9
The Deal
Charlotte
Now the wine has kicked in a little bit. So I’m not feeling as nervous as I was when I arrived. And since we stopped talking about the arrangement and just started being friendly like we were at the Halloween party, I’ve actually started to enjoy myself.
Oliver is a very interesting person. While he doesn’t go into much detail about his past, he does indicate he was the golden child to his parents. He explained that that’s why he excelled in life until now. The one thing he won’t go into specifics about is the cloud hanging over him that traveled from Los Angeles to New York and is preventing him from finding the work he wants, necessitating a fake fiancée.
When I think about that, I wonder if this arrangement is a good idea. Oliver is an exceptionally handsome man who has probably been given everything he’s wanted in life. He is also intelligent, and based on what he’s told me about his work in the past, he was successful. So whatever happened in Los Angeles must be bad if it’s followed him here and is preventing him from getting work, right? Is it unwise for me to get involved with somebody who seems incredibly capable and intelligent yet has something so debilitating hanging over him?
But now, he’s started telling me about some of his volunteer work that helps children and others who’ve been involved in accidents or have a birth defect that surgery can help them with.
“Most people hear plastic surgeon and think breast enhancement, but the truth is we do a lot more than that,” he says with a hint of defensiveness in his tone.
He is right that when I hear the term plastic surgeon, I only think about the surgeries that attempt to make pretty people more beautiful. I think of the vanity and the message it sends to women, in particular about the standards of beauty.
“But isn’t that the type of practice you were involved with in California? Isn’t that the type of clinic you’re trying to get into here?” I ask.
“Yes.” He studies me like he knows I’m judging him negatively for it. “I notice you’re dealing with rich, insecure women in Manhattan and aren’t working at battered women’s shelter or with more at-risk communities.”
“Touché,” I say. “You’re not the only one that volunteers, though.”
He nods. “And yet somehow, you’re still going to judge me for working with the clientele that I do. Some of them are probably the same clientele at your practice, but somehow it’s different for you.”
“I do think it’s different. But I understand what you’re saying. But, at the same time, no matter anyone’s socioeconomic status, if they are depressed to the point of hurting themselves or it’s impacting their everyday lives, that is much more serious than someone who feels like they need a new nose or they have one too many jowls on their neck.”
“Those things can lead to depression. And in my line of work, many of the people I see will lose their livelihoods because their looks are a part of their finding work.”
“And you don’t feel a part of the problem there? If you didn’t make a fifty-year-old woman look forty, perhaps society wouldn’t expect a fifty-year-old woman to look forty.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “The problem of that didn’t start with me. If you’re going to blame anybody for that, blame the entertainment industry. They’re the ones who make these women feel insecure enough to come to see someone like me, as opposed to someone like you. And you might be able to make them feel good about themselves, but feeling good about themselves isn’t going to get them the job in the movie that they want. And perhaps you see that it is all very superficial. But, still, maybe you should talk to Theo and Madeline about whether or not they wouldn’t fight to keep their careers if they felt like the industry was judging them. I know for a fact that Madeline struggled with losing her child actor status. Even Theo initially didn’t want to hire her because of that. So we all have baggage, Dr. Charlotte. We all have our imperfections. You and I just help people through them in a different manner.”
He’s right, of course. But in my mind, we’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. The night we spent in bed on Halloween notwithstanding, I’m not sure Oliver and I would ever be a real couple. We’re just too different when it comes to our careers. It makes me wonder how we will pull off a happily engaged couple.
“Do you really think we’re going to be able to fool people with this fake engagement thing, considering you and I are so different?” I ask.
“We can just say opposites attract.” He frowns. “You’re not thinking of changing your mind, are you?”
I shake my head but worry that I will ruin this for him. “I just don’t want the people you need to impress to be able to tell that you and I are not really an item.”
“Am I so unappealing to you that you couldn’t even pretend to like me?”
“I don’t not like you,” I remember saying the same thing to him on Halloween. The truth is, I do like him, except for the fact that I feel his profession hurts women, and I’m not quite sure what happened in his past that could come back to hurt me. There’s no doubt that he’s extremely handsome, and he is skilled in bed. But my dueling impressions might make me seem indifferent when it comes time to pretend to be in love with him, especially if I was in a room full of other plastic surgeons. My opinions overcome my goal of trying to get them to be impressed with Oliver. “I wonder if your brother and Madeline could help?”
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“They’re actors. Maybe they could teach us how to act like we’re in love with each other. I mean, doesn’t Theo do that all the time in his movies?”
Oliver smirks and I wonder if that means that Theo wasn’t always acting in his movies when it came to love scenes with women. Then I remember that Theo was known to have relationships with his co-stars.
“Actually, I was thinking I might not tell him about the fake engagement part,” he says.
“Oh. But isn’t that something that might get out and he would wonder about it if he overheard it from someone in the building or out in the world?”
He nods. “You’re probably right. He’s going to try and talk me out of it, but I think I can get him on our side.”
Before I can respond, the door open and Theo and Madeline enter the apartment.