Chapter 3
Cyndee
Celine’s jaw was on the floor. I’d just told her about Fabio’s fake girlfriend idea and the hundred grand he’d give me for my trouble. The money sounded amazing, but it felt dirty to me.
Celine on the other hand seemed intrigued.
“Do you know what we could do with one hundred thousand dollars?”
“We? I’m the one having to do all the work.” I plopped onto the couch and leaned my head back. I put my hands on top of my head and replayed everything Fabio said.
“Aww, poor Cyndee. I can imagine how hard and challenging it would be to be wined and dined by a handsome billionaire.” She waved me off. “You can handle it.”
“Since when do you think he’s handsome?”
“I’m not blind, sister.” She popped her shoulders. “He’s just too arrogant and way out of our league.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s why he believes our arrangement would go off without a hitch. Because there was no way we’d end up together.” I groaned and covered my face. “I don’t know what to do.”
“How can you not know what to do? You take him up on his offer.” My sister went into our tiny kitchen and took out a frozen pizza to bake for dinner. We could only afford the cheap three-dollar kind.
“I don’t know, CeeCee. I don’t hate him like you do.” In fact, today was the first time we’d really talked to each other. He wasn’t all business asking his million and one questions about the details of his condo or the weather. He liked to discuss the fog in San Francisco for some strange reason.
But earlier, he seemed to let his guard down when he was talking about his ex-girlfriend, Lucia, and his family’s expectations. He’d spoken to me as if I was a friend, someone he trusted, instead of grumbling as if he was forced to acknowledge me.
I liked it more than I probably should.
“Hate is a strong word.” She gave me a diet cola and sat beside me on the couch.
“Stupidly rich people bug me. Everything is always about them and their needs. As if they know anything about true suffering and doing without basic needs like getting a crown put on your tooth. You’ve been putting it off for years. ”
I touched my back tooth with my tongue. It’d been four years since I had the root canal.
My parents’ health insurance had covered it, but Celine’s sudden decision to move to California had prevented me from getting the crown.
Our parents hadn’t been supportive about us moving away, so it hadn’t felt right to use their insurance to get my crown.
“That chunk of money he’s offering could pay for your tooth, y’know.”
“I know.” Of course I was tempted to be his fake girlfriend. The money would be amazing and could improve our lives a ton. But what if… What if my emotions got confused?
“And pay off our van so then we could afford the real stuff instead of generic diet cola.” She raised her can in my face to get my attention.
“Do you really care that much about store brand soda and food? I mean, is it really that different from name brands?” We lived on a very tight budget and had to sacrifice.
I didn’t think we were doing so bad. Things were gradually getting better.
Especially after we started cleaning Fabio’s place and he hooked us up with other clients on Billionaire’s Row.
“You tell me, DeeDee. Whenever you get a real Coke, you moan like it’s the best thing you ever tasted.”
“I do not.” Now she was exaggerating.
“Look. All I’m saying is the money would come in real handy. Would it be so awful to dress up and pretend to be the billionaire’s girlfriend? How many times do you have to go out with him? Did he say sex would be involved?”
“Of course not, CeeCee. He’s better than that.”
“I like how you’re getting all defensive for him. You’ll do great being his fake girlfriend.”
“Ugh.” I tossed my head back. “I haven’t agreed to anything, yet. Stop pressuring me.” Now I had an idea of how Fabio might’ve felt with his family after him to settle down.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to pressure you.” She patted my leg. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“Do you have any idea how this arrangement could ruin our lives?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if it ends badly and we can’t clean his place anymore? That’s a huge portion of our income gone. Or if some of our other clients saw me with him? What would they think? That I had a side hustle dating clients?”
“Hmm, I see what you’re saying.”
“And don’t you think it’s weird that I would have to go to Seattle with him?”
“You’ve always wanted to see the Space Needle in person.”
“I’d have to spend the night with him, Celine. If we’re pretending to be a couple, it would be expected that we stay in the same room.”
“Hey, you’re not getting anymore pressure from me. I fully support your choice. When do you need to let him know?”
“Probably the sooner the better so he can find someone else.”
My sister nodded her head. The timer on the stove beeped and she jumped off the couch to check on our pizza. The oven ran hot so we needed to be on top of it if we didn’t want charred food.
“I’ll send him a text.”
“Why not just call.” She reset the timer.
“Texting is easier. He’s a busy man.” And if I heard his baritone voice, I might change my mind. Without giving it another thought, I quickly typed out a message: Sorry, but I can’t be your fake girlfriend. I hit the send arrow before I could hit delete. “There, it’s done.”
“Boy, you don’t waste any time.” She clucked her tongue and winked at me, a sign that she was on my side even if I did the opposite of what she wanted.
“Why drag it out? I can relax now. Or at least until the next time we clean his place.” I glanced at my phone, wondering if he’d reply.
“Unless he fires us to get back at you for rejecting his proposal.” She sat back down next to me. “So how much of a tip did he give us?”
“You know, I hadn’t even looked.” I hopped off the couch and went to my purple tote bag. The envelope had felt a little thicker than previous ones. I took the cash out and nearly choked on my spit. “Oh my gosh.”
“How much?” Celine made praying hands. “Enough to get our plane tickets?”
“Yes!” I counted the bills. “Ten thousand dollars! We’re flying first class for Christmas sister!” I squealed with joy.
“Holy crap! I wonder why he gave us so much.”
I noticed the note inside the envelope. “He wrote something. It says ‘You’ve been exceptional this year. Keep up the excellence.’” I studied his handwritten note, feeling warm fuzzies. “I can’t believe he gave us so much.”
“It’s probably for us to split.”
“Probably.”
“And you know that’s probably just pocket change to him.”
“Yeah, probably.” Guilt flooded my veins. “Now I feel bad for telling him no.”
“Don’t. It was an unusual request. He couldn’t possibly believe you’d say yes.” Celine extended her hand, and I placed the stack of bills on her hand.
The timer beeped, again.
“I got it,” I told my sister. “You play with the money.”
“I’ve never had this many hundred-dollar bills in my hands before. It’s way better than a man’s pecker.”
“Oh, my gosh, CeeCee!” I laughed as I cut the pizza and plated it. “You’re so nasty!”
“Stop being all innocent. Mom and Dad aren’t here. You can let loose.”
“I’m sure their ears are burning right this second.” My sister was a rebellious child, and I followed the rules. She could curse like a sailor while I preferred not to. We were pretty different yet, the best of friends.
Carrying two paper plates to the couch, I set hers on the coffee table next to our tiny tabletop Christmas tree with battery-operated lights. We didn’t have a dining table, so we ate our meals in our small living room. We also didn’t have room for full-size tree, which made me sad.
“What if he gave us so much, hoping it would help convince you to be his fake girlfriend?”
I looked into my sister’s brown eyes and told her, “He wouldn’t stoop so low.”
“You don’t even know him.” She put the money down, grabbed the remote and turned the flat screen on. “But whatever. I’m tired of talking about Fabio Ferrari. Let’s get our weekend started.”
“Fine by me.”
Pizza and a movie were how we spent every Friday night. After a long week of cleaning people’s homes, all we wanted to do was sit and watch movies. Sunday we might go out and do a little grocery shopping. We lived very thrilling lives in our city by The Bay.
I glanced down at my phone. Still no reply from him. Oh well…