by Alexia Praks
ALEXANDRA WAS GOING nuts! That she was positive because she couldn’t concentrate or do anything right after that damn hot-choc with Peter and Jayden. Once she had ran out the door like the devil was on her heels, she had been nearly run down by a car as she was crossing the road. This was because she hadn’t looked both ways. How stupid of her. Then she had driven her car into the wrong lane as she headed home and had gotten honked at twice plus a ‘Learn how to drive properly, Asian, and go back to your own country’ yell from one of the obese truck driver. Yeah right. Under normal circumstances she would have shouted back, ‘This is my country, you moron. I’m a Kiwi – hence the accent?’ But of course she hadn’t been able to think properly at the time.
God damnit! It was all Mr. Hot-Choc’s fault. She just couldn’t stop thinking about him. His handsome face kept appearing in her mind; his voice and even the rhythm of his speech kept echoing in her head.
Once home and alone in her bedroom, she threw her satchel on the floor and collapsed herself on the soft bed. “You’ve sent me the wrong man,” she muttered under her breath, looking heaven ward at the white ceiling. She gave out a big sigh and rolled over to lie on her stomach. “He’s not even interested in me. He’s interested because I can help him.”
She pouted her lips. “His girlfriend must be very hot.” Then she thought to add, “And very stupid.”
She rested her chin on her palm as she stared at her pink VAIO netbook screen. ‘Well you better stop thinking about him and start paying bills, Alex,’ she told herself.
Nodding her head and determined not to think about that handsome American dude, she logged into her internet banking and started paying her electricity and phone bills. The balanced in her Bank account after that made her feel awfully depressed. She sighed. Oh well, at least next Wednesday was payday. Her spirit lift at that thought and she then checked her emails. She stared up at the ceiling as she waited for her log in. When she glanced back at the screen, her breath was caught at the back of her throat.
Oh My God! Was she seeing what she was seeing? She blinked and stared at the screen harder, her eyes large and round like a saucer.
On the white screen it read: Jayden has requested to be your friend. Press accept if you know him.
She bit her lip, excitement bubbling up within her. Should she accept?
Her finger moved toward the link below that would lead her to Facebook log on page. Click! Facebook log on page appeared. She typed in her email address and then her password. Then she clicked enter. The screen changed again into her Facebook page – Alexandra Stewart. She found herself accepting his request, and not long afterward, she was browsing through his profile.
‘Oh, Alex, you’re not a stalker, are you? No, no, Alex, you’re not a stalker. You’re simply checking this American guy out, a guy who asked you to be his fake girlfriend. What type of a request is that anyway?’
So okay, checking him out meant she was simply doing her research. After all, she didn’t want to get into an agreement with a weird creep who’d probably harm her now, would she?
His profile picture was of him skiing at the top of a snow-covered mountain. Queenstown? She couldn’t even make out his face. But she thought he still looked really hot, even in that big winter jacket, woollen hat, and big sun glasses that covered his eyes.
Browsing through his Facebook she found that he loved extreme sports and that he was a fan of many sports clubs thingy-mabob. She had no idea what they were of course. She found also that he had so many friends she was afraid to even mention her own number because he might laugh at how small it was. Well she just liked to keep her Facebook private and to close friends only, that was all. Nothing wrong with that of course.
Okay, so she concluded that he was real, and that he liked his privacy by not posting too much, but at the same time not posting too little that his Facebook friends didn’t know what he was like. She noted also that he did not show his relationship status. He was probably still too heart-broken from the break up.
All in all there was no creepiness about him. After she had enough, she logged out off Facebook and shut off the laptop. She rolled herself over her double bed and sat up. Just then her cell phone rang. She wondered who it was as she reached for it. She flipped the phone on and saw that it was Peter.
She grunted under her breath and said, “Hey, Pete.”
“Hey, Alex, how’s thing?”
Before Alex could say that ‘everything is not all right’ because she kept thinking about Jayden and seeing his handsome face in her mind and that she had just finished stalking him via Facebook, he said, “Look, Alex, so sorry about this afternoon.”
Alex bitted her lip. “That’s okay, Pete. I know you want to help your friend. At least Mrs. Thompson isn’t match-making you. Well, she doesn’t have too since you’re already engaged anyway.”
She heard him laughing, loud and clear from the other side.
“Hey, so no hard feelings, right?”
“Yeah, no hard feelings. I forgive you,” she said.
“Thing is, Alex, Jay’s gay.”
Alex blinked. “Say what?” she shouted into the phone. She drew back, shocked at herself for bellowing like that. She could just imagine Peter rubbing his sore ear as he stared at the phone – at her – in a bizarre way.
“Yeah, he’s gay. And there’s no girlfriend. Jay made it up so people thinks he’s...you know...like a normal guy...anyway you get the idea. You know, his family is very well known in New York. If this gets out...”
Alex just sat there, her mouth agape in shock. ‘Oh my God! Jay is gay? That hot dude who loves extreme sport is gay?’
“If his family knows, he’s in deep shit. Pardon my French.”
Alex blinked and managed to ask, “That’s why he hires me to pretend to be his girlfriend? To prevent his family from finding out that he’s gay? So that they’d stop match-making him?”
Now she knew what he meant when he had said ‘it’s personal’. Oh poor guy. She looked heaven-ward and shouted in her mind, ‘You totally sent down the wrong guy, mister. He’s gay! Did you accidentally stuffed up his gene before you sent him down to earth or something? Is he supposed to have two Xs instead of an X and a Y for his sex chromosomes?’
She said to the phone, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Well, aren’t you going to help? Hey, he’s rich. This means more to him than making a million bucks,” Peter said. “Beside, you could use the money for your dad.”
Alex thought that Peter was right. She could really use the money, and her dad’s condition was getting worse. He had started to have fainting spells again, not to mention chest pains, palpitation, and his depression was getting worse now. She shouldn’t be selfish in such a situation. Not that she had ever been selfish in her life anyway.
“It’s like killing two birds with one stone, Alex. You’re helping a man in need, and at the same time, you’re helping your father.”
Bull’s eye! Alex thought that Peter really hit the target right there.
She thought for a moment and then said, “Hey, Peter, can I phone you back in like an hour or something. I have to think this over.”
“Yeah, sure. Talk to ya later then.”
“Yeah,” Alex said and then flipped the cell shut.
She sat there on the side of the bed, deep in thought. She really didn’t want to do this. She really didn’t want to have to ask for help. And this was the weirdest help she had ever received, if she were to accept it. But then again this wasn’t really a help, was it? Jayden was, after all, hiring her as his girlfriend. So in effect it was a job. A weird one.
She stood up and walked out of her bedroom. She came into the open-plan living area and saw her dad, Jacob Stewart, taking his many medications. He was still young, at the age of fifty, and he had to go through all that? Her heart constricted with pain because she knew he was in pain.
“You okay, Dad?” she asked, though she knew he hated it. She knew he hated that he, as th
e breadwinner of the family, was now depending on his family for survival. The very thought hurt him, and it threatened to kill him, which didn’t help at all.
“Just a migraine,” Jacob said.
She knew he was lying of course, but she nodded anyway. She glanced at her mom and said, “What’s for dinner?”
“Sweet and sour salmon soup and beef and mix vege stir-fry,” Maly replied. “Honey, why don’t you go lie down?” she said, looking at her husband.
Jacob grunted and nodded at his wife. Then he made himself comfortable on the La-Z-boy chair.
Alex grabbed the blanket and wrapped it about him. “Comfortable?”
Jacob nodded, closing his eyes. Alex lowered her face to his and then gave him a peck on his cheek. She said, “You’re not very good at lying, you know.”
Jacob smiled. “You’re not either.”
“It’s genetic,” she retorted.
After helping her mom with the veges, Alex went back to her bedroom. She threw herself on the bed and slouched on her stomach. She drummed her bottom lip with her fingers as she thought hard. Then she grabbed her note book and a pen.
She wrote down on top of the page: PRETENDING TO BE MR. HOT-CHOC’S GIRLFRIEND. Then on the right side of the page she wrote: ADVANTAGES, and on the left side she wrote: DISADVANTAGES.
A lot of thinking, mumbling, writing, and furiously scribbling out later – she read aloud what she had written down.
“Advantages: Help Dad pay for his heart surgery, pay off the mortgage, help Mr. Hot-Choc, get to see New York, get to go to a wedding, get a holiday, and get to see Mr. Hot-Choc everyday for two weeks or so.”
She frowned at that last one and furiously scribbled it out. He’s gay, she reminded herself. Such a waste, she thought. She had finally befriended a hot guy and he turned out gay. Ironic! Very ironic!
‘Get a hold of yourself, girl!’ she snapped. She shook her head to clear her mind and then looked at the list below the word disadvantage.
She read, “Away from home and family. Sad. And Mr. Hot-Choc’s family might not like her. Who cares!”
She cocked her head to one side and said, “Decision made.” That meant she’d have to hand in her annual leave on Monday. She smiled at that thought. Finally, it was holiday time.
***
Mrs. Thompson glanced at Peter and Jayden from where she stood in the kitchen, armed with a knife and chopping board. She wondered what they were doing, sitting there for almost an hour now, staring at the BlackBerry that was on the coffee table. It looked as though they were daring it to ring, so intense they were at their task. The air was thick with tension and anticipation. It must be girls, she thought, placing the knife and chopping board on the granite bench top. Then she turned her attention to her roasted pork as she hummed. Of course it must be a girl. What else could it be?
The telephone on the side table beside Peter shrilled out causing the two men to jump. They glanced at each other. Jayden shook his head, made a big sigh and returned his attention back to the motionless BlackBerry. Peter ignored the ringing phone beside him that seriously demanded his attention and leaned closer to his BlackBerry. A second later the continuous buzzing was starting to annoy the men. They both frowned at the damn thing and demanded it to shut up. Peter said, “Mum, aren’t you going to get that?”
Mrs. Thompson looked up, her green eyes peering above her spectacle at Peter, her red hair bright and glowing under the light. She grinned and said, “I’m busy, Peter, aren’t you going to pick it up?”
“I’m waiting for an important call, Mum,” Peter said, signifying that this could be a life and death situation.
“Well, your call must be very important then,” Mrs. Thompson said shaking her head. She wiped her hands cleaned with a towel and rushed to pick up the receiver. Meanwhile the two men turned their attentions back to the BlackBerry that refused to give any sign of an important incoming call.
“Hello, Margaret speaking,” Mrs. Thompson said, heading toward the kitchen. A short pause and then, “Oh, hello Alex dear, how are you?”
The two men snapped their heads up and zeroed in on the phone in Mrs. Thompson’s hand. They both jumped up at the same time and rushed towards Mrs. Thompson who was oblivious to their eager advance and was chatting animatedly to Alexandra.
Peter raced up and intercepted his mother. He said, “Mum, Alex?”
“What?” Mrs. Thompson said, clearly confused. “Of course it’s Alex. Wait! What are you doing?” she snapped as Peter tried to seize the phone from her hand. “Don’t you dear. I’m talking to Alex.” She shoved the phone away from his radar.
“No, Mum, this is important,” Peter said, his hand reaching out everywhere.
“Yes, very important,” Jayden put in, nodding his head. “Please give him the phone.”
“What is so important? It’s only Alex,” Mrs. Thompson said, the phone up in the air and away from both men’s reach. “Besides, I haven’t talk to Alex for ages.”
Pete snatched the receiver from his mother simply because he was taller than her. “Sorry, Mum, you can talk to her later.” He placed the receiver against his ear and said, “Alex? That you? It’s Pete here.”
“Oh! Hey, Pete.”
“So what is it? What’s your decision?” Pete asked as he eyed Jayden who looked rather nervous all of a sudden.
“Look...umm I’ve been thinking...I’ve...I’ve decided to help Jay.”
Peter grinned and motioned a thumb up at Jayden, winking at the same time. Jay sighed with relief. He grinned and nodded his head.
Mrs. Thompson saw Peter winking cheekily. It must be girls all right she confirmed with a nod of her head and went into the kitchen. Then she thought to add, “Why don’t you invite her over for dinner?”
“Who? Alex? Yeah sure,” Peter said and then to the phone. “Great, Alex. Good decision. Listen, why don’t you come over for dinner?”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be there in a jiffy. Bye now.”
“Bye,” Peter said and hung up. The two men laughed and did a high five.
Mrs. Thompson saw this and raised an eyebrow. She wondered if Peter was trying to set Alex and Jay up. She hoped so because that sweet girl deserved a fine, young man like Jayden. Very nice, she thought, very nice indeed.
“She’s coming over,” Peter said, taking a sip of his beer, as though he was now satisfied that his mission was accomplished.
Jay said, “I still haven’t forgiven you.”
“About what?” Peter asked innocently.
“About that lie. I’m not gay,” he said, annoyed.
Peter chuckled. “Hey, bro, I know you’re not but it’s the only way to get her to change her mind. Like you said, she’s afraid of men, but not gay men. She feels sorry for you. You ought to be please with that.”
Jay took a seat and leaned back against the comfortable sofa. “Yeah, I suppose I should.”
*****
CHAPTER 5
THE ROOM SUDDENLY felt awfully small and the air so thick that Alex had to sit down and took deep, slow breath to calm herself. So it was done. She had agreed to Jayden’s proposal, and her stomach still hadn’t stop fluttering. She wondered what it would be like to live with her Mr. Hot-Choc for two long weeks and having to see him every single day.
Oh shoot! Had she just referred to Jayden as her Mr. Hot-Choc? Oh God! What was she thinking?
Shaking her head at her silly thought, she rushed up and busied herself trying to find clothes for a quick shower. As she headed to the bathroom, she shouted, “Mum, I’m going out for dinner tonight.”
“Will you be late home?” her mother asked from the kitchen.
“No, I’m only going to the Thompson’s,” she replied.
“Great, say hi to them for me, won’t you. Oh, we’ll have to give them some of our lettuces and silverbeet.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll pick them after my shower,” Alex said, as she began to close the bathroom door.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it.�
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“Ok,” Alex shouted and then shut the door. Fifteen minutes later she was out, dressed in another pair of skinny jeans and jersey with her hair still wet from the shower. She grabbed her satchel and jacket from her bedroom. In the living area her mum grabbed her attention and said, “Don’t forget this.”
Alex grabbed the plastic bag full of lettuce and silverbeet as she said, “Thanks, Mum.” She glanced at her dad in the La-Z-boy chair, now reading the Otago Daily Times. He must be getting better, she thought, and he did look a lot better, too. His face was now not as pale as before.
“Bye, Dad.”
Jacob looked over to his daughter and nodded. “Drive safely, won’t you.”
“You know I do,” she commented and came over to kiss him on the cheek.
“Good girl.”
“Hey, I want to come too,” Emma said over the many scattering papers and science books on the dinning table. Her dark curls were in a wild mess and her brown eyes were sparkling with hope as she looked at Alex.
“No you may not. They only invited me. There will not be enough food for everyone if you come along,” Alex teased.
Tim, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at his younger sister, said, “Get back to your homework, missy. Otherwise you won’t get into uni with your laziness. All you think about is food.”
Emma poked her tongue at her brother, telling him to bugger off. Then turning back to Alex, she said, “Hey, I don’t eat that much. I’ve been told that I’m way too thin anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Alex mumbled. She turned to her mom and gave the woman a peck on the cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you, sweetheart,” Maly said.
Ten minutes later Alex parked her Toyota Corolla in front of the Thompson’s house and got out. She rushed to the door and rang the bell. As she waited she glanced at the beautiful view before her.
The Thompsons’ house sat on top of a great hill that over looked the Otago Harbour and the city below. In days like this one, though slightly breezy and cold, the view of the harbour was spectacular with the turquoise blue of the glistening water, the dark blue of the clear sky with the occasional Columbus cloud scattering here and there, and the stunning green of the hills with dots of houses on the other side visible. Their living room also faced north which received all day sun. A must have in Dunedin if you were buying or selling a property.