Family gatherings were the worst for Lara, especially since her sister, Emily, began to make fun of her love life, or lack thereof. Determined to sit through her father’s birthday dinner, Lara decides to hire a boyfriend for the night. Little did she know that something reminiscent of a romantic comedy would soon play out.

I love my family, but family gatherings used to be a nightmare for me. Every single time we got together, my sister Emily would find some way or the other to poke fun at my single life.

Last Thanksgiving, she took it too far and even set a place at the table for my “imaginary boyfriend,” complete with a hand-drawn face on a napkin. Everyone around the table laughed while I forced a smile.

“It’s funny, Lara!” she would say whenever I brought up the incident.

I stared at him, my heart pounding.

“But we only met because I hired you for this night,” I said.

He shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah, life is funny like that, isn’t it?” he said. “Sometimes these things happen when we’re not looking for them. I’d like to try things officially. With you, I meanI nodded, smiling.

“I’d like that too.”

We joined the family and sat down to eat large slices of cake.

Even now, months later, Jake and I are still together and happy. We never quite told the family that I hired Jake. To them, he was the boyfriend who showed up and swept me off my feet. And in a way, that was true.

“You’re telling me that only I know the truth?” Kate asked as we sat in my living room with face masks.

“Yes!” I replied. “Jake and I didn’t want to tell my family the truth because you know how Emily is. She’ll have a field day about this. Her pathetic younger sister who couldn’t find herself a boyfriend, so she hired him.”

“But you did find a boyfriend,” Kate pointed out.

“I did,” I admitted. “And he has also left the agency as well. So, he’s serious about this. That’s new for me.”

A few weeks later, I went home to my parents’ house for tea. For once, I wasn’t dreading being there, because they knew about Jake.

But it was there that Emily revealed something to me. We were in the kitchen, doing the dishes when my sister turned to me.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so nasty,” she said. “And I didn’t mean to be so harsh with Jake when he came over for Dad’s birthday. It brought up some stuff for me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I didn’t tell you this, but I broke up with Paul. He wasn’t away for work during Dad’s birthday. Our engagement has been broken off for months. I’ve been bitter about your happiness.”

I couldn’t understand why my sister carried the burden by herself, but at least she was open to talking to me now.

I don’t know how long this new, vulnerable version of my sister will last, but let’s see what happens next.

What would you have done?