Chapter 5 5.

It's you from the video! The words kept ringing in her ears from the moment they were out of her mouth. If regret could be a face, it would be her -at this exact moment, with her hands covering her mouth and her eyes looking around at the unhappy faces in the room, frantically, in panic.

"Yes, that was my famous butt you saw in the video." William replied, making light of an otherwise very awkward situation. "It did look pretty smashing, if I must say so myself. Do you think I should do a nude bum photoshoot, Dave? For the fans." William's voice was sarcastic whilst he look a jibe at Dave, his eyes hard and his hand sticking out pointedly towards Caroline and Olivia , taking a dig at the word "fans".

Olivia looked at William with distaste in her eyes as she remembered the entirety of that video. She remembered him smashing that poor guys' phone on the ground and then walking away. But to be honest, if someone had been filming her private business while she was fully naked, she would have had a similar reaction too. But that also did not absolve William from his actions. And why was she thinking too much about him? He was just a job. A mark.

"William." Trevor Smith warned, trying his best to control his son's pesky behaviour.

Olivia watched William with curiosity dancing along her eyes as he paid no heed to his father Trevor's warning and instead just rolled his eyes whilst taking his seat at the kitchen island confer. She didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to notice that he was clearly unhappy with whatever arrangement his father and Dave -as he had called the shorter man standing beside him -had made in cahoots with Caroline .

She wanted to sympathize with him, she really, really did, but she was also aware that it was not her place to say anything. She was just here to do her job, fulfill the requirements of her contracts and in return cash in on a big paycheck. Easy money. But looking at William, she felt like she was going to earn every single penny.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to blurt that out -about the video. I just...I just was shocked. I didn't expect to see him here." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Caroline shooting daggers at her with her eyes.

Trevor cleared his throat, shooting Olivia with a side eye, not impressed with her chatterbox self. "Well anyway, shall we begin?"

"Yes." Caroline nodded, as she took out 5 copies of a legally binding contract, resting in a clear case cover and handed it out to Trevor, William, Dave, Olivia and kept one copy to herself. "I made some amendments."

"Amendments?" Trevor Smith asked, pointing an eyebrow as he flipped through the contract.

"Ah, yes. I had to. Seeing how..." Caroline paused to look at William who oblivious to the room around him was just staring unabashedly at Olivia -who God bless her innocence was engrossed in reading the contract to notice the lion waiting on his delicacy of a prey.

"Seeing how what?" Trevor questioned, snapping Caroline out of her thoughts.

"Seeing how...colourful...Dr. Smith's life is." She finished, trying her best to stay neutral.

"Thanks. And I take pride in that." William replied, interrupting the conversation, casually.

Trevor and Caroline ignored William's notorious behaviour and went back to flipping through the 10 page contract.

"So the contract is very basic, like we discussed over the phone. But before we go into that, I would like to inform you that I have raised my fee. So instead of 30, you are now gonna to pay me 50 lacs."

"50? Why?" Trevor asked, appalled.

"Because finding someone who has no prior history with Dr. Smith was a task in itself. There are almost next to zero girls whom Dr Smith has not slept with. If she has two legs and is breathing, then there is a high chance she's slept with him."Caroline explained.

"What can I say? Girls can't seem to ignore my charm." William replied, boastfully, offering Olivia his seductive million dollar smile.

"William, shut up, please." Trevor pleaded, rubbing his temple to get rid of the oncoming headache. He then turned his attention to Olivia in skepticism.

"Please, Dr Smith..."

"I'm Dr. Smith. He is Mr. Smith." William corrected.

She ignored William but made a mental note to not call Trevor Smith, Dr. Smith again. "You do not need to worry about me sleeping with him. He is the last person on Earth I'd sleep with." Olivia answered Trevor's silent question.

William perked up at her response. "Oh, why is that? Is it because you play for the same team?" William teased.

Olivia looked at him in disgust. "No. Although there is nothing wrong with that, even if I did."

"Oh, I'm not complaining at all. I love me some girl on girl action. I'm all about supporting the girls."

"William." Trevor warned.

"Ew. And I'm not going to sleep with you because 1. I don't want to." Lies, her brain screamed. As annoying as William Smith was, no one could deny that he had a certain aura about him -a certain charisma of confidence that made every girl go weak to her knees.

"And 2. Because I have standards." No you don't. Not with the way you are playing hot and cold to the thought of him.

"Are you saying all the girls I slept with had no standards?"

"I don't know about them and I can't speak for them. But yes, I have standards and by my standards you are not the guy I should be sleeping it."

"Should?! But does that mean you want to sleep with me?! Because baby if that's the case then I don't mind. I don't mind at all."

Olivia 's cheeks turned beetroot red and she felt a burning sensation in her throat as William threw her words back at her. "I. Do. Not. Want. To. Sleep. With. You. Either." She mumbled through he grit teeth as emphasized each and every word.

Before William could call her out on her very evident lies, Caroline took back control of the room. "Back to the contract. As you can see from Section 1, subsection A, you are going to pay Olivia 1 crore at the completion of the contract with 20 lacs being paid once she makes her first public appearance with Dr. Smith."

"Public appearance?" William asked, somewhat curious about the contract and the deal now.

"Yes. First public appearance. If you read further down to section 3, you will see that Olivia and you will have to make at-least 3 public appearances a week to get the buzz out about you finally deciding to settle and inching closer to becoming a family man." Caroline explained.

"But how?" William questioned, reading subsection C of section 3.

"It can be anything. Brunch dates, dinner dates, going clubbing, the movies, charity events. Anything really. The main goal is to have you seen in public multiple times with the same girl. You are notorious for being the "smash and dash" guy around the society circles. So it's going to raise a few curious eyebrows when you're seen with the same girl multiple times. That will get everyone talking -which is exactly what we need." Caroline continued.

"And will those appearances be planned out by you?" Trevor asked.

"Very intricately, yes. And once we are sure Olivia and William have been noticed by the tabloids, we will shock the world with the news of their marriage. Have them be seen entering this apartment complex holding hands, with her wearing a mangalsutra and sindoor. And traditional wear. We'll work out the logistics afterwards, but so far looking at your timeline, 1-2 weeks should be enough to get the tabloids talking about William and his mysterious girl before we break the news of the marriage."

"Everyone is going to have a field day with the announcement of William's marriage. Many hearts are going to break that day." Dave added, already thinking far in advance about the harem of disheartened girls.

"Precisely. And thats exactly what we need to show the Smith Hospital Board that Dr: William Smith is a changed man."

Akahara read over the contract throughly, zoning Caroline and the others out. This. This was going to be her life for the next year. She was going to have to pretend to be in love with a manwhore, be married to him, live in his house...with him...and try her best to not lose her mind while doing so. Or herself.

Section 1 talked about the main thing she was concerned with. Money. 1 crore. That's how much she was going to get for essentially babysitting a notorious man with a high sex drive and an even higher flirting game.

Section 2 talked outlined what was expected from her in this forgery of a relationship. Complete privacy. Which meant she was not allowed to tell anyone, not even the closed walls of this apartment or the dead plants she saw lying around that this relationship was a facade. She was supposed to agree with all the points in this contract, no questions asked -and then contact Caroline and Caroline only if she had any issues. Simple.

Section 3 delved deeper into William and her as a couple -or how they needed to be presented in to high society business circles -to the Smith board and William's friends and family as such. They needed to make whatever was between them -believable.

If Section 3 had talked about their relationship in it's dating phase, Section 4 went ahead and talked about their supposed marriage.

"So as we all know, once the media gets a wind of q the city's most eligible cardiac surgeon being whipped -they are not going to leave him alone. They will try to get any and every news, pictures, moments they can get their grimy hands on. So that's why we will have to do a well timed photoshoot at the airport as they both head out for a vacation. After which we will show them returning as a married couple. That way, we can keep the fake marriage on the down low and also not have to worry about unpleasant details being leaked to the media."

"I'm always down for a vacation." William said, scanning the contract with his eyes, seemingly very interested in the words on the paper now.

"But where would they go?" Dave asked.

"Maldives. It's known as the prime honeymoon location, so that should perk up the curiosity. And they can spend a good week in the Maldives before coming back here to subtly announce their marriage."

"Do you think it will work?" Trevor Smith asked, skeptical.

"I have been in the business long enough to know what works and -if it doesn't -then I know what it takes to make it work. And trust me. You need me more than I need you. If you let me handle things my way, you will get your desired results."

"And what is this, section 6? Rules of Intimacy?" William asked, curiously.

"You have to hold hands when in public. Any time you are seen together outside of the privacy of your four walls, you need to hold hands. And if you look down, there is more. You may place your hand on her lower back or her waist only. You cannot grope Olivia 's bum for move your hand above or below her waistline. You may kiss her on the cheek once, only -whenever you are seen together in public."

"What? That's not fair. No one will believe I am dating her if I don't kiss her on the lips or touch her frequently. And what's with the hand holding? I've never held hands with any girl before."

"Well, that's exactly why you will behave civilized with Olivia . Because she is your the one. So you have to show the tabloids you are changing and she is the reason for whom you're changing. So the more non-William Smith things you do with her, the better. And you are allowed to kiss her on the lips once -when you come back from the Maldives as a married couple."

"And let me guess, you're going to tell me how I can kiss her?" William sneered at Caroline .

"I mean you are the expert in that department but if you want I can give you a few pointers." Caroline retaliated, making Olivia snicker, subconsciously.

William's eyes moved over to Olivia in displeasure as Olivia held her hand to her mouth again, cursing herself for laughing at the wrong place, wrong time.

"Anyways, continuing on, you may not maintain any sort of physical relationship with each other -other than for the tabloids."

"And now what the fuck does that mean?" William asked, slamming the folder on the marble counter top, his voice raspy and hard.

"In simple terms, it just means that you and Olivia are to not kiss, touch, hug, or have sex during the duration of this contract other than what you guys portray to the general public. When in private, you must maintain nothing but a cordial relationship with each other. Just as roommates."

"Oh for fucks sake. And how would you know if she and I had any 'intimate relations'," William air quoted, while Olivia 's eyes widened in shock.

"Trust me, I will know." Caroline replied simply.

"So that means I have to stay abstinent for one whole fucking year?"

"Well no. You can still have sex -but it has to be very secretive and not very often. Probably once a week. And the drinking has to be cut down too. We need to play the true love reformed a bad boy angle and so we need all hands on deck."

"I fucking can't believe it." William replied, ready to throw hands at anyone who came before in.

"Well you better believe it. This is going to be you for the next year."

"Hold up. Why the year? The board is voting in a few weeks, is it not?"

"Yes. But they also keep you under observation for a year to see if their vote should actually hold up or not. So to be on the safer side, we will need this charade to go on for a year." Trevor chimed in.

William contemplated if becoming the CEO of a Smith Hospital was even worth all this hassle. Bur he didn't have any other option either. It was just one year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. He could do this. He had to do this. "Fine. Whatever. Just let me know what you need me to do." He announced, getting up from the chair, dejected. "I need some fresh air."

"I know you want to leave William, but before you do, can you please just sign on the bottom here. On the bottom, and then you can go."

Caroline placed her copy of the contract on the table and handed William a pen. He was quick to sign the papers. He gave Olivia a quick once over before leaving the apartment. Olivia gripped the ball point pen tightly as she watched an angry William walk out of his own apartment. She then turned her attention to the contract in front of her and signed on the dotted line.

And with that blue inked signature, William Smith and Olivia Star had joined their fates together. At least for the the upcoming 365 Days.