The Millionaire’s Fake Wedding

“For fucks sakes, you gonna be talking me out of it now? Yes, I’m for it, Nat. Happy?”

She was. She patted his shoulder on her way out. “Finish your training tiger. There’s a game coming up.”

With that she left the gym, already tapping away on her phone, making all the necessary arrangements.

*****

Belle looked, as per her own assessment, like a million bucks. That’s right, Forgerty, eat that! And anyone who saw her would have agreed: she had put on a superb blue dress that ended just above her knees, and a jewelry set her mother had given her a few years earlier – blue diamonds in white gold – complete with a brown leather clutch – classic and classy. Belle was out to party. 

She drove out to St Petersburg, which took her half an hour, but was worth it because she met Carla at a semi-fancy place, full of people, wine bottles and live music.

“Girrl! You look fabulous! You should’ve quit long ago!” Carla gave her a kiss on each cheek and offered a Margarita, which Belle gladly accepted.

“I just wished it happened under different circumstances, you know?” She took a sip.

“I hear that! Fogerty was furious! He had waited until you left before coming out though, the slug!” Carla uttered a laugh before continuing. “Said he hoped we all learned something today!” She laughed more, now joined by Belle.

“All for the best,” Carla said.

“Sure is!”

They clinked their glasses, then ordered more, and some food to go with it. They chatted all night, fighting off a few guys that hit on them.

Only when it got really dark outside, Carla asked: “So, Bells, what’s the plan?”

“Plan, huh? The plan’s to finish this drink and go get some sleep.”

“That’s good! No, but really? Listen, a little birdie told me today there’ll be some kickass position opening…”

“I think I wanna take a break, C. I still get furious when I think of that bas*ard! I won’t be able to handle another one for a while. Thanks, C, but I just can’t.”

Belle finished her cocktail, while Carla thought of what else to say to persuade her – she was tapping on her phone frantically. Finally, she found the words.

“You’ll be working for a girl, how about that?”

That caught Belle’s attention. She’d seen Devil Wears Prada, and knew women could be just as nasty as men, but all was better than another Mr. Fogerty.

“A girl, you say?”

“Well, a woman. She’s a PR manager, but that’s all I know. I think you’ll be perfect.”

“Do you think I’ll get a good reference?”

They laughed heartily, and spent some more time chatting. Carla messaged Belle the contact number for the interview, and the name of the employer. At half past ten Belle called for a Sober Driver, who would take her back to Tampa, and Carla took a taxi home. She had to go to work the next day, but said she’d be happy to have Belle over on the weekend. That evening, as usual, her dad called, and she told him all was fine, because she was too tired to explain her situation just then. It wasn’t a big deal, anyway, no reason to worry him. Her mother, on the other hand… No, she decided, all that would happen later, in a day or two. Now – sleep.

The next morning Belle woke up at 7AM, by the force of habit. It was still dim outside, which she was used to and had grown to enjoy. The hangover was mild but there, so she drank a few glasses of water before staggering to the bathroom. Now that she was in no hurry, she really took her time with that shower, soaking under hot water, thinking about this and that, trying to figure out The Plan. She would have to go back to the office at least once, to pick up all the documents and personal belongings. That was not a problem, since she knew Fogerty’s schedule and could sneak in while he wasn’t there. Surely Dennis from HR would give her crap for leaving in such fashion, but who cared? She’d brush it off and leave for good, a free woman and a kickass personal assistant! That’s right!

With the good thoughts on her mind she dried off and got dressed. She ate breakfast in front of the TV, leisurely, taking small sips of hot coffee, and actually listening to what the host was saying. The news was the same: all was crap in the world, except some cute videos of cats. She switched it off when she finished eating, and silence took over the apartment. In the silence, only slightly disturbed by the sounds of the waking city behind the window, she was forced to think. Belle frowned, but then thought: What’s there to think about, really?

She got the phone and looked through her Notes to find where she’d written down the phone number. The name for the contact Carla had given her was Kristen, and that’s what Belle saved her in the contact list. Once that was done, she pressed Call.

The call was picked up after just to rings, and a woman replied: “Hello?”

“Hi! May I speak to Kristen please?” Belle pushed away from the counter and started pacing around the room, first stopping at the shelves, looking at pictures of her family, then heading for the window.

“You’re speaking to her.”

“Hi Kristen! My name is Belle Jameson, and I was led to believe there’s an assistants position opening?”

Kristen didn’t reply for a long moment, and all sorts of crazy thoughts jumped to Belle’s mind. What if Carla had given her a wrong contact? What if there was no actual position opening? That’d be most embarrassing…

So when the woman finally replied, Belle stopped breathing. The woman spoke hastily, as the call had caught her in the middle of far more important business. “News travels fast, I see. Well, since you’ve already called, and I have some time… Tell me a bit about yourself.”

Belle breathed out. Time for those people skills. She said: “Thank you so much! Like I said, my name’s Belle Jameson. I have a Master’s in Public Relations and three years of experience working as a personal assistant-”

“Alright, alright, Belle, thank you.” There was an unnerving pause, then Kristen said: “I like your voice. Very tender. And your qualification sounds excellent, of course. Tell you what. Let’s meet for a proper interview, and see where that gets us?”

“Perfect, Kristen. When shall I come by?”

Kristen gave her the time and address where she’d be expecting Belle the next day. It was located in the business district of the city, most likely an office building, the kind Belle had worked at previously. No surprises there – big firms had a thing for glass build.

“I will be there at five. Thank you so much for taking the time!”

“No problem,” Kristen replied and clicked off, getting back to her business.

Belle jumped with excitement! This was truly some incredible luck – quitting one day and finding (or at least getting a shot at finding) a new job the very next day!

That day Belle spent a fabulous day at a spa, and got the most out of her weekend. Not since college had there been enough time for Belle to fully relax and do something for herself, and boy did she enjoyed it!

Afterwards she went out shopping to get some new clothes for the interview -even though she had plenty of fine suits and dresses, she bought another one of each (a light gray pant suit that screamed ‘business’ and a short dress that sang about summer) – and after that – to straighten out her hair at a salon. She was already feeling a new start, a new chapter of her life, and decided freshening up her image was only fitting.