Contract Marriage

Chapter Three

“Good evening, welcome to the Four Seasons. How may I help you?” the lady behind the front desk greeted me.

“Good evening.” I smiled. “I have an appointment with…” I was tentative. “with Mr. Daniel Hastings.” I cleared my throat as I immediately felt awkward as she gave me this look.

“Oh,” she said, and it wasn’t just a normal: Oh, right. You have a meeting with Mr. Hastings. It was an almost knowing: Oh…

Great. She probably thinks I’m here to “hook up” with him. I mean, up until this morning, I didn’t know what he looked like, but this afternoon, I did my research and apparently, everyone (except me) knew that he was no “one woman man.”

“Please give me a minute.” She said as she picked up the phone.

“Yes.” A pause. “Miss…” she looked at me.

“Parker.” I smiled pleasantly.

“Miss Parker is here to see Mr. Hastings.” Another pause. “Alright. Yes, thank you.” She put the phone down. “Jake, please assist Ms. Parker to the Ty Warner suite please.” She motioned for me to follow the man named Jake.

I stopped myself from exclaiming after hearing which suite Mr. Hastings was staying at.

 “Oh, thank you.” I said as I waved shyly at Jake.

“Hey.” I said to Jake.

He smiled.

“So, does Mr. Hastings stay here often?” I asked Jake as we made our way to the elevator. Does he bring a lot of women up to the suite? I thought.

He nodded and gave me smile as if he knew what I was already thinking.

“Right.” I said under my breath.

The elevator stops a few floors after and Jake and I get off.

“Well, here we are, Ms. Parker, the Ty Warner suite.”

I’ve only heard about the Ty Warner suite on lists named: *insert number here* Most Expensive Hotel Suites in the US and now I’m actually about to step foot in it. Oh. My. Gosh.

I braced myself as I positioned myself in front of the door to Mr. Hastings’ suite and raised my hand in a fist to knock when Jake decides it’s better if he does it for me. Great. I was supposed to give myself some time for a pep talk but never mind.

I smiled a forced smile at Jake and I guess he took that as his cue to leave.

“Thanks, Jake.” I said as he walked away.

Again, thoughts began racing through my head but before I could sort them all out, I heard the doorknob twist and a tall, and you could say handsome man was on the other side.

“Miss Parker?” he asked.

I smiled and nodded.

“I’m Nicholas Sharpe. We talked earlier? Please come in.”

“Yes, Mr. Sharpe.” I said politely.

“Please, call me Nic. Mr. Hastings is waiting for you inside.” He said as he led me to a room.

“Daniel, Ms. Parker is here.” Nic said as he opened the door for me.

“Thanks.” I smiled at Nic as he walked away.

Wait. Why are you leaving me? I wanted to shout to Nic when a voice snapped me out of it. His voice.

“Come inside.” Mr. Hastings said.

I was about to come face to face with the Mr. Daniel Hastings.