The Art of Misconception

Silently selling myself to the devil

*AN- Image attached is Mr hart. I hope you enjoy.

I sit there shell-shocked.

The man, who is called Preston Hart, is a madman. He just threatened to press charges and sue me if I didn't agree to his contract. It is now the early hours of the morning and I am sat reading a draft of a contract he wants me to sign.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to be your son's fiancé, for the next two years of my life, or you will sue me." I barked.

"Ok, I understand how you may think this is unfair. What about if I say I will pay back your family's debt and provide enough money to keep your family afloat, as well as not pressing charges. I could get you for all manners of things; driving under influence, underage drinking, I could maybe even go for compensation. I would think hard about this, if I were you."

"Why does your son even need a fiancé?" I ask. Oh god I don't even want to think, he must be all kinds of ugly, if his father is going to such great lengths to get him a girlfriend.

Preston winces, "My son, well he has quite a reputation. Next year I am running for presidency, and it has come to my attention that people don't believe I can run a country if I can't even control my son. You know what, I will have someone take you home, you can think over my proposal and you can come and meet me at my office in the city at nine sharp. If you don't show I will take it as you have declined my offer and I will take legal action." He says in a very business-like tone. "And my son will be there." I turn and leave on that thought, I don't know whether he gave me that information as a motivation or a threat, but either way I was too overwhelmed to care.

***

I get up in the morning and make a batch of coffee, I take one to my mother who was still in the study. I came home last night at three-thirty in the morning to find my mother asleep on her laptop with finance bills and tax returns sprawled all over the desk. I am more than worried about her. This concern for her is what is pushing me to go and hear this rich crazy man out. I mean what is two years in the grand scheme of things?

I gently wake up mum who is looking worse day by day and hand her a cup of coffee. "Hey mum so, I um have a job interview today." I guess you could call it that.

"That's brilliant darling, you should get into something a little more appropriate. You know what I mean, more business-like." She says, trying to flatten down her dark hair.

"You're right" I say before heading up the stairs to my bedroom, if we could just get out of this financial hell hole, I would get my mother back. And we could keep our house. A sense of motivation washes over me, this contract could save my mother.

I quickly shower and change into a black skirt, a blue blouse and heels. I need to do this, my mother is my family, and I can do this for her. I wave goodbye to her as I leave the house with my new found confidence. There is a car waiting for me outside to take me to the city as mine is still in a strangers garden.

We reach the city and get into a little traffic, my eyes constantly falling on the clock. I keep checking my phone, he said 'nine sharp' I don't want him to withdraw his offer. When we finally arrive, I leap out of the car and run to the reception. I was that person who never wore heels so looked like a penguin trying to run in them. The receptionist directed me to the sixteenth floor, where I would find a conference room on the left.

I gently knock on the door and push it open. I find Preston hart and a pretty blonde woman beside him. "Please sit down Tamera" he says gesturing to a seat on the opposite side of the table to them. "My son seems to be running late." We waited ten minutes, while he introduced me to his wife Cecile, she was a beautiful blonde woman with high cheek bones. finally Mr Hart decides to commence without him. He presents a pile of pages in front of me which he explains to be the contract and what you would call 'rules'.

I begin to flick through it reading the 'rules'/ conditions of the contract. I honestly feel like I should be the leading role in rules of engagement right now.

The door swings open and finally the son shows up, very fashionably late. "Alexander I'm glad you finally decided to grace us with your presence." Mr Hart said clearly fuming.

This guy was nothing like I expected. I was expecting some chubby man-child, with a face only a mother could love. But boy was I wrong. He was the complete opposite. He can't have been much older than me, he had skin that looked like it had been kissed by the sun. Bright blue eyes, with long eyelashes and dark hair. And the cherry on the top was he was wearing a white skirt and it looked perfect, tight in the right places to show he was ripped.

It is a fucking shame he turned up with a girl that to be perfectly honest looked like a fucking drag queen. She was physically wrapped around him like a fucking vine. It looks a bit painful to be honest.

"Who's that?" His father asked but didn't bother waiting for a response. "You know what I don't care. She needs to leave. NOW. I will have her escorted out of the building." She lingered a moment probably to see if her darling Alexander would stand up for her but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

"Tamera Reeve, this is my son Alexander Hart." I gave him a forced smile and held out my hand. He just scoffed. What a dick. I am trying here. That is more than I can say about him.

"Now son, you are going to do as I say. That is going to stop, you cannot just parade tarts like that around, and especially not in my building do you understand?" he didn't get an answer so he continued. "Now, you are going to have a fake engagement to Tamera." Well he doesn't beat around the bush.

"WHAT?" He shouted. "There is no way I am going to be engaged to her, to anybody."

"Well I'm glad it's not personal" I mutter under my breath sarcastically.

"Yes you are. I am tired of the tabloids naming you bad boy of the month because you took sixteen girls into your apartment in a week or saying I can't control my son. This is the end of it. I am trying to fix your reputation. And if you refuse, which you won't, I will take everything away from you, your apartment, car, credit card, you name it. I will do a lot worse than send you to military camp." I saw Alexander wince at the mention of military camp, he obviously didn't have a very good time there. "I have had enough. So you are going to pretend you are in love with Tamera because she is your fiancé, do you understand?" He hands him a contract identical to mine.

"Are you kidding me? I can't be with anyone else?" He said in disbelief.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" he growled. I would hate to get on the wrong side of Mr Hart.

"Is living together really necessary?" He asked his father again, this time his father didn't even acknowledge the question.

I hadn't even got that far into the 'conditions'. We have to live together, we cannot see anybody else, We cannot tell anybody of this arrangement, I have to wear an engagement ring, we have to make a public announcement and go for interviews, we have to be seen as a couple at least once a week, the engagement will last for two years. Those are just the heavy ones, there are little ones like must have a joint answering machine tone.

I didn't really want to say much. I wasn't particularly happy about this arrangement, plus I had prepared for a socially awkward man-child, not a player. But I was doing this for me and my mother, we need this. I am prepared to do this for us. "Where do I sign?"

Mr Hart points out the dotted line on the second to last page of the document. Pen touches paper. I silently sign away my life.

Silently selling myself to the devil.