The Secret Arrangement (2 page)

After they finished cocktails they headed to another room, to dine, continuing all the exciting chitchat enjoying genuinely each other's company, but for Laura the night could not end without knowing exactly what he is looking for on the website and what it has to offer her, what was that great and lucrative deal he mentioned earlier. Thinking the best way how she could approach the subject without being rude. She was preparing a gently approach and prowl the subject by asking him what was he looking for and how would all this arrangement work in all it extend.

What she was looking was clear for him, but she didn’t know to what she was agreeing too.

As if Ali was guessing Laura’s inner struggling silence questions to what she needed to know, he started talking about it.

Saying to Laura he wanted a beautiful and drama free woman to be always available for him, that’s the main idea for the arrangement and that’s why he would be always very generous with the woman he had the arrangement with, the only thing he wouldn’t allow was having any hassle and drama, alerting her if she started acting like a conventional girlfriend, the deal would be over immediately. He would call the shots and she just needed to follow an instruction, that’s all he would ask from her. He was willing to give her expensive gifts and giving high amounts of cash for the time she would spent with him, and while she was with him there was no need to continue working because he would take care of her financial needs. He wanted her to be his plus one in events, and business dinners, staying with him whenever he was in London and whenever he asked her to travel with him or to him. Ali would provide Laura all beauty treatments she wished to be always impeccable and be able to dress always according occasion.

Laura was absorbing every word from Ali to understand exactly what the deal was, hearing his words seemed like a dream come true, she was fascinated by all the new possibilities Ali could give her, and all doors opening to the world she always wished be part of. However she needed to be smart as she wouldn’t quit her job without Ali confirmed with his promises, Laura needed to be smarter than that.

Laura was listening to Ali arrangement details with great interest and now she just needed to know the financial part, and before the dinner was finished, Ali expressed his desire to start immediately with the arrangement, he suggested staying for the night together, saying to her that he wouldn’t lose her because he felt she was the ideal woman for him.

He looks at her waiting for a reaction hopping her acceptance, but she does not confirm anything to him, because she was still waiting to know how much the arrangement was. She played hard with him, and he falls right in her web, making him saying what she needed to hear, along with a thick transparent bag engraved with Bank of England and right under she can read
£20,000
.

"This is for you, if you want to start our arrangement and this is just for tonight."

Laura looks at the transparent bag and sees the thick pile of £ 50 notes, the only time she see so much money is at the end of the day at the store where she works, and now she had all this money for herself, it was so much, she was so excited inside, but she didn’t want him to know that and kept her posture.

She couldn’t stop thing,
£20,000
! To spend in everything she wanted, it was amazing, she felt like she could own the world, she needed to keep her golden goose always happy and he would give her much more.

Ali was a little worried about her, she didn’t seem happy enough and said: “This is just to thank you for coming and making me company for dinner and I would be very pleased if we could extent our night and spend the night together? I will be in London again, only the next month.”

Laura looked discreetly at the money and at him and ending up saying to him "Yes I would love to extend our night" she said smiling.

Leaving the club they had a car with a driver waiting, to take them to the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge, where Ali liked to stay and tonight Laura could stay with him, he was very happy.

Approaching the hotel although they were talking about the city and places, Laura felt like a little kid and very nervous because it was not usual to have this type of arrangements, but at the same time, she thought this was a particularly stunning adventure as it was a guy like him she longed for so long.

The hotel was just 5 minutes walking from Laura’s work, but she never had the chance to see the hotel in the inside and tonight she had the opportunity to get to know what it was like staying in a luxury hotel for the first time in her life.

As soon as they reached the hotel, the doorman opened the door to Laura, and then another one opened the main door to get into the hotel. Laura was fascinated with the hotel, it was pure glamour, sober colors in a combination of gray, brown, glass and crystal, straight lines, stylish and contemporary. When they finally reached the spacious suite, it was a room that was three times larger without any effort then Laura's flat. Inside the colors were the same as the main entrance, with the same line of decoration, velvety sofas, they were cute and looked comfortable. Laura watched attentive the bedside tables, finding them with a very interesting design, they looked like a small exquisite drum.

Making herself comfortable to ease the pressure from her shoulders, she poured some champagne, while Ali disappeared into the next room, leaving her alone. She undressed going straight to the bathroom taking a relaxing bubble bath.

She always had the desire having a relationship to enjoy life on another level and having the unique experience from a wealthy world, if she couldn’t do it by herself. Being always her deepest desire benefiting from things she always dreamt of.

Laura knew she needed to do some sacrifices, and she knew what they would be. But she didn’t care, if she could have everything she always wanted, it was okay.

She was just waiting to give herself to the right man, the man who deserved to appreciate her company; she wanted to connect with him and have everything he was able to give her.

And that's why tonight she was going to give to a stranger, aware that most people couldn’t fulfill their goals and were only able to criticize her, if they know what she was about to do for money. But she always thought differently from her friends and that’s why she never shared her goals with them.

She always thought -
If I have to be unhappy, I prefer to cry in inside a Lamborghini.

She was always the opinion,
people who say that money does not bring happiness, are always people who don’t have any money.

When she heard this from her friends, she would shake her head in disagreement and thinking to herself
- How can you say something without having ever experienced, you live day-a-day of a ridiculous income, that can’t even pay for a decent vacation, because all the money goes to the house, food, school, medicine and clothes…and what's left in the end of life? You only hope for a miserable pension –

She was never able to agree with them and thought whenever they tried to dissuade that money was not good to anyone, Laura would only believe in it when a billionaire told in her eyes that money doesn’t bring happiness.

Tonight was a night of changes, a night that would finally bring her everything she wanted. She knew it.

When Ali returned from the living room, she was already in bed with the duvet pulled up to her neck; he looked up at her and laughed.

"What are you laughing?" Laura asks him suspiciously.

"Shyness still makes you a prettiest girl" said smiling on the way to have his shirt unbuttoned, he puts the watch on the table beside, next to Laura, she looked at the watch and she asked if she could touch it.

"Sure"

She took the watch and looked at it carefully: "It's beautiful, I had never seen such a piece of art" she said handing to him.

"If you saw another watch like this one, it would be a problem" he said with a laugh. She looked confused at him, he explained

"This watch is unique in the world, is a
Patek Phillipe
, cost me around £2,000,000. I love buying watches as investments "He told her while putting the watch inside the safe.

"Wow" was the only sound that Laura could say, when she learnt the price of the watch.

"What is your nationality?" Asked Laura knowing that everyone was from anywhere but London.

"I know you might not believe it, but I was born in London, but my family is from Iran. I know what you're thinking, all my family is Muslim, but I don’t usually practice the religion, only a few bits here and there nothing out of the ordinary"

He smiled at her, pleased to give a simple and quick explanation. He couldn’t tell her what was his real intention, not now, only when he knew she was ready.

He came close to her without a word looking into her eyes, sat at the edge of the bed, his hand touches gently her face, neck and uncovers her body slowly, kissing her, enjoying every second of it.

The chemistry between them, after they spent the first night together, was definitely there, sealing the "business" with real pleasure of being together.

The next morning Laura called early to the store where she used to work saying that he could not go to work because she was ill and felt feverish.

While Laura was at the phone Ali sent breakfast to the suite. Today was a special day and she wanted to enjoy all the perks that Ali could give her, she was not missing work because she loved working in the store, no, she was missing work because Ali was her ticket to get out of there for good.

Breakfast arrived with the finest delicacies that one could imagine. Laura saw for the first time in her life, the finest breakfast with fresh croissants and other pastries, toast, coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice, meats and cheeses, fruits and much more. Laura looked amazed at that breakfast table; she saw food for nearly a week.

In Ali’s company she ate willingly, they spoke cheerfully and more relaxed with each other. Ali told her the plans for the next weeks, letting her know if she wanted
to travel, she could to him. It didn’t matter where he was. Excited she said she would love to travel to him and every time he would her next to him just needed to call and she would be there for him, sealing the deal with a kiss.

It was 9 am already and Ali needed to go to the airport, he needed to travel to Bahrain on business. But before leaving left precise instructions at the reception that Laura could get everything she wanted and that she could go to the magnificent hotel's spa, hairdresser. She could even stay for lunch if she wished. Everything was on him.

Spending her first luxury morning, she went to the spa, did massages, skin treatments, got her hair done and because it was lunch time, she took the opportunity to get to know the restaurant.

Enjoying every minute of this opportunity and she went for it, crossing the hotel reception, through the mirrored oval bar that gave a sophisticated and beautiful appearance. Going down a rounded wooden stairs, with metal handrail and horizontal slats silver, each one with a point of light.

Although the menu was a delight after another, Laura opted only for a salad with grilled chicken breast, after all, now she had a reason to stay elegant.

She didn’t notice that her boss saw her when she left the hotel, Laura was taken by surprise when he stand front of her and confronted her because she hadn’t gone to work. She didn’t know what to say and started feeling frustrated because she never missed work and was not use to it. And when she opted to do it for the first time, she got caught. Her boss was so angry at her, he said Laura right there at the street, she should stop by his accountants to pick up her last payment, she would no longer work for him.

Arrived home, she sat comfortably on the sofa, opened the bag and pulled out the money, looked at it thoughtful, opened it from the transparent bag and laid the notes on the small table next to the couch starring at the notes.

There is was £ 20,000 in cash, this was the amount she used to earn during an entire year, when she used to work in the store and Ali gave it to her, only to enjoy Laura’s company, just for one night.

Knowing for sure, Ali was the door to the world she always aimed for, was now very real, she was a sugar baby with everything it would come from it, the good and bad and the price she needed to pay, was not so high after all, as she loved be with him. If there was one thing that Laura wanted, was to stay focused on her goals, she didn’t had any plans to fall in love or getting marry with Ali.

Of course Laura wanted to get married one day, but she wanted to be in love with a successful guy, about same age and not her father’s age, as Ali was. She just felt, Ali was not the man she dreamt to marry, he was old, Muslim, and although he was attractive for his age, she aimed someone more her age. Ali was just the start of a successful and rich life, the life she always wanted.

Although Laura was feeling a little bit guilty for losing her the job so prematurely, she knew Ali would contact her again shortly. She just needed to be patient.

Still sitting looking at the money, entangled in her thoughts she was now confused. Having enough money to spend in everything she wanted, was always what she wanted, but now the money was in front of her and she couldn’t stop thinking how difficult life was and now out of work, she could not afford to spend all the money, she had to be clever and calculate more than ever.

She decided she should take the rest of the afternoon to do some shopping, but only with a very small part of the money, half of the money would go immediately to the bank and the rest she would leave at home in a small safe she had for emergencies.

It had passed three days and Ali gave no news, not even a message. Laura began to wondering, but she thought Ali didn’t have time to plan time to be together again. She didn’t want to contact him, because she didn’t want to look to eager to see him again, much less give the impression as a neurotic woman after him and after his money.

She spend days at home, she went for walks in the city, spending her in museums, trying to learn more, and she spent a lot of time on the Internet trying to figure out what she could do professionally, something that could give her the freedom to travel at any time and work wherever she was, making her own schedule.

She knew how to get access to Ali and other men like him if he didn’t contact her, but she was willing to do something for her, she didn’t want to depend completely in a man, she had to be smarter than that.

Inviting for dinner a group of friends, to help her spend time, they didn’t lose time and asked her directly if she had arranged an enchanted prince, she smiled at them saying she had met a very interesting man, he was an Arab billionaire, omitting the part of the financial arrangement. As soon she said Ali was a billionaire, her friends didn’t lose any time and said as soon he had her in bed, was the only thing he would want from her, he would disappear forever, because rich people only date and marry other wealthy people. Leaving Laura thinking about that for a moment, but she had the feeling, that wasn’t true, she knew deep down Ali would contact her again.

That’s why she would never introduce Ali to her friends and family, they don’t understand, they would never understand her choices. Laura changed the subject, it was always the same thing with all around her, she was tired of her friends, and she wanted new friends, because these ones take every opportunity to show all their contempt to wealthy people.

But Laura knew deep down her friends were only envious of successful people and someone who has access to all the best that money can buy.