“It will be $200 a night. Sex will be extra.” She wrote that down and kept her eyes on the page.
“That won’t be a problem.” She wrote down another checklist for a dress and shoes.
“We will just see about that.” I said that, mostly joking. But who was to stop me from coming on to her. If I had to act the part, I could do a very convincing job. It might even help convince her family. She stopped writing and put her pen on the table.
“No we won’t. There will be no sex. There will be no extra charges.”
“Okay.” This was starting to be one of my less comfortable meetings. I felt a bit flustered in her presence. I wasn’t sure why. Her self conscious manner was rubbing off on me. “Should we order?”
“Sure. I’ll have a chicken Caesar salad. Ranch dressing.”
“I’ll have the same, hold the dressing.” I took a drink of my water and waited for my coffee to cool. She picked her pen back up and started writing her lists again.
“I’ve never met a straight man who eats salad.”
“I have to go to an awards show tonight. I can’t really afford to eat anything else. I am on a very strict diet for these kinds of things.”
“That sounds really glamorous.” There was an element of surprise in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m going with an actress. You aren’t the first person to hire me as a date. It’s actually not that uncommon, so you shouldn’t feel too bad.”
“What makes you think I feel bad?” This girl was very on edge.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything. Travis just told me that times were tough recently.” Her face went from harsh to soft and she finally met eyes with me. Her irises were gorgeous. There were small spirals of several different colors. They were green with a ring of bright brown that was almost orange. I had to catch my breath. If it weren’t for her sour attitude, I might have complimented them.
“No, you’re right. I’m sorry.” She started drinking her coffee. “This is just really nerve wrecking and not how I wanted to go back to see… My friend.”
“I understand.” We sat for a while, not saying much. There was a bit of a wait since we arrived at the prime lunch time. “So what do you do in your free time? What should I know about you? How can I be a realistic date?”
“Oh, yes, good idea.” She ripped a page out of her notebook and handed it to me. This girl was very type A personality. “You need to read this. It has a low down on what you should know about me. My family doesn’t know that you’re a hooker –“
“Escort.”
“Escort, sorry. They are already ashamed of me as it is. No offense. I don’t think them knowing would help any.”
“Don’t worry about that. I know all about disappointing your parents.”
“Then we already have a lot in common.” This woman was funny, without always meaning to be. I wanted to see her again. It was probably just my hormones going crazy along with my desire to surf. I had a lot of nostalgia for the beach, and it could make these things complicated and awkward if I did too much associating. I just had to remind myself that it was just business and that at least I wouldn’t leave empty handed.
The waitress brought our salads out and I read over the list. “So where are we going?”
“I wrote that stuff on the back. I will pick you up at the airport in Santa Barbra around one on Friday. The engagement party is on Saturday. There is a list of the types of clothes you should bring.”
I laughed and she looked surprised. “Sorry, I just figured you would assume I know what to wear to a wedding.” She smiled back and started picking at her salad.
“Sorry. I’m just a bit obsessive. I have some nervous tendencies. I don’t want a single thing to go wrong this weekend. I hardly want to be there at all.”
“That’s an expensive date just to keep up with appearances.”
“I’m doing it mostly for my mother, and believe me, I know.” She ate more of her salad before continuing. “So do you do checks or just cash?”
“I actually have an app for all this. It’s pretty simple. I also have a contract I need you to sign.” She seemed relieved that there were official papers. She struck me as rather odd and very nervous. I could tell that she wasn’t used to meeting strangers. “Whose wedding is this?”
“My ex-fiancé’s.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.” She stopped eating her food after that and stuck with the coffee and the water.
“Don’t worry. We will stick it in his face.” I was trying to comfort her. I wasn’t that good at emotionally comforting women. I mostly just did the physical stuff. “Once he sees that you have a hot boyfriend he will regret giving you up.”
“Fake boyfriend.”
“Right.”
“But we have to make it look real.”
“I understand.”
“If they know that I hired you…” She started repeating herself. “Then I will be dead to the world.”
“We wouldn’t want that.”
She went back to eating and I ate my salad too. I could see her frequently check around the restaurant to make sure that she didn’t know anyone there. The only way to get figured out that you are with an escort is to act like you don’t want to be seen with one.
“What else should I know? You don’t have your job on this list.”
“That is an excellent question.” She ordered a glass of wine. I ordered one for myself as well. “I don’t have a job.” She started laughing at herself. She was a little crazy, but I like that about her. Quirks could be good. It would take a lot of the attention away from me this weekend.
“So your parents don’t know they are paying for me? That’s a little naughty.”
She laughed again and almost swallowed all her wine. “They shouldn’t have forced me to go to the wedding if they didn’t want their girl to turn to the streets. It’s their own fault.”
I decided to pay our bill. It was obvious she already had enough on her plate, and maybe it would make up for me offending her earlier. She left and I was able to ride some waves. I liked the way my hair felt after the salt water soaked it. While I was surfing I couldn’t keep my mind off of her and her peculiar habits. It was obvious she was suffering from some body hate. Maybe a little get away with an experienced man like me was all she needed.
Grant
I wasn’t expecting a limo or anything to pick me up, but I found it comical to see April pull around in an old Dodge Neon. It was black and the perfect car for someone like her. You could tell she adored that thing by the way it had seat covers and a steering wheel cover too. She fidgeted a lot, fixing her make up in the mirror. She scraped the smudged parts away, the ones that were too microscopic for my eyes. I could see heavy bags under her eyes. It was clear to me she didn’t get much sleep the night before. April was probably worried the whole time. This would either be a great weekend for both of us or it would be a horrible one.
I feel like the polar opposite of this girl. While I am organized and well groomed, she cares a lot more about her parents’ approval than I ever pretended to. With the way she picked at her nails I could tell she was anxious to see them. Or maybe she was anxious to see Tom. I bet this whole weekend was going to make her go from crazy to a basket case. She hummed along with the radio and told me to put my luggage in the back with hers. All her suitcases were miss matched, and each seemed to be from a different era. I wasn’t sure how long we were staying there, but with the amount she had packed it looked like an eternity. This wasn’t uncommon for women. This really wasn’t uncommon for women who were trying to say “fuck you” to someone.
“So are we moving to Santa Barbra after the wedding?” I joked.
She looked confused, gazing back and forth between me and her luggage.
“What do you mean?” She asked, cautiously.
“You just have a lot packed.”
“Oh. Yeah, I know. Sorry. I never know what to wear to weddings.” Maybe that is why she assumed
I didn’t know what to bring. I snickered to myself and she seemed a bit uncomfortable.
“You’re fine. I’ve had clients who have brought more for less.”
“This is a weird request. Could you stop bringing up your old clients as of now? It makes me feel weird.”
“Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t going to do it in front of your family or anything.”
“No, it’s for me too. I don’t want to be part of the type that is referred to as a client.”
“Suit yourself.” She pulled out onto the highway and we were off. The car was a stick shift, and as I saw her changing gears I noticed that she was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. She really didn’t know what to wear to these events, but I never thought she was the laid back type.
“You’re dressed pretty casually.” I said. She took note of my suit and remarked back. She was one of the few women I knew that still wore make up when wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. I wasn’t complaining. She looked comfortable, and I was a little envious. I was also too professional to wear those clothes to attend to a client. Everything I wore was business professional. I took myself very seriously, even if my parents didn’t. It was about pride more than about image. I needed people to know that I did this job as a way to make myself happy, not as a way to make money. This woman had me feeling a little funny, though. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, it just made me feel strange and nervous like most clients don’t. I guess that probably was an age thing, as well. I didn’t have much experience with serious dating, and having to act like I did this weekend was going to be a bit of a difference for me. Shouldn’t be too hard to handle, though.
“And you seem a bit over dressed.”
“I always dress to impress. If you don’t want to be seen with me, I have to make it so there is nothing to complain about.” That wasn’t true. I normally dressed nice for clients, but I wasn’t going to say that again. When I said that I could tell she was more embarrassed than annoyed. I felt bad. Normally people took my snide remarks as jokes. I saw she was internalizing it. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I’ve just had a rough day.”
“Yeah. Airports will do that to you.” At least she was understanding. “So what is our story? What should we tell my parents? Last I spoke with my mom, I kind of told her how I was pretty single, so we should come up with a good excuse.”
“How about you just didn’t think I was ready to meet the family yet. After all, it is awkward to bring a new boyfriend around your ex-fiancé’s wedding.”
“That’s a good point. Okay, so we aren’t that official yet. We have been dating for six months.”
“Make it two. Six months is verging into serious territory.”
She nodded in agreement. “Okay yes. We have been dating for two months.” As we drove, I couldn’t help but stare out the window on her side. She noticed and looked back at me. “What? Why are you staring?”
“Just looking at the ocean.” I wasn’t. I was admiring the warm afternoon sun on her face. I saw how it reflected and danced on her eyes.
“Yeah, it’s lovely out today. I can’t wait to swim.”
“I thought you couldn’t touch salt water?”
“I can’t. I meant at the pool.” She flipped the station to the CD and started singing along with one of the songs. “So how did we meet?”
“I saw you at the bar. I thought you were the most beautiful person to walk into the room. I ordered you a glass of wine, and you sat with me. We talked until the bar closed and they had to kick us out. Apparently you knew my friend Alex who was dating your roommate Travis.”
“Dating is a big word. They are more friends with benefits territory.”
“Okay, where did you go to school?”
“I attended USC. Valedictorian.”
“Excellent, my mom will love that.”
“And where did you go to school?”
“University of San Diego.”
“That’s a good school.” She struck me as bright. “And your major there was?”
“English, and I’m a failure at it. I haven’t gotten a single job.”
“In time you’ll find something.”
“Let’s hope. And it better not come with an apron or spatula.” I laughed at her joke. She was taken back. I was really surprised she didn’t know how funny she was. She smiled over at me, warming up I hoped. “So when they ask what your career is, what do you say?”
“I will tell them that I flip burgers with you.”
She laughed and then told me no a thousand times. “Okay, what will you actually say?”
“I will say I’m in finance.”
“Ooh, that’s good. Then they will think you have money. That could be my motivating factor for dating you.”
I knew that it was just internal dialogue, that she was trying to make our story, but this still was able to sting a little.
“Maybe they will stop harassing me about getting a job and will just keep sending me cash so they don’t think I’m using you. Maybe I can tell them that too. That we had a fight because you thought I was taking advantage of you. Yes, okay good.” She was mostly babbling to herself now and I was still looking back between her and the ocean. “Okay, what kind of finance do you do?”
“I run a small hedge fund.”
“Eh, that’s good, but it isn’t super believable.”
“It’s what I actually do.” I fished in my wallet for a business card and handed it over to her.
“What?” She looked between the road and my card. We pulled into the hotel and was thrown back. “Really?”
“Yes. I didn’t have those made just for this weekend.”
“Wait, I can’t tell if you are serious or not.”
“Call the number if you don’t believe me.” I got out and started to unload both of our things. Travis told me that Tom was really nice, but he didn’t seem like the best guy if he broke up with a girlfriend of six years after a car accident. It also seemed so recent to April that I didn’t really understand why Tom would already be engaged. Maybe April really was crazy. I’m sure this weekend would give me a better feel for her personality, whether I wanted it or not.
I almost had that list she gave me memorized. I knew what to do and what not to do. I could tell that she was the type to be easily agitated, but I have worked with this type before. It seemed so strange coming from someone so young who supposedly had their life in shambles.
I had actually been to this hotel before on business. It was very nice, and I could tell that not only did she come from money but she was expected to marry into money. The poor woman’s life must have been very foreign and scary for her. I could understand that, even if I never experienced it. I gave her the benefit of the doubt because I thought she was adorable. She was a little curvy and spoke her mind without thinking twice of stepping on someone’s toes. I made a mental list of her quirks. So far I had nail biting and picking at it as well as excessive list making. And inability to dress for an occasion would have to be added also.
April was an enigma. A lovely type A-anal enigma.
I’m sure I could win her over. She won me over without trying.
April
I could feel adrenaline pumping through me as we pulled in. I wasn’t used to lying to my parents, especially not about something this big. I knew they would expect more details. I wished we had had more time in the car to go over things. Grant was being fairly nice, but I wasn’t ready to spend time with him just yet.
I put the business card he gave me in my wallet. Maybe later I would check it out, see if it went to his voice message, but for now I had other things to worry about. I worried about my parents. I worried about the hotel. I worried about money. I worried about carrying my luggage up. Before I knew it Grant had tipped the valet and took our suitcases out.
That was baffling. He had given the boy a seemingly large tip and I wasn’t expecting to see him spend a cent. I guess that is part of the money I gave him. It might as well be going to something good. Grant push
ed our luggage inside. I felt like this was over kill but I didn’t mind. If I was going to pay that much for him I was going to make him work for it.
I could tell he was a little on edge too. I’m sure that even though he posed as a boyfriend for several people, he probably never had to go to a wedding. I don’t think that that was part of his values. Actually, I’m sure that is the exact opposite of his moral values. He didn’t strike me as a hooker at all. That’s probably why he used the word escort. I’m sure it wasn’t all fun, after all he was already hot but still had to order only a salad. He didn’t even get a dressing. I was having a hard enough time and it had only been a few days. I didn’t want to live life in his shoes.
He opened the door for me as I walked in. I couldn’t tell if he was just a gentleman or if he was laying it on too thick. I decided not to mind it too much. If Tom saw this he would know that this is how I should have been treated. I should have been shown nice things and I should have had chivalry thrown at me like a fish at a farmer’s market.
This hotel was ritzy and gorgeous, just like I would have expected my wedding’s hotel to be. I could tell now why Grant was dressed nice. I was embarrassed again but tried not to let it eat at me like it used to. I had already noticed a few people looking at me funny and decided that sunglasses were a good idea.
“Room for April Somerset.” I said. As the front desk person turned around, they greeted Grant with a firm handshake, ignoring me.
“So nice to have you with us again, Mr. Taylor!”
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Grant?” Grant’s smile could light up the whole room. He was incredibly charming, and was apparently nice to all workers, not just people in charge of handling a car.
“Let us take your luggage up to your room.”
“That won’t be necessary.” They handed Grant the cards and told him to give the manager of the bar a certain card for free drinks. Grant leaned over and asked me if there was an open bar at the ceremony.
Auctioned to Him 4: His Addiction Page 72