2

It's been seven months since Tara left. Seven months since his heart was broken. Seven months since he decided to move on but couldn't.

Elliot was back to being the most eligible bachelor in the city of New York, and once the news spread that he was no longer in a relationship, every woman and their mother tried to catch his eye especially since they knew he needed a woman to be able to get ownership of his grandfather's multi-billion-dollar company SEM Group, which was now run by his father after his grandfather's demise.

Elliot couldn't care less about getting into a new relationship, in fact, he strongly believed Tara would be back and he planned on waiting for her but he couldn't wait for her to return before stepping up. He had always been interested in taking over the company since he was younger, following his father to the office, asking him questions, helping him solve problems and even studying business management in college but it seemed like the time to take over was coming sooner than expected. His father was ailing and his sisters Sarah and Maya had no interest in the running SEM. Sarah his older sister was a lawyer and Maya his younger sister was a ballerina.

Their parents, Peter and Diane trusted him to take care of the company when it was time but they gave a condition. He had to be married or engaged at least to be eligible but with Tara gone, that would pose as a difficult condition for him but he knew he would have to do something about it else his impossible uncle Romeo would take over. And so the search for a fiancee began.

~~~~~

Wanda Davis bit into her toast and scrunched her nose, watching a TV show in the afternoon and still in her PJs. This was her new routine after becoming an unemployed woman since she was let off seven months ago. Before losing her source of income, Wanda was a staff in the PR department of a cosmetics brand and she loved her job but with the sudden restructuring they were doing, Wanda was, unfortunately, part of the twenty staff members they let go. She was paid off but it still hurt and now she was jobless.

Wanda had been a religious saver. Once her salary hit her bank account, a significant amount of it went into savings. A lifestyle she was proud of although she was mocked by some coworkers and friends who thought it was excessive but now her 'excessive' savings were saving her. She was holding on well but she would need to get a new job soon not just because she needed a steady income but also for her sanity. Wanda hated not doing anything. Just waking up and laying around watching TV was not her thing. She tried to go out, and hang out with friends but it wasn't satisfying enough, she even went clubbing some months ago but she agreed that lifestyle wasn't for her. All she wanted was a nice nine to five, it sounded crazy but that was it for her and she agreed she was quite the workaholic.

She had submitted her resumé to different companies praying for a positive response but out of the six she applied to, four had already rejected her, so now SEM Cosmetics a subsidiary of SEM Group or Zia Beauty would have to accept her before she loses her mind. She was expecting a response from both companies on Wednesday and it was Tuesday already meaning that she would find out her fate soon. Coincidentally, both companies said if she didn't receive a mail from them by Wednesday, it would mean she wasn't cleared for the next stage.

Tired of lazing around, Wanda got up. A shower was the first thing she needed to cross off her to-do list. After a shower, she would skip 'Have breakfast' since it was afternoon and she had eaten already.

"What do we do today?" She asked herself before bending to pick up her phone from the sofa. Her friend Cherry was calling.

"Hi, Cher, what's up?"

"I'm on my way to your place." Her friend said over the phone. "Take a bath." She added, which made Wanda giggle.

"I'm all clean today don't worry. Are we going out?"

Cherry replied. "Yes, we are. Your house must be tired of you."

Wanda laughed again, she looked around her apartment and said "I'm sure it is. I'll be waiting."

Cherry Wilson arrived at Wanda's home by 2:37 pm, and as Wanda had told her, she was clean and dressed.

"I'm impressed," Cherry threw her purse on the couch. "you took a bath."

"Stop making it seem like I'm some pig. Where are we going by the way?"

"To grab a meal at a restaurant that opened recently."

Wanda walked to the refrigerator, opened it and brought out a pack of apple juice.

"Oh, you mean 201 Degrees South?"

"Yeah, you know it?"

She nodded. "I read a review of it. I wonder how they came up with that name."

"Well, I don't care," Cherry said picking up her purse. "I just want to eat good food."

Wanda closed the fridge and smiled. "Me too."

In an hour, the duo was out of the house and in the restaurant.

They chatted over good food and fancy named wine, updating each other on their lives.

"Don't worry, at least one of them will accept you. I can feel it." Cherry said as she sipped some wine.

"Well, I hope so because if they don't, I have no idea what I'm going to do."

Cherry leaned towards Wanda and asked, "Have you thought about dating? I can set up a meeting with someone I know."

"What? No." She nearly choked. "I'm not interested."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Well maybe I'll reconsider if some single rich dude offers me a lot of money to be with him, but that's not going to happen."

Cherry shook her head. "Don't you think you're being too imaginative?" "It's not gonna happen."

"Yes so I'm going to be single forever and follow you even when you get married."

Cherry laughed and sat up straight. "Eww, no thanks. I'll find a single rich guy for you."

"You're crazy." Wanda laughed too.

They stayed out until late before returning to their homes. Wanda was exhausted. As soon as she got into the apartment, she kicked off her shoes, chugged a glass of water before staggering to the bedroom where she crashed on the bed. She didn't take off her clothes or make up, that was how tired she was.

~~~~~

"Elliot do you really have to?" Toby sat. "The more I hear it, the more ridiculous it sounds."

Elliot raked his hands through his brown hair and sighed loudly. "I know getting into a fake relationship is crazy but I have to."

"This isn't just a fake relationship, you're going to fake getting engaged and fake getting married."

Elliot shook his index finger showing his friend was wrong. "No one said anything about getting married. I'll just stick to the fiancee story until Tara returns and then–"

Toby slammed his fist on the table and stood, cutting Elliot off. "Not this again. Elliot, Tara isn't coming back, you need to let it go."

"I know Tara better than anyone, she can't live outside New York heck she can't live outside Manhattan so I know she'll be back."

He was getting tired of hearing Elliot talk about Tara returning. At first, he tried to ignore it, passing it off as him being heartbroken but it was getting too much and it annoyed and bothered him.

"You know you're sounding crazy but okay let's say she returns. This girl dumped you, why would she agree to marry you?"

Elliot couldn't answer. He had never thought about that. He just assumed whenever Tara returned, she would want him again.

Toby sat again. "You see, you don't have anything to say."

"Let's just go back to our discussion." Elliot said, feeling defeated.

"Just pick a random girl, does it matter?" He was getting frustrated and Elliot could tell.

"Just because it's fake doesn't mean I shouldn't be careful. When I see someone that interests me I'll do some digging before reaching out."

Toby shrugged. "Okay, do whatever just don't talk about Tara when you find the one, you might scare her off."

Elliot rolled his eyes.

~~~~~

It was Thursday morning, Wanda was already up and by her laptop refreshing her mail every second. One of the two companies if not both would email her a date and time for her interview with them. She checked the time again and it was 8:58 am, in two minutes she would know her fate. Her phone buzzed and her heart skipped a beat but it was just a text from Cherry who wanted to know what had happened. She replied to the text quickly and dropped her phone again this time it was 9:00 am and she refreshed her mail one more time and screamed when she saw one new mail in her inbox, she did a little dance before sitting down to open it.

The mail was from Zia Beauty and it read :

'Congratulations Ms Davis you have passed the first stage of recruitment. If you want to continue in the recruitment process, please be at Zia Beauty's head office in Tribeca, Manhattan by 10:00 am on Monday the 23rd of August, 2021 for the interview. We hope to see you there.'

Wanda was over the moon, she might have not been contacted by SEM Cosmetics but it didn't matter, she got one. She called Cherry to deliver the good news.

"Drinks on me." She screamed over the phone. "I passed the first stage."

"OMG congratulations babe." Cherry screamed back. " For which one?"

"Oh yeah, Zia."

"That's great, I'm happy for you and I know you'll ace the interview. "

"Thank you Cherry. See you this evening."

"Bye, Love you."

"Love you too." Wanda replied.

After dropping the call, she opened the calendar app on her phone. "Today is Thursday the 19th so the interview is in four days oh my gosh I'm nervous." She said to herself then proceeded to take a pack of juice from the fridge before doing yet another victory dance.

~~~~~

Four Days Later.

Wanda's heart sank. It was so obvious she wasn't getting the job, Zia already had their candidate.

So what was the point?

Why did they even bother?

To seem fair?

Sitting there watching the interviewers smile like fools at the girl they chose already boiled her blood. She resisted the urge to curse at them, she wanted to walk out of there but she told herself she'll see it through till the end. And she did. Filled with anger, she wanted to do something but she couldn't call Cherry since she was out of town for a few days.

Wanda went to the movies, then an arcade and even the zoo. Very random and weird for someone who failed an interview but that was her, weird and random. After doing a little exploring, it was past seven in the evening but she wasn't tired one bit so she decided to end the day by drinking. Taking a cab, Wanda told the driver, "The nearest bar please."

Calming jazz music played in the background. Elliot sipped his scotch whiskey as he scrolled through his phone. Finding a Mrs. was hard, harder than he thought. He was so fed up that he decided the next girl he sees he would approach her, but he didn't have to worry about that because the woman he would sign a contract with approached him first.

"Hi." Wanda was tipsy. "I'm Wanda and I'm jobless."

Elliot looked at the strange woman and turned to see if she was talking to someone else but they were practically the only ones there.

"Um hi, I'm Elliot."

She picked up her glass, looked into it and set it on the table. "You look sad. I'm sad too, we could be sad together."

Elliot laughed a little. She was funny. "Why are you sad?"

"I failed an interview today. Well I didn't actually fail they just didn't choose me, they had someone else in mind already."

"Oh, that's not cool. Sorry about that."

"Right?" she slouched. "I need a job."

"Well I need a fiancee."

She paused and eyed him. He must be joking. "Are you trying to make me laugh because it's working?"

"Sounds crazy right? I know but it's true. I'm so desperate I would pay."

Interested, Wanda smiled and moved closer to him. She had talked about getting into a relationship if only a rich dude offered her money and now it was about to happen. Life was unpredictable. "Sounds like something I can do. You need a fiancee, and I need a job." She winked at him and retreated.

"Are you serious? Because I am." Elliot was getting excited, he didn't know anything about this woman except her name but if she was willing to do it then he was ready.

Wanda didn't really care anymore, she just wanted to get paid and it didn't seem hard. He was good looking and with the clothes he had on she could tell he was rich.

"You might think I'm weird but I swear I'm not." Elliot reached into his blazer pocket. "I've got a contract here with me."

"And I have a pen." She searched her purse and produced a pen.

"You're drunk though, are you sure about this? I don't want to hear I took advantage of you while you were drunk."

Getting tired of all the unnecessary talk, Wanda put a finger to Elliot's lips shocking him. "I'm only tipsy."

Elliot brought out a piece of paper and laid it on the table, Wanda pulled it towards her and read through it, looking at all the conditions and when she saw the amount she would receive monthly her jaw dropped.

"Ten thousand dollars every month?"

He nodded in agreement.

"Are you into drugs?"

Elliot covered her mouth with his hands. "God no." He gave her his card but she didn't look at it, she just shoved it into her purse.

After reading through it twice, Wanda signed the papers and gave them back to him. She wrote her phone number on a sheet of paper and gave it to him.

"Call me." She stood up. "I've got to leave."

"Wait shouldn't I drop you off or something?" He called after her but she was already gone.

Elliot looked at the paper I'm front of him. He couldn't believe he did it. He ordered one more drink before calling it a night.