How to Fake a Love Story

5:Of Plot Twists

The golden dress she wore reminded him of Clara. Remembering Clara reminded him how he had lost all her money, investments, GIC's. Then he started thinking how this was all Myra's fault. So when he thought about Myra's vicious, angry blue eyes-

He quickly abandoned that line of thought. It would only go scary places.

He turned his attention to the girl by his side. "So Samantha, what does your father do for the company?"

"He is in the financing division." She replied.

"That sounds demanding." Ryan glanced around, feeling like a fish out of water. All around him were people wearing black suits from all nationalities. Silver name tags and the logo of their respective companies were pinned to their chest. He guessed that anyone worth knowing in this setting was important enough to have a name tag. Those who didn't have a name tag were nobodies-like him.

"Um- Thanks for accompanying me." Samantha smiled shyly at him. He turned his attention back to her.

Smiling reassuringly, he replied,"No problem. I always wanted to experience this kind of atmosphere. My parents never ran with a crowd like this."

She blinked. "Your mother was a politician though, wasn't she?"

He laughed nervously. He had forgotten about his small white lie. "Well, she never took me along with her." He quickly changed the subject. "Doesn't it feel awkward being here?"

She shrugged. "Not really. Everyone who knows my father knows who I am."

"I see." He glanced around once more. If he wanted to get a good look at his target, he would have to get going. "Are you thirsty? Let me grab you something to drink." Before she could protest, he started to make his way through the crowd. Other than Samantha's mom, there were only a few other women in the crowd-and all of them were either old or married.

For as much of a money w***e he was, he didn't fancy being leered at by a 60 year old for living on a daily basis.

Spotting the drink table to the side of the room, he made his way there. As he took the drinks, his eyes were caught by a tall young man with blonde hair with his back turned towards him, talking to someone. The white suit stuck out like a sore thumb in the dull mill of middle aged men who could substitute for a funeral procession.

Could be Jared.

No, not could. It probably was Jared. Only a queer would wear a white suit to a business meeting like this. If you were important enough, you could get away with anything.

For a moment he felt a stab of regret that he hadn't bothered to look up Jared's photo in his excitement at the plan going along perfectly.

But it soon disappeared as he stared at Jared laughing along with the other man. He had found his target successfully and that was all that mattered. But first, he had to drop off the drink to Samantha.

He turned and as most of his attention was taken by Jared Winston, he didn't notice the man in front of him until the drinks spilled.

"Ack! My suit!" He cursed. The punch splattered on his suit and Ryan mourned the cost of dry-cleaning later. This was the second time this had happened today and while the first one had been beneficial he had a doubt this one would be anything similar.

The man bit his lip. "Oh s**t, I'm sorry." Black suit, no name tag. A nobody.

Ryan looked down at his ruined suit, then to Jared standing in the corner with the others and back to the brown haired man who was looking at him with an apologetic look. He shot another glance at Jared before sighing. It wouldn't do him any good to cause a commotion in a party.

"I-It's fine. It's just expensive." And it was also the only suit he owned, bought just hours before this party.

"Damn. I am really sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." The man smiled sheepishly and Ryan had to resist the urge to glare at him.

Or maybe punch him in the face.

Not that it would have caused any damage.

This i***t ruined his suit and maybe if it had been a girl-a rich girl-then Ryan would be a little bit more patient and charming.

But this was a man.

A nobody that too.

"It's my mistake too, I guess. Sorry." It wouldn't do him any harm to interact with the people around to get to know various things. He had learnt early on that the people lowest on the ladder knew most of the relevant things that the top most people rarely bothered with.

Drink Spiller shook his head. "No, no. You're the one that got your suit ruined. Here, what group are you with? I can work out a deal to make up for it."

So, he wasn't really a nobody. Oh well, it wasn't this i***t he was interested in.

Ryan grimaced on the inside. The longer he spent talking to this i***t the more time Jared had to get away. Not only that but he had to get a replacement drink for Samantha and somehow find a change of clothing.

He tried to wiggle his way out of it. "Oh, I'm not with a group. I'm just here to keep my, er, friend company."

Drink Spiller looked around, as if he would know her by such a vague description. "Who's your friend?"

Sighing, Ryan pointed at Samantha. "You see that woman there?"

"Samantha?" The man even knew his date. That may mean he was close to the company too. It might be something that Ryan could use to his advantage.

Ryan smiled. "Yes, she's an old friend of mine. She asked me to accompany her to this function and I couldn't say no."

Drink Spiller looked amused. "Is she such a dear friend of yours that you couldn't say no?"

"Not really. I was interested in meeting Jared Winston actually." Ryan said absentmindedly. "I heard he is gay. Maybe I will be able to trap him with my charm." The man laughed and Ryan felt his own lips tug up into a smile.

It felt good to be talking freely with someone of his own age who he wasn't trying to con. He had been surrounded by ladies for most of his life including his mother, horde of sisters and the unfortunate ladies who fell under his spell. He had been home-schooled so he never got the chance to make friends at school. He knew that this was just a onetime conversation but it still felt good.

Cierra's Pointers for Meeting Winston; Number One: Talk to as many people as you can about him and hope you get introduced without looking like a loon. Or a stalker.

Drink Spiller stopped chuckling though there was still a smile on his lips. "I see. So, anyway, how can I make this up to you?"

If it were a woman, he'd normally ask for dinner as compensation, then gauge whether she were worth the time and effort for a job. As long as she wasn't married or attached it was fine.

He was a man.

"I... uh... you could pay for-" He was about to say 'dry cleaning' but he got cut off.

"How about dinner?" Drink Spiller had a charming smile on his face.

Ryan stopped.

And stared.

And spluttered.

If it had been a girl-a rich girl-he would have turned on his charm and swept her of her feet by now.

But this was a man.

A man who was staring at him with amusement in his eyes.

"W-What?" At least his mouth seemed capable of forming words even if the rest of his body had gone rigid with shock.

Drink Spiller laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, sorry. I guess I should introduce myself then, since you're so interested in meeting me. Jared Winston, at your service."

Jared held his hand out in a friendly handshake.

Ryan stared at the proffered hand for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the man's face.

He stared.

And an imaginary light bulb lit above his head.

Brown hair, green eyes.

This was Jared Winston!

"...you're not wearing a pin... thing." Was his intelligent reply.

Jared grinned. "Name plate. Yeah, I don't like wearing those things. Besides I like talking to people who don't know I am before making deals with them. People are more honest when talking about them if they know it's someone unaffiliated to that person."

"Oh God," Ryan swore, "You are Jared." He racked his brain for something witty and charming to say while at the same time looking embarrassed.

In his defence, anyone would be embarrassed if they had just expressed homophile intentions towards the unwitting target of their twisted affections. For his money.

Ryan had miscounted the other sort of people who didn't wear them-the name tags. First the nobodies, and then the really, really important ones.

Jared laughed. "So... dinner? Seven o'clock, this Saturday? I seem to have fallen for your charming good looks. Plus I have a ruined suit to make up for."

Ryan blinked.

And then his brain clicked into gear.

Laughing lightly, he offered his best smile. "Sure. I never thought I'd meet you this way. It's a little... awkward. To be honest."

"No kidding."

Ryan started to slowly back away. "Anyway, I need to get back to Samantha. I told her I'd grab her drink about five minutes ago. I don't want her thinking I've run off on her."

Jared nodded before his head snapped up. "Oh, your number. At least give me that so I can call to confirm with you."

Oh, right.

Ryan fished around his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. Flipping it open, he found it snatched out of his hands.

He was speechless.

This was also a first.

Jared seemed to extract his number well enough and handed it back, smiling. With a wink and-

"I'll call you."

He walked away.

Ryan blinked.

This may be easier than he thought.



Jared felt giddy in a way he'd never felt before.

Not only would this pass time, but it would be a convenient way to reinforce his relationship status with the public eye. Plus it would be entertaining to boot.

Slipping through the crowds, he looked around for Ling, vice of the Shen Hu Group. There were a few remaining details he needed to discuss before shipping the deal off to his international affairs sector. If this deal went through, negotiations with China would go much more smoothly.

An arm was thrown around his neck haphazardly and Jared struggled for a moment, feeling the breath choked out of him.

When he was released, he swivelled around and glared at Aaron Knight. Aaron was here representing Thomas Hamilton-who never ever came-of the Hamilton Group. Being similar ages, they had become fast friends.

His white suit glittered under the lights. "Who's the kid?" Aaron nodded over at the boy-who was currently flattering the mother of his friend-date by her expression.

Jared smirked. "My date for this Saturday. Potential boyfriend. He's straight."

Aaron blinked in confusion. Then he frowned, eyeing Jared. "Aren't you straight? I thought 'being gay' was just a lie to get the fan-girls off you."

"Of course I am not gay." Jared waved his hand around. "But everyone else thinks I am. Why shouldn't I give them a show?" The mischievous sparkle was back in his eye and Aaron shook his head.

"But you are ready to break his heart for that?" There was a note of disbelief in his voice.

Jared snorted. "I don't want to break anyone's heart. I just want to teach him a lesson. He is clearly a gold digger."

Aaron didn't look convinced. "Still..... What if he actually falls for you?"

Jared grinned confidently. "That's not possible."

"You have that low of confidence in your skills?" Aaron asked playfully.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Of course not."

"Then how can you-"

"Because he is as straight as I am maybe even more." Jared cut in, lowering his voice.

Aaron stared at him. "What?"

Jared merely nodded with a happy grin on his face.

"So he is a straight man pretending to be gay to woo you without knowing that you yourself are straight since you announced to the world that you are gay." Aaron rubbed his head. "All this is making my head hurt."

"Your head isn't the only one that is going to hurt." Jared grinned as his eyes followed Ryan through the throng of people as he walked with Samantha.

He had found his entertainment of the year.