His Hired Girlfriend (13 page)

A moment
later she heard her brother’s voice said,
“Hello, Tim speaking?”

Alex smiled. “Hey, Tim, it’s
me.”

“
Alex?”
A chuckled.
“Man you sound weird and so far away.”

She laughed.
“Of course I’m far away. I’m in America.” Suddenly her stomach
knotted. The word America reminded her once again that she was
lying to her family, that she was not here for a work conference,
but that she was in fact here as a hired girlfriend to a very rich
man.
Gosh, the whole thing sounded so
creepy and weird.

“
You got there all right,
huh?”

“Yeah,” she
replied. “I’m safe and sound here now, staying in a hotel,” she
lied, looking at her surrounding and thought
—‘no way, this is way better than a five stars
hotel’
. It was more like a private
mansion.

“
Cool.”

“Hey, how’s Mum and Dad?” she
asked, wondering if her dad was taking things easy or was he up to
his old stubborn self again and working hard.

“
Dad is
taking things easy. Mum makes sure of that.”
A merry laugh followed.

Alex sighed with relief.
“That’s good. Is Mum there?”

“
Yeah. Hold on a
sec.”

A few seconds
later, Alex heard her mum’s voice through the phone.
“Hey, sweetheart. Glad to hear your voice. I was
so worry, you know. I know you’re a big girl now but I’m still
worried. Anyway, your dad is doing very good, and I make sure he
eats well. He went to see Dr. Johnston today. He said your dad is
making good progress.”

“Really?” Alex smiled. “I’m
glad to hear that.”

Suddenly there was a knock at
the door. Alex glanced that way and saw Kelly poking her head in.
“Hey, are you ready?”

“Oh, right. Hold on a sec. Just
talking to Mum,” she replied, nodding to the phone on her ear.

“Oh. Ok,” Kelly said, walking
into the room and took a seat on the side of the bed. “Don’t mind
me. Take your time.” She picked up a sport magazine on the bedside
table and flicked through them.

Alex turned her attention back
to the BlackBerry. “Mum, I’m glad dad is doing well. Hopes he’ll
recover fully when I return.” She laughed. “Anyway, love you and
dad and everyone at home. Miss you already. Bye now.”

“
All right, sweetheart. You
look after yourself. Love you.”

Alex grinned and then
terminated the call. She sighed. “I can’t believe I miss them
already.”

Kelly threw the magazine down
and patted Alex’s arm. “Sounds like you really love your
family.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. More than
anything.”

Kelly cocked her head to one
side, as though she was considering something very serious and
important. Then she shook her head and stood up. “Come on, missy,”
she said, pulling Alex to her feet and then leading her out the
door. “I hope you’re not upset with Beth,” she commented as she led
Alex towards her bedroom.

Alex shook her head. She knew
Granny Beth didn’t like her very much, but she was not going to
dwell too deep about that because she was only Jay’s fake
girlfriend. Soon she’d be leaving them, and they’d be none the
wiser.

“Nope, of course not,” she
replied, thinking back to when Beth had asked her numerous
questions about her personal life. Everything seemed to always fall
back to her financial status. Did money really mean everything to
her, she wondered.

“I think she is just watching
out for Jay.”

Kelly turned to glance at Alex
with interest. She laughed – that rich, smooth sound that Alex now
knew of a woman who lived her life to the fullest and was afraid of
nothing. She supposed Kelly must have always gotten everything she
wanted, being born into a family as rich as this one. And she
seemed to have a very handsome brother who adored her. What about
her fiancé? He must be loaded, too. Kelly must really love him.
Funny how she felt happy for Kelly. She really liked her, even
though they had only met.

“Yeah, she is,” Kelly said, a
hint of doubt in her voice.

Alex wondered
about this. Was Granny Beth really that worried about Jay’s love
life? Did she think it was her duty to find the right woman for
him? Well Alex could safely conclude that she was not the right
woman for Jayden in Granny Beth’s sharp eyes. First reason – Beth
didn’t like her. Then there was her financial status. She was
rather poor even though she had always thought she and her family
were middle class, having everything that they really
needed.

Alex once again couldn’t help
marvelling at the richness of this gigantic house and the people
who lives in it. They must be billionaire to say the least. She was
quite stoked that she had the chance to know them and stay with
them. Gosh, the thought really unnerved her.

“I hope at least one of my
dresses fit you,” Kelly commented. “Silly of Jayden not to tell you
to bring dresses and gowns. After all the party was his idea.”

Alex opened her mouth in the
form of an O, as if she was about to say something. But of course
being shocked as she was right then she couldn’t think of what to
say.

Oh My God! Jayden planned the
party for her? What the heck for? And he never even bothered to
mention it to her all those times they had chatted on Facebook?

She’d have to ask him when she
saw him next. She didn’t like party – even normal, down to earth
parties back home. Either it be the BBQ type that mainly involved
families and close friends or the loud parties type some of her
acquaintances had thrown. Often she was so shy and so tongue-tied
she never really made good conversations with anyone – especially
guys. If she got invited to a party she’d be there for at most half
an hour, unless her family happened to be there, and then she’d be
out the door before anyone caught her.

Kelly also said gown with the
big ‘S’ at the end. What the? Gowns? Did she mean evening gowns?
What for? Were there going to be like cocktail parties and the
likes while she was here?

Uh-oh! This was going a bit too
far. Here she had been thinking she’d only be here for a couple of
weeks to satisfy their curiosity about her as Jay’s girlfriend, so
he’d get off the hook from match-making and marriage. Talking about
Jayden – she wondered who his boyfriend was. Another thing to ask
him when she saw him.

“Whoa! This is very nice,” she
said once they were inside Kelly’s huge, elegant bedroom.

“Thanks,”
Kelly said, frowning slightly. At that moment she was thinking she
really had to talk to Jayden about what his real relationship was
with Alex. Who was she really? Where was she from? The last time
she knew anything of Jay’s personal relationship with a woman was
when he and Sarah had been dating. But since he had returned he had
never once spoke of Sarah, as if he had cut her off from his life
completely. Then there was this morning. She had thought Jay and
Sarah were back together after their fight – but instead of seeing
the demanding Sarah at the front door, she had seen Alex. How very
confusing everything was. Although she couldn’t help but think how
cute Jay and Alex were together. She knew Alex would never hurt Jay
the way Sarah had done.
That
she even bet with her Louis Vuitton bag which
cost her at least a grand. Alexandra was so sweet.

“Ok,’ Kelly said, strolling
toward the walk-in-wardrobe. “Let’s see what I have that fits
you.”

Alex clamped
her lips together nervously as she followed Kelly. The first thing
that came into her mind was that the wardrobe was as big as her
bedroom back home, and only then did the
Oh My God
really kicked
in.

Kelly had thousands of clothes
– designer’s brands of course. She wouldn’t be surprised if those
so called ‘fashion boutiques’ in Dunedin blushed in shame when
compared with Kelly’s wardrobe.

Alex’s eyes were large with
wonder as she touched and gazed at the beautiful clothes. She felt
like she was a child walking into a candy store. She was rather
excited.

Kelly went through the many
dresses that were hung along one side of the wall. “Which one?” she
muttered to herself as she expertly inspected each one in turn.
“You’re smaller than I am, so I don’t know if there’s anything. But
of course I do sometimes wear a size smaller than I am. Haha.”

Alex smiled as she was thinking
– they do that? How could anyone wear clothing this was a size or
two small than their body?

“What size are you anyway?”
Kelly turned to look at her. “And don’t just stand there.” She
laughed. “Come here and help me pick.”

Alex hesitated. She didn’t want
to mess up Kelly’s perfectly ordered and expensive clothing, even
though she really wanted to explore.

Kelly shook her head at Alex’s
lack of response. She grabbed Alex by the wrist and said, “Where
ever you’re from and what ever your relationship with my brother
is, I don’t care. I’m gonna dress you up and that is that.”

Alex’s heart did a startled
kick. “What do you mean?”

Kelly bit her
lip for saying too much
. Damn!
“Nothing,” she replied. “If I guess rightly,
you’re a size zero.”

“What?” Alex said in shock.
“I’m not a size zero. I’m a size eight.”

“No you’re not. You’re a size
zero.”

“Eight,” Alex said.

“Zero. Look at you. You’re so
slim. You’re a zero.”

Alex was thinking – she? A size
zero? That was truly ludicrous. Unless they have different size
system here in America. That made sense then.

“Ok, I’m what ever size you’re
saying,” she finally agreed.

Kelly nodded in satisfaction
and turned to pick a green day dress. She brought it out and showed
it to Alex.

“What do you think?”

Alex touched the silk fabric.
It was smooth and soft under her fingers. She loved the tiny frills
and the pleats that gathered to one side of the shoulder. It
reminded her of a Greek Empire dress, only this one had less
fabric, shorter, and in a pale-leaf green instead of pure white or
gold. She was already falling in love with it. She could never
afford anything this nice.

“I can tell you really like
it,” Kelly said, winking.

Alex glanced at Kelly. “Are you
sure you don’t mind? But what are you going to wear?”

Kelly laughed out loud at that
remark. “You silly girl, I have hundreds of dresses I can wear. Now
here. Try it on.”

“Now?”

“Of course now,” Kelly said,
striding out the door. “Hurry up. We don’t have much time. We have
to do your make-up as well.” That said she closed the wardrobe
door.

Alex quickly undressed herself
and put on the dress. Once done she hesitantly scrambled to the
full length mirror and stared at herself.

“Oh My God,” she breathed as
she stared at herself. This was her? She looked so different. So
pretty. Gently she touched the frills on the dress and smiled.

“Are you ready yet?” Kelly
burst in.

Alex quickly turned to look at
the laughing intruder.

“Well, well,” Kelly said. “You
know, I never look good in that dress. But on you, you’re a
different story all together. Haha. Jay’s going to love this. I
hope he knows how to breathe properly when he sees a pretty
lady.”

“Why would he love this?” Alex
asked naively.

Kelly laughed as she drags her
back into the bedroom. “Time for your make-up.”

“Oh, right,” Alex responded as
she was gently pushed into the seat in front of the mirror.

***

JAYDEN FELT GUILTY, and he felt
bad for Alex. He had never thought Beth would interrogate her like
she would, as though Alex was a suspect in a murder case, asking
her so many questions which he was sure had made Alex terrified to
her tiny toes. She had kept looking at him for guidance every time
Beth had fired a question at her.

‘
What does your dad do?’
‘What does your mom do?’ ‘How many siblings do you have?’ ‘What’s
your plan for the future?’ ‘Where is New Zealand?’ ‘What’s your
financial status?’ ‘How many boyfriends have you had before you met
Jay?’

As if any of that was important
– Jay thought gloomily. He rested his head against the back of the
sofa and closed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming.

Poor Alex. Why had he dragged
her into his problems? What the hell was wrong with him?

“Heard your girlfriend has
finally arrived,” a voice said at the door.

Jay flashed his eyes open to
see his dad, Tom McCartney, standing there with his hands in the
pockets of his trousers. Tall, brown hair and grey eyes, and right
then dressed in a Zegna suit, he looked handsome and powerful. He
must have just returned from the McCartney Grand Hotel.

“Hey, Dad,” he greeted. “Yeah,
Alex’s here.”

Tom came to sit beside his son.
“You don’t look too happy.”

Jay thought his dad could say
that again. “Granny Beth,” was his reply.

“Ah, Beth,” Tom said, as if
that explain everything. “Has she mention Britney yet?”

“Yeah. I hope she realizes it’s
no where.”

“Don’t you mind Beth. She’s
only watching out for your future. A perfect granddaughter-in-law
means everything to her. And you know how much she wants great
grandchildren.”

“Yeah,” Jay replied. He
suddenly felt guilt mounting in his chest. Beth wanted great
grandchildren. It was his job to provide her some. He loved her
despite her controlling ways, and he knew he’d give her great
grandchildren. It would be a pleasure to do so.

“There you both are,” Gracie
said from the door. “The two most important men in my life.” She
waltzed into the room and kissed her husband smack on the lips.
“I’ve missed you today.”