by Cj Howard
He cut her off, “I know! I know you’re not like that. That’s why I want to talk with you. Come on, Emmaline, this is all your idea anyway, you started it. I’ve come up with a plan to fix my reputation and I need your help. Please. Just give me fifteen minutes, okay?” He pleaded with her and she glared at him. “Please?” he asked again and she rolled her eyes and handed him the cleaning rag.
“Here. Wash this table. I’ll go talk to my manager.” She grabbed his hand and dropped the rag into it and he looked down at it and stared at it, then looked back up at her with a clueless expression on his face as she walked away.
Emmaline talked very quietly to another woman at the counter, pointing subtly at Peter, and then she rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulder. He turned and began wiping the cloth over the table, peeking over his shoulder at her. It was a moment before he realized he had never cleaned a table in his life. He stared down at the rag and the table and blinked in wonder.
She came back to him and put her hands on her hips. “Alright, we can go for a quick coffee.” Then she leaned over and yanked the cleaning rag from his hand and frowned at the table. “What do you think you’re doing? That’s no way to wipe a table down! You’re fired. Let’s go.” She tossed the rag in a bucket and waved at the lady behind the counter who watched them leave with raised eyebrows and no small amount of opinionated judgment on her face.
They walked to a café a few blocks away and sat together at a table in the corner. Emmaline had her back to the room in hopes that no one would recognize her with the scourge of the city. He noticed her behavior and looked at her questioningly.
“Let me get this right, you don’t want to be seen with me?” he asked in amazement.
She tilted her head slightly at him and raised her eyebrows. “Did you really just ask me that? Would you want to be seen with you? People like me around here. I have a good reputation, and I’d like to keep it thank you very much.”
He slouched a bit and felt his courage begin to waver. “Well, that’s not going to help me all that much if you don’t want to be seen with me.”
She lowered one eyebrow at him in consternation. “What are you talking about?” she asked carefully.
Peter reached both his hands across the table and touched her hand, but she jerked her hand away from him and gave him a warning glare. He sighed and put his hands in his lap. “Sorry! I just… I just need to talk with you about this, uh… idea that came up between my assistant and me. It stemmed from something you said, and so I thought I’d… come talk to you about it.”
“Well? What is it?” she asked, with suspicion.
Peter raked his fingers through his golden hair and took a deep breath. “It’s ah… it’s kind of complicated. It’s still sort of a raw idea, still in the making, but I think that it will… uh… it will work out pretty well.” He looked back at her nervously. “Maybe.”
She leaned toward him and said in a sharp undertone, “You have fifteen more minutes. You better use it wisely and get to the point already.”
He leaned forward and lowered his voice even further. “Well, you said I should find a girl and be monogamous with her, and then get married. I um… I found the girl. It’s you,” he said and before he could take a breath and continue, she jumped straight up from her chair and snapped at him.
“What? Have you lost your damn mind?!”
He reached for her arms to pull her back down to her seat, but she yanked herself away from him before he could reach her. “Wait! Wait! It’s not what you think! It’s a business arrangement! It’s not a real marriage!”
She stared at him and her mouth fell open slightly. “You have lost your mind. It just went an wandered off, probably up some girl’s skirt.”
He looked around at the other patrons in the café who were beginning to give them curious looks. He smiled at them as if it was nothing, and then he motioned toward her chair. “Would you please sit down? You’re causing a scene. Listen, it’s not at all what you think. Just hear me out. Please!” He resorted to pleading with her again and she sighed and sat back down in the chair.
“Fine. Finish your piece,” she said with a rebellious glare on her face.
Peter leaned toward her and lowered his voice substantially. “I was listening last night when you told me that I need to get my public image straightened out. I was listening to you when you told me that I need to have a good woman in my life. A respectable, well brought up woman who truly cares about the people and the community, someone honest and kind, thoughtful, helpful, generous, and someone who has the best interests of the city at heart. That’s pretty much exactly what you told me last night. I got to thinking about it, and I talked to my assistant, and he agreed with you and then he came up with this idea. I need a wife, but obviously I don’t have a lot of time and I don’t really want to get involved with anyone on a serious level. I like my freedom. I like not having a monogamous relationship and I don’t want to commit myself to anyone for the rest of my life, so here’s the best possible solution to this tangle of challenges. I rent you as my wife for three years and-”
“You what?!” she seethed at him and narrowed her eyes, leaning toward him slightly and whispered through her teeth. “You want to rent me? What kind of woman do you think I am?!” The volume of her voice began to increase marginally. “I am not the kind of girl who sells herself to-”
He cut her off again, “No! Wait! I’m not trying to buy you, I just want to rent you for three-” She picked up her cup of water and tossed it right in his face. He sputtered for a moment and looked like he was in complete shock.
Emmaline stood up and turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm and held her back. She turned and glared at him furiously. “You take your hands off of me!” she spat at him.
He looked at her unapologetically, “I still have about twelve minutes, and you haven’t let me explain the whole thing to you. Please, Emmaline, just sit down and hear me out. No fighting, no yelling, and no more water. Just listen to me. You’re just about my only hope of making that project happen to repair and refurbish the neighborhood.”
She scowled at him and he let go of her arm and pulled her chair out for her. “Please?” he asked quietly. She sat and folded her hands in her lap and then looked at him with narrow eyes.
“Alright. I’m sitting. I’ll listen to the whole thing. You have twelve minutes. Go,” she said in a quiet warning voice.
He sat and began speaking in a soft voice. “So Nelson was saying to me that he thinks-”
“Who is Nelson?” she interrupted.
“He’s my assistant,” Peter answered, glad that she had an actual question rather than another fit. “He said he thinks the best thing for me, since I don’t want a real committed relationship, is to find a woman who fits our description, or rather, your description, and get her to let me hire her on as a pseudo wife, a pretend wife, for three years. I would rent her. I’d pay her for her time and work as a public wife, not a private wife, because I don’t want that, and she could help me clean up my image and do what you said… about working as a unit to help the community, and then after three years she could be free to go. We get an amicable divorce, she is paid the whole time, and I’d even make a lump sum at the end for her, and the whole time we live as business partners, but she shows the public that we are married and it makes me look like a respectable businessman rather than a trashy playboy. Remember all your ideas? Well, this is what they’ve come to. That whole thing was your idea, except for the part about renting the wife, but really, let’s be honest, that’s the best possible scenario for me and any poor woman who decides I’m a case worth helping and actually takes up with me for three whole years.”
Emmaline watched him carefully and listened as he continued.
“I just thought I would ask you, because you seem to really fit the bill kind of perfectly. You love the community, you’re a woman of high morals and values, and as you said, you have a good reputation. This would be a way for you t
o help me get that project done. You said yourself that all my ideas were good.”
“I said they were good, but they needed some work,” she intoned quietly, watching him closely.
“You’re waitressing right now, which means you probably aren’t making much money. This project means a great deal to me. I really want to see it happen. We might be coming from two very different places, but we both want the same things for the city, and together, we could make that happen. It will just take a little sacrifice from both of us-”
“A little?!” she scowled at him.
“Some sacrifice from me and a lot from you, and together we could do this and make it happen. Think of it as a job. You’d have your own room at my house, you’d be paid a tidy sum and have your own car and you could spend your time helping out those who really need it instead of wiping down tables at the restaurant. Surely you could use some extra money.” He was out of good reasons for her to help him. All but one. “Besides, I don’t really have many friends, at least none that are real, true friends, and people who are honest with me to my face. You are definitely the most honest and upfront person I know. If you need some time to think about it, go ahead, but this is something I want to start as soon as possible so I can get that project going.” He sat back in his chair and sighed, sipping his coffee, thinking how thankful he was that she hadn’t tossed that at him.
She tilted her head and considered him. He was being truthful and he was being genuine, and those were two things she valued highly. She’d have her own room, and he didn’t want a relationship, so that took a huge worry out of her mind, but not fully from her thoughts.
“What about sex?” she asked, and he choked on his coffee.
“What?” he gasped, looking at her with wide eyes.
“Are you going to expect sex from this pretend wife of yours?” she asked again, looking at him with suspicion.
He shook his head adamantly. “No. Not at all. This is strictly business, one hundred percent down the line. No sex. No fooling around, no physical contact except things like holding hands in public, and maybe an occasional kiss on the cheek for the cameras when the press is around. Just enough to be convincing. That’s it.” He looked at her and she raised one eyebrow in uncertainty.
“Honestly! I’m not going to start anything with any woman living under my roof. Not that I ever thought there would be a woman living under my roof,” he grumbled slightly.
Her expression softened, though she regarded him carefully still. “How tidy a sum of money are we talking about?”
“How much would you want?” he asked. “It seems fair to me that a million and a half ought to be enough. That comes out to five hundred thousand a year. That should be alright, don’t you think?”
She gaped at him in disbelief. “What!”
He lowered his head and looked at the floor. “Oh, alright. Three million. You’d be doing a lot of public events. Plus… you are putting up with me.”
He raised his head and looked at her. She was staring at him with wide eyes.
“If you do it,” he said, and sipped his coffee.
She continued to stare at him, seemingly adding up figures in her head.
He sipped his coffee again.
“So… will you do it?” he asked, feeling uncomfortable under the lock of her stare.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this.”
He set his coffee cup down and looked at her anxiously.
“Yes,” she said eventually.
He grinned from ear to ear. “Great! That’s fantastic! I’ll let Nelson know right away so he can get all the details taken care of for you. I’ll give you his number. Please call him this morning. He’ll want to get all your information, and you need to tell him what kind of car you want so he can have it delivered today. Oh! You’ll need to go shopping and get some new clothes…” He looked at her work outfit and then looked back at her eyes. “Uh, all new clothes. You have to look the part of a billionaire’s girlfriend, and stop by the salon, too, please. Get your hair done, nails, the works. I’ll give you an extra allowance for that, that’s all so you can fit the job description, so I’ll pay for all of that.”
She giggled and smiled at him, finally, and he smiled back at her.
“This means you’ll have to date me quite a bit over the next couple of months, so that people believe us when we get married,” he said in a hushed voice.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said with a slow shake of her head.
He shook his head as well and whispered to her, “Me either. I’ve never had to pay a woman to date me before.”
She rolled her eyes and wrote her number down on a piece of paper, then slid it over to Peter. “Here. Give this to Nelson and have him call me. I have to go back to work.”
Peter looked at her in horror. “No, you don’t!” he said unapologetically.
“Yes, I do. I have to tender my resignation.” She smiled at him, and then turned and walked out of the door.
He sank down in his chair and finished his coffee, not entirely sure that he was making the right choice, but hoping that it was just what his life needed to be turned around. Then he called Nelson and broke the news to him.
Chapter2
Emmaline spent the next week in a flurry of activity. It began with quitting her job and walking out of the sweet little restaurant in the Quarter, and then meeting Nelson. He was incredibly efficient and she was quite impressed with him. He called her within fifteen minutes of her newfound freedom, and he was in the quarter to pick her up in Peter’s limousine within twenty minutes. He took her to the bank first and opened some accounts in her name, making enormous deposits in them and while she was signing paperwork and finalizing her new accounts, he was on the phone arranging to have the car she wanted delivered to the house that afternoon.
The rest of that day and several days after that as well, were filled with shopping for new clothes, going for hair and nail appointments, spa treatments, and furniture shopping for her new room at his enormous house. His house was one of the biggest mansions in the city, and it was nestled on a quiet street in an older neighborhood; it was a grand old masterpiece with wooden floors and tall wide windows. There was a beautiful courtyard and an indoor and outdoor pool that were connected and partially covered by a sliding wall of glass.
There were big old gardens with huge towering trees and flowers blooming all over everything that nature touched. The courtyard was lit with hanging strings of soft lights and old fashioned wrought iron gas street lamps that gave off a warm glow. It surprised her because none of it seemed like him at all. She had expected a playboy’s lair, but what she found was a southern boy’s traditional home in paradise.
She didn’t see much of Peter in the first week, he was working on business plans and projects and he knocked on her door and poked his head in twice to see that she was doing well and to ask her if she needed anything. She said she was doing really well and he smiled and went on his way. She decided that if things stayed the way they were, then three years would go by fast and she could by her own sweet little home somewhere in the city.
At the beginning of the second week, he called her and asked if they could sit down together to schedule some dates and she met him in his office with her calendar. They looked at their free time and filled it all in with lunches and dinners at their favorite restaurants, concerts, movies, live theatre shows, and in no time, they were looking at a date for their wedding. They agreed on a date two months away from then and after they entered it into their calendars, Pete looked up at Emmaline and raised his eyebrows.
“I never asked you what kind of wedding you’d like. I was going to suggest that we elope and just make it simple and easy, but we really have to play this out for the press. We have to have a big to-do. What do you want?” he asked, leaving it entirely up to her.
She smiled and looked away for a moment and then looked back at him. “Well, to tell you the truth, I�
�ve always wanted one of the big weddings at the church. We could see if we can get married at Jackson Square and then have a big jazz band lead our guests in a parade through the Quarter.”
He grinned at her. “That’s absolutely perfect! That’s exactly what the press will want to eat up, and then everyone can see how much I adore you, and how reformed I am, and then we will get to work on saving the city.”
“Just don’t hit on any of my bridesmaids,” she teased him with a little smile.
He pushed his mouth out in a very serious expression and tapped his fingers over his tablet dramatically. “…no…hitting…on…the…bridesmaids…” Then he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a sister? Is she off limits, too? Or can I have a chance at her? What about a maiden aunt?”
Emmaline grabbed a pillow from the sofa in his office and threw it at him, and he pretended to fall off the desk he was sitting on. “Man down! Man down!” he hollered.
Then he sat back on his desk again and looked at her. “On a more serious note, you said you just have your grandfather left, isn’t that right? Would he be giving you away?”
The bright smile faded from her rosy lips and she looked down. “Yes,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’ll have to go talk to him and let him know I’m getting married.”
Peter bit his lip and looked at her in concern. “What’s the matter?”
Emmaline sighed and sat on the sofa. “It’s just that I thought that he’d be giving me away at my real wedding. I was only going to get married once, to the man of my dreams, and it was going to be perfect and beautiful, and my grandfather was going to give me away. He’s not going to live forever, and that was going to be a special memory that we made together, and I have always looked forward to it since I was a little girl, and now I’m getting married, but it’s a lie. It’s not the real thing. I’m building a fake memory with him. It just hurts my heart.” She gave him a sad smile and stood up., “I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow for our date.” She turned and walked out of the office and went back to her room.