I swear this is a pompous pep story, just keep reading!
"Hello, my name is Jasmine Fenton." I say as I shake the hands of the two here for marriage counseling.
"Hi, I'm Valerie."
"I'm Tucker." They respond back to me.
"Let's get started. Hmm...how long have you too been married?"
"About ten years."
"Well, at least we agree on something." Valerie says sarcastically.
"Ah, have any children?"
"No." They quickly say and I write it down.
"Do you want children?"
"...I do." Valerie tries to avoid her husband's glaze.
"Not at the moment." He responds, still staring at his wife. "I just don't think it'd be fair to have one while having these problems."
"That's understandable." As I write, I notice that Valerie keeps fidgeting. "Do you want to say something, Val?" She pauses for a moment and then begins to speak.
"I love him, it's just I think people change, don't you agree?"
"Huh, oh yeah!" I really wasn't expecting her to ask me something. "I do. I often feel like we become a lot of different people before we actually settle into who we are...especially when we're young..."
"We were 18." She continues. "I'm not the same little girl who was in love with him in high school."
"But I still love you!" Tucker cuts her off. "Tell me what you want me to do, I promise I can change!" He begins begging. "Tell me Val! Please."
"Just don't do that." She snaps at him.
"I can't." He puts his arms out in defeat. "I can't do this."
"I'm sorry. Tuck-." Tucker walks out of my office and slams the door leaving me alone with his wife.
"I don't want to hurt him...he deserves better." She says barely above a whisper.
"Better than you?" She looks up at me surprised I said anything, but still she nods.
"Yeah..."
"Why do you fell that way?"
"He's a good guy." She begins to tell me. "He's loving and a gentleman, but I feel like we're room mates and not husband and wife." I give her a knowing smile.
"You met someone." Oh, she was not expecting that, the shocked look on her face said it all, but I kept going. "And he showed you everything you're missing...this new guy, he excites you. Buys you flowers. He tells you that you're beautiful. He does all the things Tucker doesn't." She began giving me a nervous look. "It doesn't matter to me, I'm not here to judge you... I just think if you're honest with me then we can get to the root of the real problem." I give her a soft smile and she begins to get less tense.
"How'd you know?" She asks me, I almost laugh.
"I'd like to tell you a story about my brother if that's okay?" She only nods as a response.
"Danny, that was his name. I knew him so well. We were so close. We were raised in a very small town named Amity Park. And our parents, Jack and Maddie, they took us to these weird conventions, most of the time they were for ghost hunters. Every weekend. It wasn't very much fun for us because we felt like freaks. My mother and father were ghost hunters, you can imagine what people thought of us. We were a very weird family, not many people wanted to be around us. So from the moment Sam and Danny met something sparked between them. They became inseparable. They were the yin and yang to each other. Now Maddie tried to keep a strict hand on Danny, but Danny was in love! And so was Sam. Danny's love seemed to be different from other people's. For him it was all consuming. It brought him life. Most times they didn't even notice that Maddie was watching them. Somewhere along the way she decided she couldn't fight this. Maybe this was meant to be. Danny was so worried when he asked for Sam's hand in marriage. He just knew our mom would say no to it. But she reluctantly said yes and gave her blessing. I'll tell ya, if smiles were dollars, they would have had millions at their wedding. At last they were together and life began. They found this cute little place together, they didn't have much, but they had each other. And they were more in love than ever. Sam's life long dream was to work at a pharmacy that she could one day own. Danny's dream? Well, his dream was to become an astronaut, but that wasn't easy. So he ended up working for Paulina, the millionaire match maker.
"Good morning." Star greets her employer.
"Buenos días. That means good morning in Spanish." Star only smiles at how much Paulina thinks she's stupid.
"You have your 8 o'clock waiting upstairs."
"Ah, he's early!"
"Mhmm."
"Okay! Adiós!" Star notices Danny talking to another employee and decides to pick on him, one of her favourite pass times.
"Ah...look at those shoes." She says in a scolding voice.
"Yeah?" Danny brushes it off, acting like Star was talking about someone else.
"I wasn't talking about hers, I was talking about yours." Danny only rolls his eyes. "Danny we've been going over this for weeks. Look around this office, what do you see?" Danny looks up and stares at Star and begins to mumble.
"A bunch of women with fake hair from India."
"What you should see is people in this office that care about what they look like. Unlike you we have over a billion dollars walking in and out of this office looking for love. And we have a standard to uphold." She begins making arm movements gesturing to Danny's outfit. "This is not our standards."
"Okay, Star, I don't have to wear fancy suits or fancy shoes to prove that I'm qualified to do my job."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't." Danny begins walking back to his own office space with Star following.
"Yes you do!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"I have a degree."
"A degree?"
"Yup."
"A degree without labels on your back is nothing." Danny huffs in frustration, how shallow can these people be?
"Say no more, that dress says it all." Star looks down at her outfit and shifts uncomfortably.
"What's wrong with my dress?"
"You can't even breathe, Star."
"You don't breathe." Danny only chuckles at her response. Suddenly, their boss walks out with a man with silver hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Oh my god." Star says as if she couldn't believe it when she saw him.
"Who's that?"
You're killing me. You've never heard of Vlad Masters?"
"No."
"He's only a famous guy, named Affluence Magazine, 'Billionaire of the Year'. Hello? What planet are you from."
"Well, what is he doing here? Please don't tell me he's here to get fixed up by Paulina."
"You need to bite your tongue. She's an amazing match maker, perfect at her job." Just then Paulina opens the door and signals for both Star and Danny to come. She walks them to the room Vlad was in.
"Star, this handsome man is Vlad Masters, he's here to learn how we operate, so take notes please."
"I'm guessing he's here for a date too?" Danny says almost mockingly.
"Oh, this handsome face I doubt has problems getting dates." Paulina says while touching his face.
"Ah well, I'm actually between relationships right now."
"So...You could use our services?" She tries to persuade.
"Well, I prefer the old fashion way of meeting my partners."
"Ah ha, you like to beg!" Paulina teases. They begin laughing, all except Danny and Vlad was quick to notice.
"So what do you do?" Vlad says staring at Danny.
"...Oh me?" Danny blushes, he didn't know he was the one being asked.
"Yes." Vlad replies sternly
"I'm umm... the in-house therapist."
"This is Danny." Paulina introduces the two.
"Well, Daniel, you're the one I'd like to speak to."
"Danny, Vlad is looking to invest in my company. We want to take this company online and internationally."
"Oh...okay?"
"Well before I make that type of investment, I'd like to be certain of what I'm getting myself into." Vlad gives Danny a smile that sent shivers down his spine.
"I totally understand. And Danny will take take great care of you." Paulina pushes Danny forward. "Won't you ,Danny?"
"Uh, sure,"
"Star, please clear Danny's schedule. Danny, please answer any questions Mr. Masters may have."
"Sure. Umm...right this way." Danny motions for Vlad to follow him.
"All right." They walk to Danny's office alone.
"Did you show him what he's going to do?" Sam's grandmother asks.
"Yes I did."
"I check the register at random everyday. So you're gonna have to account for every dime." Sam shuffles a little, hoping her grandmother doesn't scare the new employee away.
"No problem." Kwan says reluctantly.
"Random!"
"I got it, ma'am."
"Soo...are you married." Grandma tried keeping up the conversation. Kwan hesitated a little before replying.
"No I'm not married."
"Do you have kids?" Sam asked curious.
"No." Then came back the uncomfortable silence.
"Welcome to our pharmacy!" Sam says, trying to sound cheery. Kwan only smiles awkwardly.
"So...should I get to work?"
"Oh...Yeah!" Kwan walks off and leaves the two by themselves.
"Hey..." Sam's grandmother catches her attention. "Not married. No kids. What he's wearing...He's gay!"
"Well it doesn't matter if he is." Sam snaps at her.
"I don't know how I feel about this." Vlad explains to Danny.
"What?"
"I'm not sure this is something I should be investing in. It's very odd to me."
"Yeah?"
"So you agree?"
"A little bit. Yeah." Danny says honestly.
"So I shouldn't invest?" Vlad raises an eyebrow at Danny.
"I-I'm not saying that. I'm just agreeing that it's strange. A little unnatural. Guys paying to meet women...You know what, I'm just going to shut up now." Vlad only smirks at his reply.
"No Daniel, continue please."
"Well, I kinda prefer the old fashion way of dating."
"Well I completely agree." Danny and Vlad get into a deep discussion about the investment and in the end, Danny makes him take a test.
"What's this?"
"A test to see if someone is compatible." Vlad begins staring at Danny, making him very uncomfortable.
"You...Have I seen you somewhere?"
"Ha, I doubt it."
"Do you run?"
"Y-yeah? Everyday at-"
"Casper Park." Vlad finishes his sentence. Danny can only stare wide eyed at Vlad, how did he know? "Eight AM every Saturday..."
"Wait, you run there too?" Vlad nods. "Now that you mention it, I think I have seen you there. You're that fruitloop guy always wanting to run with his shirt off?"
"I'm not a fruitloop."
"Yeah you are."
"I get hot."
"No, you're running with a shirt off so all the pretty girls can see you."
"What if it's not women I'd hope to see me running." Danny looks up at him, clearly confused. "You notice me running, don't you Daniel?" Danny was stunned into silence. He felt his cheeks heating up, while Vlad gives him arrogant smirk. Was he being hit on?
So this is based off the movie Temptation btw. Leave your reviews and comments if you want!