His Hired Girlfriend (19 page)

Alex widens her
eyes.

Stephanie leans forward as
the limo starts moving. “Oh, don’t be alarmed, Alex. Understand
that we are trying to help you out. Can’t you see? Britney is
trying to steal Jayden from you.”

“
Like asking him to lunch
with her dad, for instance,” Kelly says. “If people see, word will
spread. She’s trying to show everyone that she and Jayden are a
couple.”

“
Now girls,” Gracie put in
calmly, “Britney is not that bad. Shall I call
Lawrence?”

“
Oh yes, Mom. It has to be Lawrence. Surely he must be
available for us. This is an emergency,” Kelly says. “Besides, my
bachelorette party is tomorrow night, and Alex must be ready by
then.”

Alex hears her name in the conversation and says,
“Bachelorette party?”

“
Oh, Mrs. McCartney, you
don’t know Britney. She’s capable of anything,” Stephanie comments.
“Don’t you agree, Kelly?”

“
Yes,” Kelly
replies.

“
Like mother, like daughter, I suppose,” Gracie murmurs as
she starts dialing on her Blackberry.

“
What’s a bachelorette party?” Alex asks
curiously.

“
She’s no different from Sarah,” Kelly mutters, looking at
Stephanie. “I’m glad Jay’s over her.”

It takes a while for Alex to absorb that piece of
information. Once she realizes what it means, she shouts,
“What?”

“
Lawrence? Hello?
Lawrence? Is that you?” Gracie shouts into her cell. “Ah, Lawrence,
are you free this afternoon? We have an emergency.”

Kelly widens her eyes and
bites her lower lip when she realizes what she has done.

“
What do you mean? Who’s
Sarah?” Alex asks.

Kelly laughs
uncomfortably. “She’s nobody, Alex. Don’t worry about it.” Then she
quickly turns to Gracie. “Mom? Is Lawrence available?”

Gracie nods. Kelly does a thumbs-up. “How about lunch
first? Where to?” she says, still trying to ignore Alex.

“
I feel like Italian
today,” Stephanie remarks. “What about you, Alex?”

Alex bites her lip. “I
don’t mind,” she replies, her mind still reeling on who Sarah could
be.

Gracie says, “See you this
afternoon then, Lawrence. Thanks so much.” Then she ends the call.
“There. All sorted. Now where were we?”

“
Lunch,” Kelly puts in
quickly.

“
Yes, lunch,” Stephanie
says. “Italian?”

At Buon Appetito along Madison Avenue, Alex watches as
Gracie and Kelly stroll side by side into the flashy restaurant.
When she is sure they won’t be able to hear her, she quickly
catches up with Stephanie.

“
Stephanie? Can I ask you
something?”

Stephanie gives her a
smile. “Of course. Go ahead, sweetheart.”

“
I was just curious. Well,
I was kind of wondering, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t
want to. Who’s Sarah?”

Stephanie pauses and grabs
Alex’s hand. “You poor girl,” she begins, patting Alex gently. “Jay
hasn’t told you, has he?”

Oh
, shoot!
This doesn’t sound one bit good. Now
she wonders if she wants to know who Sarah is.

“
Well. No, not really,”
she says, going along.

“
She’s no good for him. Such a slut,” Stephanie says. “He
loved her so much, you know. Then she goes and hurts him, sleeping
with his best friend the way she did.”

Alex shuts her eyes for a
moment, trying to take it all in. What is Stephanie talking
about?

“
Wait! Stephanie, who
loved Sarah? And who did Sarah sleep with?”

Stephanie sighs. “Come on.
I’m hungry,” she says, and they start walking toward the restaurant
again. “It’s Jayden, of course.”

Alex comes to a halt. She
suddenly feels sick.

“
Hey, Alex?” Stephanie stares at her. “You all
right?”

Alex blinks and says in a
shaky voice, “I’m fine.”

“
Good. Oh, I
see.”

Alex is confused. “Huh?
What? What do you see?”

“
You’re tired and hungry.
You’re so pale just now. Come on. I don’t want you to faint. We
have a lot to do this afternoon.” Then she leads Alex into the
restaurant.

They see the maître d’ in
a very neat black and white uniform leading Gracie and Kelly toward
a table near the window. As they are approaching the two women,
Alex asks, “Was Sarah Jayden’s ex-girlfriend?”

“
Yes,” comes the prompt
reply from Stephanie.

Alex could feel the room swirling around her. “Who was
Jayden’s best friend?” she asks. She can’t help herself. She simply
needs to know.

“
Kyle Shore. Never liked
him much, to be honest.”

Alex is feeling shaky as they take their seats. She grabs
for the glass of water Kelly pours for them and gulps it down. She
tells herself to calm down before she embarrasses herself and
faints.

“
Alex, are you all right?”
Kelly asks.

Alex puts the empty glass
down, her hands still shaking. “Where’s the restroom?”

“
That way,” Kelly directs.
“You don’t look too good.”

Alex sees that Kelly is
staring at her intensely, as though she thinks something has
disturbed her emotionally. Alex knows she mustn’t let anyone know
Jayden lied to her. She swallows. She could feel herself
sweating.

“
I just feel sick at the smell of food, that’s all,” she
lies, and before any of them can ask her any more questions, she
rushes away.

Gracie says,
“Oh.”

Alex is in such a hurry
she doesn’t look where she’s going and bumps into somebody along
the corridor.

“
Sorry,” she says
apologetically, glancing up.

“
Watch where you’re
going!” the woman snaps, her hazel eyes intense on Alex, her bright
red lips twisting in obvious disgust.

Alex thinks the woman is incredibly gorgeous. She has long
blond hair styled elegantly like a movie star’s and a pastel green
suit that fits her perfectly and shows off her Victoria’s Secret
body.

Alex wants to get past her, but the blond woman seems to be
in no hurry to move.

“
Excuse me,” she says,
stepping forward.

“
Ugh,” the woman gasps.
“Don’t come near me.”

“
Huh?” Alex is shocked and
confused as to what she means.

The blonde glares at her.
“Get out of my way,” she snaps.

Alex quickly steps to one
side because the woman looks as though she’s about to shove her
back. Before she goes, the blonde frowns at her and shakes her
head. “Your manager should train you better.”

Alex is too stunned to
reply.

“
You know you shouldn’t
treat people that way?” a male voice says from the end of the
corridor.

Alex glances to her left
and sees a handsome young man there, leaning against the wall with
his arms folded across his chest. The moment she meets his eyes,
she regrets it. His stare sends a chill down her spine. There’s
also a glint of something in his eyes that tells Alex he is not to
be trusted. He looks ruthless.

The woman flicks her blond curls over her shoulder and
says, “It’s none of your business, Kyle.”

Kyle moves forward and brushes his finger against her
cheek. The blond shoves his hand away and snaps, “Don’t touch me.”
She glances over at Alex and says, “She’s your type. Low and dirty.
If you don’t get to sleep with that slut Britney tonight, go for
her.”

“
Sarah, that’s enough,”
Kyle says, his voice hard.

“
Make me,” she mocks, her
face sneering at him.

Alex thinks this woman
looks like an angel, but her character is like the dark lord Satan
himself.

When Kyle glares at her,
Sarah stands back and folds her arms across her chest in
satisfaction. She turns to look at Alex and says, “Those toilets
are dirty. Do your job properly.” Then she strides away, her
expensive heels clip-clopping on the expensive marble floor. Kyle
shakes his head and follows her.

Alex can’t believe it.
There, another slap in the face. Once she has freshened up and
feels better, she returns to her seat.

“
Feeling better?” Gracie
asks.

“
Yes, thank you,” she
replies.

As the other three women make small talk while they wait
for their food, Alex is consumed with anger. She can’t believe
Jayden lied to her. She can’t believe she actually believed him.
Oh, how he tormented and teased her. Then the picture of her half
naked in front of him rushes back to her in full force. She blushes
at the thought. He saw her breasts, touched her bare skin, and
kissed her. She’s furious thinking about it as she stuffs down her
spaghetti Bolognese.

“
Alex?” Kelly’s voice
echoes faintly in her head. “Are you all right?”

Alex pauses. She has just realized that her plate is a mess
of red sauce, meatballs, and spaghetti and that she is eating
without manners. She sighs. It’s all that damn Jayden’s fault. She
doesn’t normally behave this way.

“
I’m sorry. I’m just
suddenly very hungry,” she says apologetically, putting her fork
down. “This is delicious.”

Gracie reaches out and
pats her hand. “You’ll need the energy for the long afternoon,” she
says, winking at her.

Alex blinks. “Yes, that’s true,” she replies
absentmindedly. She’ll need all her strength to confront that lying
son of a—“Don’t swear, Alex,” she murmurs under her
breath.

“
What was that?” Stephanie
asks, looking at her.

“
Nothing,” Alex replies,
and even manages a full grin.

“
Eating lots is good, as
long as you eat healthily. You are eating healthily, yes?” Gracie
asks.

“
Yes, of course,” Alex
replies, nodding her head.

Alex grits her teeth as she glares at the
meatballs
. Blast you, Jayden!
I’m going to kill you when I see you.
And blast that Britney! She’s going to have a complete
makeover, and that’s that!

* * *

So that’s how a real gay man
behaves,
Alex thinks to
herself as she watches Lawrence gently stroking her long hair and
gives every single dark strand his undivided attention.

Dressed in a bright pink-and-white-
striped shirt neatly tucked in the dark grey skinny
jeans, he looks immaculate. Not to mention those crocodile skin
shoes and that sleek bob hairstyle make him seem almost on the
verge of being tipped over the fashionable scale.

Alex notices that Lawrence behaves nothing like Jayden.
Lawrence is sweet-talking, his voice always high-pitched, and his
hands are constantly moving in a wishy-washy fashion as he speaks.
Occasionally, those hands touch the man’s backside whenever
Lawrence happens to pass a particular male he fancies. Oh, yes!
Lawrence—a sweet gay man who treats every woman like his best
girlfriend—behaves nothing like Jayden.

“
Darling, how could you
ruin your hair like that?” he says. “Simply not done, darling,
simply not done.”

Alex, who is sitting on a high chair with a full-length
mirror in front of her, wants to laugh at the situation she finds
herself in. She is surrounded by beautiful, fashionably dressed
people, Lawrence as the chief stylish, Lisa as a beauty therapist
and makeup artist, and Mitch as a hairdresser. They are all
examining her and touching her hair, face, and hands.

“
Can you do it?” Kelly
asks finally from somewhere behind Lawrence which Alex couldn’t
quite see.

“
Of course I can do it,”
Lawrence says, hands on hips. “Are you questioning my ability,
darling?”

Kelly chuckles. “No, Lawrence, I’m not questioning your
ability. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here, right?”

Lawrence does a
high-pitched laugh, his hand delicately waving in the air. “Of
course, darling. Of course.” Then he turns to Alex. “Now then, I
assume you’ve had this dark hair since forever?”

Alex nods.

“
Ah. Boring color, this.
Doesn’t suit your complexion at all, sweetie.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes. Too dark for your
fair skin. We’re going to change that.” Lawrence turns to Lisa.
“Light brown, Lisa, with a hint of blonde. The cut? Layer! Lots and
lots of layers. And some curls. Understand?”

Lisa nods.

Lawrence returns his attention to Alex. “Now then, sweetie,
your skin needs special care. It’s so dry, and yet it’s oily around
your T-zone. I’m no dermatologist, but I can see that you need some
help there.” He does another high-pitched laugh as he turns to
Gracie, Kelly, and Stephanie. “Luckily I have just the right person
who’ll be able to help.”

The three women, all
smiling, nod at him in acknowledgment.

Lawrence turns back to
Alex and touches her chin. “Sweetie,” he says, a hint of jealousy
in his voice. “You are one lucky gal. How could you hide yourself
in there? Your eyes, your straight nose, your full lips. It’s model
material.” He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t mind trading my soul for
that pair of kissable lips.”