His Hired Girlfriend (7 page)

“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 the
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.”

“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.