The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

4

I pulled up to the Fain House and my eyes grew wide. This house was massive. Way bigger than I imagined it would be. But then again, if someone is about to pay you $700 every two weeks just to date their son, you have to have quite a bit of money. Walking up to the door, I was almost immediately greeted by Daniel.

"You must be Candace. I'm Daniel. It's great to meet you." The man said, greeting me at the door.

"It's great to meet you too." I smiled widely. He guided me inside and into the backyard. This was not just a normal cookout. I was expecting maybe ten people at the most. Nope. This party probably had fifty people or more. It was definitely intimidating.

"Okay, I'm going to go and find Matthew. Whatever story I come up with, just go along with it. He won't think anything of it. Just go along with everything." He repeated. I shook my head in agreement as I watched him walk away and look for his son. I was suddenly alone in a huge group of people that had no idea who I was. A couple of people looked my way, but they went back to sipping on their beer and left me alone.

"Diner girl." I heard a voice say, approaching me.

I turned around and instantly came face to face with the customer from earlier. My face instantly dropped. "What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised that he was here.

He laughed, "I should be asking you the same thing."

"Daniel invited me." I replied, wanting to hide from embarrassment. I never thought I would have to face this guy, especially after I snapped at him for doing something nice.

"How do you know my dad?" He asked curiously.

I don't know why I didn't put two and two together. He looked identical to his father. The two of them both has the same bright green eyes.

"Hold on...what's your name?" I asked with shock evident in my voice.

Please don't be Matthew. Please have another son. Please don't be Matthew.

"Matthew." He answered with a smile.

Fuck.
This is the guy I am supposed to be dating. This is going to go terribly. I already have a shitty start. Goodbye $700. I fucking blew it.

"So how do you know my dad?" He asks again, obviously curious.

"Matthew! There you are! I was looking for you." I heard a voice say. I turned around and noticed Daniel walking towards us. He was walking very quickly. Probably because he didn't want me to say anything that would blow this for both of us. Well, too late for that.

"Oh, yeah." Matthew said, awkwardly shifting in his father's presence.

"I see you have met Candace." He smiled widely.

"So diner girl has a name." He said, cocking his brow. I didn't know what the hell to do in this situation. I really didn't.

"Do you two...know each other?" Daniel asked.

"Well, not formally. I saw her at the diner she works at earlier today. She yelled at me for leaving her a tip." He said with an amusing smile.

"I didn't yell at you!" I exclaimed, defending myself.

"Oh, yes you did." He laughed.

"You know what, whatever." I huffed walking away from the two. Sure, the money would help me. Big time. But nothing is worth standing and being humiliated in front of two people who don't even know me.

I walked through the crowd of people and finally settled on stopping at their garden. It was beautiful. The flowers were alive and I even saw a hummingbird hovering over some of the flowers. It was like a scene out of a movie. This place was secluded and quiet. Almost like the secret garden.