1
"Regina come in." The young brunette took a deep breath and entered the office in which her boss was waiting for her. She had thought about what she did wrong, what had she done to make her client complain. She went over it in her head but couldn't find it. She closed the door behind her and nervously took place across from the older blonde.
"If this is about last night I.." She already wanted to apologize for something she didn't know. "It's not." Mal, her boss, said. Regina sighed relieved and at the same time raised an eyebrow. "Then why did I have to come here at ten in the morning." She had worked till three in the morning and Mal knew it and still planned a meeting at this hour.
"I have a great offer for you." Regina's mood lighten up as she got interested in what her boss had to say. "I'm not sure if you're up for this but the client prefers you." Regina got more and more curious at what was about to come.
"Someone want to hire you to become his fiancé." Regina bursted into laughing. "Mal with all the respect, you know what kind of men make that sort of request.." She had expected Mal to see the humor in this but Mal's face was still as serious as it was before.
"It's not what you think, I've been in contact with this man, well his assistant, for months, I checked him out, I know everything about him and it's safe." She couldn't be serious, why would she even ask something like this? "He's a very successful businessman, he owns half of the town. But he needs someone to stand next to him, to visit all of his business events with." Now her question started to make sense and Regina got curious all over again. "It's not the same as your usual clients, you will have to live with him and go with him whenever he wants you to but besides that you're a free woman."
Regina thought about it, living with a businessman didn't sound that bad, but still living with a complete stranger? "He doesn't want anything more from you, he just needs you to complete the pictures he's sending into the world." Her boss was obviously excited about this client, probably because she would make a lot of money out of it.
"What about my regular clients?" She had a few clients she saw every now and then. "Well he wants you to meet his personal assistant as soon as possible so you two can talk about the details before signing any contracts, you can discuss all the questions you have with his assistant." Regina nodded, already picturing the man inside of her head.
It was probably one of those business man who got so caught up in his work that he didn't care about personal care. Otherwise he would have find himself a fiancé he didn't have to pay for.
"His assistant is here in about an hour, can you meet her then?" Regina thought about it, was she really considering this? Agreeing to become a strangers fiancé, would she have to marry him eventually? What would she tell her family? What if someone found out the truth. "Yes." She answered even though her head was conflicted at just the thought of meeting him. "I knew you would be interested." Mal said smirking at her computer as she wrote something down.
Regina rolled her eyes and stared out of Mal's window, picturing what her life would look like if she agreed to this. Finding herself crazy for even considering it, but still, she could use the money. "I'm gonna get some breakfast, I'll be right back."
When Regina had returned to Mal's office the hour was over. "Oh you must be Regina, it's so nice to meet you." A small brunette stood up from her seat and shook Regina's hand. "I'm Mary-Margaret but you can call me Mary." Regina gave her a polite smile and took place next to her.
After Mal shortly introduced the two to each other she left the room to gave them some privacy. "Should I start?" Mary asked with a bright smile. Regina simply nodded. "So my boss Mr. Locksley is a very successful real estate businessman, he took over his father's company after Mr. Lockley senior passed away. He's currently in negotiations with another company which he wants to take over, it's the biggest deal of his career so far." Regina listened patiently, she never had been into business, quite the opposite actually. Most of her clients where business people and more than the half of them were cheating on their wives.
"And that's where you come into the picture." The brunette continued. "He will be invited to a lot of diners and other social events, showing up alone isn't really good for his imago. Normally he didn't care about his imago but this deal is very important to him and he wants to do everything he can to make this company his." Regina nodded, so far it sounded like a pretty easy job. But still she had lots of questions.
"At this moment that is really all I can say, do you have questions?" The woman said, showing Regina her smile again. "Why do I have to be his fiancé? Why not just his girlfriend." It was obviously a stupid question she it made Mary chuckle. "In his world girlfriends are temporary, showing up with a girlfriend will only harm his imago. He need to show the world that it's something serious." Regina nodded and before she could ask another question Mary already answered it. "We will make it official on all social media platforms, the papers will pick up on it, probably even the local television channels. You can't tell anyone the truth, the only persons that will now about this deal are you, Mr. Locksley, your boss and I." Regina nodded again, already imagining her family's faces when she told them the news.
Instead of letting Regina ask her questions Mary continued with some other practical points. "You will move in with Mr. Locksley, you'll get your own room and bathroom. He will make sure you'll get everything you need. You'll get paid per day, your average hourly rate minus the hours you will be asleep." Regina listened observant, placing all the information she got into her head.
"Your clothing will be in consolation with Mr. Locksley, but you will have a say in it." Regina never really liked to play dress up but imagining all the pretty dresses she would wear woke up her inner child. "What about my regular clients? I have few I see every now and then." Regina asked. "Well since there is a change the press will be following you we can't take the risk." Mary said apologizing with that same smile.
"How long does he need me?" Regina continued her opportunity to ask all her questions. "Until this deal is closed, probably around six months maybe longer." Regina's mouth nearly fell open. "That long?" She asked surprised, slightly shocked. "It is a big company.." Mary hoped she didn't scare Regina, her boss specifically told her he wanted this woman next to him and she wasn't going to ruin that.
"And after those six months?" Regina suddenly wondered. "We make up some story about how you two didn't work out, don't worry about it." Her family was going to hate her if they ever found out. Mary-Margaret looked into her file and suddenly blushed, making Regina wonder what she was about to say. "Mr. Lockley also told me to tell you that he doesn't pay you to have sex with him." She stuttered, making Regina chuckle, she obviously wasn't use to talk about sex. "So I'll just be his fiancé and show the world how happy we are?" Mary's smile returned. "Yes exactly, what do you say?"
Regina thought for a moment, obviously she needed more time to think about this but it didn't sound that bad, still she had a few demands. "I need to think about it and I also want to meet Mr. Locksley before I sign any contract." She said serious. Mary thought about it. "Mr. Locksley doesn't have time for that, how about you get one week after you sign the contract to decide if you want it or not?" She new her boss wouldn't agree with that suggestion, but he also told her that he wanted her to fix this and so she did. Besides that, she already new that her boss and Regina would make quite the lovely couple. Regina nodded again, slightly proud she got a say in this.
"Can you give me your answer next week? The first dinner is planned short after that, he'd like you to go with him." Mary had closed her file and looked at Regina. "Yes I can, do you need my number or.." Mary interrupted her shaking her head. "I already have your number." Of course she did, she probably knew more about Regina than she did herself.
After Mary said goodbye Mal entered her office again. "So what do you think?" Regina laughed when she saw Mal's smirk. "I think I'm crazy for even considering this.." Now Mal was the one that was laughing. "Why, you'll make a lot of money, you can get big on social media if you want to, you'll get to live in some sort of palace." That was exactly why, it sounded like a dream, every escort's dream and she didn't even had to sleep with him. "It feels like there is something she's not telling me, like he's very old or unattractive or.." Mal didn't give her the change to go on. "You don't know who Robin Locksley is?" So he had a first name, Regina thought. "He's in the top ten of most wanted bachelors of this moment."
This time Regina's mouth did fell open. Mal typed something on her computer and then turned the screen to show her a picture of him. He was definitely not old, or unattractive, quite the opposite. This man was smoking hot, everything she hoped clients would be, being his fiancé, well fake fiancé didn't sound as a crazy plan anymore. "To bad he doesn't want to have sex with you right?" Regina rolled her eyes as she kept staring at his picture and told her boss to shut her mouth.
"Why don't you go home? Think about it, because no matter how perfect it sounds you still have to live a life that isn't yours, remember that." Regina knew Mal would earn a lot of money with this deal and still she cared for Regina, like always. "I will thank you."
That night Regina was having dinner with her parents. As she helped her father to set the table she really hoped her sister Zelena and her husband wouldn't be coming. But when her mother told them dinner was ready the doorbell rang and Regina already knew this was going to be a long night.
"Regina little sis so nice to see you." The redhead embraced her sister over excited before she went to their mother. Her husband Archie gave her a polite kiss on her cheek and followed his wife, as he always did, into the kitchen.
"This tastes wonderful mommy." Zelena said as she had her first bite. Regina rolled her eyes, always pleasing their mother, always being the perfect daughter. Married to one of the most successful psychologist in town, while she herself runs an even more successful jewelry store.
"How are things at the callcenter Gina?" Her sister asked. She hated it when her sister called her that and Zelena knew it. Also she always asked about the callcenter, just to humiliate her career. If they just knew she worked as an escort instead. "It's great really, tell me about your shop, how is it going?" She quickly returned the question so that her sister could fill the next twenty minutes talking about herself.
Regina had wanted to tell her family about her real work. Mostly just to see Zelena's and her mother's face. But her father was holding her back, he would be so disappointed in her, she couldn't bare the feeling of him looking differently at her. But what she would give to shut Zelena up once and for all.
"When are you gonna marry sis?" Regina almost chocked on her chicken as her sister randomly asked her that. "Yes Regina have you met someone yet? You know Leopold's offer still stands." Her mother mixes into the conversation. Just the thought of marrying Leopold makes her nauseous. Leopold was a old partner of her mothers law firm, he was older than her father but the amount of money he owned made that her mother found him to be a perfect husband for her.
"I will think about marrying someone after I found someone." Regina said, making her father smile a little. "And no mother that someone will not be Leopold." Now Archie was smiling too. If they only knew there would be a possibility of her being engaged next week, if they only knew.