TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

When I got to the door of Jack's office, I hesitated before going in. The moment he saw me, he stood up and smiled. This was in contrast to his reaction toward me when we first met.

Nevertheless, I put on my best smile and said "good morning sir. First of all, I want to apologize for coming late. I also want to apologize for raising my hand to you and insulting you yesterday. It was wrong of me to do that and I am sincerely sorry from the bottom of my heart."

He said, in the most polite voice I had ever heard from his mouth, "I also want to apologize for what happened yesterday. I crossed the line and I still can't figure out what came over me."

I kept mute at this point because I suddenly felt something was fishy. Not firing me was believable but apologizing to me was inconsistent with his personality. Now I knew for a fact that I needed to watch my back.

Interrupting my thoughts, he stretched out his hand for a handshake and said, "Miss Banks, I believe we got off on the wrong foot. I look forward to a more cordial and professional relationship with you."

"As do I," was my reply while I shook his hand too. He suddenly became more serious and said, "now, speaking of work, we need to fly out to Switzerland for two days. There's an artist I want us to sign on but she's been a bit skeptical about our agency. She's a romantic at heart and her wedding is two days away.

Now, this is the plan. I want us to pass off as a couple and make her believe we are head over heels in love with each other. If you play your part well and she signs the contract, you get ten thousand dollars as your bonus."

I opened my eyes in shock. This sounded too good to be true. That amount of money was more than what I was supposed to see on my paycheck by the end of the month.

I couldn't say no to such an offer though. I badly needed the money and all I had to do was an act. The only problem was that I visited Tim every evening at the hospital and brought him dinner. How would he cope without me for almost three days? Sensing my reluctance, he asked,

"Miss Banks, will it be too difficult for you?" I sighed, "my brother is in the hospital and I need to see him every evening and bring him dinner. How would I do that if I'm not here?"

He looked at me for a while before saying, "well that's easy. My assistant can take dinner for him when it's time and you can video call him every day. I think that pretty much solves your problem, doesn't it?"

"I guess it does," I replied. "But before leaving, I would like to bid him farewell and take a few clothes from my house."

"You can go with my PA to see your brother and introduce them to each other. But there's no need to take anything from your house. Once we arrive in Switzerland, we are going shopping. And you do not have to worry, the company will bear all the expenses."

I went back to my office and put everything in order. After that, Jack's PA drove me to the hospital to see my brother. I introduced them to each other and told Tim that Mr. Barrows would be bringing dinner for him during my absence.

Mr. Barrows gave Tim an iPad so he could video call me whenever he wanted. He told Tim that it was from my boss and for the first time since meeting Jack, I felt moved by his gesture. Tim was excited and Seeing the smile on his face made me feel like I was doing the right thing. It was all worth it.

We hugged each other warmly for a long time and he reminded me "remember to have fun and send the pictures to me." I smiled happily and promised him that I was going to do just that, before allowing Mr. Barrows to drive me to the airport.

On our way, Mr. Barrows suddenly took a curve, instead of going straight, "I think we are going the wrong way," I quickly told him. "The airport's that way."

"Oh I'm aware," he replied. "We are not going to the airport, we are going to the Boss's family hangar."

I opened my eyes in surprise. "His family owns a hangar?"

"They sure do and it houses more than seven aircraft."

I sighed. Some people sure have it easy. Little wonder why he can afford to be so arrogant. If I was also born with such a silver spoon, would I have been arrogant as well? I wondered inwardly.

We soon arrived at the hangar and it was extremely large. As I stared at the huge and different aircraft, I became enthralled for a while. Jack's voice suddenly brought me back to reality as he said, "you finally made it. Come onboard, it's time to move."

I had never been inside a private aircraft before so I didn't know what to expect, however, the luxury and grandeur took my breath away. It looked like it had been recently bought as everything sparkled brightly. The aircraft had a buffet and a bar. There were different types of expensive wines at the bar and I knew they were expensive because I had once worked at a winery during my college days.

The buffet looked so inviting, it was something to write home about. "Jack sure is living the life," I said quietly to myself.

As I stared at it, I began to salivate and it got me thinking if Jack already knew that I was obsessed with seafood. I silently prayed for self-control because the last thing I needed was to make a fool of myself in front of Jack.