His & Her Rules- A Steroline Story.
Chapter 2- The Night We Met.
Thank you to the people who gave my first chapter a read & thank you Tonia for the review, hopefully this chapter will confirm your suspicions!
XOXO
I am not the only traveler
Who has not repaid his debt
I've been searching for a trail to follow again
Take me back to the night we met
The thumping in Caroline's head got worse as she scooped out a spoonful of her favourite mint chocolate chip ice cream. After trying multiple outfits with Bonnie the two girls had collapsed onto the bed and were enjoying all the sugary snacks they could find. What was she doing, she felt pathetic that the only date she could get she had to pay for. She felt moderately pretty she just didn't really ever make much effort, never took the time to look after herself. She would watch the girls in her college classes get dressed up with their perfect hair, nails and make-up and she would stay in and study. *Beep Beep* "Caroline, I hate to disturb your in depth thoughts but we have a reply from Gentlemen4hire. Wanna hear what it says?"
"I don't think I'm in a big enough sugar coma to hear what you're about to say but go ahead, what do I have to lose right?"
"Dear Caroline, thank you for contacting us...yada yada yada...We are sorry to hear about the predicament you're in but we have just the man for the job. For the entire weekend it will be $1000, we will have our first meeting in on Thursday so we can check if you two are the perfect match and go over our rules. Ooooo i wonder if he's hot."
"Bonnie, Thursday is tomorrow!"
"Well technically Thursday is in like 8 hours, how are we still awake right now?"
"Bourbon and sadness." Giggling Caroline pulled the blanket up to her face in attempts to hide in embarrassment. "Look just go along, see what he's like, worst case scenario it doesn't work out and i come with you to this wedding however best case scenario, he's really hot and you fall in love, have lots of sex and babies."
"Screw it, okay I'll go but if I'm gonna make it through this weird date I'm gonna need like at least 7 hours sleep so you can take the couch!"
"Night Cinderella!"
And then I can tell myself
What the hell I'm supposed to do
And then I can tell myself
Not to ride along with you
Caroline sat in the cafe, sipping nervously at her cappuccino and tapping her foot against the table. All morning she had been scrambling around her apartment trying to look pretty enough to impress this guy. Her eyes perfectly lined, with her lips the perfect shade of pink to match her pretty summer dress. She had arrived early to make a good impression on her 'date'. Thankfully she had bought a book along with her so she wouldn't look as sad and pathetic as she actually was. "I personally prefer Sense & Sensibility myself over Pride & Prejudice, never liked that Darcy chap." The deep voice startled Caroline and her hot drink spilled everywhere. "Oh my god i am so sorry." She stuttered whilst attempting to grab all the napkins to mop the mess off the table. Her eyes lifted and she finally saw him through her thick, mascara coated lashes. He was tall, quite muscular with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. His smile could light up the entire room, she thought as she continued to wipe the remains of her drink of her dress. "I'm Stefan, Stefan Salvatore, you're Caroline right? I work for the service you enquired about."
"Umm yeah it's nice to meet you, thank you for your fast reply, I'm sure you have loads of women waiting for your services. I didn't mean that to sound as bad as it did." She blushed. "It's fine, yeah we are super busy but luckily for you i had a last minute cancellation. Let me get you another drink and we can go through all the information." He grabbed her another cappuccino and a black coffee for himself and sat opposite her at the table. "I hope you don't mind me being forward but how does one become a male escort? I'm assuming that is what you are."
"Not forward at all, no point beating around the bush as it were. It's quite a long story but the simple version is, the money is good and there is no commitment which suits me just fine. It's like all the best parts of a relationship the companionship, sex or friendship but without all the bad stuff like jealousy, infidelity and endless trust issues." Caroline was intrigued by him and wondered who had hurt him so bad in the past to make him feel this way about relationships. "That sounds like a really sad way to look at relationships."
"Hey don't worry about me, i have everything i need to keep me satisfied. I have met some truly amazing women from doing what i do, speaking of which let's talk about this arrangement, please tell me what exactly you need from me."
"So my ex boyfriend is getting married in a few weeks and he needs me there to be apart of his wedding."
"And that's where i come in right? You need a husband, boyfriend or lover to make him jealous and break up his engagement."
"There will be no loving of any kind, i need a plus one to show him what he is missing, accompany me to this sham of a wedding in hopes i can fix the hurt i caused him."
"Okay so I'm about to be forward myself but for our services i have to ask, on a level of intimacy what are we talking? Because i want you to know we care about your safety, i have my copy of my most recent health checks and we do require you to do the same" He wiggles his eyebrows at her and hides a smirk on his face. "Picture a marriage of 30 plus years just for one weekend."
"So no sex just talking?" She laughed at his remarks, she considered sex but she could never be somebody who paid for it. She at least knew she was worth more than that. "Very funny, we can be like any normal couple just no sex, even i know I'm worth more than paying for it... No offence. So you still need that health check?"
"Company policy all health checks required. But no offence taken but you shouldn't knock it until you try it, many women i have been with know their self worth just have never met a man who can please them."
"And you're that guy? Cocky much."
"Very much." She could feel the redness spreading across her cheeks and a heat radiating from her groin. "Okay so you in?" She handed an envelope to him across the table. "I'm in."
"One thing you should know is as this wedding is at my home town, we will probably run into my friends and what's left of my family. We should probably get to know each other so this appears genuine."
"And then what happens, you kill me off in some freak accident."
"No, then we part ways amicably and you get to continue to live your amazing life."
"Okay, so let's start now, 20 questions, i go then you go and we can get to know each other." Caroline nodded and took a sip of her coffee. "Okay I'll go first Caroline, what do you do for a living?"
"I eat out at restaurants, write reviews and then they get published for The New Yorker. I just published my first book that went on sale yesterday."
"That's pretty impressive, how come I haven't heard of you before today?"
"Is that your second question?...I publish anonymously, i would get so much press and unwanted attention if i didn't."
"That's fair, I'll have to make a purchase of this book then."
"Okay, my turn... what will we say your occupation is?"
"I'm a mechanic, which isn't far from the truth my hobby does include buying old motorbikes and cars, fixing them up and then selling them on."
"Screws plenty of women on the side...Guess that doesn't sound so good on the resume when you're pretending to be in a relationship with somebody." He begins to frown. "You shouldn't be so judgemental you know, its very unbecoming."
"I'm sorry, i can't really talk to be fair, i can not remember the last time I got laid." Did she really just say that, embarrassment overwhelmed Caroline and she covered her face with her hands. "That was my next question, I'm assuming the groom was your last relationship right? We are going to be that pretend couple that has lights off, missionary position sex aren't we?"
"You shouldn't be so judgemental." She tutted at him. "And to answer your question Tyler, the groom, was my last intimate interaction. I haven't had much time for anybody else over the past few years."
"And no time for yourself apparently, okay it's your turn."
"Favourite song?"
"Of all the questions you could ask Caroline, you chose that one." He shook his head. "What? My mans music taste is of great importance to me."
"Anything by Aerosmith."
"Nice, I think our pseudo relationship is going to work out after all." The grin spread across Caroline's face. "Favourite movie?"
"Stefan that is one of the hardest questions to answer...oh god...First Wives Club."
"Never seen it but I'm assuming you pair that movie with a tub of...mint chocolate chip ice cream."
"How did you know that?"
"You see, in this business, it's all about reading people." They locked eyes, only for a moment, all Caroline could think of is how soft his perfect lips would feel against hers.
"Any siblings?' Caroline asked, she had to break the sexual tension she was feeling. "Yeah uh a brother actually, Damon, he's in the business too but looking to get out and settle down now."
"You ever thought about settling down?" She looked at him with intrigue. He had everything good going for him so she couldn't understand why he would really want to do this. "Once, but that is a story for another day."
The conversation continued well into the evening, both of them learning all about each others lives. It gave Caroline a small slither of hope that the wedding weekend wouldn't be complete hell after all.
I had all and then most of you
Some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
Haunted by the ghost of you
Oh, take me back to the night we met
