11|Stand-In

The jarring sound of a phone vibrating somewhere in the room jerked Natalie awake. Eyes still tightly shut in an attempt to hold on to sleep, she reached out from underneath the covers, her fingers fumbling on the nightstand.

Bleary-eyed, she peered at her phone, frowning when all she saw was a black screen. The darn thing had died at some point between arriving home and passing out after settling a rowdy Emily in for the night.

"Em, can you get that, please?" she said, nudging her friend with her elbow.

Emily groaned and pulled the duvet over her head, making no effort to silence the offending noise.

"Ugh, you need to leave. You've overstayed your welcome!" Natalie snapped when it became clear she wouldn't go back to sleep anytime soon.

She leaned over and snatched her friend's phone from the side table. 

"Hello, Natalie speaking, Emily's sleeping."

"Natalie, it's Aunty Viv. Why are you answering Emily's phone?"

Natalie spent a few minutes explaining to her new boss that they'd gone hard last night, celebrating the end of her training, and they were still recovering.

"Wake her up right now! Do you have any idea what time it is? Did she forget where she needs to be in three hours?"

Natalie didn't know what the time was. But from the scorching heat streaming through her thin lace curtains, she guessed it was past noon.

"I don't care what you have to do, but make sure Emily is sober and ready by 3:00 PM sharp. Text me your address; I'm sending her clothes and a car to pick her up," Aunty Viv said and hung up before Natalie could say anything else.

Yawning, Natalie placed the phone back on the side table. No point in staying in bed if she couldn't sleep. She had a lot to do. Grocery shopping. Tidying up her flat. Laundry. In that order.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," she said in a sing-song voice as she drew the curtains.

Emily whined again and hid her face under her pillow when bright sunlight flooded the room. "You are not a nice person!"

Laughing, Natalie yanked the covers away from her and hit her on the head with her pillow. "What are you? A vampire? Afraid of the sun? Wake up!"

"Leave me alone!" Emily grumbled, throwing the pillow back at her.

"I told you not to overdo it with the shooters. You don't listen," Natalie said, ducking out of the way in time.

Emily sprung out of bed, gagging and retching, her eyes filled with panic as she looked at Natalie for help. "I don't feel so great."

Familiar with her puke face now, Natalie pushed her straight into the bathroom across the hall, closed the door and gave her some privacy. She lingered in the hallway, though, in case she needed help.

After a few minutes, Emily emerged from the bathroom, her face ashen and her eyes sunken.

"You look so hot right now; I could kiss you!" Natalie teased, but her joke fell flat.

Emily ignored her as she rested her forehead on the cool door frame. "Nat, I think I'm coming down with something. Can I lie down for a little bit?"

"Sure," Natalie said as she led her back to the bedroom.

"Aunty Viv called." She puffed up Emily's pillows and helped her back onto the bed. "She's sending some clothes and a car for you at 3:00 PM sharp. You need to text her my address."

"Oh, crap! I forgot." Emily hid her face in her hands and sniffled, her long hair falling at her sides in a tangled mess. "I have an assignment this afternoon. I promised to attend a gala evening with a VIP client."

"Hey, you can't help it if you're sick. I'm sure your client will understand," Natalie said as she hooked her phone to the charger.

"But it's an important night for him. He's getting an award. I can't ditch him at the last minute." Emily shook her head, her green eyes shimmering with tears.

"Right." Natalie stood up, dusted off her hands on the front of her pyjama pants and nodded as if she understood, but she didn't.

"I know it's a bit of an ask, but can you be my stand-in? It's too late for Aunty Viv to find a substitute."

"Me?" Natalie asked, completely thrown by Emily's request. What the hell did she even know about galas?

"We'll split the cash Nat; it's twenty grand."

Natalie paused mid-refusal and stared at her.

Twenty thousand rands to sit and have dinner at a gala?

It was tempting.

But she'd just completed her training; it was too soon for her to see clients. Her profile wasn't even live yet. She still had to sign the contract and send it to Aunty Viv.

"Come on, Nat, you'd make a perfect date for Paul," Emily persisted. "I mean, you're a total knockout. You don't have to try. He'll be so honoured to have you on his arm."

"Thanks, but I'll pass. The closest thing to a gala evening I've ever attended was my college graduation. I'll be way out of my depth there."

"I'll give you a crash course." Desperation shone brightly in Emily's eyes, and Natalie couldn't help but find her a little pathetic. She knew it was wrong, but she was secretly thrilled to see that even goddesses like her friend went through moments of hopelessness and despair.

"Besides, you don't have to do much." Emily continued with her sales pitch. "You only have to smile and look pretty. Paul will do the rest."

Natalie wasn't sold. In fact, the last part of Emily's comment irked the shit out of her. She liked to think she was more than a pretty face and could engage in adult conversation.

Despite her better judgement, she still asked, "what does this Paul do?"

"He's a plastic surgeon and runs a private Rock Castle clinic. He does all Aunty Viv's work and some girls' work."

Natalie whistled a low, pathetic sound. No matter how many times Jamie tried to teach her in the past, she could never get it right.

"And plastic surgeons get awards? For what? Creating the most exquisite face in the world?"

Emily laughed. "No, silly. The award is for his philanthropic work. He's donated a large sum to the foundation hosting the event."

"I see," Natalie said absently.

The longer her friend tried to convince her, the more it looked like a pyjama and seaweed face mask kind of day, and she planned to binge-watch all the reruns of the shows she'd missed because of her training as soon as Emily left. There was no way she'd venture beyond Beacon Hill today; if it wasn't for her errands, she wouldn't even leave her flat.

"So, will you go? Think of it as a practice run, like a mock assignment. You'll be doing these soon anyway."

Emily was right. In a couple of days, she'd have to go on dinner dates with miserable married men too afraid to make the necessary changes in their lives because millions—and in some cases, billions—were at stake.

But, she was hoping to ease into her side hustle slowly and use the weekend to get used to being a companion. It hadn't fully sunk in, and everything was happening too fast, too soon.

"Come on, Nat. You only have to be there for three hours. And I'll give you anything you want."

Emily had her attention now. She paused and turned to her. "Anything, you say?"

"Of course. I feel terrible for flaking on Paul and asking you to step in."

Natalie didn't care much for the VIP client and didn't even understand why anyone had to be given an award for kindness. But, if Emily shared her fundraiser page with her followers, she might reach her first goal before taking on her first official Dreams assignment.

"Fine, I'll do it on three conditions."

"Yes!" Emily smiled weakly and blew her a kiss. "I told you anything you want."

"First, call off Aunty Viv. I don't want her coming here and sniffing around my place. Everything's happening too fast. I need to process it all."

"She won't come. She's just sending the car to take me, well—you now— to the venue."

"I can take an Uber," Natalie argued. "Which reminds me, your car's still at Crush."

Emily waved her off, "don't worry about that right now; I'll make a plan. As for Aunty Viv's car, it was arranged weeks ago. I couldn't exactly show up at a fancy event in my wreck of a car!"

Natalie rolled her eyes. Emily's MINI Clubman was hardly a 'wreck'.

"I'll do all your reports for a month. Please?"

"Okay, okay!" Natalie relented. "My second request—clear this with Paul. He's expecting you, and I don't want to show up only to be kicked out. Where is the event happening anyway?"

"Consider your second request done. And, to answer the where, it's at The Empress!"

"You mean The Empress, the mother of all hotels, where you have to wait at least two years for a booking?"

"Yep, the one and only!"

"Unbelievable!" Natalie squealed and threw herself on the bed, unable to believe her luck.

The Empress was one of the many places she'd planned to check out after reading about it in a Rock Union brochure she'd picked up at the bus station when she first moved to town.

It was initially built as a family home around 1925 by Edward Strauss for his wife. But they both died in a boating accident before they finished up the place.

Natalie was a sucker for tragic love stories and wouldn't mind walking through all the unfinished rooms. She would have loved to see all the original artworks said to have been painted by Mrs Strauss herself. Pity they were in a private gallery and only viewable by important hotel guests. Still, visiting the place was one more thing she'd scratch off her bucket list.

A content sigh slipped through her lips as she stared at the ceiling. The mouldy water stain didn't bother her as much today. She could almost forgive the old lady in the flat above hers for leaving her bathwater running while she went to the convenience store down the road.

It took Natalie a good couple of days to dry out her bed and carpets, but the damp odour still lingered in the room, and only the strongest of air fresheners could hide it for brief periods.

"I don't believe this! I'm going to The Empress!" she screeched again as she ran around the room, already imagining the evening ahead.

"Can I eat anything I want?"

"Of course," Emily said.

"Anything? Anything?" The glutton in Natalie couldn't wait. But first, she had to check the menu and learn to pronounce the names of all the fancy dishes.

"Yes, you can eat all the caviar you want!" her friend sighed. "Now, what was your last request?"

"Right—" Natalie said, calming down long enough to tell Emily about Jamie's GoFundMe page.

"Oh, Nat! Why would you even ask? Send me the link, and I'll share it."

"Great!" Natalie said as she danced her way out of the room. "Don't forget to call Paul. This girl right here has to get ready for her date at The Empress!"