Page 15 of Yours, For Now

"Not that lying is a small thing," Mom said, "but aside from that, could this hurt us? Is it breaking any laws, or could it create financial risk?"

"Not at all." I released a hard gust of air through my nose. "And it can't hurt us at all if I'm careful."

Mom gave me another long look, before she finished her coffee, set the mug down. She gazed at my dad again, and they shared one of those conversations that happened in an instant through a look.

"So let me see if I got this right." She pushed the mug away from her. "You're in a shitty situation because someone else is in a shitty situation. If you help them, you'll go against your values and will lie to us about something but, if you're careful, it won't hurt us or others. If you decided against it to act according to your values, you're still not because it means not helping someone who could really use your help, and potentially making their already bad situation even worse."

I gulped and tried to loosen the tightness in my throat with coffee. It didn't work. "Yes."

For a moment, the only sound in the kitchen was the low hum of the dishwasher.

My dad leaned back against his chair; he drank more coffee and instead of putting his mug down on the table, he held it up close to his mouth. "I see why you wanted to talk this through. It's like you have to choose between different values, all of them important."

"Yeah. And I don't want to lie to you guys."

"That's the part that worries me the least." Dad lifted a shoulder. "You've never been a liar. If you could tell us the truth you would. The part that worries me is what happens if, no matter how careful you are, things go wrong and bad things happen as a result of this."

"And what about this person who's in a bad position?" Mom interjected. "In a way, this is about choosing himself over other people."

My dad studied me with a long gaze. "How much of this is about you getting something good out of it?"

I took a deep breath. "Probably a fair share. Except I wouldn't want to do it this way. I'd rather find alternatives first… but it would mean leaving my friend hanging."

This was the part that could make my dad connect the dots, but I hoped he didn't. I counted on him taking me at my word, which he typically did, and there was no way he would ever imagine that the issue I was talking about was faking a relationship with Lina. If he suspected anything, my parents would guess it was one of the guys in my friend group. Since my parents had pseudo-adopted them all, that's who they would think about when I talked about a friend.

"Here is what I think." My dad finished his coffee in one big gulp and put the mug down on the table. "Not helping this person is for sure going to leave them without support. If you help them, it's not assured it'll go wrong— it could go well. Then you'd have helped them without negative consequences."

Mom nodded. "One is certain— the other is a game of probability."

Seemed like their trust in me was enough to veil the situation, and I'm glad I'd chosen to rely on them. Because hearing them frame things this way really helped me make up my mind.

I gazed from one to the other, relief spreading through me. "One is already true— the other is a gamble."

I still didn't like the idea of lying, nor the risk to my name and integrity if this were to come out and people around us learned it had all been a lie. But how could they know? It wouldn't be hard to fake liking Lina, pretending to be really into her in front of other people. Who could doubt that, after spending all this time together, we'd gotten interested in each other this way? Then, in a couple of months, we could amicably break up and everyone would accept it didn't work out, as simple as that.

And I would be helping her— now. And we'd likely get this project going, and achieve our goals.

Ironic, that I might end up pretending to date Lina now, when I'd spent so much time reminding myself this couldn't happen. Who knew how things would turn out; maybe faking things would help me test what could happen in two or three years, and see if it was worth the wait.

If nothing else, it made the chances higher to reach everything I wanted for the Sotomayor Group, and help me succeed my dad as the CEO.

Tres Amigos + Jake Chat Group

Gabe and his best friends

Jake: roll call. Where's everybody?

Max: London. And isn't Gabe usually

the one asking for a check in?

Jake: he was busy, so I'm taking over

for a sec. It's been a while since we

all talked

Javier: you're such a great guy, Jake.