Chapter 4.
Sarah cleared her throat and began to speak.
"One, In front of my family the only display of affection I will allow is holding my hand, maybe a peck on the cheek. Otherwise no getting extra handsy.
Two, if anyone mentions marriage or children you are simply to state it's much too early in our relationship to think of such things. Three, I'm not sure what the arrangements will be at the resort, but even if we have to share a room we are NOT sharing a bed. You will be the gentleman and sleep on the couch or magic a second bed, which ever you prefer."
"Anything else?" He questioned when she paused.
"Absolutely no magic is to be used in front of my family."
"I believe I can follow those rules, though I believe our weekend would be a lot more entertaining without them." He gave her a seductive smile and placed his hand over hers. "I'll agree to your rules, but I have two conditions of my own."
"What conditions?"
"One, even though this is just pretend, I would still like the possibility of my filling in as your paramour to be a permanent thing."
"Jareth..." Sarah tried to protest.
"Didn't your add say 'temporary role with potential of being kept on in the new year depending on the individual'?"
"Yes but I meant I may have them pretend to be my boyfriend at other events." Sarah argued.
"Well I'd like the chance to earn a permanent position by your side. You can say no once this is all over, but I want to know you'll at least consider me as as possible suitor."
Sarah sighed. What would it hurt? He did say she could always say no. "Fine. What's your other condition?"
Jareth smirked and lifted her hand and kissed it softly. "Simply that the rules which you put in place may be removed, by you, at any time." Sarah pulled her hand away and opened her mouth, but he continued before she could argue. "And they may be reinstated by you at anytime as well."
"And why on Earth would I do that?" Sarah inquired.
Jareth shrugged. "Perhaps we would find ourselves in a position that requires more of a display of affection than hand holding or a kiss on the cheek. ."
"And why would we be in such a position?"
"Mistletoe." He grinned. "It is the season for it."
"Fine if I feel the rules need to be suspended and/or reinstated I will."
Jareth held his hand out. "Then I believe we have a deal."
She hesitated and then took his hand. "It's a deal."
After dinner Jareth paid the bill with a generous tip, and escorted Sarah into the back of a large black car, insisting on seeing her home. He got out of the car at her building and opened the door with a bow.
"Well.." Sarah began, "I suppose this is it until next week. Here's my number." She handed him a card from the restaurant that she had written it on. "We'll need to leave promptly at 8am Friday morning. Please don't be late. My parents hate that. We definitely don't need the added pressure."
"I wouldn't dare be late. Not my style at all. I'm terribly prompt." He took the card between two gloved fingers and it disappeared immediately. "Are you certain you won't invite me up?" He winked flirtatiously.
"Uhhh, that would be a no, Your Majesty. Too many complications. Could make this whole transaction far too messy. Let's try to keep our distance emotionally...at least for now. You coming up..." The thought thrilled her a little more than she was willing to admit," yeah, not happening tonight."
" Ahh. I had to ask. You're far too lovely to not. Perhaps another time. I'll take my leave." He moved past her to slip into the car.
" Wait." she grabbed his arm. He turned, his brow raised.
"I guess I should say thanks, you know, for doing this. I appreciate it. I really was out of options."
A warm look passed between them, until Sarah looked away.
Jareth took her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips, Sarah looking up to meet his gaze as his mouth touched her skin. The brief contact made her tingle.
"My pleasure, love. Sweet dreams. I'll call you. My number you already have. I mean, I made sure it's programmed into your phone. But, if you have immediate need of me, call my name and I'll hear you."
Sarah kept her hand in his for several seconds more, then somewhat reluctantly pulled it back." Goodnight Jareth."
With another smile he was in the car and it sped away, Sarah watching until it was out of sight.
Sarah headed inside and up to her apartment where she found Glenda curled up on the couch.
When Sarah entered and closed the door, Glenda glanced at the clock. "Well thing must have gone well this time. That is unless you got arrested." She teased.
"Very funny Glenda. Things actually did go well." Sarah replied as she put her purse on the table. "I found someone to fill in as my boyfriend during the family trip."
"Good." Glenda stood and followed Sarah to the kitchen. "So tell me the details. Is he cute? Is he single? Is there a chance for this to become a real relationship?"
Sarah poured herself a large glass of wine and took a large drink of it before she attempted to tell her friend about her date.
"Well..." Sarah was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who could that be at this hour?"
Slowly Sarah walked to the door and looked through the peep hole. There was a stranger there with roses in his hand. Leaving the chain hooked, she opened thr door enough to peer out. "Can I help you?"
"Miss Williams?"
"Yes?"
"You left these in the car. Mr. King asked me to deliver them to you."
Sarah closed the door, unhooked the chain and opened it fully to take the flowers. "Thank you." He bowed to her and left. Sarah closed and locked the door and stared at the roses.
"Roses?" Glenda came over to investigate. "Who are they from?"
"My fake boyfriend." Sarah smiled as she carried them to the kitchen. "Will you grab me the vase in the other room while I trim the stems?"
Glenda retrieved the vase and hurried back the kitchen where Sarah was trimming the roses under running water. "He's sending flowers already?"
"He had these waiting for me at the restaurant along with a box of chocolates. He was running late.
"Ok, I'm impressed. Please tell me you intend to keep him." Glenda pleaded.
"No, not at the moment. He's doing me a favor and accompanying me this weekend. He did ask that I give him a chance to convince me to let him continue being my boyfriend though."
"So he's definitely interested in you." Glenda grinned.
"Yea, I believe he is." Sarah put the roses in the vase and leaned over to smell them. "He paid for dinner, brought me home and was very much a gentleman. I had a lovely evening."
Sarah wished Glenda a good night, carried the vase to her room and closed the door, ignoring the rest of the questions from her roommate. After changing, Sarah gave the roses one last smell before climbing into bed and turning off the light, Her cat curled up at her feet.
The next day, Sarah got up and hurried to work. She had 3 days of work until her vacation started. She had taken extra days before the trip so she could do her shopping and packing, and would be off until after New Year's.
On her way to work, her phone rang. Grabbing it from her purse, she was surprised to see Jareth King on the screen. She shook her head as she remembered him saying he made sure she had his number. "Yes your majesty?" She said when she answered the phone.
"Good morning, Precious." She could hear his smile. "Would you happen to be free today?"
"Not really Jareth. I'm heading to work now. I have to work for 3 days before vacation starts."
"Pity."
"Did you need something?" Sarah asked as she hurried down the street.
"I was going to invite you to breakfast and see if you'd join me for a bit of sight seeing. To further discuss our impending ruse, of course. " Jareth answered.
"Sorry, like I said I have to work."
"I understand, Sarah. I hope you have a good day at work. I'll call you later."
"Jareth," she called to him before he hung up.
"Yes, dearest?"
"I..." she hesitated not believing she eas going to say this. "I could meet you somewhere for lunch. Around 12:30."
"That would be delightful. Text me the address to your job and I'll pick you up there. We can decide then where to go for lunch."
"Sounds good. I'll see you later then."
"Until then, Sarah."
"Bye." Sarah hung up with a smile on her face. Perhaps this wasn't going ro be as bad as she originally thought. She headed into work in a better mood than she had been before.
As lunch approached she got a bit nervous. She hadn't been truly nervous about a guy in long time. But then again, this was no normal guy.
It was The Goblin King, who she had secretly had a bit of crush on even as he had terrified and intimidated her as a teen.
And the way he had watched her in The Labyrinth, with that sexy, maddening smirk, she knew that he knew.
Wait, why am I doing this again? She thought as she watched the clock.
Oh yeah, I need him, damn it.
The phone buzzed and made her jump. "What?" she said after she slapped the button.
"Miss Williams, you have...a visitor. A Mr. King?" The woman in the lobby informed her.
"Be right there!" Sarah said as she grabbed her jacket and purse and headed down.
A few minutes later she was leaving the elevator, smiling in spite of herself.
She rounded the corner to see Jareth leaned against the desk in the lobby, smiling at the older lady on duty and obviously charming the pants off of her. And that wasn't easy, considering how dour the woman typically was.
He looked up and caught sight of her, and waved.
"Thank you so much for your assistance, Ms. Beyers, you are so very kind." He was saying.
Ms. Beyers was actually *blushing*. "Oh Mr. King, no need to thank me, it's my job."
Then she giggled, much to Sarah's wonderment.
"Hello darling!" Jareth greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "You look so fetching in your business clothing! The color brings out your eyes!"
Sarah had worn a Jade green silk blouse under her ivory jacket, with a slim black skirt.
"Thanks, Your...Jay." Sarah stuttered.
"Oh he's a charmer, Miss Williams, a keeper." Ms. Beyers said. "You two have a great lunch."
"Why thank you for saying such, I'm trying to convince her, " Jareth answered with a gesture towards Sarah. "Farewell!"
He escorted Sarah out of the building.
"Wow, if I didn't know you have magic before I would now. We don't call her Stoneface for nothing. She'd give your false alarms a run for their money." Sarah said once they were outside.
"I told you I can charm anyone, precious. Parents, children, stone faced coworkers, people just naturally adore me. Except you." He put her arm through his to walk her to the car. "I'm determined to change that."
"But what if you win me over, and then I become boring? Am I just a challenge you need to win?" she asked pointedly.
He opened the car door, a different car than the night before, a red sporty thing. He closed it behind her and went around the other side and got behind the wheel.
" Ahh Sarah, yes you challenge me, but something tells me that will never change. You're far too obstinate for that."
He started the car and pulled out into traffic, taking control with ease, maneuvering smoothly through traffic.
"When did you learn to drive, and do you have a license?"
Jareth laughed. "Questions questions. So curious. I love that. I learned many years ago, and yes I'm fully licensed. To not follow human laws is to draw attention to myself. Let's just call it yet another challenge I needed to master." He winked. "I have a well established identity in the above. It's become a necessity in the past couple of hundred years."
"Oh. Wait, a couple of hundred years? Do I even want to know how old you are really? " Sarah kept forgetting, he's not human.
"Likely not. But never fear, I'm old enough to consent. " He joked.
Sarah shook her head at his jovial mood. He was hardly what she would expect, not at all.
Soon they were seated in an upscale Chinese restaurant, facing each other while waiting for food once more.
Jareth placed his hand over hers and gave her a soft smile. "So, tell me Sarah, what ever prompted you to take put an ad for a fake boyfriend? Surely a woman of your beauty and class doesn't have trouble finding a man." His tone was teasing.
"Well for one, I don't really have time to date. Between my job, my family, and my need for a little time to myself, there's not any time left for guy. Two, its harder to find a good guy than most people think. And three," she paused as her gaze met his.
"Yes?"
"Well..." she looked away. "Dating is overrated. It's more stress than its worth. The disaster meetings I had with the others that answered my ad prove that. I'll never be able to show my face as those restaurants again."
"Firstly, Let me say how grateful I am that you're allowing me to impose on your very valuable time. Two you simply aren't looking in the right place for a good man." He stated with a seductive grin. His thumb slowly rubbed circles on her hand. "And third, dating can be a challenge, but it can also be a very thrilling and entertaining game. It's like dancing. You need the right partner."
"And why haven't *you* found" the right partner" either? " she asked with air quotes around his borrowed phrase.
"Fair enough question." He replied." I suppose the best way to answer is by saying it's just in incredibly difficult to find a woman who not only will be a dear companion I love that truly loves me back, *and* can be the queen my kingdom needs. I am an admittedly difficult man to please, which comes, like you, from my past experiences, but I'm in a position where whomever I have beside me affects more than just me. I see in you a woman that I can have both of those things with."
Sarah found his answer to be pretty honest. He could have gushed and laid it on thick to woo her more easily, but he chose to give her a reasoned reply.
" I can understand that, " She answered." Why do you think I might be a good queen? That idea is, well, daunting."
"You're clever, handle goblins well, and they already adore you. They typically drive any women who dare come to the castle for more than a few days away. But" The Lady Sarah the Defeater" is a folk hero. Despite you and your band of miscreants wrecking The Goblin City."
Sarah laughed, remembering the chaos. "How are they, my friends? "
" As far as I know they are fine, Champion. Though I was angry with your dwarf friend, because he disobeyed me. However, they helped rebuild what was broken, and went back to their posts. At least Hoghead and the knight did. The large rock throwing beast really has no post. He just wanders."
" I would have thought they stayed together." The thought made her a little sad.
"Most of the Labyrinth dwellers are simple, single minded creatures, Sarah. They tend to like routine. You certainly broke it up for a bit, but after a while..." Jareth splayed his hands and shrugged. "They tend to find their way back to what they're familiar with."
The food came, and Sarah listened as Jareth spoke to the waiter in fluent Chinese.
Of course, she thought.
The food was good and by the time they were finished it was nearly time for Sarah to go back to work. In fact if they didn't hurry Sarah would be late. Jareth offered to poof her to her building but she decided to take her chances.
Still she suspected he manipulated time, because they pulled up with 5 minutes to spare.
"And here you are. Shall I escort you in?"
Sarah hopped out before he could even turn the car off. "Nope. I need to get back. Thanks for lunch, and all the answers you gave. It was pretty enlightening."
"Very well. I'll call you later in the week, and we'll get the weekend sorted."
His smile made her feel a bit warm. She cleared the lump that formed in her throat. "Okay, well, gotta go. Bye!"
She hurried inside the building with a wave.
Jareth waved back, chuckling as he drove off.
The rest of Sarah's day seemed to fly by and soon she was headed home for the evening. As she made her way home she thought of her lunch with Jareth. After hearing his condition of her at least considering keeping him as a permanent boyfriend, she had expected him to go over the top with his attempts to woo her, but instead he was surprisingly honest and casual with her. It was refreshing. For the first time since she put out that ad, she began to think that maybe this actually was a really good idea.
She may actually consider dating The Goblin King, for real, when the holidays were over.
