2

A WEEK EARLIER...

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I stare up at the office building that is situated in the middle of the busy intersection of York Street, which already has a mid-day crowd bustling about.

Even though it is the first day of spring, the air is still chilly, so I wear my best outfit. Which is an ugly brown pea coat with dress pants, and I know it won’t be much to impress anyone. Neither will the falsified documents in the one strap big I have across my shoulder.

When I finally make it inside and over to the front desk, the young lady there who is popping gum and staring at her phone screen stares up at me as if to ask why am I even bothering to come here.

‘’I’m here for an interview,’’ I tell her.

She pops her gum and chews it loudly before passing me a lanyard with a visitor’s tag at the end.

‘’Your interview is on the last floor,’’ she tells me in a bored tone.

I follow her instructions up to the twentieth floor, where a blonde tells me to wait. And after ten minutes, a female with short black hair comes out of an office to sneer at me.

‘’I hope you know you are late. I have other things to do and won’t have much time to waste on you. Now come, let's see what we can get down in the next five minutes.’’

I look her up and down, wondering if she is really talking to me because, with her attire, she shouldn’t even be in the position she holds. Dressed in a short and tight black miniskirt that is exposing most of her thigh, her blouse has a few buttons undone with her bra exposing over the top.

‘’Tell me about yourself,’’ she says as we enter the office.

I take a seat before beginning.

‘’I did a short course in telecommunication and came out at the top of my class. I h-”

She holds up a hand to cut me off. ‘’First of all, I never said you can take a seat. Second, a short course won’t cut it here and last. These documents are fake. Did you truly think you would get a job here with these?’’ She throws them on the table.

Before I can reply, a handsome-looking man looks in and I couldn’t help but admire him. With his messy brown hair that falls into his honey-brown eyes. I find myself imagining how soft his thin pink lips might be, or if the light stubble on his chin will scratch my face if we kiss. I shake my head to get rid of the wicked thoughts that are starting to form.

‘’Mr Thomas,’’ the female who never even introduced herself to me says with a smile and jumps to her feet.

‘’I thought you were done with these interviews.’’ He glances at me.

‘’Yes, but this one was late, and thought she could just walk in here with her short course and fake documents.’’ She smirks at me.

‘’Ok, well take care of it,’’ he tells her before glancing at me and leaving.

‘’Well, there you have it. We have nothing else to discuss, so please leave.’’ She points at the door.

I get up but pause, as I am ready to give her a piece of my mind, but luckily for her. The phone rings.

I don’t know who is on the other end, or what they are saying, but whatever it is makes her give me a dirty look.

‘’But sir,’’ she finally says, then pauses. ‘’Yes, I understand.’’

When she hangs up the phone, she gives me a fake smile. ‘’Mr Thomas would like to see you.’’ She then hands me my folder.

‘’His office is the only one to your right.’’

I walk down the long hall, with my legs wobbling and my mind screaming at me to turn and run, but for some reason, I continue on to the office of the handsome man.

The door opens as if he is waiting for me there and that is when I lose my nerves, turn on my heels to make my way in the direction I came. But before I could even take a step, a cool hand wraps around my wrist.

‘’I wish to have a word with you.’’

And as the words leave his lips, I feel my heart racing as I know he knows my secret.

When I hesitate, he gives a gentle tug on my hand, then another and another until the gap between us closes.

‘’Don’t you want to know what I have to say? I promise it will be worth your while,’’ he says in a low, husky tone. One I’m sure he uses on females to get into their panties.

‘’No, sorry. I have another interview to attend,’’ I lie.

‘’Just give me five minutes.’’

I sigh and reluctantly step inside his office.

He waits until I am settle in my seat, before taking a seat of his own. 

‘’Miss Boswell, is it alright if I address you as Millie?’’ He asks, being very casual.

‘’Yes, sure. That is still my name, after all.

‘’After looking through the information you had sent to us prior to this interview, I noticed several things.’’

I gulp, knowing exactly what he is talking about.

‘It is about your status in this country.’’

And even though I know he would say it, I can’t help when my body goes ridged.

‘’What about it?’’ I ask, trying to be oblivious.

‘’You are an illegal immigrant, which means you can’t work or move around freely in this country. Is that right?’’

I frown at him, because how does he know all this? Sure, my documents are fake, but he couldn’t possibly know that I’m here illegally.

‘’You are correct,’’ I tell him.

‘’How were you planning to move under the radar? And did you really think you could get employment here?’’ he asks.

The thing is, he doesn’t seem angry nor concern. His face is blank of any emotions so I don’t know what he is thinking.

‘’I don’t know, I just need a job to pay off a few debts and I thought that with working here it would help me stay a little longer in this country until I have my citizenship sorted.’’

‘’But the only way for that is if you get married.’’

‘’Yeah. Well, hmm. Few men are the marrying type and I don’t think I want to get into another relationship anytime soon.’’

He raises a brow. ‘’What happened in your last?’’

‘’That I don’t wish to discuss with a stranger,’’ I say, trying to match his demeanour.

We stare at each other for a while, and before he can speak, I say. ‘’Sorry, but how is this any matter to you?’’

‘’No matter, I only wish to know your plan.’’

At that, I get up and is ready to leave. For all I know, this man could be buying the cops some time to arrive while he keeps him here in this senseless chat.

‘’Marry me,’’ he says.

‘’Excuse me?’’

''I'm sure you heard me.'' The man before me smiles. 

And with that, I bolt from his office, not stopping until I am safely in a cab and on my way back to the east side, which I'm more familiar with.

As soon as I get home, my phone begins to ring. I debate about answering the private number, thinking that it might be my immigration officer again, calling to harass me about leaving the country if I don’t get my shit sorted.

‘’Hello,’’ I answer, putting the phone on speaker as I take my clothes off.

‘’Millie, it's Asher,’’ the voice says.

‘’Who?’’

‘’The man who is asking for your hand in marriage. Have you thought about my offer?’’

‘’Your offer?’’

‘’Yes, I’m offering to marry you so you can get your citizenship.’’

‘’You must be c-”

He cut me off by saying, ‘’tell you what, why don’t you get ready and I’ll have my driver come and get you so we can discuss this over dinner.’’

I am about to argue back, but he cuts the call and all I can do is stand there wondering if I should go through with this.

I can now feel a nervous excitement deep in my stomach as I make up my mind and get ready for a date?