said Rachel.
"What do you mean."
"Something to get you out there again, but not for anything serious."
"How am I supposed to get a practice date?"
"With me," she replied. "I need a date for a wedding this Saturday, can you go with me?"
Nick chucked a little as he realized what she was trying to this whole time.
"I know you're probably thinking that I was working you just now, and I definitely was," she said. "But I've been to three straight weddings without a date and I can't go to a fourth one dateless."
Nick remembered her talking about this before. The first two times it happened she had broken up with the guy before the weddings, and the third time the guy just could make it. Nick knew how awkward it can feel having to go to a wedding alone and didn't want her to go through that a fourth time.
"Ok, I'll do it," he told her. "You're right, it could be good practice to have a nice night out with a beautiful woman."
Rachel pumped a fist in the air in excitement.
"Thank you. I promise you won't regret this," she said.
She grabbed his head by the cheeks and kissed him hard on the forehead.
"By the way, the wedding is in Bryersville," she sprung on him.
"What?" he shouted and quickly looked around to see if anyone heard him. "That's almost six hours away."
"That's why I booked a room at the same hotel the wedding will be held at. WE can spend the night there."
"Double beds?"
"Single," she said. "But we're adults, we can share a bed without it being something intimate."
"You're springing a lot on me all at once," said Nick.
"Do you still want to go?
"Yes, I'll go, but please no more surprises."
"No more, I promise."
That week things went smoothly in the office for Nick. He got caught up pretty quickly with some of the things he missed and people stopped asking him about his time away for quarantine. He also got three new clients, including a high profile one which made his bosses very happy.
Throughout the week, he and Rachel planned out their trip. They agreed to take Nick's car because it was roomier and they would leave very early to stop for lunch along the way and make it in time for the hotel check-in.
That Saturday, they had a good time during their road trip goofing around in the car and singing along to their favorite songs on the radio. They were in a good mood until they were about half an hour away from the hotel and Rachel had to spring some more news to him.
"By the way, I told people you were my boyfriend," she said.
"What?"
"After being dateless the last few time I don't want my family to think I can't get a boyfriend and I had to drag one of my guy friends along for this."
"I told you, no more surprises.
"I know, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't plan it that way, it just sort of happened."
"Ok, it's no big deal, I can pretend to be your boyfriend."
"Thank you, and again I'm sorry."
The hotel was big, but the wedding party was kept small because of covid restrictions. They got a good look at the reception hall; it was large and all the tables only seated four people and were at a reasonable distance from each other.
They met up with some of Rachel's family members including her parents. It was awkward for Nick to pretend he was dating their daughter, but he went along with it.
When they got to the hotel room they decided to chill out for an hour before they got ready. They sat on the bed next to each other as they watched some American Ninja Warrior on ESPN. They cheered on their favorite contestants and joked about how far either one of them would actually go on that show.
When it was time to get ready, Rachel took a few things from her luggage and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Nick, however, got a good haircut a few days earlier and shaved early that morning; all he had to do was put on his suit and cologne and he was done.
About twenty minutes later, Rachel came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and her wet blonde hair falling over her shoulders. She saw Nick on the bed watching TV, fully dressed and ready to go.
"You men are so lucky," she said. "You just have to shave and put on a nice suit, while we have to do this whole time-consuming ritual just to look pretty."
"I know, it's a very sweet deal," Nick replied with a smile.
"Don't be an asshole," she said jokingly.
She went through her luggage again and she had to bend down to do so. Nick couldn't help noticing the amount of cleavage she was showing; her breasts were practically falling out of the towel that was barely holding itself. The show ended when Rachel grabbed everything she needed from her luggage and went back to the bathroom.
Nick realized he had big hard-on going on and was relieved that Rachel didn't notice. He always thought Rachel was an attractive woman and he had considered asking her out in the past, but they were never single at the same time before. Then he dated Karen for a long time and just forgot about it.
After 45-minutes of hearing Rachel blow-drying her hair and making various noises in the bathroom, she finally came out fully dressed in a beautiful dark blue, tight-fitting dress with black high heels. It had an asymmetrical hem to show off a little more of her left leg, thin shoulder straps and showed a modest amount of cleavage on top.
"Damn," was all Nick could say.
"That's the response I was hoping for," said Rachel.
"I hope the bride won't get too jealous of you."
She quickly touched up her makeup in the mirror by the TV and they were both on their way.
They met up with some more of Rachel's family members before the wedding. They stood close by each other, playing the loving couple as best they could. They were told many times how what a good-looking couple they were. They got plenty of pictures with each other, most of them involved Nick having to hold her close to him, which he enjoyed.
The wedding was beautiful, the bride and grooms wedding vows made plenty of people cry. Rachel was tearing up as she held Nick's arm form comfort. Even Nick felt that he was about to shed a tear a few times.
After the ceremony, Rachel quickly went off to the bathroom to fix her makeup, leaving Nick on his own in the lobby with Rachel's family. He was told again by a few more of them about how they seemed like a perfect couple. This got Nick thinking about how wonderful Rachel was and how well they get along with each other. He decided that after the wedding he would finally ask her out on a real date.
Rachel came back from the bathroom and met up with Nick.
"How's my makeup?" she asked.
"Perfect," he replied.
"Thank you," she said. "You know if you really want to play the part of the good boyfriend well, you should kiss me."
"Kiss you?" Nick asked with a surprised tone.
