It takes three days for me to surrender.
Once I reach home, I run to my room and look for the bag I used last Saturday searching for that specific white card because today, my boss has officially called for a war.She publicly criticised me in front of seventy executives during our monthly meeting. At first she was just introducing me to the team but towards the end of her speech she told me -fucking mentioned my name with her eyes directed to me- to be better than what I've been this one week."Maybe it's a slow week for you since you're still settling in but I expect better from now onwards."Last week, on my third day here she called me to her office to ask me to step up my game. Because apparently, according to her, I'm lacking at delivering impactful results. She expects to get the job done yesterday if she's asking it today.That's how I became determined from that moment onwards to be more efficient. I worked eight hours every day compared to what I used to back in my home country, pushed myself so hard to ensure I deliver more than what was expected.But that's still not enough? That she needed to humiliate me in front of others instead of telling me personally?You know what, I'm gonna call this Collins woman and have my acting career started. And when I become the next Scarlett Johansson, you're gonna eat your words because during that time, I'm already a million times richer than you! Fucking work like a rat while I enjoy my millions! Hmph!Yeah yeah twenty-nine behaving like a twenty year old. Whatever.And for anyone who would comment that it's too late to start an acting career at twenty-nine, well, I'm Asian. We don't age. Especially when I'm standing at five feet one, I look more like a school girl than somebody who has worked for six years in the industry."Hello, Collins speaking." The same voice I heard last Saturday answers the call. Good, this is indeed the right number."Hi," Gosh I'm so nervous, "We met last weekend. On Saturday, near the subway. No no not the food subway but uhh the transport. The train," Damn it I suck at this, "I wore black coat with the-""Ohhh you're Scarlett.""Huh? I'm Scarlett? Is that my character's name? I already have a role? Or I'm the next Scarlett Johansson?" I laugh to my own joke, to which she chuckles elegantly."Does this call means you're taking my offer?""Ermmm maybe. I don't know yet. Can we meet first? I wanna know what I'm getting into.""Sure, I can ask my driver to pick you up now.""Now?" Wow that was quick. Am I really in demand?"Erm can you just give me your address? Maybe it's just nearby? I can just walk there if that's the case." To be honest I'm taking a precaution.Because there's a chance she's a human trafficker. Those clothes and car might be the outcome of a crime ring she runs. Perhaps I can g0ogle the place first to ensure my safety if it's indeed a dodgy area."Sure," she replies then drops me the address immediately, as if she's really legit with nothing to hide.Okay, we'll see then.***My jaw dropped when I first saw the place. It's a classic four floor building that look like the infamous New York brownstones, I seriously thought it's an apartment building but it's indeed Cupcake's headquarter.It was 8pm because I called her right after I got home from work, so it took me an hour to reach here by train from my house. Even when it's quite late, the place was filled with people in the same elegant workwear.I was directed to Miss Collins' corner office at the fourth floor of the building, escorted by a young attractive male assistant. Bet he's gay, because according to the tv series I've watched, most male assistants in New York are gay.No, I don't have anything against them, I'm just applying my knowledge to what I see in real life.To my surprise, there's another man sitting in her office, and he keeps his eyes on me the whole time that makes me feel awkward as if I'm a fish in an aquarium- my purpose in life is just to swim and for people to watch me when they have nothing to do. I am not a fish, Handsome."I didn't even get your name last time." Her voice directs my attention back to her."Oh. Uhm, I'm Alya." I am both nervous with the lack of my appearance and the fact that I'm right here with these two beautiful, expensive looking people."Alya." The guy echoes in a deep rich voice, to which I nod and parrot, "Alya.""Have a seat, Alya." She gestures to the empty chair next to the man.I oblige and lower my bum on the seat, feeling more nervous that I'm sitting so close to the attractive, intimidating man."This is Drey." She introduces him as she takes the seat opposite us.So Handsome’s name is Drey? Okay. But who is he? Why is he here? Because the way he's dressed, of how he composes himself, he's like those billionaires I saw in movies, wearing a custom-made suit. Definitely a mouth watering view. Is he married? Has a girlfriend? I'm still single, by the way."Hi Drey, nice to meet you.""Pleasure meeting you," he smiles warmly at me, making my heart throb. Urgh, why is every man in New York so damn attractive.Though I do think I have a problem with men dressed in suit. I seem to be attracted to every one of them, doesn't matter if they're really handsome or not. It's this aura they project, like a Superman changing into his costume and instantly have superpower."Alright. I will brief you on what we do and if you're still interested, we'll go with the case we already have for you.""Case? You mean the role?"Drey raises an eyebrow then turns to Miss Collins, "She already know?""Yeah," I cut her off, "She told me about being an actress. Uhm, Scarlett? Something like that?""Oh?"Now he looks like he's enjoying the humor I seem to be feeding him. What's so funny about what I said?"Nevermind, we'll get to it. Let me explain what we do first."I nod, and pay full attention to her. I'm more excited about my role that I wanna jump straight to it but okay, let's hear what is it she wanna tell me about this agency."We have a website, called Cupcake. It's where men and women register themselves to be a sugar baby."Errrr what? Did I just hear the word ‘sugar-baby’?"We have a wide range of client list so based on their preferences, we'll match them with a sugar baby accordingly."So you guys are like T!nder? But instead of us finding a match on our own, you'll do it for us? Like match makers? But for sugar babies?"Cupcake has offices all over US but New York is the headquarter. And please, don't worry, we're operating legally." The smile she flashes does nothing to calm my nerves. What have I gotten myself into?"We take care of our talents, and ensure everything is taken care of before any contract begins. We have our in-house legal team to back you up if any issue arises, and we make it a priority to be there for our talents before the clients."Whatever is coming out of her mouth are just words going through from one ear to another as I'm still processing. So she's scouting me to be a sugar baby? What the fuck?"Do you have any question?""What do you mean when you said you have a role for me?" Like she has already found a sugar daddy for me?God, I feel like vomiting to the thought of being caressed like a cat by a man who's older than Papa with a huge round tummy and white hair. Ew. Yuck.She picks up a thin file, "I'm gonna have to ask you for a signature if you would like to know about the role. An NDA is required to protect our client."Okay this is interesting. To the extend of requiring an NDA? They sure sound legit right there. But whatever, I'm pretty much invested about this."It's just an NDA, right? Not that I need to pay or do anything. Right?" I just need to make sure."You won't have to pay if you don't spill anything to anyone, Sweetheart." And that's how I know Drey is gay. Sweetheart. Hm."Okay." And just like that I put my signature on a piece of paper after reading it thoroughly to which she sets it aside and opens another file.She takes out an A4 size picture and puts it in front of me. But when I take a look at it, I become more confused."Why do you have my picture? And since when am I a blonde?" I can't help but to giggle, "But I do look good with blonde hair. Nice editing."Because in that picture I look like a model, who was born in a rich family and eat apples all day instead of real food. So this is how I‘m gonna look like if I'm a size two? Funny, considering I'm at least four sizes away from the woman in this picture."That's not you, Sweetheart," Drey drops the bomb as Miss Collins adds, "That's Scarlett.""You'll be taking a role as Scarlett Monroe." "What do you mean I'll be taking a role as Scarlett Monroe? Where is she? Why do I need to be her? Is this like Vanessa Hudgen's Christmas movies at Netfl!x? Taking over somebody's role just because they have the same face?" "Pretty much," Drey nods, "But you'll be getting money out of this." "And Mr Gunn is fully aware you're not the real Scarlett Monroe." "Mr Gunn? Who's that?" I'm getting dizzy with all these shocking information. From the pictures I have in my hand, Scarlett Monroe seems to like dressing up, and always has herself put together. Unlike me who'd wear anything to the office if I'm too lazy to plan my outfit. Especially on one of those weeks when I hibernate. I have this tendency of going all out after spending weeks at home. I'd go out, hang out with friends, and after a fun, tiring weekend with them I'd hibernate for weeks until I'm ready to come out and play again. "Mr Gunn is Scarlett's husband." "Ooohhh?" Inte
This is officially my fourth week in New York, and I'm getting used to being here. Wearing hijab is a norm in Indonesia but here in New York, especially in my office, I'm like a rare species simply because I'm the only one who wears it. I've received multiple questions from my colleagues that sometimes I wonder if they ask because they genuinely don't know about it or simply to mock me; “Do you sleep with it”, “Do you shower with it”, and the one that got me extremely speechless was, “Do you actually have hair?”I try to be positive and answer them with a smile eventhough sometimes I do wanna be spiteful and throw that “Of course I shower with it, I use Hijab and Shoulder”. But no, compose yourself Alya. Show them that Islam is beautiful, not condescending. "Oh wow," I hear a gasp next to me, "You look so much better without that thing!" I turn to her as I put another one of my friendly face, "Thank you." Is all I said then I get back to putting on my hijab. Sometimes this chiffon
"Mr Gunn accepts the first two conditions," Miss Collins announces on the follow-up meeting after I laid out five things to be brought to him prior my agreement to the contract, "But he won't tolerate the remaining three." First, I will never, under any circumstances, have sex with him be it oral sex, vaginal sex, anal sex, fingering or hand jobs, dry humping or genital rubbing, or masturbation. Fucking wrap your junk and hide it from me. Second, I will not sleep with him even without any physical contact. Because satan is always beside us to influence us towards sinful acts. Third, I will only be available during the weekend. Fourth, I will not live with him.Fifth, family is off-limit. Be it mine, or his."So I have to live with him full-time?" That would be impossible, "I have my day job. There is no way I'm gonna apply leave from work for three months straight for him." Even if it guarantees me a hundred and fifty thousand dollar.That's 2.1 billion rupiah. I will not just b
I thought he'd be proud to know I've memorised all the utensils on which to use for what but he's a tough one to please because I stutter the moment he asked me to demonstrate on how to use the spoon for soup in case it's hot. "You do it half moon crescent," he runs his spoon in the soup in front of him, "Not blowing it as if you're playing trumpet." I giggle again and pick up my soup spoon, copying his act, "Like this?" "Make sure your spoon is facing the other way when you dip into the soup." I sigh, "I'd rather not eat soup in front of people my entire life if there is so many rules to follow." I'm sure he'll faint if he sees how hard I blow my instant noodle and slurp it loudly whenever I‘m eating it. No, not eating it. GOBBLING it. After we're done with the food etiquette class, it's the styling class next. It's a miracle no matter how many hours I've spent with him for this particular class, there will always be something new to know about Scarlett, or being a rich woman i
"Is it laundry day?" My sister, Dian teases me in Indonesian as she munches on her snack while watching me button the tweed jacket I've just put on. "No, no, no. Wrong question. Is it pay day?" Oh I know what she meant by that. Being sisters means we share our clothes despite the difference in our size; she's two sizes smaller so she can wear mine but I can never fit into hers. That also means she knows every article of clothing I own, and this two-piece skirt suit is too obvious for being a brand new expensive-looking item I just owned. "Whose is it?" "Not mine." "Yeaaaaa I know it's not yours, obviously," she rolls her eyes at the last word, "But who's the designer? How much is it?" To be honest, I have no idea how much does this skirt suit cost. All I know is Drey specifically asked me to wear this on my first meeting with Mr Gunn. Uhh, I mean Honey. "Uhm let me check," I walk to my bed and grab the skirt I laid there, wanting to inspect the tag at the back to which she ga
"Go to the penthouse, meet him there. Have dinner with him. Off you go to your own bedroom to end the night."Step one is completed, now onto step two. Honestly, I'm prepared to give him two kisses a day, as per Drey's briefing. One would be in the morning, when I send him to the door before he go to work. The second would be at night, right before we depart to each other's bedroom. And those kisses were supposed to be lip-locked but being a hard headed, I made it a non-negotiable condition on top of the two he agreed earlier before I signed the contract, that I will only kiss his cheek, unlike the previous Scarletts who would have no problem to kiss him on the lips. I'm a Muslim, remember? But that, was unexpected. I thought I have at least an hour or two to decide if I'm pulling myself out of this charade but one minute in, he already marked his lips on my body. My hair, to be exact. "Bee," the way he calls me as he goes down the stairs gives me this certain vibe, as if I'm r
"Tell him I-love-you as much as you want, that's part of your job description. And don't worry, he won't fall for you." "He never fall in love with any of the Scarletts?" "Nope. Every time we have a new Scarlett he has no problem to switch them up." "You mean he currently has a Scarlett? Like right-now?""Her contract will be terminated just before yours is activated, as in your first day with him." "What? I thought you said he's nice?" "He is. But this is a business transaction. If we have a new product, of course he wants the latest version.""So we're like iPhones? To be changed every time a new one is available? He's a jerk alright." I still remember that conversation I had with Drey, and the remark I made of calling him a jerk. But when he said ‘I love you’ just now, he doesn't seem like he's lying. Like he's not the jerk I thought he was. "I love you too, Honey." I reply sweetly, silently knocking my head to remind me that I'm on the clock. He said I-love-you to Scarlet
This is harder than I imagined. To maintain Scarlett's image, I get out of his penthouse in another designer skirt suit and a pair of Louboutin with matching Hermes Kelly. My hair as instructed by Drey, is kept in a low bun."Scarlett will always wear a suit to work, be it a pantsuit or a skirt suit. Bag, always Hermes either a Birkin or a Kelly. Shoes, make sure they're at least four inches high. Hair, in a bun. A professional bun, very much different than a formal dinner bun. And lastly, red lipstick." I am struggling over here to remove this pencil skirt that will be replaced with a pair of slacks. My slacks. Because it'd be weird to wear a headscarf with a skirt that stops a little over the knee. God, it's so hard to have double personalities. Once I'm done with my pants, I put on my hijab to cover my blonde hair. Then I swipe the red color off my lips and use my usual nude lipstick. Lastly, I replace the Louboutin with my Salvatore Ferragamo flats, the one I always opt for wo