His Fake Hired Girlfriend

Anna POV

Several months earlier...

"I'm sorry. I wish there was more I could do for you." Karen, the brown-haired receptionist said.

"There has to be a mistake. I sent my dad to pay the bill. I am never late on bills. You know this, Karen." I responded hurriedly, not understanding how the water had been shut off for the month.

"I know, honey. I'm very sorry. Your dad said he was going to bring it by?" She asked.

"Yes. So much for assuming he could accomplish this one thing for me." I laughed, despite there being zero comedy behind it.

I handed Karen the money I had left from this week's payday. Hopefully, this will be enough to have the water turned back on for the month.

"You will get through all of this, I promise." She assures me. I offer her a forced grin and depart fast.

Despite the strong connection that Karen and I have, she lacks a thorough knowledge of what truly goes on in my regular life. She will only see what I allow her to see. She sees me in here quite often, because I'm the only one who is responsible enough to pay the bills.

This is the same thing over and over again. I'm weary of this. I'm weary of supporting my family merely because my dad can't hold a job. Ever since Mom went away, I have been responsible for caring for the entire family. I love my family. I adore my sister, and I treat her like she is my kid. Half of the time, it feels like she is. I simply want to feel like a regular 20-year-old too.

I phone my father's number and eagerly wait for him to respond.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Dad, I just got back from the city, and Karen tells me that you never went in to pay the water bill?" I do my best to be cool, but it isn't working.

"Oh yeah, I'm very sorry about that, Anna. I'll pay you back for it." He mumbles.

"Where the fuck did the money go, Dad? That was $120." I shout. Tears begin to collect in my eyes, and I have to struggle to prevent them from flowing out.

"I took it to the casino." He admits.

Of course. And the Dad Of The Year honour goes to...

"What the hell is your issue, Dad? Our water got switched off. You can't keep spending the money I give you for bills and just take it to the casino! Does this house signify nothing to you? Are you fucking kidding me?" I shout at him. I tried maintaining cool, but all of my self-control went down the toilet.

"Calm down, Anna. I was hoping to double it." He states gently.

"Yeah and how well did that work out?!" I inquired before hanging up the phone.

I wish my life was normal. I wish I had a typical life of a twenty-year-old. But, no. I have to slave away and work my ass off to maintain my family while my dad takes all of my hard-earned money to the casino and tosses it away. I feel hot tears stream down my cheeks and hurriedly attempt and brush them away. The walk to my job is near downtown, and only takes around five minutes to get there. Thank God. Crying absolutely will only make me seem worse if it starts to rain and I have to go to work with wet hair and wet clothes. When I come inside the modest cafe, I see Sara smiling brightly at me, but her countenance instantly crumbles when she sees my bloodshot eyes.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" She asks with anxiety on her face.

I attempt to hold it together, but it is practically impossible as I stand in front of my closest buddy. She promptly pulls me in for a hug.

"What happened? Who do I have to kill?" She asks. Mother Sara doesn't play.

I chuckle softly at her reply, "My dad is just so aggravating. He grabbed the money for our water bill and squandered it all in the casino. So I just had to pay another $120 and now I'm not going to have enough money for my textbooks. I simply don't see why he needs to go and do this type of thing all the time." I cry.

"Hey, don't weep. I know, he truly sucks right now. It will be okay, though. I promise. I suppose my brother might have the identical textbook you are seeking that you can just have. Don't worry, okay? Everything will be OK. I promise." She assures me. It sounds so easy when she says it. I wish it were as easy as just 'not worrying'. God, I want to.

I had to make myself appear decent before my shift started, and thank God Sara brought some makeup with her to disguise the black bags around my eyes. Working as a waiter has its rewards, I think. I nearly always come home with cash, and occasionally I come out with considerably more than I expected. The drawback is that some nights, I come home with considerably less than I expected. It's never stable. But it's all that I have right now. This is the only business that will pay me $8 an hour plus whatever I make in tips. I don't know of any other waitress that earns that much.

As the shift dragged on, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. As I read the name on the computer, I sigh vocally. James is calling, yet again.

"What do you need? I'm at work." I snap into the phone.

"Nice to hear from you, too." He reacts. I could nearly see his attitude from here. Not that mine is much better.

"What do you want, James."

"I need my keys back. Now." He says simply.

"Well, that's not going to happen. I'm at work. You may come and fetch them when I get off tonight or you can wait until I have time to deliver them to you." I snapped. Why the heck does it matter when he gets his keys back? He has his own set, and I'm surely not going to break into his flat.

"I'm coming by tonight to grab them. Just put them in your mailbox. I don't want to see you." He snapped back.

I roll my eyes and hang up the phone. I am starting to worry that my relationship with James will never get any better. I miss the man who used to be my best friend.

"Hey, I'm coming over after work. I want to show you something." Saral murmured, interrupting my thoughts.

"Show me what?" I grumbled, taking some additional pens before walking onto the floor.

"You'll see." She grinned widely. I stared at her suspiciously and proceeded to wash down the tables. "Oh, don't look like that. It's nothing bad...well, I don't think so at least."

"What does this involve?" I inquire curiously.

"It's just a website. Plus, an excellent opportunity to generate a little bit of additional income." She states.

"I'm not doing porn." I laugh. I'm desperate, but I'm not that desperate.

"It's not porn. I'll tell you all after work." She chuckles as she walks back over to her table.

I kept what she said in the back of my head for the duration of my shift, and couldn't quite get my mind off of it. I need money. Desperately. I despise having to rely on my phoney pleasure towards clients as my only kind of revenue. Maybe I need to find a part-time job elsewhere. Retail is always an option, and because they work insane hours to begin with, it may even fit with my availability.

By the time our shift finished, Sara and I did the same thing we do every night. We sit at the diner counter and count our tips together. I made enough to reimburse what my dad lost in the casino. Being the only waiter in this restaurant, I am extremely thrilled with the quantity of cash in my palm. It could always be worse, I guess.

"Are you still coming over?" I ask, grabbing all of my belongings.

"Yeah. I'll just follow you there." She smiles as she ties her long hair into a ponytail.

When we come to my house, I ignore my father entirely and head directly to my room. He should know better than to attempt and talk to me right now.

"Okay, so tell me this brilliant plan of yours to make extra money." I giggle, attempting to disguise how fascinated I truly am.

"Don't judge me, alright. I haven't told anyone this before." She says anxiously.

"You know you can tell me anything." I react honestly.

"Okay. I'm a sugar baby." She admits.

I must have appeared as perplexed as I anticipated since she quickly attempts justifying herself.

"Don't judge me! It's not horrible, I swear!" She laughs uncomfortably.

"I'm not, I'm not! Just...define sugar baby?" I ask.

"I go on dates for money."

"What? How?" I ask, utterly startled. I know what a sugar baby is, but I don't know what she's doing, either. "It's this website I found one night. It's called SeekingArrangements.com. You just establish a profile detailing what you are seeking, and you may discover others in your neighbourhood who are prepared to pay for you. It's not strange like prostitution or whatever. I don't sleep with any of them." She assured me. Relief floods over me instantaneously. I don't want to contemplate my best friend sleeping with old males for money.

I must still look astonished and perplexed because she grabs my laptop and opens the page with a grin on her face. This can't be good.

Anna POV

"Seeking Arrangements?" I inquire, giggling at the name of the website in front of me.

"Yes. Listen, it's not odd. I know a ton of folks that do this type of stuff. Not all of the males are elderly." Scartl adds, defending the website.

"I don't know. I mean, I don't believe I could even have a...sugar daddy." I say, dropping my voice worried that someone could hear.

"Just because you have a sugar daddy, doesn't mean it has to be disgusting. A lot of the men on here simply want company. Like, sometimes they have an event they need to attend, so they simply want someone young and lovely to stand next to them. It all simply depends on what you are comfortable with."

"I don't know about this, Sara," I responded uncomfortably.

"Just browse around for a while. You never know what you may discover. But listen, I have to leave now. I had the stuff to accomplish later." She says as she gets her belongings up from the ground.

"What? Go on more dates from this site?" I laugh.

"Maybe. Maybe not. The world may never know. I'll see you later." She joked.

When she went out, I began scrolling down the first page of this webpage. I am unusually intrigued by what the messages stated and went through the images of the various individuals on here. Some of the posts posted by males were sorrowful, and they seemed lonely. Oh, and desperate. Not everyone was an elderly man, several of these individuals are no more than thirty years old. As I continued to peruse, I stopped at a post that attracted my eye instantly.

ISO is a young girl for my kid. Must be around the age of 20-23. Go on a couple of dates with him. Talk to him. Be everything he wants you to be. Be his girlfriend. He is heart shattered, and his mother and I want him to be happy again. I don't care if it's bogus. Make him believe it's genuine. Fill out the application and I will get in touch with you. Pay will vary.

I clicked on the post to learn more and saw a picture attached of who I believed was his kid. He is a terrific-looking man. A fine-looking dude. Well, from what I can tell, at least. The photo is shot at the beach, possibly in Destin. He wears a button-up shirt, shorts, and sunglasses. He is smiling brightly at a lady who I am going to guess is his mother. I don't understand how a person who looks this wonderful could be on a website like this. I'm confident he receives enough attention outside of the internet.

Despite my misgivings on this website, I sent this guy a message.

Hey, I read your article and was interested in chatting further with you. 405-555-5131. Get back to me when you can. -C

I send the message before I can begin to regret it. I recently sent a message to a random father, with my phone number attached in hopes that I would be compensated for dating his kid. Have I struck rock bottom?

Surprisingly, within seconds I hear a little chime emanating from my PC. A message from the guy appeared on the screen.

Hello. Please submit a photo attachment, including a face and complete body shot. I will get in touch from there.

The message is obvious and makes me more worried than delighted. I don't want to be judged, but I know that's precisely what will happen the second I submit these images. Despite knowing this, I still pick two of the greatest images of myself and email them. I uncovered two of my old senior photographs, one of me standing against a purple wall, and the other a close-up of my face. Although the images are a couple of years old, they still look precisely like me. My face hasn't altered at all, and my dark hair has grown a few inches. Other than that, no one would know when the images were shot.

I eagerly waited for a reply. A few minutes pass, and I discover the message has been delivered and opened. Instead of a reply, my phone started to vibrate. The unknown number that has my area code confirms that it's a local caller. With tense palms, I answer the phone with reluctance.

"Hello?" I responded uncomfortably.

"Hello. Is this...Anna?" A guy asks.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Great. My name is Dane Fain. I posted a post on Seeking Arrangements and was just getting back to you. I have your profile pulled up right now. Tell me a little bit about yourself." He said officially.

"Uhh, well...I'm sorry, I wasn't anticipating this." I chuckle uncomfortably. This is pretty basically an interview.

"Okay, I understand. I simply want to go over certain things with several of the females before selecting one. Let me start by telling you a little bit about what's going on right now. My kid, Ethan, is twenty-three and extremely successful. But, lately, he broke up with his girlfriend of two years after discovering that she cheated on him. His mother and I are scared he has poor self-worth, and I'm afraid it may interfere with his professional life. I want to set him up on some dates and see where it leads him. As far as money goes, you will be paid every two weeks and it will continue for as long as your connection is alive. Payments will cease when there is a mutual split, or whenever you feel the need to pull out." He explained.

Well, this makes sense as to why he is single. Kind of. He is simply hurt. I understand it. I'm sure he isn't aware that his father has published a post, practically paying ladies to be in a relationship with him.

"How much will the payment be?" I ask gently.

"I was thinking about $700 every two weeks. But, it is only if I see dates occurring, and know you aren't simply going on a couple of dates and never talking to him. It ought to be a connection. Talk to him, date him, persuade him this is all true. After a time, if the two of you split up, then that's alright. I need him to get back to his former self again. Just persuade him that this is true. If you are interested, that is."

I practically fell out of my seat at the price. $700 per two weeks is a lot of money. Just to go out on a few dates and text the man every couple of hours? That's easy money. Way too easy.

"I'm interested," I say quickly. "Uhh, about me," I mumble. I have no idea what I should and should not tell him.

"Don't worry. All of this remains between us." He assures me.

"Okay, well...I'm now in school as a business major. I am twenty years old, and I work in a restaurant in town. I live at home with my father and my younger sister, Phoebe. My sister is my whole universe. She is just four, and I'm largely responsible for her. I want to remain in school if possible, but it's incredibly hard right now owing to my father being jobless. I'm searching for more money so I can care for Phoebe and pay for all of the books throughout this semester." I say, trying to seem as confident as I possibly can be.

"Is your mother around?" Anna asks. My heart hurts at the thought of my mother.

"She went away two years ago. She had cancer." I said gently.

"I'm extremely sorry to hear that, Anna. As for everything else, I simply want to say that I wholeheartedly support your decision to continue in school. I realise that with kids, it may be challenging. Very challenging. I respect you for taking on both tasks. If everything works out moving ahead, I would like to support you with your school supplies. Those darn school books cost an arm and a leg. So, we will come in an accord as far as the money goes. As for the agreement with my son, I would like you two to meet." He informs me. Tears begin to form and I don't even bother to suppress them.

"Thank you so much." I weep gently.

"I will be throwing a cookout soon and would like for you to come. This way, I can introduce the two of you. Then, we can take it from there. I'll send you an email with further details. How does it sound?" He asks.

"That sounds amazing. Thank you very much!" I say one again. I feel like I just was offered a job I had been waiting on for so long. This is something I never believed would happen. All the stress of a job and money won't be a worry anymore. I can maintain my employment, put it towards my monthly bills, and use the cash from Dane to fall back on if required. This is wonderful.

I think Sara was correct. This webpage is going to assist me after all.

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.