More Than Meets the Eye

Prologue

Auston Matthews; proving he can score on and off the ice

"Aus, we've got a problem here" his agent slammed down his tablet, perhaps a little more aggressively than was necessary. I sat in my seat, a little uncomfortable; why did I have to sit in on this conversation again?

"I don't see the issue" he retorted, clearly not seeing the problem. I almost snorted despite myself, but managed to keep cool. Oh, Auston, I thought to myself, how naive you are. Public perception is everything. And when you're in the public eye as much as you are, you have to behave; whether you like it or not.

Truth be told I didn't think he was the worst guy in the world. I had met him through some mutual friends awhile back, and our circles intertwined. While that was the case, there was little I had in common with the Toronto Mapleleafs power forward. He was notorious for having a different girl in his bed every night, while I on the other hand was a workaholic. I dedicated most of my time to my job, and my job involved helping people. I was single, but content. I wouldn't use the word happy by any stretch of the imagination, but I also wasn't miserable. I lived in a shared space with a girl I had originally met online and rented from. I didn't anticipate us becoming friends, but here we were. She ran with the same crowd Auston did, which is how we met. Hence maybe now you may see the confusion I have; why was I here? His personal life had nothing to do with me. I was the friend of a friend of his agent; that's how I found myself in this situation, but the reason why was unknown to me.

"Of course you don't" his agent snapped back, sitting down at his desk. "Look, reputation means a lot, especially here in Toronto. And let me say that there are a lot of people who aren't happy with the way you treat and parade women around" ouf. I see Mr. agent here had a backbone. "So I've brought Addison here to propose an arrangement"

"I'm sorry, what now?" I asked. Now he had begun to really pique my interest.

"You need to give off the vibe that you aren't a total- uh,"

"Total slut" I piped up, earning a glare from Auston. "Sorry, but it's true" I shrugged, having no issue calling him out. Like I said, I didn't hate the guy, we just didn't have a lot of common ground. We had a few conversations, but nothing crazy, so beyond the image he portrayed to people I wasn't even sure what he was about.

"Uh, yes. What she said" his agent nodded, now looking from Auston, and then to me. "You need to seem more grounded. Lots of people look up to you; you can't be all over tabloids for sleeping around"

"And I'm sorry, what does this have to do with me?" I asked, raising my hand like I was in class. I sat in my chair, sweating a little from the anxiety this conversation was giving me. It being winter, I felt the annoying static that made my brown hair cling to my neck in an irritating fashion. Despite wearing it up in a half bun, drooped messily to the side, the loose hairs cling to my neck and wouldn't let go. The level of discomfort I was feeling I could only compare to having an itch you can't quite reach. You know it's there, but there's nothing you can do about it.

"Well, you have a good image. You don't really have a social media presence, and aren't well known"

"Thanks for that, I think" I mumbled, feeling my cheeks turn pink. I wasn't one for social media. Sure, I posted the occasional selfie if I was feeling good about myself in the moment. You could say I was the definition of "felt cute, might delete later". Like I said, I focused on one thing and one thing only, my job. Of course, my roommate liked to bring me out of my shell on occasion, but that's opening a whole other can of worms.

"So, I have a solution that could benefit the both of us" he continued on. At this point Auston looks straight up bored. I resist the urge to roll my eyes; I can already sense where this is going, and I don't like it.

"No. Absolutely not" I interject before he even has the chance to speak.

"But you don't know what I was going to suggest!" He exclaimed, a little annoyed.

"Yes, I do. And no, I will not" I refused. There was no way.

"Why not?" He asked, confused. "It wouldn't have to be for very long! And you'll be paid well"

"Being paid just makes it worse" I retorted.

"Okay, paid for what?" Auston asked, clearly confused as to what we were even talking about. I was not surprised, I didn't take him to be the smartest guy around.

"He wants us to pretend to date to give you a more positive public image" I told him with a heavy sigh.

"Oh hell no" Auston interjected.

"Wow, offended" I muttered, and Auston looked a little embarrassed. Serves you right.

"I mean I'm sure you're fantastic, but I'm not doing that" he looked to his agent, who didn't seem to be budging on the subject.

"And neither am I" I agreed with him. Well that makes a first, I thought to myself.

"Look. All you have to do is been seen in public together, go to events together, and by the love of god just cool it with the whole 'I'm a player' attitude. You can score enough on the ice" when his agent finished speaking Auston's jaw almost hit the floor, and I cracked the biggest grin. I couldn't believe he just said that.

"And what if someone finds out?" Auston asked in a near whisper, clearly knowing this wasn't a fight he was going to win. Was he going to give up that easily? There had to be more to this situation than I thought.

"We tell nobody. Your teammates think it's real, your friends, your family... I'm not saying it has to be forever, just until this all blows over" he answered. Ah, so something has to blow over then; clearly there was more to this than meets the eye. As curious as I was, I thought better of it to ask. Judging by the ashamed looked on his face, I could tell he was really struggling with whatever it is that he did.

"Addie, if it's okay with you that's what we want to do. You are the perfect person for this" he explained, and I knew he was only pumping my tires so I would say yes. Now I paused to think for a few moments. What would I possibly have to gain from this? Auston gets his rep back in the good books, his agent will be satisfied, but what about me? Money wasn't an option; it would feel so wrong to get paid to pretend to date someone.

"I'm not saying yes, but it I was to say yes, what would be the logistics of this?" I ask, and his agent simply smiles. By the look on his face he's confident I'm going to say yes.

"You'd show up to events together, be seen in public, that sort of thing" he explained.

"PDA? Like what exactly am I getting myself into here?" I asked, wanting him to get a little more specific. If we were going to do this, and if I was going to help, it would be done right. We'd have to get to know each other; maybe even go on a few real dates. But let's be clear; I'm not interested in dating him. I'm only doing this, well, honestly I'm not sure why I'd be doing this. But something about it felt right.

And that, is the true story on how I started dating Mapleleafs power forward, Auston Matthews.