Chapter 3 Episode 3

Anna POV

When I go to work the following day, Sara is at the door to welcome me as usual. As much as I don't want to work Today, I know that I have to.

"Good morning, Love." I grin, welcoming Sara the same way I usually do.

"Morning. Are you ready to work for the next eight hours?" She laughs cynically.

"Ecstatic." I grin broadly. Sarcastically, of course.

With today being a Monday, the probability of the diner being crowded is low to none. On this particular day, Sara and I will more than likely only serve approximately five individuals the whole day. The weather is great, so everyone is either out of town for whatever reason or enjoying a BBQ at home. The weather has been beautiful, however. So, I don't blame them. I would have a cookout too if given the chance.

Just like the one Dane experiencing tonight.

I don't want to be worried for tonight, but I am freaking the heck out. This person who I'm going to be dating will transform my life. Not emotionally, of course. I simply need the money. I need this more than anything right now. I wish I could be at home right now getting preparations, but of course, I will be at work an hour before the barbecue.

Hours passed by, and this day was dragging. Time normally passes by relatively fast when it is busy, but on quiet days, there is nothing to do except stand and gaze at the wall. One client came in and Sara and I argued over who gets to serve him.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors on who gets to be his waitress?" Sara asks, suggesting the technique that we always utilise to handle situations like these.

"Sure. One round. The winner gets it all." I giggle, and we instantly begin to shoot. With my hand balled in a fist and her hand forming the scissors, she sighs and throws her fists up in exasperation.

"Rock crushes Scissors. I won!" I grin, collecting a silver clothing bundle and stepping towards the guy.

As I approach him, he offers me a courteous grin. "Hi. My name is Anna. What can I buy for ya?" I inquire, leaning on the counter in front of the single customer in the cafe.

"I'll simply have a huge cup of coffee. Black. Thank you." He grins and brings a book up to his face and starts to read.

Well, so much for that table. Sara may as well have stolen it.

Once I give the guy his drink, I notice Sara in the rear window beckoning for me to come over to her. I peek over at the guy one more time before walking to the rear room. He's keeping himself occupied, I'm sure.

"So, find any guys on that website?" She asks, giving me a raised brow.

"I kind of found someone."

"Wait, what? Pause, rewind. Really? Shit, I asked but I honestly didn't expect the response would be yes!" Sara exclaims with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I sort of found someone. Kind of." I chuckle in reply.

"Well, no crap. I'm asking for you to explain how. Who is it?" She chuckles, pausing all of her present tasks to listen to the tale.

"Okay, so that was kind of odd really. I was skimming over the website and just sort of reading the postings. I was simply enjoying myself, honestly. But then I stumbled upon one post that a dad wrote for his kid." She cuts my remarks off instantly.

"Wait, wait, wait. So this guy's dad posted a post for his son? Why?" She laughs loudly.

"I think his kid has just recently been cheated on by his fiancée for like two years or something. His dad wants him to be happy again or to help increase his self-worth. I'm simply going to be a rebound. It's perfect. I don't want a meaningful connection with this man, I simply want to be compensated. Guess how much he is prepared to pay me to be his false girlfriend."

"How much?" She asks suspiciously.

"Seven. Hundred. Dollars. Every two weeks! Plus, he promised to pay for my school supplies!" I shout, taking care to stress each word.

Sara's eyes became huge and I believe she may pass out.

"Oh my gosh, that's so much money. Just leave this job, you won't need it anymore. We despise this town regardless. Let's simply be full-time sugar babies." She jokes.

I wrinkle my nose at the name. No matter how many dates I go on with this child, I will never call myself a sugar baby. Nor will I ever call him my sugar daddy. Gross. "Well, it's not finalised yet. I have to meet this person, and somehow Dane is going to persuade him that this is simply destiny or something. He doesn't want him to ever know about this arrangement." I will explain. This is what I'm worried about. There is a potential that this man won't even like me, or won't even find me beautiful. I have to create the greatest first impression that I can, or else I will simply blow it for myself.

"Oh come on, you know he will look at you and instinctively be intrigued. Who wouldn't be." She grins. This is why she is my best buddy."Thanks, Sara. I'm heading over to their place for a BBQ. I don't know what tale Daneis going to tell, but there is going to be some explanation why I'm in their place. I simply have to make things go properly."

"What if he's ugly?" Sara asks in a whisper.

"He isn't unattractive. I've seen images of him. He's genuinely quite handsome. Not that it would matter. I don't have any true sentiments for this person."

"Yeah, but if you're going to be his girlfriend, phoney or not, you need to at least be attracted to him. What if you guys had sex? You have to be attracted to him to have sex."

"There is no way in hell that I'm going to have sex with this man. I don't care how gorgeous he is. I'm doing this for money. I consented to chatting, flirting, dates...not sex." I shake my head at the notion of it. I will not descend so low. I refuse to. I may as well simply sell myself on the side of the road if I do that.

"What if you end up liking this guy?"

"I won't. I don't have time for emotions. I have bills to worry about. I have my sister to keep in mind. I don't have the time to go about like a high schooler and obsess over this person. I am doing this for the money." I repeat.