Second Meeting

The next day, Avery Graham set off to work, as usual Mr Sinh and Wallace were already at the Cafe. The morning rush hour began and Avery was swamped with work and deliveries.

“You look different” Wallace confessed seeking back up from Mr Sinh.

Avery didn’t think letting her hair loose would be much of a difference, the ponytail style was her look all the time.

“Good different or bad different?” She asked curious to know significant differences in the hairstyles.

“Both” Mr Sinh replied.

“Bad because it’s a coffee shop Avery, cover your hair! Good because you look less troubled today. Did something good happen?” Mr Sinh added.

“Not really, I got into an accident yesterday” she said sadly, remembering the events from last night.

“What?! Are you hurt?”

“Where did it happen?” Mr Sinh and Wallace asked simultaneously.

“It wasn’t anything serious, it’s just a skinned knee. I handled it” she said shrugging it off.

Mr Sinh gave Wallace a look that said “everything is not okay.”

“I still think you should be resting at home, an accident can be detrimental to your health” Wallace said.

“Back off Wallace! It was quite minor, literally minute.” Avery retorted.

She wanted to mention the part where she demanded settlement from the other party but it seemed unnecessary.

“Take the day off, Miss” Mr Sinh said in a voice that meant “no play”. Instantly, Avery regretted mentioning the incident, she needed money and her daily savings relied on today’s tips. Not that yesterday’s tip was any good, missing an entire day meant no increment whatsoever! She began to pack her bags, mustering some curses to Fredrick for the unfortunate situation she was now in. As she rummaged her bag for pen to sign out, she found Fredrick’s card. Holding out the card, she contemplated her next move, he said something about involving a lawyer. Were all rich people that petty? If they were, she wanted to see. After all she was the one with injuries and also had to take the day off to recover. A day off she didn’t need.

“I’ll call his bluff. If he wouldn’t pay me the settlement money, he’d probably pay with his time. He seemed quite busy anyway.” Avery thought aloud, bringing out her phone to dial the number on the card.

She held the phone to her ear for what seemed like forever, after the first ring and no one came to the phone, Avery was sure Fredrick was a scammer, he’d given her a fake card and ran off.

Just then, her phone rang. It was a strange number- the same number she just dialed.

“Hello” she said.

“Who’s this?” The voice on the other end replied. He sounded harried and uninterested.

“I am Avery, the girl you gave your card to yesterday” Avery said feistily.

“I gave my card to more than one person yesterday. Be specific” Fredrick replied, the irritation was well expressed in his tone.

Avery could not believe his arrogance.

“Well, you hit me with your big car and ran off, does it ring a bell?”

“First of all, I didn’t hit you. You bumped into me. Second, I didn’t run off, that’s why you have my card.” Fredrick replied, clearly stressed by all these accusations.

“And now I’ve called, let’s talk about that settlement” Avery replied, her own irritation slowly building up.

“Well I am currently at a meeting, let’s make time for this.”

“How about today by 7pm? I’ll send you an address” with that, Fredrick hung up and continued with the meeting he had with the Executive Board of his company.

Strangely, he was impressed by Avery's audaciousness, she was smart and well spoken.

Avery on the other hand was irritated by Fredrick's arrogance, but she couldn't help but notice his confidence and authoritative demeanor.

"7pm, right? Can't wait." She said, ironically speaking.

"What are you still doing here?" Wallace asked interrupting her from the thoughts that were now sprawling in her mind.

"Packing my bags" she said picking up her tote bag as she stepped out of the dressing room.

"Goodbye Mr Sinh" Avery said in a not so excited voice.

She took her bicycle and rode off, this time, she was careful not to run into any more big cars, but as she took her first turn, she suddenly had an idea to go to her brother's workplace. The bookshop would be a quiet place to read her comic book.

In no time, she was at the front of the bookshop, she opened the door smiling expecting to see Adrian beaming back at her. She was surprised when she found another face staring back at her, a young girl of about Adrian's age.

"Welcome to Firstplace Bookshop, what books would you like?" said the girl.

"No book please, just an enquiry. Where's the young boy that works here?" Avery asked.

"Adrian?" the girl replied.

"Yes, Adrian" Avery replied, her stomach did a summer flip, she had a feeling she was about to receive bad news.

"Adrian doesn't work on Thurdays. He's at the hospital, donating blood.”

Since when? Why was Adrian hiding something this important from her.

She however, managed to say her goodbye to the nice girl at the counter and returned home.

The rest of the day passed on slowly, by 6 30pm, there was a message beeping on her phone. "The waterhyde hotel, table 3, 7pm. Don't be late"

Avery took a glimpse of the message and suddenly realised that she had made plans for the evening. It was already 6 30 and waterhyde was about one hour from her house. Without much thought, she threw on a milky jumpsuit with her magenta colored coat. Thank goodness, the coat was nice with literally any outfit.

She took her bicycle and hurried off.

Fredrick sat at the table downing his second glass of Chardonnay, he checked his wristwatch for the third time in the last few minutes, it was eight minutes past 7.

"She has two more minutes, after that I'm..."

"I'm sorry, Mr..." Avery said emerging from the entrance of the restaurant. It was then she realized she hadn't even cared to check for his name on the card.

"Hughson, Fredrick Hughson" Fredrick replied, somewhat of a habit. Introducing himself to clients was now a part of him, it just rolled off without hesitation.

Avery observed the demeanor of the man before her, he on the other hand, was also taking keen observations on Avery's appearance. Avery suddenly felt conscious of herself, she immediately wished she hadn't packed her hair up in a ponytail.

"Where's your lawyer?" Fredrick asked, startling her.

"I will be my lawyer." Avery said, recovering her composure.

"That's illegal, Miss" Fredrick replied.

"Well, I don't see yours either."

“Then we will represent ourselves. Why do you think you deserve a settlement?” Fredrick asked sternly.

“I re…”

Avery was cut short by Fredrick

“I will give you a deal. Act like my girlfriend for a night and I’ll give you ten thousand dollars” he said. Saying it out loud, he realized how crazy he sounded.

Avery busted into a bellow of laughter, she really did think him crazy, but when she noticed the seriousness on Fredrick’s face. It appeared to her that he was indeed serious. Avery was skeptical about the whole scheme, a whooping sum of ten thousand dollars for a night of pretense seemed outrageous and absurd.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I can’t explain anything right now. It’s either we have a deal or no deal. What do you say?”

“I need time to think!”

“There’s no time, the dinner is tomorrow and I need your answer immediately so I can continue with a plan.”

Avery thought about her brother, her medical school, the bills she had to cover for both she and Adrian. It was on this table with Fredrick that Avery realized the reason why her brother was donating blood- for money.

“What plan are you talking about?” Avery asked, suddenly realizing the last part of his sentence.

“I will have to draw up the cheque which I will sign after the dinner night.”

Avery watched him say his words earnestly. Something in her nudged her on to accept this crazy deal. What was a night of acting like his girlfriend, it couldn’t possibly be that hard, all for ten thousand dollars. If she took the deal, it would save her a lifetime of saving tips from the coffee shop and she would be one step closer to going to Med. school.

“Deal!” She blurted.

Fredrick’s eyes widened in amazement, he didn’t think it would be that simple, but he was grateful for her understanding yet he hid his excitement.

“Tomorrow 6pm, I’ll send an address.”

“Please look better. In fact, look your best. Do away with the tote bag, a stiletto will be better” he said taking a glance at her legs.

Avery stared at him puzzled, there was no need for explanations why such a handsome fellow as himself was single and desperately in need for a fake girlfriend. His attitude said it all.

One thing bothered Avery though, she didn’t have any of the things he requested of her and she was embarrassed to admit to him.

At the end of their meeting, Fredrick had managed to convince Avery that he was indeed an unbearable person.

Standing by the exit of the Waterhyde Hotel, Avery watched him make his way to his car prestigiously without a glance at her, once again she was displeased at that behavior but what did she care, all she needed was the ten thousand dollars and after tomorrow, there will be no need to see his face again.