False Engagements

Chapter 7

So much for the tiny if fancy place she was envisioning.

The bedroom Blake led her to was just about the size of her entire previous apartment, with a much better view. Here, from the full French windows that opened into a tiny balcony, she could see the entire city stretching out beneath her, buildings packed tightly together almost all the way to a distant shining coast. Turning back inwards, the room was painted cream, with accents of grey and dark wood. A large comfortable bed sat in the middle, with a little door leading into a walk-in wardrobe.

God, she'd never thought she would ever have a walk-in wardrobe. The idea had always struck her as a bit silly.

"They'll deliver your luggage up in a bit," Blake said, setting Rusty's carrier down. "And your balcony has been entirely cat-proofed- I assumed you'd let Rusty have the run of the room. The main balcony isn't fenced, so you'll have to make sure he only goes in the catio, and I've left a box of cat toys and food in the living room."

Lila was impressed. "Wow. That's a ton of work done on cat-proofing the place in under a week."

Blake shrugged.

"I only really had to do your room. I used to have a cat, remember?"

Ah yeah, that was true.

She opened up the carrier to let Rusty out to stretch his legs, before Blake took her on a mini tour of his place and set down some house rules.

The penthouse was honestly kind of daunting. It was a full two-story house in itself, perched on top of one of the most expensive buildings in the city center. She was allowed to go anywhere in the apartment except for Blake's bedroom, understandably. While there was a part-time staff to cook and clean, she was welcome to use the fridge and kitchen if she chose to. Looking back down over the city though, Lila was pretty sure she'd rather skip the fuss of cooking for herself. The area was pretty well-known for its cafes and food stalls after all.

Out in the rooftop garden, she discovered another luxury.

"You have a personal pool?" she gasped, staring at the long lap pool, edged by a short wooden deck and covered with a glass roof so Blake could use it rain or shine.

"I swim every morning at seven," he informed her, "and I don't enjoy sharing the space with strangers. You're welcome to the pool after eight in the morning. And there's a small gym room to your right if you prefer that."

"Uh, yeah... I'm not really a gym rat..."

He had to leave soon after. Lila wondered just what it was that Blake did- he seemed to be able to partition his time as he pleased, but he was also definitely a busy person. It struck Lila that despite him giving her his full name and the name of the corporation he worked at, she still didn't know much about his business. Maybe it was time to Google that up.

She settled herself on the couch in the living room while Rusty prowled around to sniff and explore his new home.

An hour later, she thought she had a better idea of his family business- and she was definitely beginning to feel overwhelmed.

How was the Jung family one of the richest in the country and she hadn't known? Although, reflecting on it, that kind of made sense, since they weren't really celebrities either. They were an old family corporation, dating back to Blake's great-grandfather who had started a newspaper. From there they had branched steadily out into media and electronics, and now directly owned, or had shares, in most of the major media and electronics companies in the nation.

Her eyes traced over the image of Blake, one of very few public images of him. This particular one showed him with his brother, as the headline announced their takeover of the corporation from their retiring father. It wasn't very old- it was dated to just two years ago. Here and there, in old tabloid images, the rest of his family showed up too. His parents, conservative in their dressing, smiling in most of the press shots. His elder brother, the proper CEO of Jung Corporation. And his younger sister, who had the most photos of her, as a talented pianist who currently was touring the world in prestigious concert halls.

Suddenly she felt utterly inadequate. Her, a waitress with a degree that had gotten her nowhere. Next to this family with accomplishments stacked up like books in a library.

"Good thing I'm not really his fiancee," she told Rusty, who had by now snuggled to her side and was purring softly under her scratching fingers. "Can you imagine living up to this family's standards for real?"

This was getting unexpectedly depressing. There was still more to investigate, but she decided it was time for a break. And that pool with the little jaccuzzi on one end was looking more inviting by the moment.

--

The swim proved to be a good idea, clearing her head and giving her a small endorphin boost. After she had dried off and changed, Blake's assistant Virginia messaged her as promised with a list of top restaurants in the area. Too much of it seemed like a lot of fuss for takeaway though.

She went over to the fridge, wondering if there was anything to eat. It was almost six in the evening. Blake hadn't said when he'd be back, only mentioned that they should have dinner together and try to discuss their plans.

The fridge turned up a cheese platter and various sodas and fruit juices. Was this Blake's idea of what a fridge should have? Still though, it was something, and Lila raided the cupboards for some crackers to go with the cheese and a juice.

Just as she thought about going to unpack her suitcases, her phone dinged with a notification.

Blake

- Did you look through the list Virginia sent you?

Lila

- Yeah

- I dunno, they all seem kinda fancy and fussy

- You can pick whatever

Blake

- Okay.

He seemed kind of curt over the phone a lot, Lila noticed, although maybe if he was that busy then it was hard to blame him.

It took an hour for Blake to show up, with takeaway bags in his hand.

"I couldn't stop periodically thinking about tom yum and fried rice after you mentioned it," he said wryly, setting the food down where Lila was seated at the kitchen island. "This place had good reviews, let's try it out."

"Yesss!" Lila cheered, happily unwrapping the paper bags to reveal the steaming containers of food. "I bet it's gonna be good." She would have happily eaten out the containers, but Blake was already getting out plates to transfer the food too, and she raised her eyebrows.

"Ugh, doesn't that make extra dishes?"

Blake shrugged. "Takeout containers can be flimsy. And that's what a dishwasher is for."

Lila rolled her eyes, but couldn't help laughing. "All right, whatever. As long as I have dinner, I'm happy."

Instead of eating at the island like she expected them to do, Blake handed her the plates and instructed her to go out to the comfy chairs at the patio. He followed soon after with white wine and glasses, to which she laughed at more.

"You're such a stereotype of a rich dude," she teased, when he sat down with the glasses and offered one half-full to her. "Wine with takeout food on fancy plates."

Blake snorted, amused. "What else is the money good for if I can't do all the ridiculous things I like?"

"You have a point."

The food did turn out to be good. Lila wondered where Blake had gotten it, and he promised to send her the details of the restaurant so she could visit it if she liked. Instead of the expensive place she thought it would be, it turned out to be a family restaurant, just about 10 minutes by car from the penthouse. Or about half an hour if she walked. Blake was turning out to surprise her in a lot of ways.

She leaned back in her chair when she was done, curling up her legs under her and enjoying the view of the city lights coming to life beneath them. Beside her, Blake seemed to sigh softly, before he handed her a small jewelry box.

"Your engagement ring," he said, without any other preamble.

Lila glanced over at him. They had joked and bantered over food, but now it seemed the idea of their forthcoming deception was stressing him a little. She set the glass down and took the box, opening it.

It was a very lovely ring, she thought, taking it out so she could admire it. A large oval diamond sparkled in the center, flanked by several smaller ones in an almond shape around it, diamond fire dancing in all them as she held it up to catch the dying evening light.

For a moment, Lila wished she wasn't just putting on a ring with no meaning. It seemed too beautiful for that. But she slipped it onto her ring finger anyway, and held it up again to look at it.

"If I was actually getting married, I'd put this on social media," she said, thinking. "I'll have to sort things out with my family tomorrow too."

"You're not telling them this is just a ruse?"

She sighed. "No. The lesser people who know that this isn't real, the better. I'll tell them again when the year is up, I just hate that they're going to be disappointed I guess."

The apology in his eyes was sincere at least, Lila thought, looking over at Blake as he turned to face her. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know I'm asking a lot of you."

That was true. At the same time... She turned in her seat so she was also facing him directly, eyes meeting his straight on. "I thought about all that before I said I'd help you. That's my responsibility. And anyway, I think you made up for it- two hundred thousand is a lot, it can help almost anyone kickstart their own dream life."

Blake tilted his head at her curiously. "What sort of dream life are you looking forward to, after this year?"

Good question. Lila used to think she had her life all sorted out. She would go to university, get her degree, get a job in the field she wanted, then maybe after that she would start dating and find someone to marry. Settle down, have kids. Be a respectable person with a normal and respectable life the way she'd seen her mother do, the way she'd seen so many of her family do.

What else was there?

Yet recently she had started thinking it wasn't that simple. Three years waitressing without a callback to any of the jobs she'd applied to was starting to take a toll on her. And in all that time she'd never met anyone she wanted to settle down with either.

"You know what, I don't think I know," she said thoughtfully, after a moment. "I had a plan. But I'm not sure that plan is right for me anymore."

Blake hummed softly in agreement. "Plans can change. It's wise to slow down and take stock. I hope you'll have enough time to think it over while we're working together."

She had to smile at that. Blake was careful to phrase her presence here as a collaboration, it seemed, and she didn't know why. But it was also reassuring, because it felt like he wasn't going to treat her like an employee he could just order around, and that was... nice.

"I think I will. So tomorrow, social media, talking to my parents... What are you planning for yourself to do?"

--

It was almost midnight by the time they left the patio. Lila tried not to linger in the doorway as Blake said goodnight and shut the door to his own room.

Rusty was curled up near her pillow on that enormous bed, and she slipped into bed once she was done brushing her teeth and changing out of her clothes. The sheets were so soft and cool, she thought drowsily, stroking both them and Rusty, who purred softly at her.

It was almost the weekend, so Blake thought it might be a good idea just to take a break before they started on anything. The calm before the storm, and she winced slightly as she thought of it.

Ugh, she really wasn't looking forward to storms of any sort.