Cinderella for Hire

He was tall with an athletic build. And that was quite a shocker since I expected him to be a little bit…creepier. Nicholas Fulton had dark brown hair and when he turned to look at me, he had one of the lightest brown eyes I've ever seen. He pushed himself off the wall and walked over to me.

Weird. He looked really familiar. Even when they were exchanging emails, his name rang a bell. I just couldn't remember where I heard it before…

"You're late," he said, sounding gruff. Before I could retort, saying I was only 2 minutes late, he grabbed me by the upper arm and started to drag me away.

"Hold on!" I said, confused by the sudden action. "What are you doing? I was under the impression that we're going to meet here and go to a café somewhere nearby. You know, somewhere public."

Where there are witnesses, I thought.

"Do I look like I have the time to go sit in a café somewhere?" he snapped back.

And here I thought this wouldn't get weird.

"Look, mister," I started as I practically jogged beside him, trying to keep up with his pace. "I don't think I'm agreeing with the way you're handling things right now. I'm willing to take on the job, but there are a couple of things I want to run through to you first before going ahead with this—"

He stopped in front of a sleek black car. The driver immediately rushed to open the door for us.

This didn't happen every day for me so I took the opportunity to tilt my head and gawk at the driver. For a moment, I think he was actually scared by my supposed-to-be-in-awe expression.

"I thought we had already set the rules through email," Nicholas said, rolling his eyes. "Rest assured, I'm not looking for a hooker. I just have some slight issues that need to be attended to right now. Don't you know who I am?"

He added the last sentence with such arrogance that it almost made me cringe in horror.

"Actually, I don't."

And he was actually taken aback by that statement of mine.

"Look, I really don't have time for this. I have an event tonight and all I'm asking you is to be next to me, smile, and introduce yourself as my girlfriend. That is all," he said, turning around to get into the car. When he walked right up to the door, he turned back around and gave me the onceover.

"Honestly, I don't want to resort to begging. This is pretty last minute and I really need you," he said. "Even if you're not blonde and you're flat as a board, but you know, you'll do," he continued, finishing his sentence off with a smirk.

My jaw dropped. Excuse me?!

"Hey!" I began but he cut me off.

"Frankly, you're wasting my precious time here. Get in the car and I'll throw in 500 bucks to your salary. If you don't, then have fun with poverty."

I fumed. That was not funny.

But I stupidly stepped into the car anyway.