His Hired Girlfriend (4 page)

“Oh my God!” she murmured.

Emma giggled
again, as though she couldn’t contain herself, and rushed to stand
next to her. The strains of
Happy
Birthday
, sung in the traditional
arrangement of out of tune voices, filled the room. A sudden
eruption of light revealed Timothy with his hand on the switch.
Alex blinked away the after-image.

Alex laughed. She hadn’t
expected this, not after a busy day at work. Usually Saturday was
rather quiet but not this one. It had been hectic and she was dead
tired. She hadn’t except anything more than a family dinner and
then a good night sleep. This was such a surprise. She blinked back
tears as she tightened her arms around her Mom.

“Happy birthday sweetheart,”
Maly said, squeezing her hard. “Now make a wish.”

Alex looked at the people
surrounding her. Emma was urging her to quickly blow the candles in
her teenage hyperactive way, just so she could have some cake. “You
guys didn’t have to do this,” emerged from her suddenly tight
throat.

“Don’t be silly. It’s your
birthday. Of course we have to do this,” Ruby insisted, her braced
teeth flashing with candle highlights.

“Please, just blow the candles
out. We want cake,” Emma pleaded.

“Make a wish, sweetheart,”
Jacob said

Alex looked at her dad and her
eyes flooded with tears. She knew she only had one wish.

‘
Dear
lord,’
she whispered to
herself,
‘I wish Dad would get his heart
transplant and that he’d get well.’
She
opened her eyes and moved closer to the flickering candles. She
took a deep breath and closed her eyes and an image of
Mr. Hot-Choc
appeared in
her mind.
What the Hell?
She shook her head to clear the image away,
confused.

“Come on, Alex, blow?” Nikita
squealed.

Everyone was holding their
breath. She nodded, bent her head and all the candles winked out,
to the sound of ever so slightly sarcastic cheering and
clapping.

“So what ya wish for?” Tim
asked.

Alex looked
up at her younger brother. He was gorgeous, with jet black hair,
dark brown eyes, a straight nose and Hollywood jaw-line. Lots of
hearts were going to get broken when he goes to university, she
thought, grinning. “Can’t tell,” she replied, hoping that her wish
would come true.
It had to come
true.

“So, who wants cake?’ said
Mom.

“Me!” That was Emma, surprise,
surprise. “I’ll help you cut.” She would make sure she had the
biggest piece too.

After the last of the cake
crumbs had been licked form the plates, her friends dragged her
into town claiming that she really needed to have some fun. Soon
Alex found herself in the Octagon with her friends and, it seemed,
half of the student body and large percentage of the town’s
population.

The air was crisp and cold, and
Alex was relieved that she had chosen boots, skinny jeans and a
blazer – much like her friends. If she had worn a flimsy dress and
four inches heels, like most of the other girls on the crowded
streets, she was sure she would have simply shivered and collapsed
on the spot, quite apart from the fact that she wouldn’t be able to
walk in those heels.

“Come on, Alex, you haven’t
been in Electrica since Uni,” Isabella pouted prettily. “It’s time
you had some fun, girl.” Her friends dragged her across the street
to where at least a hundred or so people were stamping the cold
away, waiting to get into the bar. “All right,” said Alex, “let’s
go clubbing,” laughing as Nikita filled the air with youthful
“Yay!” and twirled around with her arms out. Nikita, Nikita! Always
so bold and fun with her tomboyish way.

The street was thronged with
young people, some sober, some drunk, some making out, others
greeting friends. A couple of guys appeared to about to go at it,
pushing and shoving each other. Alex ignored a group of men
standing nearby. Most were smoking and making no attempt to hide
their obvious interest in her and her friends. Three of them were
struggling to stay upright.

Fifteen minutes later they
finally reached the door. Alex kept rubbing her eyes and blinking.
That was what glaring down a microscope at red and white blood
cells for eight hours a day did to you – especially if you happened
to wear contacts. She should have put some eye-drops before she had
left the house, but the girls had been in such a rush.

The huge doorman, probably
Maori or Pacific Islander, waved Ruby, Nikita, and Isabella
straight in. Not her though. He asked for her I.D. She could not
believe it. She had just turned twenty-five, and the man wanted to
see her I.D? Did she look that young? It was both flattering and
annoying. The doorman glared at her driver’s licence for what
seemed like a minute, the kind of look that said he knew it was a
fake but couldn’t quite put his finger on why. He handed it back to
her and stepped aside to let her through with narrowed eyes. Ruby
gave her a look, but Alex just shrugged her shoulders as they
rushed down the stairs.

Music thumped the walls of the
lower ground floor. The place was bathed in darkness, lit by sudden
flashes of neon light, like lightning on a stormy night. Smoke
snaked slowly across the dance floor, coiling around groups of
dancers. A group of students squeezed past, bumping their
shoulders. Alex glanced around. The people, the smell of sweat and
perfume and alcohol suddenly seemed overwhelming, but there was
Nikita enthusiastically pulling her into the crowd, pushing people
this way and that, Alex didn’t have the heart to tell her friends
that she really wanted to get out of here.

Down on the dance floor, they
excused their way to the middle, hips swaying, arms making shapes
in the smoky atmosphere. Alex felt awkward; she hadn’t been
clubbing for so long she could barely remember any moves! Her gaze
fell on Isabella who seemed frozen in place.

“Oh gosh,” Isabella said.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Isa?” Ruby
shouted, “You okay?”

“Eric is here,” Isa
whispered.

Ruby glanced at Alex, but she
only shook her head. “What?” Ruby shouted.

“Eric is here!” Isa yelled,
pointing her finger toward the end of the bar where a group of
young doctors were ordering drinks. Eric – Isa’s crush – was with
them.

“Go say hi,” Nikita nudged, her
eyes bright.

Isa shook her head, “No! Don’t
be silly, Nik.”

“Hey, what’s the harm? He used
to be our high-school classmate.”

Isa shook her head again.
Nikita was about to drag Isa toward where Eric was sitting when a
troop of new arrivals bowled past them.

“Hey!” Nikita shouted in
annoyance, but her voice was lost in the music. Then more people
came in, shoving through and separating them.

Alex found
herself in a darker corner where there were less people. She had no
idea where her friends were. She searched stood on tiptoe but all
she could see were the shadows of wide shoulders and heads. Now was
one of those times when she wished she was taller. And her eyes
were getting worse by the second. Moving around the corner she
exited the dance floor into a quiet, dimly lit corridor. Alone, the
insistent boom-boom-boom of the music rattling the walls, she paid
attention to her eyes. She blinked hard and rubbed a finger across
the lids.
“Fudge!”
she swore, as the contact lens flicked out of her right eye.
In a panic, she blinked harder and groped around on the floor for
it. Then the other one did the same.
“Oh,
for God’s sake!”
she added. Now she
couldn’t see anything. She was reaching into her handbag and for
her glasses when a hand grabbed her upper arm and pulled her
around.

He was tall with dark hair.
Though she couldn’t see him properly, she knew instantly that she
was in trouble. She tried to shift away, to avoid him, and he
caught her other arm and pulled her closer. The odour of sour
alcohol washed over her face, and she wanted to gag.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he
breathed.

“Let go.” She shoved at his arm
and he caught her again, his fingers digging painfully into her
flesh.

“Come with me,” he slurred.

“Leave me alone,” she snapped,
shoving ineffectually at his chest.

“Get lost!” she snapped, louder
this time.

“What’s that
sweet..sweetheart?” he laughed, “Co...come with me, ya know ya
wanna.”

“Get lost,” she was shouting
now, her heart beating faster, a cold sweat beading her skin. She
was frightened of what was going to happen. She was scared of what
he was going to do to her. She felt trapped.

“Ruby? Nik? Isa? Where are you
guys?” Her eyes darted around, hoping to see her friends, or anyone
for that matter. She was alone with the drunken stranger.

She was
pushed against the wall as his face loomed closer to hers.
Holy Crap!
Alex didn’t
want to be kissed by a half-drunken man she didn’t know. She felt
his other hand fumbling at her belt. A sickening feeling rose up in
her stomach. Her head started to swim. She managed to struggle one
hand free and slap him hard on the face, shouting at him to leave
her alone – her body shaking. He didn’t let her go, and he didn’t
even flinch. A scream was building inside her when suddenly the man
was yanked from behind, a fist crashed against the side of his face
cannoning him into a corner. His body crunched against the wall and
slid to the floor, blood welling from his nose and lips.

“Leave her alone!” The voice
was icy, hard, commanding.

Stunned and shaking, Alex
looked up at her rescuer. She could only make out a silhouette, a
strong and powerful shape. The drunk in the corner muttered
something, but nobody was listening.

The newcomer
gently pulled her to his side. The gesture was almost feral
‘She’s mine’,
it
signalled, not just sexually but personally
.
His stance, the way he angled his
body, indicated a readiness and willingness to pursue more violent
action. Alex could feel his strength radiating over her, keeping
her from harm.

The drunken man’s eyes widened,
and held up his hands, realising his mistake. “No worries, bro,
thought she was free,” he mumbled as he pushed by them.

Alex squinted at her rescue,
but without her contacts or glasses she really could not see any
detail, even this close. She glanced down at the hand that still
held her wrist. Odd that only moments before she had felt frighten
when she had been alone with the drunken man, but now alone with
him, she felt safe. She offered him a tentative smile, “Thanks” was
all her trembling lips could manage.

“Why are you here alone? It’s
dangerous.”

There was that voice again! She
could barely understand what he was saying. There was hint of an
American accent, familiar somehow, but the connection eluded
her.

“I dunno...the loud music...the
crowd...” she explained, “and my contacts. I’ve lost my contacts. I
can’t see properly.”

She tilted
her face but she couldn’t see his features, couldn’t concentrate,
and tears welled in her eyes. She was going to cry.
‘God dammit, Alex!’
she
snapped at herself,
‘You’re a big girl.
It’s stupid to cry in front of a guy.’
She
blinked and wiped her eyes clean with her the back of her hand. “I
didn’t see that guy coming, that’s for sure.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Where are your
friends?” The harshness had been replaced by soothing warmth.

“My friends?” she touched her
forehead hesitantly. “I’m not sure, I’ve lost them.” She shook her
head a little. “I’m fine,” she lied, really wanting to just go
home. She felt very tired, and there was work tomorrow, and the
meeting with Peter. A sigh escaped. “Can you help me find
them?”

“Yeah, sure, come on.”

Her hand was neatly enveloped
by his as he led her toward the door. Ruby came rushing through,
the music swirling around her. “Alex? Alex, there you are. Are you
okay?” Nikita and Isa were just a step behind.

Alex breathed in relief at the
sight of her friends. “Yeah, I’m fine. Can we go now?’

Nikita gave her a look. “Yeah.
I think I’ve had enough. Too many people here, not fun being shoved
around.”

Isa eyed the rescuer and
grinned, “Thanks for helping Alex find us. So you know each
other?”

He nodded unseen in the
darkness as Alex interrupted, “No, we don’t know each other. Now
can we go?”

“Yeah,” Ruby said, “Let’s get
out of here.”

As they made their way toward
the stairs Alex turned. “Thanks,” she said, “for everything.”

At that
moment Jayden wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but
he damn well couldn’t do that, could he? He was a stranger to her.
She would think he was no better than that bastard who he had
pulled off her. Why he felt this way toward her he didn’t know,
except for the fact that she was Peter’s friend, and possibly his
future
fake
girlfriend.

He made sure that Alex and her
friends were safely out of the bar before he returned to Peter,
Mary, and some other interns sitting in the corner.

Peter asked, “Long line?”

“Yeah,” said Jay, not willing
to tell the whole story. He picked up his BlackBerry and saw that
there was a message. It was from David Peterson, his executive
officer from head office in New York for his real estate company,
the J.M McCartney Group.

Hey, boss, contract ready for
you. Documents all sorted. Need you to check and sign. Check your
email. How’s the vacation? Hope to see you soon.