Chapter Three
1862 Words
I woke up the next day, and decided that I was not going to think about what had happened the night before. I was not going to think about the note or the dream.
I got up from my soft bed (which I didn't pay attention to the day before because I was panicking), took my bath, dressed up, and walked out of my room, with no exact destination in mind. I just wanted to survey my new environment.
The house was already active. Not loudly, not chaotically, it was just functioning.
Staff moved through the hallways like they were part of the structure itself. Quiet steps, straight backs, no wasted motion, and no unnecessary words.,
One passed me with a tray. “ Good morning, miss.” She saluted. It was smooth, polished, and practiced.
“Morning,” I said, watching her carefully.
She didn't hesitate, didn't look at me twice, she just kept moving.
I leaned against the wall slightly, folding my arms.
I pushed off the wall after some minutes and kept walking. This time I walked slowly, observing, not just looking.
That's something life teaches you when you don't have much. You learn how to read rooms, people, and silences.
And this place? Too clean, too controlled. No mistakes, no cracks, not even curiosity.
Nobody asked who I was. Nobody questioned why I was here. Which meant one thing. They already knew, or they weren't allowed to ask.
I exhaled slowly. “ Yeah,” I muttered. “ Definitely not normal.”
I drifted towards the dining area but didn't go in. Instead, I leaned against the doorway, watching the movement inside. Plates set, chairs adjusted, coffee poured.
I used to think that if I worked hard enough, I'd end up somewhere like this. Not here exactly but somewhere close. A stable job, a steady life. Something that didn't look like it could collapse at any second.
But that didn't happen. Instead, I got things that went nowhere. Smiles that didn't mean anything, “We will get back to you” emails that never came. And most importantly, bills that didn't wait.
And in between all of that, these laid questions. The kind nobody wanted to answer about my Father. About what happened to him. Why did a man who knew too much suddenly become someone no one remembered?
I tried to push that thought down fast. Not here, not now.
“ Miss?”
I looked up. I saw another staff member standing a few feet away.
“ Breakfast is ready.”
I smiled and walked slowly towards the dining room.
I stepped in, took a seat. Didn't touch the food. I just wrapped my fingers around the coffee cup.
“Thinking?”
I didn't look up.
“ Always,” I replied, still staring at the coffee cup.
Adrian pulled out the chair across from me and sat like he owned the air we breathe. Which, I honestly, probably thought he did.
I took a slow sip of the coffee.
“ Do you always sneak up on people like that?” I asked.
“ I walked in,” he replied.
“ You do it quietly.”
“ I don't need attention,” he replied. I could feel the arrogance in his voice.
“ That's funny,” I said. “ You seem like someone who enjoys control.”
His gaze met mine. Calm and unbothered.
“ Control is not about attention,” he said,“ it's about results.”
I let out a small laugh (almost feeling defeated).
I set the cup down.
“ You're not going to explain anything, are you?” I asked.
“ I owe you no explanation, just do your job,” he replied.
I nodded slowly.
“ Yeah, I should do my job,” I muttered as I continued staring at the remaining coffee I had in my cup.
He studied me for a second, too long, but too focused. “ You don't look okay, ” he said.
“ I just woke up,” I replied, as though I was counting my words.
“ That's not it,” he argued.
I leaned back on my chair and shot him a reply. “ And what exactly do you think it is?”
“ You're thinking about something else, other than your job,” he replied.
“ Wow,” I replied,“ incredible observation. So I should do nothing else with my life because I'm here playing a fake girlfriend to you,” I replied rather irritated.
“ What have you achieved with your life that is tangible all these years? I'm clearly helping you out while you end up suffocating me,” he said.
I glanced at him, trying to suppress myself from saying something nasty to him, because I still needed the money.
After a while, I shifted my chair back.
“ I'm going for a walk, I said.
“ No, you're not,” he replied,
I turned back slowly. “ Excuse me?”
“ You're staying inside.” He replied to me.
I stared at him.
“ Does it look like I asked for permission?”
“No,” he said calmly. “ You look like someone who doesn't understand the situation yet.”
“ I understand at least the part that I'm not held here as a slave,” I snapped back.
“ No, you don't,” he said.
I held his gaze for a second longer. Then I gave a tight smile and replied, “Right, we're not doing this today.”
And just like that, it got me thinking back.
A few days ago in a small eatery, a little too crowded.
“ I'm sorry,” the woman across from me had said, already halfway standing. “ We've decided to go in another direction.”
I forced a smile anyway. “ Yeah,” I said. “ That makes sense.” No, it didn't. In fact, I didn't know when that left my mouth. The truth was that nothing ever did.
I walked out fast, too fast with my coffee in my hands. Because if I stayed any longer, I might've said something I couldn't take back or worse(not like I cared).
The door swung open. I stepped out and straight into someone.
Coffee flew, hot, sharp, directly onto a very expensive suit.
I froze. He didn't.
For a second we just stood there. Coffee dripping slowly down his shirt, ruining it completely.
“ Oh my God!” I exclaimed.
“ I am so sorry,” I quickly added. “ I didn't see you….”
He looked down at the stain, then back at me. Deep down I was already frightened. But then I observed him. There was no trace of anger or frustration on his face. He was just looking as though he was assessing me.
“I'll pay for it,” I said immediately. Which was stupid, very stupid, because even the universe could bear me witness that it was impossible. But it came out anyway.
His eyes rested on me, looking all over me like he was searching for something, slow and calculated.
Then he finally said, “You can't.”
I blinked
“ Excuse me?”
“ I mean you can't afford it.” These words left his mouth flat, certain, like it wasn't even an insult, just a fact.
Something in me snapped slightly. “ Try me,” I said.
Sincerely, I really can't tell where all this confidence was coming from.
He didn't react. Didn't even blink.
“ That would be a waste of time.”
“ Wow,” I said. “ You don't even know me.”
“ I don't need to,” he replied almost immediately.
There was a tight few seconds of silence after which I found words.
“Fine,” I said. “Then what do you want?” I asked, knowing fully that I may regret this decision.
“ I have an alternative,” he said.
I dimmed my eyes, getting myself ready for the worst.
“ That already sounds like a bad idea.” I let my thoughts out for a second.
“ Probably,” he said
“ Then why say it?” I said.
“ Because you will listen,” he said.
I laughed. Of course, that was the only emotion I could let out.
“ You're too confident for someone covered in coffee,” I said.
“ I'm always confident,” he said.
“Yeah, I just noticed.”
There was silence between us for a while. Then came an alternative that I didn't see in my wildest imaginations.
“ Be my girlfriend,” he said, his eyes fixed on me.
I blinked
“... What?” I said with a smirk.
“ Three months,” he continued.
I stared at him. “ You're being serious now?”
“Absolutely,” he replied.
“ That's insane man,” I said, my eyes wide open.
“ Possibly,” he replied.
“ I just ruined your shirt and your solution is to date me?” I said, while still trying to process what was going on.
“ Temporary,” he said.
I shook my head and thought to myself, this man must be very crazy.
“ No. No, absolutely not.” I said, shook my head, and turned to leave.
“ Or pay for the suit.” a voice came from behind.
“ You just told me that I can't afford your suit,” I replied with a stern glare at him. At this point, I was getting irritated already, having a bad day full of disappointment was already enough.
“ What's the price?” I asked.
“Don't push it, I'm already being too kind to someone who ruined my evening and suit,” he replied.
“Mark Ford,” he called. One of his men came closer
“ Prepare the contract and hand it over to her before the end of the day,” he said.
He didn't seem to need my opinion on the matter anymore. He acted as though I'd accepted the offer.
Sincerely, at this point I was stocked. I already messed up and clearly could not afford to pay for his suit. I don't even have a job to start with.
“ You will receive the contract tonight. I might consider paying you if you do your job well,” he said, turning to me.
I think I loved the sound of pay, it somehow calmed the storm in my heart. At least I will go on a three-month adventure and receive pay. My day might not have been terrible, I thought.
“ Three months of playing a fake girlfriend to a strange man whose name I don't even know might not be so much of a bad idea,” I said.
“ Everything you need to know about your job is in the contract, go through it properly, see you in 3 days. We have an event to attend, girlfriend,” he said. This time walking back to a car neatly parked by the corner.
I stood there staring, coffee cooling on the ground.
“ Arrogant,” I muttered. But I didn't walk away.
- Writer
