Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or anything remotely attached to this show, only the basis of this story.
CHAPTER ONE
THE ARRANGEMENT
She always starts her morning the same way.
She's up by seven o'clock, brushed, dressed and ready to go by eight. She takes the metro down into the city, finds a seat to sit down if she can or stands leaning against the post if she can't.
And, of course, if a pregnant woman or someone pushing a stroller comes on then she's the person that moves (if she managed to find her own sit to down in the first place).
Yeah. She's that person.
Once she's a couple of blocks away from the office, she heads into her regularly frequented coffee house to pick up some brews for her and the girls (or, well, women) and works with.
And their orders are generally an array of caramel drizzle macchiatos with a dash of hazelnut syrup and and soya milk to replace the cream, simple black coffee that are too strong, too pure for her own taste, or those fancy chai teas that she's pretty sure nobody even really drinks but they just like to carry them around.
She, April Kepner, she likes a regular coffee with two sugars and plenty of milk. She's an easy girl (or, well, woman) to please.
Then she finally gets into her place of work. She's currently on a low-salary temp job for some hotshot politician who she only ever sees pictures of or maybe catches a glimpse or two of on the news.
Apparently, he's successful, and charming and is quite easy on the eyes. She isn't fazed by it though, by the way people fawn over him like a shiny car. Why should she be?
Attractive men have never been interested in her and she always finds herself blushing, stuttering or worse even trembling whenever someone she's found moderately good looking has spoken to her.
He, the hotshot politician who she's only ever seen pictures of or caught sight of? She's never even spoken to him, so why should she care what he looks like or how he uses his supposed charms?
"April!"
She whips her head around to face a blonde jumping up from her seat, hands open and gleefully accepting the cardboard tray of drinks in her hands.
"You are a lifesaver!"
"I know." The redhead, April, smiles.
The blonde, Arizona, picks up the chai tea from the selection, holds out the tray in the other hand, taking it out of April's concerns.
"So," She begins, eyes widening at the delicious taste of her beverage, "It's Friday. We're all going out for drinks later. You wanna join?"
April has to bite her bottom lip then, dropping her eyes to the carpeted floor quickly. "Ah- I don't know."
"Come on, it'll be fun! Callie wants to try out this new bar downtown! It's meant to be super fancy." She wiggles a brow, nudges the redhead's side.
April Kepner does not do bars, because on the rare occasion that she does, she usually ends up drinking too much and making a fool out of herself.
April Kepner would rather stay at home, back in her too-small-for-its-own-good apartment, and read a novel in bed after preparing a delicious but cheap meal. She might drink a little wine, might Skype for a little while with her best friend.
But April Kepner does not do bars.
"I can just want to stay in tonight."
Arizona pouts, eyeing her carefully before shrugging her shoulders after a moment, dropping the topic. "Okay." She smiles, waves the tray around, "I'm gonna go dish these out. But I'll text you the address later anyway, alright? In case you change your mind."
With that, she's turning back around down the hallway and leaving April stood alone in the middle of the way, hand clasping the purse hanging from her shoulder and too many thoughts rushing through her brain.
She didn't think a job like this would entail so many invitations, in all honesty.
April, do you wanna come out and party tonight?
April, I know a guy you will just love! Shall I set you up?
She took the job as a way of making ends meet, because she was twenty five and alone in Seattle while her family was back in Ohio and her student loans needed paying off, slowly if not surely.
She'd studied political science, and had excelled in the domain. But there was a lack of jobs seeking that sort of qualification in the Washington state and she had no means of leaving and starting up afresh somewhere else.
And then this opportunity came along, and it helped. Lexie scored her a temp job in the office, probably because she knew (slept with) one of the advisers of the supposedly hot hotshot's campaign.
She would kill to be doing a thousand other things than this, then helping sort through documents and proofread notes and whatnot. But it paid, and she needed the money.
As a Christian, her parents had always told her that money never mattered much to man, that he needn't be selfish with his expenses and that gold would never truly make a man happy.
She'd learnt differently here, however. Money makes the world turn.
Sliding her purse across her desk, and signing into her computer, she drops her head into her hands, growls deeply.
Maybe she should pop into church during her lunch break. Just as a quick reminder to herself of what truly matters in life.
"Where are you right now?"
April glances around her, tucks a fallen strand of hair behind her ear when an elderly man sat a pew away glares in her direction. "I'm in church." She hushes down the phone.
"For real?" Lexie Grey's disbelieving voice seeps through the phone. "It is noon on a Friday, why the heck are you in church?"
April rolls her eyes, grips her phone in her left hand as she waves her right hand over her body, up and down, left and right.
"I am praying!"
She stands up then, nods down at the holy statue of Christ hanging at the head of the church a final time before picking up her purse and smiling politely at the old man as she walks past him on her way out.
"Why?" She can hear the smirk in her best friend's voice, "Did you do something bad? April, did you hook up with someone?!" Now she's definitely disbelieving.
"No, I did not 'hook up' with someone!" She sighs, groans silently as she exits the church and stops in her tracks when she arrives on the street outside.
Lexie tssk's on the other end, "Well, then what were you praying or confessing or…preaching about?"
"Gluttony."
"Oh." She pauses, clears her throat and earns a confirming 'yep' from April. "Right."
"Yeah."
"Anyway, moving along," Lexie continues, "You didn't forget about our plans for later, did you?"
April's eyes widen, her lips parted as she trails the word, "Plans?" She squeaks, receiving a groan from her friend in reply.
"We're supposed to be going shopping and then to dinner. I have some stuff to tell you." She smiles as she speaks and the redhead nods to herself, popping into a small bakery to buy a muffin for her lunch.
"Right. Yes. Okay." She licks her lips, eyeing the counter display, "Hey, Lex, I'll see you later."
"Busy woman, ugh!" The brunette giggles, calls out a quick goodbye before hanging up. "See ya!"
"Bye."
Stepping back behind her desk, April slips her light jacket over the back of her chair neatly.
She settles down to log in, pick up where she left off, her hands curled above her keyboard until a shouting match across the hall catches her attention.
She's never been a nosy person, but even the nicest souls eavesdrop sometimes.
"I heard he's being sued." A voice beside her interrupts her thoughts and April turns her head to face Jo, a temp-y just like her.
"Really? For what?" She assumes he is the hotshot politician she works for.
Jo shrugs, spins around in her chair and twirls her pen between her fingers. She crosses her legs beneath her Indian style and licks her lips. "Probably got into bed with the wrong person again."
"He's-" April pauses, bends her neck to try and catch a glance of their boss, "He sleeps around?" She hushes, teeth gritted and eyes squinting over at the young brunette.
The other temp lets out an obvious 'Ha!' noise, raises both brows as she stares April down, "Have you seen him? Damn. Of course he does!" She shakes her head as she talks, brown eyes watching the two men in the office as they pace back and forth.
April falls silent when the office door in question suddenly springs open, making Jo swivel back around in her seat.
A tall grey-haired man walks out of the doorway, hands on his hips as he looks around the room for a second or two, brows knitted as he searches the crowd of employees.
Jo sends April a curious look, almost as though she'd have an answer. The redhead frowns, lifts and drops both shoulders, just as confused as the other woman is.
The man walks around the room full of desks, down between the cubicles and seemingly dropping his focus on every woman he finds.
Was one of the women here suing him or something? Did he sleep with an employee?
April goes to roll her eyes in disbelief at the boss' obvious indiscretions when the grey-haired man stops next to Jo's bureau.
The young brunette stills, glances up at him daringly, "Can I help you, sir?" Jo smiles, crossing her legs professionally.
He scratches his chin for a moment, looks down at her politely, only shaking his head when he catches sight of her wedding ring.
She married young, after falling pregnant at sixteen and moving into her boyfriend Alex's apartment. April knows them, has seen them together. They're cute, a now perfectly married couple, parents to two children.
"You."
April's attention flicks back up at the man now stood beside her. She gulps, turns around in her chair, chewing the inside of her bottom lip for a second. "Me?"
"Yeah." He nods twice, "Get up."
Is she being fired? She's pretty sure she never slept with anyone, or sued them, so-"
"Come on, get up. Come with me." He waves a finger around, sighs as she takes her time, baffled by the whole situation.
"Am I being fired?" April asks as she begins to follow him down the short corridor, sending Jo a worried looked. The brunette just stares back, holds up both hands as though she hs no information to share.
"No. You aren't being fired." The man chuckles, "I do need to ask you some questions though."
He ushers her into the office she'd been spying into a few short minutes ago, and pulls out a seat for her. April sits down carefully, folding the lapels of her skirt beneath her thighs. "Okay?"
The man walks behind the desk at the head of the room then, bypassing the man stood by the window. The man she's guessing is her boss, the hotshot politician she's barely ever been bothered to look at. There's a women she hadn't noticed stood by the wall on her right, cell phone in her hand.
"Are you presently married?"
"I- I'm sorry?" She gasps a breath, lifts both brows.
"Are you married?" The grey-haired man repeat, pen in his hand, clearly ready to take notes of some sort.
"Um…" She doesn't know why she pauses. Of course she isn't married. "No."
"Are you in a relationship?"
April lets a small laugh escape past her lips at that, but she quickly recovers, hand before her mouth apologetically. He doesn't seem like he's in the laughing mood.
"No. I am not…in a relationship." She grins, glances around the room curiously.
"Do you date?"
"Nope." She breathes out, almost a little bit too quickly.
"Are you sexually active?"
"I-" She swallows another breath, hazel eyes watching him dangerously then, "Does it matter? Actually what am I even doing here?"
The office has no personal pictures, only a few professional snapshots of beaches and forests. It's very plain, very minimal, very macho.
"You are aware that we are currently working on the Avery Campaign, are you not?"
"Of course." She spends her days rearranging files and meetings for it.
He stands up from his perch, leans against the front of the desk after rounding the corner. "Then you must also be aware that Mr Avery has to have the most…appealing image of himself?"
She's pretty sure from what she overhears in the ladies' bathrooms that he already has an appealing image.
"Yes?"
"Good." The older man in the room nods, smiles down at her nicely. "So you're aware that in order to obtain the women's vote in his race for Mayor, that Mr Avery will need to have a positive influence on the women of our wonderful city?"
"Sure?"
"Do you, as a woman, think that being a single man, or a married man, would have a greater impact on the women's vote?"
Are they asking her, quiet April Kepner from Ohio, if the potential future Mayor of Seattle should get hitched?
"I think when women see a single man, they assume he can play with them. He can flirt with them and alter their political views because their personal views of him will have been changed. If he smiles, and uses his eyes when he talks, then shallow women are going to be more easily influenced by his looks rather than his opinions."
April pauses then, half unsure of what she's even saying. She shoots the man stood by the window a quick glance, eyeing the back of his suit carefully.
"A married man is more trustworthy, unless the media gets wind of him playing around, that is. But, yes, generally, a married man will earn more votes, more confidence from smarter women because he can't possibly be using them as toys. You know what I mean? He can charm his way into their ballot slip, but he won't be too suggestive and he's portrayed as a caring husband or maybe father, and women love that. Women love the attention. A married man has a women at his side, and these women are in love with power. So, if his wife has a little authority over him, no matter how big, then…" She blushes, pushes her hair behind her cheeks. "I'm not making any sense, am I? Are you gonna fire me now?" She bites her bottom lip, drops her gaze to the floor.
The grey-haired man grins, shaking his head with an amused look on his face, "You did just fine."
"Were you testing me?"
"No. We-" He stops, faces her boss by the window, the hotshot stood with his hands in his trouser pockets. "We were looking for you."
"Looking? As in…" She stares blankly between the two men, completely confused by the meaning of this little meeting.
"Your boss is in need of a wife, Miss Kepner, and we think you would be a perfect fit."
Did she hear that right? Because-
"What?!"
He turns around then, the hotshot with the hands in his pockets and the smile she's pretty sure she's heard talked about a thousand times.
"You don't have to say yes."
"But…" The woman in the room trails off, finishing for him and finally breaking her silence, "It would be great if you did." She nods down at the redhead, "You seem sincere, and kind, Miss Kepner. And while I am more than positive that Avery over here could marry any woman he wanted to, his taste has never been very…down-to-earth."
She sits in silence as the woman talks, her knuckles turning a disgusting white from gripping the edge of her seat so tight, her legs jumpy. Her mouth is dry, her lips deserted as she rambles on about needing a woman to further Avery's image, about him needing a wife to earn the women's vote.
"Why would I agree to this?"
"I imagine you have student loans that will eventually need paying off. And I'm willing to bet you live in a small apartment on the edge of town and you take the metro to come into work every day. You probably have a pet, a small dog or maybe even a kitten? And you eat microwavable meals almost every night because lord knows you can't do out to dinner every night."
How does she-
"Maybe you don't date because you're a recluse, maybe you have intimacy issues. Maybe you shop in the mall instead of buying designer. Maybe you can't afford to visit your folks back home in whatever midwestern state you come from every holiday and you feel guilty about that. Maybe you don't want to work here but it was available and you needed the money, even though you're being severely underpaid for spending eight hours a day sat on your ass typing up files. Maybe the thought of never being able to pay off your debts keeps you up at night. Maybe you worry every night because you're nearing thirty and you still aren't married and you have this crippling feeling that you'll end up alone, and broke, and broken, and your existence will boil down to one small grain of sand in the desert. Am I close?"
April feels her head begin to pound as she blinks, shifting her gaze to the ceiling unbelievably.
What was even happening?
"We would like you to become his wife, Miss Kepner. You can say no, you can go back to your desk and pick up your work where you left off and none of this needs to ever be brought up again."
The brunette in the room continues to speak, approaches April's chair slowly.
"But if you accept this, which we would never force you into, all of your debts will be paid off. You can have your own room in Avery's apartment on the upside of town. You can buy designer clothes, you can eat whenever and whatever and wherever you'd like. You can visit your relatives, they can visit you. The only thing we ask, if you agree, is that this remains confidential. America will have to think you are in love."
"Does he talk?" April finally pipes up, standing and pointing a finger out at her boss, smirk toying on his lips at her question.
"Yes, I talk." Jackson turns to look at her, bright green eyes scanning her slowly.
Petite, redhead, skin as pale as snow had never been his kind of woman. But she's attractive, and she can talk, something that will be vitally asked of her if she agrees to this. She's wearing a short skirt, a floral blouse and some flats that he's pretty sure she finds cute. He can definitely picture her in a dress though, by his side. He can picture her naked, too, despite his best intentions. She looks like she'd be a screamer, hidden behind all that innocence and whatnot.
April swallows a shaky gulp before she holds a hand out to him to shake, holding her breath when his tanned fingers wrap around her own. Damn it. He is appealing, after all. He scruff on his face and his perfectly groomed everything and his tailored suit are killing her.
His skin is dark, but a wonderful mixture of caramel and chocolate and his eyes are a bright contrast. His smile is probably worth a million bucks, and she finds her cheeks flushing a faded crimson colour when he smirks at her, shakes her head accordingly.
"Jackson."
"April." She ducks her head then, tries not to let her inner teenager get the most of her.
Why is he so hot, after all? She knows she's not bad looking herself, but they have to be on completely different levels of attractive surely.
"Do you agree?"
"To this?" April feels his hand slip away from hers then, a spark shooting up her spin when his skin leaves hers. She takes a long heavy breath, feeling her shoulders rise, her muscles tighten as she comes to a decision.
It's not like she's ever going to find anybody to marry her for love anyway. And while she's the furthest you get from being shallow, she's also not an idiot. It's a smart move; pretend to be a politician's wife to advance his career and rise her social standing.
Lexie would be proud. Jesus, however, …
"Yes."
"Wonderful." The brunette pitches, slapping both hands together once. "I'm going to plan a dinner for you both tonight. We need the press to see you together, get the word out."
"Tonight? I-" She, what? Has plans with her best friend? Was going to eat dinner and then go home alone and talk to her puppy? She catches Jackson's inquisitive eyes then, "Nevermind."
"Okay." He smiles, shoves both hands back into his pockets then. "Thank you for this, April."
The way he speaks her name makes her skin erupt in goosebumps and feels like a lame teenager at the prom again. Then again, only a fool could accept this, couldn't they?
"So, we're going to get you married pretty fast, down at the court house tomorrow. It should be over with in a hurry. But we're also going to need to plan a bigger ceremony, so you can invite all of your friends and family and such, okay?" The brunette who's name she still doesn't know grabs her arms gently, "This is going to be good. For you, and us."
"Right." April slips out quietly, shoulders high as she breathes out, still shocked by what she's doing. "Am I still going to work here, or-"
"Oh. No." The woman in the leather skirt shakes her head with a comforting smile, "Maybe just for the end of the day. Tomorrow, you don't need to come in to work. We can start moving you into Jackson's apartment before we head down to the courthouse."
She blinks a few times, trying to understand it all. It's way too fast. An hour ago, she'd been buying a muffin that still sat untouched on her desk. Now she was being catered to by people who wanted to make her into Mrs Avery, wife of the future Mayor. "Can I just-"
"Yeah?" Jackson faces her again, eyes checking her move as she fidgets, licks her lips with pause. "What is it?"
How old are you? Who are your parents? Where were you born? What is your favourite colour? Do we have to have sex? Are you expecting me to sleep with you? How long do we have to be married? Are we meant to be making babies? Do you like dogs? Roses or tulips for the wedding?
"Can I go eat my muffin now? I'm starving."
The woman, who spins around from the desk and hands her a small white card with a printed "Amelia Shepherd, Publicist." written across the front, nods, grins at her innocence. "Sure. Take this. Call me if you need anything."
"Thanks."
She goes to leave until she feels a hand on her upper arm, long fingers wrapped around her bicep. Glancing back around, she notices Jackson stood directly behind her, breath on her neck and voice low as he whispers.
"Thank you, again, April."
"We're just helping each other out, right?" She shrugs, smiles politely before heading out, feeling a tingle on her arm when his touch leaves her body again.
Damn it.
NOTE: I know I said I was going to finish The Loyals first and update Run With Me before I started this but it couldn't wait any longer and I'm in love with my own idea. I hope you liked it, and that you tell me what you thought. Enjoy and comment or whatever please! :) x
I imagine some lovely guest reviewers will have some harsh words to say about this because it doesn't feature rape, or unicorns or rainbows, or women portrayed as submissive creatures to their men, and well, it's by me. This piece of work has feminist undertones, so if you'd rather spike your interest with a story about abuse against women and violent men, then look elsewhere. Excuse me for actually being able to write something good, of substance, in-character. Feel free to read and review something else if you already know you don't like me. Leaving anonymous hate is laughable. Have fun.