Chapter 3: Fake Dating

Emma,

I woke up in the morning to a random phone call from Mr. Lee. Mr.Lee was Mr. Jay's assistant who was the CEO of JJP Fashion. He asked me if I could be at the office today at 4:00 p.m.This surprised me because it was unusual for a CEO to invite me to meet him. Did I mess up something? Is it about Ella running around the studio? Oh no, I am screwed….

@ 4:00 p.m.

I walked into the office with a heavy heart. I couldn't afford a babysitter for Ella too so I had to bring her with me. Not the smartest choice but I didn't have an option. Mr.Lee took me to a balcony with a nice view of the city. There was a table with four chairs and he asked us to sit.

We sat and within the next few minutes, Mr.Jay came. He sat in front of me while Ella screamed " Hi Stranger Uncle!!!" She was so happy to see him. Mr.Jay also smiled brightly at Ella saying" Oh Hi little Angel I didn't know you were coming. If I knew I would've brought another chocolate. And don't call me Uncle Stranger you can call me Uncle Jay" 

Little Angel???? Since when was she his little angel? " Oh, I am sorry Mr. Park I really couldn't find a babysitter so I had to bring her with me."

"Oh no it's not a problem. Please call me Jay. And if you don't mind Mr. Lee can take Ella for a walk around the building while we have our discussion ?"

"Yeah for sure." with that Mr.Lee held Ella's hand and walked with her back into the office.

" So I will cut the chase and get to the point straight away. Emma, would you like to fake date me?" WTF is he drunk or am I not hearing it properly? I'm probably hearing it wrong" Sorry Mr.Park it wasn't clear to me can you please repeat it?" 

"Once again, you can call me Jay. I know this is random but will you fake date me? I will pay you a good amount of money for it" Still I was utterly shocked. Fake date him? A CEO? For money? Is this a joke? something like a YouTube show with hidden cameras? This sounds like a book trope. What the hell is happening?

I think Mr.Jay understood that I was confused so he started explaining how his mom wanted him to date someone so he was faking a relationship to show her and blah blah because I wasn't listening. This whole thing was weird but he was clear that he was going to pay me a good amount of money.

"But why me?" that's all that came out of my mouth. To which he replied " Because you are the type of lady my mom would like to see me with. You look like a good kind parent and you look like a simple human being" Did he just indirectly call me basic? That felt like an insult.

"If I agree, how much will you pay me?" Though that made me sound selfish that's the only reason for me to agree to this silly agenda. He kept a few papers with a pen. I took the papers and in bold letters, it said that he would pay me 100,000 USD per month?!?!?! That's a lot. With such money, I can find a good place to live and maybe save a considerable amount for Ella's education also she will soon start kindergarten.

Bus still this feels vague. Fake date him? He is a CEO. Not just a CEO a good-looking rich CEO who girls will die to date. So what is happening? I looked at the papers again in the second paper onwards it states how we should act in public and how I should be able to accompany him to his events and so on. Which means I have to fake date him publicly too. What will people say? " If you just need someone to show your mom why do we need to attend public events?" 

"Because I only see my mother once a week for breakfast or dinner that is a little time so it won't convince her that I am actually dating, If she sees news and articles about us then it would convince her that I am dating. We would date for like six months and then fake the breakup too. I know she will be heartbroken for some time but she will be happy with the fact that I tried... Also, I am not going to lie to her and say stuff like I have been dating you for years. I will tell her the incident at the studio with Ella and that's how we met and then we continued seeing each other. You don't have to give me an answer now you can take your time and give me an answer"

"yes "

"HUH"

" I mean yes I will fake date you if you pay me properly." I don't know what I was thinking and the fact that this made me sound so desperate.

"Then let's sign these papers. It will give a proper border between us" Saying that he took the papers and signed it. Then he handed it over to me. I was reluctant for a moment but then I carefully signed it while convincing myself that I was doing all of this for my Ella.

After I signed it, Mr.Park called Mr. Lee to bring Ella back. While we were waiting for Ella suddenly it started raining. Mr.Park took the papers and we ran inside. It was raining cats and dogs all of a sudden. Mr.Park turned towards me and asked " Are you free on Saturday night?"

"Yes," I answered without a single thought. 

"So can I take you out for dinner? It won't necessarily be a date but we can get to know about each other. If we know about each other then it will be easy to convince my mom that we are together."

"Oh yh for sure but can I go home before 10.00 p.m.? It's Ella's bedtime and she gets fussy when she has to sleep without me." 

"Yes for sure" Then we waited for a few more minutes till Mr.Lee appeared with Ella with a huge rainbow-colored lollipop in her hand. When Ella saw me she ran to me " Mommy look Mr.Lee got me a lollipop" 

"Oh, honey you aren't shouldn't eat this much sugar." To which Mr.Lee replied." Oh, I am sorry madam she said that she loves rainbows so I bought her that."

"Thank you, Mr.Lee, and I'm sorry if she troubled you"

" Oh no madame she is very much well behaved."

"Mr.Lee since it is heavily raining can you ask my driver to take Emma and Ella home?" said Mr.Park

"Oh, no need we will be fine."

"It is heavily raining madame your daughter might get sick if she gets in the rain," said Mr. Lee

So I reluctantly agreed. Then we formally said our goodbyes and I left.