There it is. Six scenarios, four weeks. Any more than that and it might seem like we’re bumping into D on purpose. He’d see right through the plan. But with these perfectly timed seemingly random moments, this fake dating interlude will get me back to the happy ending I’ve wanted all along. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how Dominic’s favorite romance moment is when the love interest declares their love before the main character falls for someone else, the “Speak now or forever hold your peace” moment, the “Choose me instead.” So when he sees Ross asking me to prom, Dominic will know that’s his time to declare his love, to ask me to pick him and take him back. It’s the whole fake dating trope turned upside down because Ross and I will not end up together in the end. That’s how it always goes with fake dating couples, realizing that their end goal should be their fake partner all along. But with us, there’s no way in hell that’ll happen. Ross literally has to jump into the ocean. They can’t end up with me or else risk never going home. It’s a foolproof plan.

I take in the list one more time, and I realize this might be able to serve more than one purpose. All these shots don’t just have to be in my mind. I can film some of these moments too, film Ross experiencing life on land for the first time. I’ll call it The Tourist. It’s not a far stretch from my original plan for the Shoreline Film Showcase. The theme is Real People, making a film solely featuring everyday people doing everyday things, but not making it a documentary. Finding the story in life. I was going to film The Tourists on top of Dominic’s tour bus, gauging the reactions and excitement of LA visitors as they take in the Walk of Fame and D’s speech full of Hollywood facts. There’s no way that’s going to happen now, but recording Ross’s reaction to the city could be even more captivating. It’s practically a literal fish-out-of-water story.

Now I just need to get started.

You free tomorrow night for our first fake date?

They reply immediately, like they’ve been waiting for me to text ever since I dropped them off.

Duh. I’m sort of stuck here until we get this thing started.

The moment Ross walks out onto their front porch, my palms start to sweat. I’m not nervous, exactly, more excited all of a sudden. My palms always do that when I’m happy, which is a really frustrating reaction that I wish I could control. I wipe my palms on my jeans while Ross wobbles over to me. I guess they’re still getting used to their land legs.