Husband For Hire

CHAPTER 2: COMPETITION

Lilian sat at her vanity table, staring into the mirror at a face that seemed foreign to her.

Her mother had taken her to a hairdresser and made her change the look of her hair entirely.

Her previously bob hair was now a crown of glory like her mother's, and extensions had been added, making the hair long to her shoulder length. She had dyed her hair black with streaks of green in it for almost 3 years but now she was forced to be a blonde.

Her mother loved the look, she said it made her look more ladylike, or perhaps more enticing.

She still needed time to get used to it, she shook her head and the hair flew about her face in waves.

Her mother stated that the reason she probably didn't see anyone showing interest in her

during the funeral dinner was because of her hair, it was not just acceptable for the daughter of a billionaire, a very famous one at that.

And so the very next day, she booked an appointment and took her for a hairdo.

Lilian wondered what was next, would she ask her to pull out her braces or maybe she would ask her to stop wearing pajamas to sleep, or probably stop drinking wine and

start drinking coffee? Lilian chuckled; she would rather die than take even a sip of coffee.

Her mother had found it outrageous that she wouldn't drink coffee, Lilian would rather drink red wine with her breakfast, if there was no red wine, cognac would do the trick, she found the taste of coffee horrendous.

Living in France did that to her, she had adopted the cultures of two very different places, and most times she wondered where her true nature lay.

Her mother did not know that her hair was not the true reason why Lilian had not been seized by prospective

suitors, but she had spent the whole evening thinking about the hazel eye hulk of a man who had mysteriously disappeared, intentionally saying the wrong things and acting in a lewd way to scare the men off.

All of them wanted something romantic and long-term with her and Lilian wasn't inclined towards that.

She saw marriage as being shackled by yet another man and she tried to avoid it like a plague.

If she was going to do this, she was going to do it on her terms, but without her mother's knowledge. She needed to find someone who was not going to expect anything from her, no wifely duties or any of the shenanigans that came with being a wife.

It was going to be a contract, she would pay him to marry her and they would live together for a while, probably long enough for people to think it was a real marriage, maybe 6 or 8 months, and then when everything blew over, they would divorce and go their separate ways without any scandal.

Today, her mother had arranged a meeting with her father's lawyer, Mr. Hoffman, to discuss ways they could about the will.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, nodded her head, picked up her red clutch purse, and walked out of the room.

Sitting across the large mahogany table, with her mother beside her, Lilian watched her father's lawyer rummage through a pile of files for a while before finally picking out a manila envelope.

He opened it and brought a sheaf of papers.

"here is a copy of the will," he declared and handed it to her mother.

There was silence for a while, as her mother read through the will, her face void of any emotions.

"Is there any way the will can be amended, Mr. Hoffman? Lilian here has not been

able to find herself a prospective suitor In the meantime, finding a husband is a lot of work," her mother, Elena said.

Mr. Hoffman leaned back into his chair and peered at Lilian through the rim of his glasses.

"I'm afraid that is not possible, Mrs. Burns, the will is a legal document that cannot be influenced. Maybe I could offer myself as a prospective suitor?” He said and winked at Lilian.

"Surely something can be done, how am I supposed to find a husband within 2 weeks,

with 4 days already gone, name your price," Lilian argued, eliciting a gasp from her mother.

Mr. Hoffman smiled, Robert Bruns’s daughter was proving to be more than just a beauty.

"I cannot be bought Miss Burns, although I am very much single now," he retorted.

"Then our time is up here, thank you for your proposal but I'll pass on it" Lilian declined, stood up, and walked out.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hoffman, please excuse her behavior, with the death of her father and everything happening she's just really having a rough time," Elena Burns apologized and stood up also.

Mr. Hoffman nodded and she left the office. Lilian was already in the car waiting, still seething from the conversation with Mr. Hoffman.

“How dare that pudgy short man think he can get married to me?” She thought in disgust.

She needed a way out and she needed it very fast, her mother looked desperate enough to sell her off if she needed to and she wasn't going to let that happen.

Her mother came into the car and Lilian expected a tirade about her behavior but Elena remained silent, twisting her hands around on her lap.

"Are you not going to say anything?" Lilian asked in a low tone, to avoid the driver listening to their topic of discussion.

Her mother turned to face her, "What do you want me to say, Lilian?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

"That man disrespected me to my face, to our face and you didn't bother to say anything?" Lilian asked in disappointment.

"He didn't disrespect you, he was trying to help" Elena retorted.

"Yeah right, whatever," Lilian responded and turned away, ending the conversation.

She looked at her watch, it was almost 2 o'clock. She had a meeting with her father's assistant, Tom by 2, he was going to be her right hand till she got a hang of the company and how it works.

Immediately she stepped out of the car, she sighted Tom, she was able to recognize him

because he had attended the funeral dinner and introduced himself. Now he was outside the company building, waiting for her to arrive.

"Miss Burns, it's nice to see you again," he said and stretched out his hand for a handshake.

He was good looking Lilian admitted but she had seen many good-looking men, one of which had slipped through her fingers the night of the diner.

She shook her head as if trying to dispel thoughts of someone she barely knew.

"Nice to see you too Tom, please call me Lilian," she responded.

They walked into the office complex together with Tom leading the way.

"The staff are all gathered in the conference room, ready to meet with you, I'm aware that you're only an interim manager for 2 weeks until the company is officially handed over to you right?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, a manager with no business aspirations or a husband," Lilian blurted out, causing Tom to glance at her with a smile.

"Don't worry, you will not be doing all the dirty work, that is where I come in, you just make the big decisions and be the face of the company," He assured her.

"Yeah, but I still need to find a husband before next week runs out if not the company will be taken over by someone else," I stated, yarning in exhaustion.

"After the meeting with the staff, we'll think of something," Tom calmly responded.

They walked into the conference room where everyone was seated and they all stood up when they saw her.

"Everyone this is Lilian Burns, daughter of our late employer who will be taking charge of the company for now," Tom announced and they all clapped, welcoming her to the company.

Lilian plastered a fake smile on her face, she needed to be cordial no matter what.

When the clapping quieted down, she cleared her throat, "Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome. I'll try to make sure my presence here doesn't disrupt the activities of the company; I will do everything in my power to run this company as well as my dad did or even better," I declared.

They clapped again and Lilian sat down at the head of the round table with Tom beside her.

Introductions began, they stood up one by one and introduced themselves and the sections in the company in which they worked.

After the brief introductions, a man sitting at the far corner of the room raised his hand and stood up.

"Miss Burns, if I may address you that way, how come we were never aware that Mr. Burns had a child, or a daughter at that?" an averagely aged man asked.

Lilian looked at Tom, and he nodded at her, giving a go-ahead to answer the question.

"I've been abroad most of my life Mr. erm…" I stammered.

"Joe Lloyd" the man completed.

"I schooled in Scotland for a while and then relocated to France to work," I explained.

"Sorry Miss Burns but I do not think you are capable of heading this company, you do not seem to know the least thing about business," he blurted out.

Everyone gasped and turned to look at Lilian, waiting for a reaction. She stared at the man, anger rising to the base of her throat, this was not going to be any easier, she had competition and this looked like a stiff competition.

"Trust me I am more than just a blonde and I will make sure I run this company," She stated with a note of finality.