It's a Service, Really (On Hold)

1. The Only Employee

Chapter 1

The Only Employee

***

This is awful.

Internally, I kicked myself for making the error of coming to meet this man. He was painstakingly boring. To put it bluntly, the monotone voice and plaguing, dull conversations did not make for a nice time.

"So... what do you think about that?" he asked as he sucked up a long pile of noodles from his shiny fork. The lamps cast a bright glow within the white room, filled to the brim with people eating and staff bustling around.

To tell the complete truth, there was no idea in my head about what I thought about "that." I hadn't listened to a single thing he'd said in the past five minutes, but was being paid for this; I needed to look alive, regardless of what was happening.

My eyes flicked about the room, looking for a social cue to help me out, nonchalantly putting down the spoon I'd been eating with. Nothing. His eyes gleamed with blissful hope as mine slowly moved up to meet his with an intense gaze, sure of myself. "I'm going to have to say, I agree with you!" I went with a strong basic, mentally crossing my fingers in hopes of bringing luck. When my mind wandered, it kept me away from the objective at hand.

"You really think that? That's great. I thought this was going well, too." A warm smile melted onto his face, complimenting his electric blue eyes. The happiness pierced into me, slightly infectious. That was the only benefit of this occasion... he was quite a looker and that made everything he was feeling have a contagious air to it. So naturally, I didn't mind staring at him for an hour across a dinner table, straight into his transmittable soul.

The meaning of his response finally soaked in, though. Oh no, this was not going well.

There are no attachments in this business.

With a brief nod, I picked up my glistening spoon and shoved some food down my mouth rather awkwardly. I was slightly distracted today, like more than normal. My sister hadn't been doing well lately, which is exactly why I needed to keep my eyes on the prize and not be distracted.

"You're very beautiful," he said yearningly. The figure sitting across from me finally put down his fork and ruffled a hand through his short, brown hair, messing up his style but making it look more care-free.

Definitely a looker.

"Thank you," I replied truthfully, trying to summon a blush to my face. He'd already said that three times tonight. Was he was too nervous to make more interesting conversation or was he really just that amazed by my looks or did he honestly have nothing else to say? This was a problem, though.

After that, I tried to distract myself with my meal. It was expensive, based off how it tasted, having not looked at the prices. They always pay.

Right then, the beautiful, black haired waitress interrupted with the check. He immediately took it away from my vision and handed the woman a card. "Thanks, hun," he said to her, flashing his pearly whites.

Cute.

He nodded towards me as she walked away. I could tell he thought she was pretty, but at the moment he only had eyes for me.

Very sweet.

Although he was cute and sweet, there were no attachments in this business. But like I said, he was boring. I always gave myself excuses; picked out the flaws so there never could be attachments.

The tall waitress returned promptly with his card, pulling it from her white apron and offering a dazzling smile at him. She didn't even look my way and he returned the gesture out of pure politeness, obvious by how forced it was. Quickly, he signed for the meal and we walked outside, sitting down on a bench before going our ways. "I had fun," he said. "Will I see you again?"

I thought about it. Most people didn't ask me that. They usually gave me the cash and they were out. Gone. Sayonara.

"Maybe," I remarked. "But for now, keep to the site," I warned, referring to my website. It was standard protocol to say that. I wasn't about to let him think this was personal, having never given out my phone number for this.

He looked a little flustered, but clearly tried to hide it. A cool, salmon tinge fell about his cheeks. "Oh... alright. Of course. I will probably do that, then."

He smiled; it was as sweet and smooth as caramel, complimenting those wonderful blue eyes he had. Mentally, I sighed. Despite his looks, he'd been so difficult to arrange this date with, always busy. He cancelled three times due to work. It had made my "job" difficult and there was no particular desire to go through that again. "Well, here you go," he said curtly, handing over one hundred dollars in cash.

I flipped through it quickly, counting it as I spoke to him, keeping eye contact with him and the money. "I had a nice time." This was said to all of my clients and it honestly felt like a recording by now.

"Me too. I'll be seeing you around." He stood up with another toothy smile and walked away towards the darkening parking lot.

I'll be seeing you around.

That was new. I pulled out my small pocketbook and neatly stuffed the money in to bring to the bank later. After one date with me, most men tended to realize that they needed a real date with a real woman. They never really got attached so it was easy for me. When they signed up for this, they explicitly knew that there were no strings.

What was with this boy?

Jay was his name; nice to talk to, like most who signed up for my service, but just so boring. He was nosy, too, asking questions about the site, but of course only getting more "standard protocol" answers... I told him that I didn't know much, that I wasn't in charge and was just one of many employees.

But that's just what I tell people.

I'm the only employee.

***

Author's Note: The chapters will get longer once we get into things, I swear:)

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