Chapter 3

Amelia looked at him in skepticism as he kept on going. The offer was tantalizing, but she wasn't buying it. She needed money, that was her ultimate priority, but she couldn't just jump on the offer because it has d good terms.

“So, what do you think?” the gentleman in front of her asked, snapping his fingers in her face, bringing her back from little doubt paradise. He must have realized that she wasn't listening.

“Who is getting married?” She asked. That had to be the first statement that made its way out of her mouth after a long time of silence.

“Xavier Garcia”

“And he wants a wife, only for a year, why?”

“Reasons best known to him,” he shrugged at her

“No sexual intimacy?”

“I already stated that”

“Why me and how did you find me?”

“I have been to 16 restaurants in the past 2 days”

“Searching for a girl?”

“Exactly”

“Why didn't you pick one from the sixteen restaurants you went to”

“It pretty hard to convince people who live in California”

“And you just think I looked stupid enough”

“Don't get me wrong. You fit the description, that's all”.

“Which is?”

“Are you in or not” he sighed, tiredly. Her questions were surely wearing him off, but she couldn't help it. This was the first time she was meeting him, and she hadn't even met with the supposed groom. Her paranoid self abruptly frowned at it, but her desperate self was slowly welcoming the idea. One year wasn't so bad. If she gathered enough money, she could fund herself in college and her life would be just as she had pictured it in childhood.

Another finger-snap across her face from Lucas brought her back to reality. Amelia realized she thought too far. She hadn't even accepted the deal yet.

“I will give you more time to think about it” he reached for his pocket, bringing out his wallet and finally, his card. He slid it across the table over to her. Amelia grabbed it. “ Call me when you have finally decided” he flashed a quick smile before he got up from his seat and exited the restaurant.

Amelia sat there for a while, looking at the card, tapping her finger simultaneously on the table, lost in thoughts. She let out a sigh and assessed the area. Something was missing. She thought inwardly.  It immediately hit her. She was seated comfortably in the middle of a restaurant where she worked.

How was he even able to get her to seat with him? She remembered denying his offer of taking a seat, but here she was, seated. She panicked, quickly getting up. Her heart sank when she realized Gary was the one attending to the customers.

Mrs. Davies hadn't sent for her, probably screaming at the top of her voice for her being so silly and seating with a customer. None of that happened which made her slightly confused.

She walked back to their kitchen with a heavy heart and met Mrs. Davies supervising the kitchen staff. She turned to look at Amelia when she heard footsteps. The look on her face could not be deciphered as she walked toward Amelia.

“Well that was a nice stunt you pulled out there,” Mrs. Davies said, swaying her head to the side, grinning mischievously. That was the look she gave her employees whenever they did something gruesome. At that point, Amelia knew she was in massive trouble. “Well, you can carry on. Because you no longer work here” she said effortlessly, turning around swiftly, leaving Amelia too stunned to speak.

SHE JUST GOT FIRED FROM HER JOB!

                       **********

Amelia hit an empty can that lay by the roadside with her purse strapped firmly across her shoulders, letting her childishness surface for a while. With squinted eyes, she looked across the street, observing the busy nature of California.

The wind that blew rapidly, caused her hair to fly in various directions. It guaranteed that the storm was coming. This was one of the numerous reasons she hated spring.

The reality that she got fired from her 5-year-old job hadn't hit her yet as she walked down the street without showing a single emotion. Truth be told, she didn't feel down as a result of the incident, instead, she felt relieved and less suffocated.

The main reason she was out here without a job, crossed her mind. Her face developed a frown abruptly. Anger coursed through her as she thought of him. He was the one who got her in this mess in the first place. If she had just declined his offer of sitting down and kept to it, She would have still been washing dishes at Davies by now. Although the thought of not washing dishes made her slightly joyful, she couldn't stop being angry.

She reached in her purse, pulling out his card, luckily she hadn't forgotten it back at Davies. She ran her fingers across the card. The thought of calling him, and accepting the offer went through her mind, but she immediately brushed it off. That was the devil speaking to her. She thought inwardly, placing the card back in her purse.

Amelia thought she overcame the temptation, but that was a wrong assumption.  she found herself, reaching in her purse and pulling out the card once more. One look at the card and she couldn't do it. She couldn't call him. Her paranoid and desperate selves were fighting in her head, and the confusion was killing her.

She groaned loudly, tossing the card on the floor, rummaging her hands through her hair, making it rougher than it already was. She was aware of the fact that she was acting like a psycho and people were staring at her, but she didn't care. This was a decision that could change her life for good

She sighed and walked over to the card that lay on the floor, picking it back up. It was as though the card kept pulling her to itself. Almost as if she didn't have free will and plastic was ruling over her thoughts.

Her paranoid self gave up, and her desperate self gave in she reached for her phone in her pocket, bringing it out from her purse. She dialed the number written on the card on her phone and held the phone to her ear as her heartbeat became rapid, intense, and loud.