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Your Temporary Lover part 1

Your Temporary Lover

Volume 1

Takano Masamune

Chapter 1: Been There, Done That (1)

***

A boyfriend rental service, a place where you can hire a fake partner for a period of time…

There were plenty reasons why women would want that… For safety, just to show off to their friends or family, to have someone to talk to for a while…

Whether it’s out of loneliness or sheer boredom, none of that mattered, it was a simple cut deal, you hire and pay them and they do what you want them to for that period of time.

Some escorts of course offered more intimate services as well…

There were plenty reasons to prefer a fake relationship than a real one. With the rental service you get to pick and choose the person and the personality you want, as well as you know what to expect, each individual in the service is carefully selected so there is no chance of them being a bad person, criminal background or anything that would put you on edge…

Thus, it was also a lucrative business. As the times go on less and less women are interested in marriage and they are all the more sick of dating under qualified men…

Since women take on all the emotional burden in a relationship it’s reasonable to want to be treated by their partner better than they already are…

“Hey Joel! You have a new client!” The manager of the establishment, a women with short brown hair and a pleasant voice spoke to him. She was dressed in an all black suit with a white button down shirt. She handed the ticket to the man in question. Her name was Cassandra.

“Xena? Isn’t that a cute name, I bet she’s going to be really pretty.” Joel remarked as he glanced down at the notes. There were various details about what person the other wanted.

“Make sure to treat her well, it seems she’s really loaded. She ordered the premium package and pre-paid in advance!” Cassandra explained with an enthusiastic sounding voice. “The contract time is two months, think you can handle it? I know it’s a bit longer than you’re used to.”

“Two months? Isn’t that going to interfere with other clients?” Joel asked concerned as he scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit.

“That’s why she paid us 20% for eventual loss of business in your absence.” If Cassandra was anymore excited surely you’d be able to see dollar signs inside her pupils.

“She’s seriously paying us that much?” Joel was impressed, he was one of the top ranked hosts there so it wasn’t surprising he had a client that wealthy. However being booked for two to three weeks at a time was standard, so suddenly two months seemed like a long time.

“If you can’t do it I might have to re-negotiate the terms!” Cassandra pulled Joel to the side and spoke to him privately. “Listen to me, if you do this job I will give you 5% more than usual, is that alright?” She used the next best convincing method, bribes!

“5%?! Isn’t that a lot given she’s paying a premium?” Joel questioned with a serious look on his face.

“It’s a looooot, so what do you say?” Cassandra asked with a smug expression on her face, knowing the man couldn’t possibly refuse.

“I’ll do it!” Joel finally agreed and headed out to the address later that day, but before that, he needed to make a quick stop to the hospital…

“You finally came to see me, huh? What a nasty brother I have that visits once a month only!” Cleo exclaimed as she delivered a kick to the man at her side.

“Sorry, sorry… I can’t stay long I have another job today. It’s going to take a while, about two months.” Joel as usual gave his sister the details quickly. He watched as Cleo seemed deep in thought, her eyes looked a shade of grey due to her hereditary blindness, one that could only be fixed with a stupidly expensive procedure.

“You’re still working at that host place? Isn’t it full of weird stalker women? Aren’t you scared?” Cleo questioned him as she held onto her brother’s sleeve. She was only 20 years old and yet she spend each day in the hospital like this.

“It’s alright, it’s too easy even…” Joel was quick to reassure her. Seeing his sister worry made him uncomfortable to say the least.

Their parents died when he was about 19 and Cleo was 12, since then he’s taken care of her. Joel never thought of her as a burden even after Cleo had to be hospitalized unable to hold her hairdresser’s job anymore due to her rapidly declining eyesight, he still felt like she was the most precious family member to him… his only family member…

“Say… I don’t want to alarm you…” Cleo spoke in a low voice and seemed more scared than ever, her pale white hands clinging to her brother’s clothes gradually loosened their grip. “The Doctors said that… it’s time for the procedure, I’m moving up in the list so…”

“How much do we need?” Joel asked while seemingly as calm as a river. He kept his voice low and never allowed himself to seem like he was struggling in front of his sister.

“It’s… a lot… about a quarter of a million…” Cleo spoke in a scared sounding voice. Then suddenly she seemed determined. “Jo… what do you say we don’t do the procedure?” She suggested.

“That won’t do… you need to be able to see.” Joel replied without skipping a beat. This was a familiar conversation that they’ve lead before.

“But there’s a chance that it won’t even work! What’s the point of doing it? We could live off of such a sum… instead of giving it to the hospital…” Cleo was on the verge of tears. “I don’t want you to be in debt…” she continued in a low mutter.

“Who says I’d be in debt? I’m going to earn about 50 thousand from my next job plus all the bonuses… As for the rest I have saved up and I can ask around for more… so please don’t worry.” Joel told her with confidence as he patted his sister’s head. Messing up her long blond hair that was already a bit tangled as she’d laid in the hospital for too long.

“I don’t think it’s fine… there’s no way any of this is fine…” Cleo was of course not convinced. She’d always thought of herself as a burden to her brother. She’d wanted to be independent but fate had other plans for her and she ended up like this.

“You don’t have to worry, that’s my job. I’m the adult here, remember?” Joel reminded her as he stood up. Her pale hands didn’t try to reach out to him anymore.

Cleo sat there with her face pointing downwards and her eyes staring into nothingness.

“You know… I still see at times…” Cleo remarked quietly. “Figures, colors, shapes… I can still sort of see them, so I think I will be fine…” She continued, her fists were being clenched so tightly that she might have started bleeding if her nails weren’t cut short as they were. “So… I really don’t need it…” She was determined once more.

“No… If not for yourself, then let me be selfish.” Joel shook his head as he proudly declared. “Let me be the hero that saves you, alright? It’s a bit egotistical but I’d like to do this for you, is it too much?” He asked her.

“You’re already… my hero…” Cleo had always admired her brother. Even when they were younger and they fought a lot, she’d always secretly looked up to him. Thinking that he was someone strong and kind that took on the role of a parent far too early.

“I’m glad to hear that, then let the hero go and do his job so I can bring back the money. I’ll tell the Doctors you’re ready for the operation, alright?” Joel asked her for confirmation and his sister nodded her head weakly in agreement.

“Will you be here when it’s happening?” Cleo asked him.

Joel stood by the door with a conflicted expression on his face then confidently added. “I wouldn’t miss it even if I was hit by a truck!”

This made Cleo laugh, it was an old joke they shared since they were kids… only neither of them remembered where it had all started…

Chapter 2: Been There, Done That (2)

***

“This is the address…” Joel had arrived at the place, it was extravagant, he’d been to nice homes before but this was beyond nice, it was luxurious. He could see that this person could easy afford a hefty price like the ones they offer. ‘A rich heiress… amazing…’ Joel felt a bit giddy inside his mind.

He’d never fallen in love before but he always thought it would be good if he ends up falling for one of his wildly rich clients. Such a fate would be a good one, wouldn’t it?

Of course it was no more than daydreaming, he would usually never do things outside of what was asked from him and that’s how he became the top host, by keeping a polite distance between those he worked with and himself, that was the way to succeed…

After he knocked on the door Joel was quickly lead inside where he saw a stunning young woman. “Hello…” He spoke in a bit of a daze with himself.

He’d encountered countless beautiful women however… this was the first time he’d become so enthralled with another person.

“Oh? Who are you?” She didn’t seem to know him. Wrong person.

“Ah, I’m… well…” Joel struggled to come up with an idea. The reason as because he didn’t know that woman and how telling her the truth or a half assed lie might affect the circumstances of his client.

“He’s with me.” Suddenly a man approached, he looked dashing, although he was dressed in plain clothes, a simple black turtleneck and a pair of off gray jeans, he looked no less stunning than a runway model.

Some people were born with charisma that made them stand out no matter what they wore, even if it was some cheap item… meanwhile there were those that struggled to weak expensive clothes with confidence.

“You?” Joel was confused but followed after the man that beckoned him. “You know my client? Xena?” He asked as they were all alone.

“I’m your client, the name’s Xander.” Xander responded with a sly smile. “The system wouldn’t allow me to order you so I changed my gender on the site.”

“Ugh… do you even understand what kind of service you asked for?” Joel asked as he face palmed. He not to mention the man in front of him looked really young, no more than his early twenties probably, if that.

“Yes, from today onwards you will be my boyfriend. That’s the deal, for two months. I even paid a premium for you because you’re supposedly the best one there is. But you don’t look like anything special.” Xander remarked as he looked the man up and down with a gaze that seemed to be judging his very existence.

“Hey! I am the best at my job, I’ll have you know!” Joel felt personally offended. Sure he started this work without much in mind at the start but then as he progressed he started taking pride in his own charm that he exuded and being able to keep conversations with all kinds of people going.

“Good then, you’ll do well enough.” Xander didn’t seem impressed by the man and simply continued walking until they got to his room. Suddenly the atmosphere shifted. “I’ve sighned a contract for you so it’s fine, right? You’re my boyfriend now, right?” He asked as if to confirm.

“Ugh…. Wait let me think about it…” Joel dramatically turned his back to the man, his thoughts erratic. ‘If I accept this job I’ll be able to fulfill my promise… no this will even help me out more if the guy’s generous and I can get some tips along the way…. Do I even have a choice? If I refuse… will I ever have such a cash cow like him ever again?’ He wondered.

It didn’t take him long to deliberate on it. The answer was obvious.

“Just so you know, I don’t sleep with men.” Joel said as he turned towards him once more. His stern eyes indicating his seriousness.

“Sure, whatever, you’re not here to indulge me like that I guess.” Xander seemed a bit disappointed but accepted the conditions quickly. “Get dressed, we’re going out to introduce you to some people.” He said while pointing towards the closet.

“What people?” Joel asked, he hadn’t been given a script, no prior information, nothing. He was going into this job almost completely blind.

“My friends, family, anyone there really.” Xander said as he headed into his closet and grabbed a random set, it was a blue suit with a matching tie and button down off white shirt. “The thing is none of them know I’m gay, so if I show up there with you, they’d be in for a real shock, you know?” His mischievousness showed through.

“Aha, and the purpose of that shock is? Tell me what you need so I can know to act accordingly.” Joel said as he quickly changed into the suit. As a seasoned host he didn’t really care about being naked in front of anyone else, especially not a man, it didn’t matter he was gay. Someone like Joel remained professional regardless.

“There’s this large thing our family is trying to settle. Who is going to take over after dad is gone, and I want to make sure it’s not me.” Xander seemed like a spoiled rich kid at first, but this was so strange, why would someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth try so hard to have it taken away?

“You don’t want to have the company to yourself?” Joel seemed to catch on to the situation. Even with the limited information it was pretty obvious the other was trying to steer up drama on purpose for the sake of being taken off the list of succession.

“It’s boring, this company, these people… I’d rather go off and do what I like instead of being chained up to a large corporation and slave away the best years of my life. My sister and brother can handle the succession between themselves.” Xander quickly explained and they headed out, soon enough they arrived a ta large event.

The venue was so large and everyone there was dressed extravagantly to the point it was far too easy to tell they were all part of high society. In fact through Joel’s carefully trained eyes for hunting money, he could see there were multiple very high status celebrities and wealthy individuals there, some popular some he’d never seen or heard of but he was sure they possessed unrivaled wealth and affluence just by looking at them.

‘Cash cow…’ Joel reminded himself as Xander grabbed him by the arm and they walked in together. The second they stepped in all eyes were on them. Some curious glances others were prying eyes and the second they got to the family, Joel stepped in front of Xander without even batting an eye-

“Filthy i***t!” A woman had spilled out her wine glass onto Joel completely soaking him in the red liquid. Of course this surprise attack had been planned for Xander who hadn’t expected the man to take the fall for him.

“I believe this is meant for drinking.” Joel brushed his soaked hair back with one hand and pointed at his drenched clothes, then with a smile turned to the woman. “You must be his sister.”

Everyone stopped and stared at him, even Xander himself...