Two Requests?
After New Year’s Eve, Helen went back to washing dishes in the back of her pub for the month of January and tried not to think about what she could be missing working as an escort. After all, not every date had been like the last one with Mark Lewis. Yup! She didn’t think about what Mark’s kiss had been like or how he held her while they danced. She didn’t think about his eyes or the way his hair fell into them. Nope! Not one bit!Best of all, she didn’t think about the money she was missing out on while she worked her honest minimum wage job. At least, not until her January paycheck came in. When she saw the numbers and did the accounting in her head, she computed just one fact—she was in trouble.Mindy was reading a magazine in her recliner when Helen limped into the apartment after getting her pay stub. Mindy instantly flipped the glossy cover shut and took her headphones out of her ears to ask Helen, “So, how was work? Did you get paid?”“I got paid,” Helen sulked.“Not enough?” Mindy inquired as she put her arms behind her head and stretched her body out. “You already owe me six hundred and twenty bucks and that’s on top of February’s rent. Do you think you’re going to be able to make good? I’d hate to have to call Auntie and ask her to make up the difference for you. I can’t pay for this place by myself.”“Yes, you can!” Helen countered noisily. Mindy made tons of money. She was just trying to bully Helen into going back to the escort service. “You could easily pay for this place by yourself.”“Ah,” Mindy said. She sounded bored. “I suppose that’s true, but I can’t think of a good reason why I should have to pay for your housing when I have such good plans for my hard-earned money.”“I could pay you back!” Helen claimed.“When?”“After graduation—”“Whatever,” Mindy interrupted. “I’m not telling you what to do. You can get the money to pay me however you want and I guess whenever you want. I’m not heartless enough to call your parents and insist that they pay me. I just wanted to tell you that Valentine’s Day is coming up and there has been a request for you through the agency.”“Really?“Yeah. A request for Vera! Do you feel like doing it?”“What's the hourly rate for the job?” Helen asked. Not all jobs paid the same. She had made thirty dollars an hour during the Christmas holidays, except for New Year’s and Christmas Eve. On those nights she had made fifty dollars an hour. “Valentine’s is worth how much?”“Fifty,” Mindy said. “Except that there has been a miraculous turn of events in your favor. There wasn’t just one request, but two.”“Two?” Helen asked, stunned. “What happens when there are two?”“Well, you can either go out with the highest bidder, or you can go out with the one you like, or you can go with the one who made their appointment first, or whatever. You can flip a coin if you want. Feel like working?”Helen crossed her fingers and said, “If either of those guys is Mark Lewis, I’ll go on the date.”Mindy’s eyes lit up. “That’s a charming development! We’re not supposed to have favorite clients, but it’s inevitable. I have some I like better, but I’m probably more mercenary than you are. I like the ones that pay more.”“Was Mark one of them?” Helen asked impatiently.“Yes, he was.”“YES!” Helen cheered with her arms in the air. “I’ll go! Yay!”“Wait, Darling,” Mindy continued. “Get off the ceiling and listen to the rest. Hey!” she yelled, to get Helen’s attention. “Sit down!”Helen forced herself to sit cross-legged on the floor, but her cheeks were burning. She was so excited she was practically bouncing. Another date with Mark! Hooray!“Calm yourself. Mark has only offered to pay the standard fee because he was the one to make the appointment before the other guy called and you got double booked. The other guy said he wanted you, too. So, we asked him if he was willing to outbid your first request for that night.”“Did you book me not knowing whether or not I’d be able to come in?” Helen questioned, feeling like she knew the answer before Mindy told her.Her cousin winked. “Naturally. I didn’t take you off the books. You still owe me money.”Helen groaned and Mindy went on.“Anyway, he offered one hundred dollars an hour—into your pocket.”“A hundred dollars… an hour! You must be joking. A guy does not pay that much without expecting sex!” Helen exclaimed.“This guy does. When he offered that much, the rules were firmly explained to him and he said he wanted you for a date and nothing more.”“Have I met this guy before? Did I go on a date with him?”“I don’t think so. He said he saw you at the New Year’s Eve party. I guess your date was with Mark that night? Anyway, he thought you were interesting and he wants to take you out. His name is Dominic Figura. So, which will it be?”Helen shrugged. “I’d rather date Mark, but that’s a lot of money. Does he only want me for an hour then? Could I go to both?”Mindy shook her head. “If memory serves—both of them wanted from seven to midnight. So, pulling a doubleheader is out of the question, but I’m proud of you for asking. You’ve got a dirty mind after all, don’t you, Vera?”“Shut up! I’m trying to make money here!”“Then date Dominic. You’ll make twice as much and cover five hundred dollars of your debt to me in one night. Even making a hundred dollars an hour, that won’t even cover half of what you’ll owe me by then. I’ll tell you what I’d do. I’d date Dominic, stop being little miss goody-two-shoes, and work for the agency until you get a real job. That way you’ll be out of debt when you graduate and you can move forward in your life with pride.”“You just want me to swallow my pride for now?” Helen asked, feeling heavy.“Everyone should do it a time or two,” she said before she claimed she needed a shower and left the room.Helen sat alone in the living room. She felt flat. She really wanted to go on a date with Mark on Valentine’s Day, but crappity-crap-crap-crap, she’d have to bail. She needed the money too much to take an opportunity like a hundred dollars an hour for granted. But, if she turned him down, would he ever call and request her again? She doubted it.Yep! She was right the first time. She was in trouble.Valentine’s Day.Even before the date, Helen felt sure she was already dead and roasting for her sins in hell, but how could she have known that Dominic would take her to the same restaurant as Mark that night? Bah!Helen hadn’t been the one to call Mark to tell him he had been outbid. Helen fed herself all kinds of good reasons why she had turned him down. She was doing it for the money, so why not do it for the money? If that was her philosophy, then it didn’t matter who asked her. The sooner she could pay off Mindy and her credit card, the better. It wasn’t like she wanted luxurious living. Mostly what she wanted was a reasonable meal. Eating cheap Asian noodles two meals a day was hardly nourishing, but she didn’t have money for anything better.She also told herself maybe it was better if it didn’t go any further with Mark. It wasn't like he was going to fall head-over-heels for an escort, and the last thing she wanted was to f
When their food came, Helen thought for sure Dominic would send his steak back to the kitchen. It didn’t even look like it had been cooked. When his knife bit into it, his plate practically filled with blood. Was he going to put something that raw in his mouth?He chuckled when he saw her face and offered, “Would you like to try some?”Laura laughed outright at Helen’s screwed up nose and horrified expression. “You should try some.” The other woman laughed. “You’re so fond of 'enjoying the moment!'”Helen pretended she didn’t hear the dig while Dominic took a slice of the steak and put it on the tip of his fork.Crap! Helen thought. I only know one way out of this. She took his fork and as she was about to place that red, raw meat into her mouth, she flipped it around and fed it to Dominic instead, allowing her hand to rest on the back of his neck.“You’re very kind,” he said when
Working Nine to FiveHelen got on the bus and took a seat near the front. She pulled out her iPhone and put her headphones in her ears. She could finally afford a cell phone plan.It was April and she had just finished her last accounting exam. It was nice to have it off her shoulders. Her course at the college had been in administrative assistance. Now it was finished, she could go look for a real job instead of escorting guys. Helen wasn’t sure, but she thought the punk band in her headphones sounded like the hallelujah chorus.As a bonus, there was one other reason she was excited about quitting her job as an escort. Once she had her evenings free again, she could maybe try to find a real boyfriend. She’d given up thinking there was a way for things to work out between her and Mark. It had been two months since Valentine’s Day and he hadn't made a request for her since then. Helen kept telling herself it didn’t matter. She had paid off Mindy
Helen raised her fist to knock when Mark himself came around the corner.“Oh hello,” he said cheerfully. “Are you Helen Paul?”Helen smiled and put out her hand to shake his. Hers was suddenly sweaty. She hoped desperately that he wouldn’t notice. The inside of his palm was like warm silk.He shook her hand warmly and reached into his pocket to get the keys to his office. “I’m Mark. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for your interview, but I was extremely impressed with what Elizabeth told me about you. It’s so rare to find someone who doesn’t mind working overtime—evenings and weekends. Working in PR is very exciting, but it’s hard to find someone who wants to dedicate themselves to the proper representation of a company. I hope you’re up to the challenge.”She had agreed to work evenings and weekends? What else had she promised?“I am!” Helen claimed energetically.
He was a gem! He had to be an absolute gem! Not only did he not recognize her from before, but he was honestly happy to have her working for him. He said he’d been working his job for the past seven months and he’d been promised an assistant when he was hired. But it was only recently the budget was approved for him to finally get one. He was delighted.“Now my office will be clean,” he said jubilantly. “And that’s so important in our line of work. I have to invite people into my office all the time and it’s so painful when it’s a mess, but I don’t have time to clean it.”Helen’s first day of work was incredible. Working for Mark was going to be awesome!And he’d never find out she was Vera. If she had to protect her secret to her grave, she’d do it, because as soon as he found out, she’d probably have to leave. It would be a pity. The job had been too hard to get to simply cast it off
Another JobHelen’s first week at work was a blast. She had no idea dull work could be fun if you were working with the right people. She’d often heard Mindy say things like that. It didn’t matter what your job was, as long as you got to work with fun people. Well, Mr. Mark Lewis had the market cornered on making the workplace fun.For one thing, he was absolute eye-candy. There wasn't a woman who didn’t look on him like he was the ‘golden boy’ of the office. He was charming, charismatic, and he looked positively mouthwatering regardless of the circumstances. And Helen was his partner in crime. She was the little person he took everywhere with him. He took her to meetings and lunches with business partners while he fleshed out press releases and argued with talkative men about upcoming projects. He called it ‘training.' It made her feel instantly popular and accepted by everyone in the office.Mark stayed in his office and wor
“Do you want me to grab your hair again?” Mindy threatened, towering over her. “If you don’t show up, it might seem like an admission of guilt. Here’s what I say you do. Dominic said he wants to take you to a charity carnival. There is no doubt in my mind that Mark and Laura will be there also. I’ll dress you up in a dark wig. I’ll also find you some brown contacts. You’ll be Cleopatra by the time I’m finished with you and no one will dare think that you are the same person as Helen. You’ll be in the clear if you can manage to trick them into believing that you’re a completely different person. You can pull it off, can’t you?”Helen started to see things from Mindy’s perspective during her speech. Mindy was right. She should grab the bull by the horns and deal with it.“Okay!” Helen said, gathering up all her energy. “When is the date?”Mindy looked at her watch
“What? Women are insane. You look different today, but you’re so damn flirty that it doesn’t matter if you’re flirting with me, or him. He probably still admires you. I need you to cross the line and—”“Make out with you?” Helen finished for him. “I’m not doing that. But if it would make you feel better, I’ll go breakup with him. I’ll go tell him to forget about me. It might take him a bit longer, but then he might decide to marry your sister after all.”“You’d go that far?” Dominic asked his eyes narrowed.“Of course,” Helen said, pushing his hands off her and moving away. “Do you think I want our little game to ruin his real life? How stupid. Besides, both of you are forgetting something really important.”“Which is?” Dominic asked.“I have a life outside this,” Helen said over her shoulder as she walked away to fi
A RoleAfter all was said and done, Helen and Mark were back in the office on Monday, making eyes at each other across her desk. Two days later, Helen got fed up and moved her computer so it faced a different direction. How were they supposed to get any work done if they could see each other so easily? And because they were really part of the public relations department and not models, they had to do press releases and meet with members of the marketing department to make sure the launch of the new phone went well.It was weird. When they went to the meetings where the pictures from their ad campaign were shown, everyone immediately recognized Mark and commented. No one recognized Helen. The first time it happened, Mark went to her rescue and told them she was the model he posed with, but afterward, Helen told him he didn’t need to do that again.“It looks like the company can’t afford real models. Just let them think I’m a glamorous overpriced
After Mindy was finished, the two girls went and put on their clubbing gear. Mindy wore a gold-colored top and black pants. She looked like a panther. Helen wore a light green dress that gathered over one shoulder and hung loosely over the other. Little beads were sewn artfully across it like a fairy had lost her balance over Helen’s head and dropped stars all over her. As she looked into the mirror in the bathroom, she thought she looked better than she’d ever looked for a date before. Even though she was dressed like Vera, she could still see herself peeking out through the facade.When she and Mindy came out of the bathroom, Mark was waiting for them. To Helen, his expression was unfathomable, but Mindy seemed to think something when she saw him. If anything, it was as though Mindy understood something Helen did not.“You look nice,” he said to Helen as he took her arm and led her toward the elevator.Mindy hung outside as the doors closed,
Breaking it up“How did it go?” Mindy asked Helen when she stepped into their apartment very late that night.“Badly,” Helen said as she dropped her keys, bag and shoes in the entryway. She came into the living room and threw herself into Mindy’s recliner. “I hate everyone,” Helen said expressionlessly, even though that wasn’t how she was feeling.“Well, I warned you,” Mindy said, shrugging in her more-experienced-than-you manner. She leaned forward and asked, “So, what’s the verdict? Do you get Mark, like you wanted?”“I’m not sure I want him anymore. Did I tell you that he got offered a job in London?”“No,” Mindy gasped. “Bloody Hell! Is that what this is about? You were trying to get him to stay?”“Not exactly. I was trying to get him to like me properly, but you were right about that, too. He’s never going to like me t
“Goody for you,” Helen said sarcastically. She didn’t care two straws if Dominic owed Laura favors. “When’s the wedding?”“It was yesterday. I think they’ll announce it at your wrap-up party.”“Oh? Really? And why are you here now? Is Alexander bummed about missing out on the shoot?”“Why would he be bummed about that? Like he cares if he blows off Capier! In his mind he was only doing it as a favor to Laura.”“And in your mind?” Helen asked, thinking of Dominic’s face when Alexander walked off the set.“They were important clients,” he admitted wearily. “Any paycheck is better than none, which is where he’s headed.”“And you?” Helen asked suspiciously. “Did you decide to blow him off?”“Soon, Vera, soon. It won’t be long now before he isn’t offered anything new. He ran off the set.
Devilish LaughThe photoshoot in the subway was pretty fun. After the previous photoshoot, Helen didn’t believe Trevor could have more poses up his sleeve, but miraculously, he did. He did these crazy shots with Helen standing on one platform while Mark stood on the opposite one and the train sped between them. At least, that was what Trevor said they would look like once he was finished with them.Helen and Mark spoke briefly before Trevor started taking pictures.“How are you feeling?” Mark asked gently.Helen looked him up and down. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn for the shoot the day before. So was she. He still looked absolutely mouth-watering and Helen was positive she was right to do what she could to try to win Mark even though her shoulders ached. Essentially, she’d worked from early morning and all day to try to make herself ready—not for the photoshoot—for him. He couldn't even see everything she'd done
Helen sat quietly for a second, thinking. Mark was leaning against the counter examining her expression and waiting for her reply.It was going to tear her apart to say ‘good-bye’ to him, but she couldn’t stop thinking about their relationship. It always felt like he liked Vera far more than Helen, and she couldn’t tie him down if the one he liked wasn’t her true self. She had always thought he was more than she could handle. Why would a guy like him want to be with a plain-Jane girl like her?“Mark,” she said quietly. “It sounds like a great opportunity. I think you should probably take it.”“You don’t want me to stay?” he asked as he turned around and started scrambling the eggs crossly.“Of course I want you to stay, but I also don’t want to hold you back. You know, it’s a delicate balance, but…”“But what?”“But,” Helen swal
A Makeover for the AgesHelen eyed Mark on the other side of the set. There was quite the bustle of people coming and going with equipment and extension cords. The talk outside the trailer was all business.The second photoshoot was scheduled for one o’clock in the morning; technically, two days later. The pictures were to be taken in the subway, and since they were to include pictures of the train, they needed to be taken after hours.Helen asked Mark if she should come to work the day before the shoot, but Mark said there was no need. He wasn’t going to work that morning either. Apparently, he simply took over Alexander’s contract, with the exception of pay. Mark wasn’t worth as much as Alexander. She overheard Trevor offering him less than a quarter of what they were going to pay Alexander. Trevor apologized for the cut, but Mark shook his head and said it was part of their agreement that he would model for Trevor whenever he needed him, so
Helen turned to Mark and said, “This photo was up on my friend Shellie’s wall when I was still in junior high.”“Really?” he asked, looking completely aghast.“Yeah, really. Don’t blush, Mark. You looked hot.”“Which is why I want him to take Alexander’s place,” Trevor said. Helen stared at Trevor. “Can you do that?”“Well, since I can’t seem to get in touch with Collin, I guess I can do whatever I think is best. It would be a hassle to have to rebook all the locations and to rehire the temporary staff. The best thing is just to dress Mark up like Alexander—sans turtleneck of course—and to just get on with it.” Trevor added, “Mark looks terrible in turtlenecks.”Helen couldn’t believe what Trevor was suggesting. Switching Alexander for Mark would make the photoshoot fun, the opposite of hell on earth. Her pulse was already racing at t
Up the CreekHelen and Mark didn’t tell Trevor where they were going for lunch, which was why they were so surprised when he showed up at their restaurant. He dropped himself into their booth, threw his bag across the bench and stretched his legs out so far Helen was positive he would trip a waitress… but maybe that was his plan.“Hey kids,” he said casually.Mark gave him a funny look, but managed to be polite enough to ask without an attitude, “What are you doing here?”Trevor shook his hand at Mark like he didn’t realize he was interrupting a date. “I’m angry,” he said simply.“Of course you are. A whole morning wasted! What exactly happened with Alexander and Dominic anyway? Helen’s convinced Alexander refused to pose with her,” Mark explained.Trevor nodded. “Sorry, Helen. Try not to take it personally. I don’t think it had much to do with how you modeled or