Chapter 2

Pick one of these men to help? This was a tough decision. Most of them were very nice men, besides Yamato... He didn't make the best impression at the supermarket. And anyways, what favors would I have to do? I'd like to know all of them so I can pick the easiest one! Who should I pick? Yamato, Saeki, Ren, Yuta, or Takao? They all seemed like such great young men. And I wanted Uncle to get me a job with an employer, and this was the only way to get that.

"We're going to miss the game! Sophia, please pick already," Yamato urged. "Is it that hard of a decision? I get that all of us are attractive. I mean, all the women always want me... but..."

Okay, now I knew for sure that Yamato was out of the question. I rolled my eyes at his annoyingly cocky attitude. So, my decision was out of the four remaining. Right now, Takao seemed the best. He was such a gentleman to me. Yuta seemed great, too! He was so funny and cheerful. Ren seemed mysteriously shy, and helping him would allow me to get to know him better, hopefully. I kind of liked Ren. He wasn't cocky like Yamato. He was cute & shy, which made him all the more appealing to me. Yuta didn't seem to be my type, anyways. It was between Takao and Ren, now. I decided that I probably wouldn't get a lot of opportunity to talk to Ren because he's so shy. Takao was less shy. So, I had made my mind up on Ren.

"Score!" Saeki exclaimed. "The studio wants to give me an award for my scriptwriting! This is such an honor! I have an award show to go to tomorrow." Saeki proudly grinned. Wait, what? Saeki was a scriptwriter... An attractive one, too. I saw him on a magazine cover! That's how I recognized him. He wrote one of my all-time favorite TV shows! I didn't know Saeki was this famous!

"Oh right. Sophia, Saeki's a scriptwriter. He writes some of today's most popular TV shows and movies," Uncle said. "I don't want to give anything away, but Saeki's favor involves one of his new works, in case you were wondering."

Okay, now I'd gone from being confident about Ren to being confident about Saeki! Was his favor the chance to be on a TV show or in a movie? I was so excited. This could be a huge opportunity for me. Choosing Saeki seemed so right.

"Oh Lord! I choose Saeki!" I exclaimed.

"What!?" Most of the guys gasped.

"What the heck?" Yuta said, looking so disappointed and surprised. "I can't believed you picked Takamasa Saeki! Are you sure about this decision, Sophia? It's not too late to change your decision to someone more appealing... like me."

"Yuta, whatever the lady wants is what she wants," Takao said. He sighed. He was so calm. Was he disappointed? I couldn't tell. "It's a shame," Takao continued. "I really needed help with a family problem, and there seemed to be no one better to help me than Sophia."

I felt a little bad. I could have helped Takao. That could have been my chance to be with Takao. Had I chosen fame over romance and love? I think I had. There was still a chance that I could get close to Takao, but right now I needed to focus on my possible-career with Saeki! Takamasa Saeki had the power to make me a huge star. My fame was in his hands!

"So it's settled. Sophia, you'll help Takamasa Saeki?" Uncle asked, to confirm.

"Yes, Uncle," I said, nodding. "He seems like a great choice. But what exactly is your favor, Saeki?"

"Uhm..." Saeki bit his lip. "Let's be blunt here. You're going to be my fake wife and toy. Okay?"

"What!?" I cried. "Uncle, did you lie to me? This has nothing to do with Saeki's new works or shows! What is this? I can't believe you'd lie to me to get me to pick him, Uncle. Are you siding with him or something?"

Uncle Kunihiko laughed. "Oh Sophia, calm down. He was just being blunt. Allow him to explain in detail why you're going to be his fake wife. Not toy, sir. I will not let you do that to her. Don't worry, I didn't lie to you."

"I still can't believe you picked him!" Yamato cried. "All the women find me irresistible. Yet you... you're odd, Sophia. I like that. Maybe you're playing hard-to-get. I don't really know. You don't have to play like that. I already see something special in you."

Yamato was suddenly being flirtatious and nice... Still, I didn't want to help him. I wanted to switch back to Ren now!

"I was really hoping that Sophia would help me," Ren sighed. "Oh well."

"Shh! Allow Saeki to explain his intentions to Sophia," Uncle said.

"For my upcoming work, I'm portraying actors as a married couple in my script. But of course, how can one describe the cake if he doesn't have the cake?" Saeki asked. "You see, I need to describe this married couple in my script. How can I describe the married couple if I don't know what the experience of being married is like? So, I need you to pretend to be my wife, so I can see what it's like to be married! Then I can describe it as easily as describing a cake after you've eaten it. It's pure logic, my darling."

I guess it was a good reason. But I can't do this! I can't pretend to be Saeki's wife!

"Uncle, what is this!? I can't handle this!" I sighed.

"I see..." Saeki muttered. "It's a shame. I wanted my marriage script to be a success. I'd definitely thank you at the award show if it's successful enough to be nominated or win an award, you know."

That sounded nice. To be thanked at an award show? Yes, please! But still, I couldn't handle this or go through with it.

"Uncle, I want to, but I just can't!" I said. "Don't you get it?"

"Oh yes, Sophia. I get it," Uncle said, nodding. I'm so glad Uncle understands! Then he continued, "It's alright if you don't want to be Saeki's fake wife. That's understandable. But of course, are you forgetting that if you don't pretend to be his wife, then I'm not getting you a job, right?"

"Damn it!" I cried. "Fine, I'll do it. Not for long, though. Just a short period of time. For a short time, I'll pretend to be your wife, Saeki. Just for the experience of being married, though. After your script is finished, we're done."

"Excellent!" Saeki exclaimed. "This is going to be great!"

"Don't get too close to him," Yuta whispered. "You'll regret it. He's a pervert sometimes."

"Yuta! I heard that," Saeki said, rolling his eyes. "Oh Sophia, do not worry at all! I'll treat you like a lady, and respect you like one, too. This is all professional. It's acting. Act affectionate, and Kuni will get you that job that you want. It's a favor for a favor, right? Right! Now come on, we should get to my luxury condo. You'll like it there. We should begin acting like a married couple immediately!"

Before I could object anything, Saeki grabbed my luggage and headed out the door. I had to follow him now, anyways. Even if I was going to change my mind, I still needed to get my luggage back. Hopefully pretending to be his wife wouldn't be so bad. I mean, he's super hot... And he's a famous guy. This famous guy wanted to be my pretend husband so badly! I should be excited. He's the scriptwriter of my favorite show, too. It's an honor to just be in his presence, and it's even more of an honor that he wants to study me as his pretend-wife.

"Lovely, I got you out here," Saeki said with a smile. "When we enter my condo, we're going to act like married couple. That's where it all begins. You should enhance this experience to make my writing better. Call me a pet-name! Why don't you call me 'honey' or 'darling'? I'll do the same to you. We'll seem like such an affectionate couple! This is wonderful."

"No way!" I cried. "I'm not calling you honey, Saeki."

"I'm trying to enhance our married experience, Sophia!" Saeki said. "Calm down, it'll make it more fun. You're lucky you're with me, and not with a jerk like Yamato, a softie like Takao, a shy-guy like Ren, or a complete goofball like Yuta. You got me. I'm 10 times better than them, trust me. I'll make your favor not a favor... I'll make it a gift. You'll have fun being my fake wife, Sophia. Trust me."

Would this marriage with Saeki be fun like he said? I could only hope.