Chapter four: "What do i have to lose?"

"Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!" Catherine screamed, grabbing her mom tightly in a hug as tears rolled down her eyes

"Please don't leave me, Mom" 

She looked at her face, dazzling with beauty and a faint smile, Catherine could not believe that her mom was no more.

An hour later, the door was forced open and her Dad, Jessica, and Natasha rushed into the ward. Natasha's eyes were already red and her face swollen. 

"What happened to my mom?'' Natasha asked, running into her mom's embrace.

"Oh no!!" Jessica said and sobbed covering her face as if in a cry and Catherine turned and looked at her with a disgusting expression on her face.

Her dad just paced around the room, without a single word or tear dropping from his eye.

As the room echoed with screams from Natashia and Catherine, the same screams transcended to the cemetery where her mom's body lay.

Everyone present at the burial site wore black clothes and Jessica stood far from the crowd, crying.

When it was time for each family member to put a drop of sand in the grave, after Catherine, her dad, and Natashia dropped sand in the grave. When it was Jessica's turn to put the sand in the grave, drizzles of rain splattered in the cemetery.

***

A month later after the death of Catherine's mother,

Catherine stood behind the counter attending to customers who came to pay for what they shopped. 

After her mother's death, after several searches for jobs, she finally got a job as a cashier at Kravims Mall. As she stood there attending to the customers that came in to buy she sighted a familiar face coming close to her as she looked up she saw that he looked like her last boss, Vikram.

She looked carefully at him and couldn't help but acknowledge the striking resemblance with the person coming closer to the cashier point.

"No Vikram does not work without a bodyguard. Even if he does, why would he be going shopping when he has maids?" She said in her head.

"Hello" He handed over his card to her and paid for his bills and Catherine could not help but watch him.

The only difference was the color of his eyes, his voice sounded almost exactly like Vikrams' voice.

"Be quick and stop staring" The voice said and Catherine immediately jerked out of her thoughts, slightly embarrassed as her face flushed pink.

"Oops sorry" She fidgeted and handed him the receipt and as she handed it over to him, his phone pinged and he picked up the call without getting the receipt from her.

"Hello" 

"......" The voice from the other angle spoke.

"I really need to do it now? Oh, no problem" He disconnected from the call and tapped his fingers on the desk, and snapped his fingers at Catherine who's eyes were on the computer screen making her look up at him.

"Excuse me?" Catherine muttered tracing her hair to the back of her earlobe.

"Umm, I need a favor from you urgently. I am Travis" 

"Okay? Hope it's business related" She replied as half of her attention was on the screen and what he was about to say.

"Yeah!! I am in serious need of your help right now. I would pay you any amount of money you want." He said slowing, turning his head to look around.

Catherine laughed in her heart, looking at him to check what quality of a man would just pop out of the blue to offer her a job. 

She looked at his shirt and the quality of his clothes screamed money.

"Okay? let's hear the deal first I can not promise you first" Catherine said placing her hands on her chin, she maintained eye contact with his green coloured eyes guy standing in front of her.

He smiled before talking to her, "Look, I need someone who would act in as a spouse for three months or more in my family starting from now and I feel you can stand in that place well "

"And what makes you think so? Can we talk about this later? I am on duty, I cried so hard for this job Travis" Catherine muttered clicking her fingers lightly.

"Look, I would give you any amount of money you call and I would pay you for that, I just want you to accept it," Travis replied, boring a hard stare at her.

Catherine's head buzzed and boiled with thoughts on how to deal with it. She is in need of serious money to start up something or go for her modeling ambition.

"Okay, can we talk later about it or " She was still skeptical about her decision.

" Okay, I need you now. It is an emergency"  

" For real? " She asked surprised at the speed at which this was going.

"How can I trust you? I just met you now for goodness sake." She asked.

" You should not be scared, .." 

Just then one bulky looking guy steps in prostrating slightly and talks to him." Sir, we really have to leave now for the event. Your mother just called." Catherine watched, it seemed like what she used to read in novels.

"So contract marriages exist? Wow!!" She said in her head. 

"Okay, I'll be there in a while so please leave.." Travis ordered and the man left him. 

He turns to her and says" Are you in or not?" With a stern face and his tone commanding.

"What do I have to lose anyway?" She mumbled silently and replied "Yes… Okay but what about the job? I am currently on duty right now."

"Don't bother, shhh… Excuse me. Fill in the place for her" He commanded one of the colleagues and they dutifully nodded without any complaint.

Catherine could not help but wonder who this green eyed young man was that her colleagues could break the rule and humbly obey.

" Here have this" He removed a bundle of one thousand dollar notes and handed it over to the lady taking her place.