3| A CONTRACT WITH THE DOPPELGÄNGER

AIDEN

"The cameras have been installed now, Sir." Sam reported.

"Everywhere? I need to know if she tries to do anything stupid." I said, leaning back against my office chair.

"Everywhere, Sir. You can watch her every move now." Sam told me.

"Alright. Make sure that no one else has access to the cameras, except the two of us." I instructed.

"Copy, Sir." He answered, after which I ended the call.

It had been two days since I found her; Kassie's exact doppelgänger in the flesh. As astonishing as my ex-girlfriend, even with the dirt which was all over her on the day I found her. And then when she got that makeover, I almost could not tell the difference. Regardless, the only thing the woman had in common with Kassie was her physical appearance.

This one looked like she would be a handful. Kassie was very compliant, and hardly spoke if it was not necessary. She never liked appearing before the camera, which was why I was not taken aback when the store owners failed to recognize her. This one… was it Persy, on the other hand… looked like she was going to be a menace. I was more than ready to train her into compliance, though.

I opened up my laptop and began to check the cameras. The first thing that caught my eye was her, standing before a mirror. I took in her appearance. She was wearing some of Kassie's big clothes now, all freshened up, too. She was speaking to herself. I turned the sound up, suddenly interested.

"… and you are strong. Okay? You might be losing your identity now, but one day, you would find your way out of this. You will not need to hide your identity. Whatever happens, do not loose yourself, you are Persephone Walters, no matter what anybody says."

I scoffed, watching her smile widely before moving away from the mirror. She needed all the pep talk she could get, because from now onward, she was Kassie Aaron, until my ex-girlfriend came back to her senses. According to her, she needed a break from my emotional assault, and so we called it quits. No, she called it quits and texted me about it. She knew damn well that Pops would kill me if he got the news, yet she did that.

I was super grateful to the universe for giving me a second chance with Pops. It was like the universe knew Pops would lose it if I told him that the daughter of his late colleagues left me because I was emotionally assaulting her.

I did not even get it. Kassie was closed off half of the time, and so was I. How could she allow herself to get her emotions in the mix? It was her fault. All her fucking fault. I would just have to make do with her crazy clone until she got back.

I looked back at the camera, and now she was dancing. I developed a headache instantly, while trying to ascertain which dance she was doing exactly. Shaking my head, I closed the cameras and returned to work. She was my Kassie now, Persy what what, was dead and forgotten until further notice.

__________________

Pops had been asking about Kassie, so I needed to make sure that she was prepared to face him when it was time. It was why I stood outside her apartment, taking out a master card to access the room. After swiping and attaining access into the room, I pushed the door open and walked right inside. Sweet smelling perfume which reminded me of Kassie hit my nostrils at once. Good to know that the room still smelled of her. I had to make sure that the new Kassie smelled like her, too.

"Holy shit!" I heard a shrill voice exclaim, and it only took one glance at the image in front of me to understand what the scream was about.

Persy stood before me, fully naked, her big honey-brown eyes staring at me with pure shock. And in the heat of the moment, I did what I would not normally do… I gave her body a once-over, not caring that it was a very perverse thing for me to do.

I really wished I had not looked at her. My pants had suddenly tightened at the sight of her perky C-cup breasts and slim waist which curved into a perfect hourglass shape. She was on the slender side, as was Kassie. The thing was, I had seen Kassie in a bikini, and she had never looked as… breathtaking as this. I dragged my eyes back to her face because she had wrapped her arms around herself, hiding her supple breasts from me.

Her round face was flushed red, and her slightly full lips slightly trembled in a way that anyone would miss it if the person did not look closely. Her coffee brown hair was wet and stopped a few inches to her elbow. Even with wet hair, she still looked beautiful; I had to admit it. How come I had never looked at Kassie this way?

"And what the hell are you still standing here for? Go and put some clothes on, I do not have the time for this drama." I proceeded to casually check my watch after saying that.

She muttered an apology, then began to back away in fast strides, until she disappeared into the closet. I exhaled, fisting my right palm at the same time in order to control my rising libido. Maybe if I had peeked a little into the bathroom footages I would have been prepared for this sight. I just never really gave a fuck about her or her body like that. Something told me I would be busy with those footages from now henceforth.

Fuck, I sounded like such a pervert.

Arranging my pants properly, I decided to make myself comfortable until she got back.

When she finally came out of the closet, I was seated on a loveseat by the side of the bed. I knew she had taken over one hour in there, hoping that I would not be able to wait until she was done. She was now dressed in an XL sweater and big pants. I had noticed that she loved dressing like this… I wondered if it had anything to do with her life in the streets. She had probably been harassed a lot. But why the fuck did I care about that?

"You're still here…" She muttered, gluing her back to a side of the wall. Her cheeks were still flushed red and she kept avoiding my eyes. I had never actually taken her to be a shy person, but I guess I had been wrong.

"What if someone else had walked in on you? This is what you do, isn't it? Flaunt your body at anyone who cares to look?" I shot at her, making sure my tone was as scathing as it could ever be just because I could not have her thinking that a street girl like herself had managed to turn me on like some horny teenager.

Her eyes lit up with the same fierceness I saw on the first day, and she retorted, "And what if I do? For the record, I am not really your ex, so I can be stared at by as much men as I want!"

Just the thought of someone else looking at what I had just seen made me uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable. And that sharp mouth…

"I do not have an ex, because you are Kassie now, and we will be getting married soon. Never speak of her as someone else from now onwards… you both are the same people." I instructed. She scoffed and folded her arms around her chest.

"So now I must lie to myself too?"

"If that is what you call it."

"How is this even fair? You're being very inconsiderate. You are slowly erasing me and I don't—"

"I warned you before, I do not play fair. Now come here, you have a few documents to sign for the game to properly begin."

She blinked twice. "What is that?"

She stared at the documents which I had just taken out of my briefcase.

"The contract which officially makes you Kassie Aaron until further notice…" She was about to interrupt, probably tell me to stop trying to erase her for the thousandth time, so I added, "You will be getting free food everyday until the contract is over, and free shelter too. Also, a sum of 150,000 dollars will be paid to your account every month, for your service."

Her mouth dropped for five full seconds, and I patiently waited for her to snap out of the trance she was in. She finally managed to get herself together, and then she moved away from the wall, towards me.

After taking a seat on the bed, where she faced me, she took the pen off my hand gently and asked, "How do I sign?"