CHAPTER ONE: ONE DINNER

Selene's feet were killing her.

She had stood for six hours straight in the lobby of the Vale Group building. The CEO was supposed to arrive at four o'clock for the big client meeting. Everyone had been told to look busy and smile. Floors had been polished twice. Someone had even ironed the flowers.

Four o'clock came and went, then five.

At half past five, a thin old man in a gray suit walked in with two assistants and a face like a slammed door. It was Theodore Vale, the CEO's grandfather.

"Where is my grandson?" he said, loud enough for the whole lobby to hear.

A nervous manager cleared his throat. "Sir, Mr. Vale sent a message. He's... tied up."

"Tied up." The old man's cane hit the marble. "He's tied up with work, but not with the one thing I asked him to do?"

Nobody answered.

By seven, serene was dragging herself down the street, her heels in her hand and her bag cutting into her shoulder. Her stomach growled, she had skipped lunch again. She counted the coins in her pocket and decided she could afford a bun, or the bus fare, but not both.

Her phone rang.

It was Clara.

Selene almost didn't answer, she was so tired. But Clara never called twice, and this was the third time.

"Hello?"

"Selene!" Clara was sobbing, not pretty sobbing. The kind with hiccups. "Selene, oh my God, I need you. Right now please."

Selene stopped walking. "What? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No! Yes! I don't know! Everything is ruined!" A loud sniff. "I think I'm going to die. Or move to another country. Maybe both."

Selene pressed her fingers to her forehead, and in spite of everything, the corner of her mouth twitched. Only Clara could sound like the world was ending and make it funny at the same time.

"Clara, breathe."

"I can't. I've forgotten how."

"In through your nose."

"It's blocked from crying."

"Then through your mouth, you drama queen." Selene was already turning toward the bus stop. "Where are you?"

"The little restaurant, at Lantern House. Please come fast, If I'm alone any longer I'll eat all the bread and cry into the butter."

"I'm coming. Don't touch the butter."

She hung up and started to run, sore feet and all.

She was crossing the street near the station when she saw him.

Eric.

He stood on the opposite side, hands shoved in his jacket pockets, his dark hair a little messy from the wind. The streetlight caught the side of his face. He looked hurt. Not angry, just hollow, like someone had taken something from him and he was too polite to ask for it back.

Selene's heart did what it always did around him. It tripped over itself.

She had known Eric since they were kids. Since scraped knees and shared umbrellas. She had loved him quietly for so long that it had become part of her, like the color of her eyes. He had never noticed. Or he had, and he was kind enough to pretend not to.

‘Wave’ she told herself. ‘Just lift your hand.’

Her fingers had barely moved when a train screeched into the station behind him. The doors slid open. Eric stepped inside without looking back.

The doors closed, then the train pulled away.

Selene stood there, her hand half raised, feeling very stupid. She lowered it slowly and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Next time," she whispered. Then she ran.

Lantern House was a fancy place with soft music and white tablecloths. Selene hated how her scuffed shoes squeaked on the floor. She found Clara in the back booth, hiding behind a menu.

"Clara."

The menu dropped. Clara's face was red and puffy, her mascara melting down her cheeks. She grabbed Selene's wrist with both hands, as if Selene might float away.

"You came," she whispered. "You actually came."

"Of course I came." Selene slid into the seat and took her hands. They were freezing. "Now tell me what happened. Slowly."

Clara drew in a long, shaky breath. "My dad."

"What did he do this time?"

"He set me up on a blind date tomorrow night. With some rich man he says is a 'perfect match.' And he won't take no for an answer." Her voice wobbled. "Selene, I don't want to go. I've never even been on a proper date."

"Okay, Okay." Selene squeezed her fingers. "That's easy, Just tell him you're not going."

"I did."

"Then tell him again…Louder, Tell him it's your life, and you're not a piece of furniture he can sell."

"You think I haven't tried?" Clara's voice cracked. "I begged, I cried, I told him I'd never speak to him again. And he said..." She pressed her lips together. "He said if I don't go, he'll cut me off. No money, no house. Just Nothing!."

Selene's heart sank. "He wouldn't."

"You don't know my father." Clara wiped her face with her sleeve. "He doesn't make threats, he makes promises."

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. A waiter walked by with a tray of glasses. The glasses clinked softly.

"So go," Selene said gently. "It's one dinner, you just have to sit there, be polite, tell him you don't wait this and it'll end."

"I can't." Clara's head sank to the table. "Do you know who it is? Do you know what they say about him? That he's cold. That he's rude, that he looks at people like they're bugs."

"Clara..."

"I'd freeze, I'll say something stupid." She lifted her head and looked at Selene with wet, desperate eyes. "I'm not like you. You've got a mouth that could cut glass, you can say exactly what you think and not even blink."

Selene stared at her. Slowly, a cold feeling crept up her back.

"No," she said.

"I haven't said anything."

"You have that look, and I'm not doing anything stupid for you again Clara.”

"Please Selene, go in my place. He has never seen my face, nobody has. Do this one thing for me. Please Selene.” She sniffed.

"Are you hearing yourself?" Selene blinked unbelievably, slowly withdrawing her hands.

“I'll pay you Selene, name your price, tell me how you want it. I just want you to go there, insult him, make him hate me, do anything you know you can do to make him despise me. Just this once Selene.”

Selene stared at her pitiful friend, she wanted to say NO but she had never said no to Clara. Deep down her heart, she knew she had to help her friend once again.