FALSE IDENTITY

5

    Arrived at their destination, the men entered as ifin their own home. They did not even bother to knock on the door and did notexpect anyone to open the door for them, which proved they were quite familiarto the place. A dark-haired man with a sulkyexpression came out to  welcome them. Upon seeing his companions, his frowned face lit up with a friendly smile, a reaction that made Joanna startle. Either he was not their boss, or he was a damn friendly boss. If the two men looked tall to Joanna, this latter one was huge. And if the others were above one eighty in height, the giant was at least one ninety.

Before inviting them to the main drawing room, the host was mannered enough to introduce all three of them to her. She was walking next to them repeating their names in her mind: Ross... the pretty one, Will... the serious one, and Nick...apparently the ogre. She immediately tensed when she felt herself being rudely observed and measured from head to toes. Feeling those looks worse than an insult, Joanna remembered the way she was dressed. Her cheeks turned to deep red, and it was for the first time when she felt bad. She wished the earth would open up beneath her feet, and ashamed she would go under. 'Oh, God', thought Joanna, she should tell them immediately that she was not who they thought she was.

The ogre dropped his head to the back, shaking his shoulders with laughter.

"Jesus, I've lived long enough to see this one too. A whore blushes worse than a virgin." "Sir..." she started biting her lips, realizing that she was not able to think straight, why did it bother her so much that she was taken for a prostitute? After all it was her to have assumed this disguise. "Sir..." she started once again, "I am terribly sorry. I am not what I appear to be. I know it seems crazy, but there has been a mistake, I can explain."

Surprised by her articulation, Nicholas raised up his eyes, looking over her shoulder at the other two. These ones shrugged, and Will said bored: "Ever since she got into the car, she keeps repeating, like a broken record, that we have made a mistake that she is not what she appears to be." "Do you know what I believe?" continued Ross, "either she's changed her mind, or she's trying to get a higher price." "This is not true! There's no reason for me to change my mind. I am really not a whore, as you think I am."

Joanna blushed again, and the men were wondering what was it that made her react the way she did: fury or dislike for the word whore.

"Leave it," said Nicholas, looking down on her, casting on her that glance of a connoisseur.   

Her fair hair with strong red reflections was caught up on the top of the head in a big ribbon full of cheap colorful beads. Her eyes were made up so strikingly in some strong shade of pink that one could not tell their actual color. Her high cheekbones were colored in a much stronger shade of pink that looking at them would hurt the eyes, and the lipstick was so red, that it set someone's teeth on edge if you took a closer look at her lips. When his gaze slid lower, he encountered her half-naked full breasts that stuck out under a tight shiny blouse. And to conclude this disguise, she wore a terribly short skirt which kept out on display her delicate narrow hips, whereas her long legs could be admired in their entire splendor through some black net stockings.

"If I had some doubt about your honesty, now I'm clear, aren't I?" Nick mumbled disgusted by her cheap and tasteless clothing.

Her hurt pride fired up and she argued with determination: "You are so stubborn and blinded by your ruling instinct that you refuse to find out the truth." "And which would that be, doll? If I told you that me, Nicholas Newcomen, it's not me, that I am the president of America himself, would you believe me?"

Upon saying his name on such an arrogant note, her hearing was terribly shaken. Her brain was rolling back and recollected the name, repeating it like a broken record: 'Nicholas ... Nicholas ... Newcomen.' She tried to answer to herself at the strange ways of destiny. The last of the men she wanted to see was right now standing before her. Not in a thousand years would she have believed that all these could happen or that they were as real as possible. She felt like she was getting dizzy and searched with her eyes for a place to sit.

Watching her, Nick noticed how she suddenly turned pale and catching her by the arm, he had her sitting on the sofa behind her. Convinced that he had been rather rude to her, he tried to apologize to her politely.

Finding herself into a dilemma, Joanna weighed the situation she was in and the truth caught her off-guard. She had the opportunity to discover the real face of Nicholas Newcomen more than she would have wanted. She knew it was not going to be pleasant and that she could regret it, but she was going to try.

"I'll go get her a glass of water", said the blond fellow. "Exactly what the doctor would have ordered", she said amusedly, stretching her arm for the glass of water. 

The man's eyes turned small. Was she pulling his leg? Joanna started slowly looking around her. She was bewildered. She thought rich men and especially rich bachelors were not able to appreciate beauty. This house was the epitome of common sense. The elegance and good taste caressed and soothed the eyes of the beholder.

"Who decorated this house?" she found herself asking.

Nicholas rolled his eyes, in boredom. What would... a non-connoisseur know about house decoration. He was still surprised how she had the notion of it. Still, trying to be polite, he answered briefly: "I did! Now that you are calmed down, could we talk?"

Surprised that it was him to have furnished the house, and especially thrilled by the way he had done it, Joanna raised her eyes to him. Curiosity made her want to know more about him. If to this end, she had to play their game, whichever that may be, then she had to learn their plans and especially start playing along.

Once they all sat down around her, satisfied that she finally accepted, they started telling her in detail about her role in the project. As she had foreseen, they were absolutely convinced she was a professional prostitute. She tried not to betray her amazement when they informed her that it would be they to assume the role of teachers, trying to transform her from one easy woman into an educated and decent girl. In the end, all she had to do was to use all her womanly tricks to charm a certain David. Then, after he would fall into her arms, totally in love, everything would come out, leaving him disgusted and broken-hearted. And on top of that, she would also be rewarded.

She was not pleased and she did not approve at all of this game, which could have an unpleasant ending, but she was determined to take the risk of playing a prostitute. What was amusing was that the first role she had to play was that of a prostitute. And it was interesting that all four would live in the same house. Her only hope was that they would consider this labor so tiresome that in the end they would give up their childish plan.

First of all, the most important thing she had to do was to call up her father and let him know that she was off on her so called well-deserved vacation.