Chapter 5 Asher #2
“I can see plenty of girls in our circles being willing to do that, they’re used to living layers of charades like we are, but what I don’t see is it ending well. They’d want more.”
“What about other girls? They’ll want more, too.”
Declan moves his head side to side. “Maybe, but not necessarily. With the heiresses, you and your name are the prize because they already have money and power. And once they have that prize in their grasp, I don’t see them letting go easily.
For a more normal woman, your money is the real prize.
If you can find a woman who just needs money, it might simplify things. ”
“Huh,” I say, mulling over his words. “You might actually be on to something.”
The board may be forcing me into this strategy, but they can’t force me to be with a specific type of woman. I swore off dating high society women years ago. Why should I change that now?
I don’t think I will.
The team will have to come up with some more options tomorrow.
Tuesday morning, I take my seat at the head of the little conference room table.
The rest of the team files in, moving cautiously, clearly surprised and nervous that I’m here so early, but it couldn’t be helped.
I didn’t sleep much last night. I rarely sleep well, but last night was worse than normal.
My mind wouldn’t rest with thoughts of this ridiculous charade running through it.
Emily walks in and greets me, and the last of the team enters after her.
I should try to learn all their names seeing as we’re going to be working closely for the next however many months.
I think Josh is the guy in the blue shirt.
Or is that Craig? Or is Craig the one in the white shirt?
I text Matthew to put together a list of their names and faces for me.
I hear the text ping on Matthew’s phone as he walks in, laughing and cozied up to Ella.
She laughs as well, with a huge smile plastered onto her face.
And she looks . . . different today. Better.
Much better. Her hair is down and styled in long, flowing curls.
It looks a little lighter like this, like the brown also has some golden strands.
But she also has muted, but still very pretty makeup on that compliments her features, and damn.
She really is beautiful. I shake my head, pushing away the thoughts.
She’s my employee, I shouldn’t be thinking about her like that.
She’s a professional, and now that she’s wearing clothes that actually fit her, she looks the part.
Good. That’s what I expect of my team. Matthew did well to take her under his wing, but then I remember he told me something about a boyfriend and accounts? I’ll have to ask him later.
Once everyone is seated, I begin. “I’ve decided that neither of the candidates we settled on yesterday are viable options. I don’t want to work from the list the board gave me; I want to find a new approach.”
The room goes still. Everyone shuffles uncomfortably in their seats.
“What kind of approach did you have in mind?” Emily asks.
“I don’t know, exactly. But I do know that I don’t want any heiresses or high society women. After thinking it over last night, I think that will be too messy.”
“I know that the board wanted someone from a wealthy family. Someone considered high in social stature,” Emily says, warily.
“I don’t care. This is my life, and I won’t budge on this.”
“Okay,” Craig or Josh says, “if not a high society woman, what about another woman who would be well known? Like a celebrity or model. Or a big influencer. That’s guaranteed to create buzz and attention.”
Murmurs of assent spread around the room, and everyone perks up, excited. People start googling single female actresses, singers, models, and influencers, throwing out names one after another. The energy of the room completely flips and is soon buzzing with excitement.
“Mr. Langford?” Ella asks over the chatter in the room. “Can you be more specific on what you mean by messy?”
I almost roll my eyes. How can Ella be so astute and so obtuse all at the same time?
“Exactly as it sounds. Messy. Complicated. A pain in my ass. After thinking it through last night, I realized that those women will not be very likely to go with this charade in the manner I need it to happen. This is a relationship organized and carefully planned by myself and my employees, for god’s sake.
It’s not real, and I fear these rich and powerful women would see me within their grasp and be unwilling to adhere to my conditions and boundaries.
I can’t have that. I need this to be as professional and clean as possible. ”
“Okay,” she says. “The reason I ask, is I fear this direction results in the same issue. An influencer who is given an infinitely bigger audience by dating you isn’t going to want to give that up.
A celebrity would definitely be a better choice in that sense, but a lot of them can be unpredictable.
And celebrities are often already messy.
And then what about schedules? If you’re supposed to be dating and in love with someone who’s on the other side of the world filming or touring, that’s going to make the logistics a lot more complicated. ”
Fuck me. Once again, Ella surprises me by seeing the thing no one else can.
“What do you suggest?” I ask.
“The logical thing to me is the idea that to counter your ‘bad boy’ or ‘playboy’ image, we need the opposite. We need the ‘good girl.’ The ‘all American girl next door.’ We need someone who is beautiful and intriguing and sexy enough to appease the shallowness of the public, but we also need her to be seen as something close to wholesome or highly altruistic. Like a teacher, or a veterinarian, or something.”
“A beautiful, sexy, and wholesome teacher or veterinarian,” Matthew says, grinning. “It’s brilliant, Ella. The people would salivate over it.”
I think back to Declan’s words last night.
If my biggest draw to the woman is simply my money and my status is secondary, then I’m much more likely to get what I’m looking for.
A normal woman? I’ve never dated a normal woman.
I’ve slept with my fair share, but even those were often women desperately trying to climb the social ladder.
I’ve never been with a perfectly normal woman. Maybe it is brilliant.
“Perhaps a normal woman is exactly what I need,” I muse.
“How do we find this beautiful, sexy, intriguing, wholesome, normal woman?” Emily asks. “We can’t exactly send out an advertisement.”
“There have got to be at least some decent options right here in New York,” the woman sitting next to Emily says. Delilah? Daphne? I can’t remember. “We could go looking, as a team.”
“And what, conduct interviews?” Emily snaps.
“No, we go looking in clubs and bars and gyms, where you’d normally meet people,” Delilah or Daphne says. “And if possible, Mr. Langford comes with us so we can get an idea of the type of woman he’s interested in.”
Craig or Josh laughs. “Like team dating. We’ll all be Mr. Langford’s wingmen and women.”
I want to bang my head against the table. Is this what my life has been reduced to? My dating life is a project taken on by a specialized team who scout women for me and report back?
“It’s worth a shot,” the other Craig or Josh says.
“We don’t have time for group dating,” Emily says, and it’s clear she’s struggling with her patience. “We need to have a woman picked and our full strategy presented to the board by Friday.”
“Let’s try it tonight,” Matthew says. “If we find someone who fits our needs, we could easily have them contracted by Friday.”
“And if we don’t?” Emily counters.
“Then we’ve only wasted one night. I can always badger the board for an extension. We will need to cover some ground, so we’ll split into three teams. Each team will hit three to four clubs or bars.”
“It’s a Tuesday night,” Ella says. “Who’s going to be out on a Tuesday night?”
“It’s like you don’t even live in New York,” Matthew says, in fake horror. “You’re on my team, by the way.”
Ella laughs. Again, the sound does something to me, and I have to shift in my chair. It’s all I can do to not adjust my pants. What is it with this woman making my cock twitch like I’m fucking fifteen?
“What do you think, Mr. Langford?” Emily asks me.
“I don’t know what the hell to think at this point.
But I do know the idea of heiresses and celebrities and influencers is not the direction I want to go.
A normal woman seems like a nice breath of fresh air if I have to go through with this insane charade.
And I suppose this is how normal people meet one another. ”
“We’ll give it one night,” Matthew stresses. “And if we strike out, we look back at the alternatives.”
“What alternatives, though?” Emily groans.
“The celebrity or influencer route,” Matthew quips. “I’m certain we can find some D-list celebrity who could use some publicity and money.”
“Fine. One night,” Emily agrees.
“Fuck my life,” I whisper to myself, under my breath.