“Good evening.” Gabriel said to Nicole after they had stared at each other for what felt like hours.
“Um. How may I help you?” she managed to reply.
Nicole was glad that she broke the silence between them because she honestly had no idea what to say to this 6ft2 guy standing before her.
“May I have a talk with you?” he asked.
Nicole looked at him confused, wondering why this class of guy would want to talk to her.
“I. Um. I’m sorry, I think you've got the wrong address.” she said with a nervous chuckle.
“Actually… I'm at the right address. May I come in?” he replied.
Nicole couldn’t hide the surprise on her face, ‘what guts he had' she thought to herself.
“Wait, wait, wait a minute. I don’t know you and I don’t think you know me, so why would I let a total stranger into my house just like that at this hour?”
Even though he was obviously screaming wealth, Nicole wasn’t going to let him have his way that easily.
“Pardon my manners. I’m Gabriel Oliver Harrison.”
Nicole just stared at him with a raised eyebrow. How would that name be of help to her? She thought. The name doesn’t even ring a bell, neither does he look like an old schoolmate because the guy standing before her looks like he’s in his late thirties or wait!
“Harrison. Do you mean Harrison, Harrison?”
It was now Gabriel’s turn to look at Nicole with a questioning eyebrow because he had no idea what she was trying to say.
“Um. I mean, are you the same Harrison from Harrison’s construction company and all that stuff?” She asked fidgeting with excitement.
Gabriel looked at his left and right hoping there was no one in the hallway because he didn’t want his identity revealed.
“Yes. May I come in now?” he asked more seriously this time making Nicole step away from her door, giving him access to her apartment.
Gabriel walked into her apartment and quickly scanned it. He noticed it was simple and surprisingly tidy for a lady who lives alone.
“Please take a seat… can I offer you anything?” Nicole offered.
“No thanks, but I would like to know your name since you already know mine.”
“Um. I’m Nicole Robinson… but there is nothing special attached to my own name.” she jokingly replied.
Gabriel nodded at her response, repeatedly saying her name in his head so he doesn’t forget.
‘He’s pretty much the serious type.' Nicole thought to herself after she didn’t earn even a little smile from him after her small joke.
“So…” she began, breaking the awkward silence that was already growing.
“Since you don’t wish to take anything, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
“I have a proposal for you.” he said in a way too serious manner.
Nicole knew she shouldn’t be afraid of this stranger. There was no reason whatsoever for her to be scared since she was in her apartment and he was the visitor at this odd hour but she couldn’t help it, this so called proposal was beginning to send shivers down her spine even though she had no idea what the proposal was about. She straightened herself to conceal her fears.
“Okay?... Spit it out.”
“I want you to act as my fiancée for six months and I'll pay you ten million dollars.” Gabriel said.
“What?!” Nicole yelled in surprise, she was taken aback by his request.
Was this guy being serious?
“Excuse me. Is this some kind of sick joke?” she asked shaking her head back to reality.
This is a dream, none of this is real.
“I don’t joke.” Gabriel replied with a straight face.
“Give me a minute okay?” Nicole said, settling herself on her couch as her legs were getting weak.
“Why would a guy like you want an impersonator for a fiancée?... I mean, you can have any girl you want crawling at your feet. Forgive me for saying this, but a guy like you ought to be married by now.”
“My personal life is no business of yours.” he sternly replied.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. But how do you expect me to believe you? I don’t even know if you’re the real deal or some kind of psychopath on the loose.” Nicole said, trying as hard as she could to also sound serious.
Gabriel on the other hand felt insulted, how could she call him a psychopath? He never should have brought himself this low. He knew from the start that this was a bad idea but he has no clue why he still went ahead to do it.
Meanwhile, Nicole felt really bad for what she called him, she didn’t know how to apologize, what was said couldn’t be undone, she concluded.
“Um. I don’t think you want a stranger in your house.” she nervously said.
“That is for me to decide.”
This guy wasn’t going to back down after what she said?
“I’m sorry you’ve got the wrong girl.”
“I'll make it twenty five million.”
To say Nicole’s mouth was wide open was an understatement, her jaw dropped. This can’t be happening, it only happens in movies.
“Here is my card.” he continued.
“If you accept my proposal, give me a call and I’ll send my chauffeur to pick you up so we can sign the contract. I'll deposit half the amount into your bank account, then when you’re done with the deal, I'll deposit the rest.”
Nicole quietly collected his card, taking a look at it, she realized he was indeed who he claimed to be. She stood up from the couch and nervously ran her fingers through her hair.
“Look. Um. About what I said earlier-”
“Have a good night Miss Robinson.”
With that Gabriel left a stunned Nicole.
Gabriel walked out of the apartment building. He let out a long sigh he had been holding in. He got into the car and asked the chauffeur to take him home.When he got home, he took a good look at his mansion and realized that Nicole was right, he ought to be married under normal circumstances. But unfortunately, the circumstances weren’t normal, so he has to do anything to get his mom off his back.He went into his bedroom, took off his clothes and went straight to the bathroom to shower.After he freshened up, he laid on his bed and started having second thoughts, if this was the right thing to do.Things weren’t supposed to go this way. He thought to himself.He should learn to get Ashley out of his mind and move on, but it’s easier said than done. He prays that Nicole would give his proposal a thought because, she was now his only hope.
Nicole made sure she packed her best underwear. It wasn’t like he was going to see her in her underwear, but a girl needs to feel confident on the inside before she can feel beautiful on the outside. She thanked her lucky stars that she had gone shopping the previous day and had acquired more clothes, undies and shoes to her old collection.When she was done packing, she took a shower to feel refreshed. After coming out of the bathroom, she stood in front of her vanity table and stared at her reflection in the mirror, then she thought to herself , 'if I'm going to act like the fiancée of a billionaire, why not start behaving like one'.So, she dropped her towel on the floor and applied some moisturizer on her body. Don’t get her wrong, she applies moisturizers but not all the time since she didn’t have a boyfriend, she never really gave a damn about her body or looks, it’s not like she dressed like wack,
Gabriel took Nicole into his mansion, so he would introduce her to his employees. He had ordered them to assemble in the living room.He couldn’t believe he was doing this, after so many years of being alone. But, that isn’t the issue at the moment.What got him worried is the consciousness that all this is fake. He wasn’t the type to do pretend. He hopes he doesn’t blow their cover.He just wished he was strong enough to forget Ashley and move on with his life, rather than deceive himself and the people around him. Nicole couldn’t believe her eyes, as she entered the mansion. It was more beautiful on the inside, with all it’s expensive interiors, which she was certain was much more worth than her entire life’s expenses.She was greeted by quite a number of employees. They were seventeen in number
Nicole couldn’t help but stare at Gabriel, why was he doing this? She wondered. Could it be that he was impotent or something? Yeah, that could be reason enough for a guy his age to still remain single or wait, maybe he was gay and didn’t want anyone finding out about it, but he doesn’t really look gay. Why was she even thinking too much about it? Anyone can choose to remain a bachelor at his age, it’s a free world after all, but with all the money he has, he can’t be alone all his life or could it be that all the women that had come into his life were just after money? If that were the case, he wouldn’t be offering her twenty five million dollars for an act of just six months.‘Okay Nicole, you need to stop assuming things inside your head. Concentrate on what is before you.' she internally warned herself. Gabriel on the other hand was busy on his laptop transferrin
Nicole stood in front of Gabriel’s room. Is this a good idea? She internally asked herself.It won’t hurt knowing what his room looks like, or will it?She shook off her doubts and took the bold step of knocking on the door.After a few seconds, she heard his voice.“Come in.” he instructed.Taking a deep breath, she slowly reached for the knob. Opening the door, she saw Gabriel buttoning his shirt. It looked like he just had a shower.He was casual this time, wearing a white long sleeve button down shirt with denim pants.“Hey.” she greeted, taking Gabriel by surprise.He wasn’t expecting to see Nicole here in his room. He thought his administrator had been the one knocking, probably to inform him about something.“How did you know this was m
Nicole followed Gabriel into the dinning room. After settling themselves comfortably on the dinning chair, Gabriel noticed that Nicole was wearing a sad face.The maids began serving their meal and Nicole kept asking them to serve her a piece of each of the different meals on the table.Is she seriously going to eat all of it?“That would be enough.” Gabriel said, stopping the maid from adding any other thing on Nicole’s plate.Nicole pouted her lips in annoyance.“I don’t want you gaining weight. I'd prefer you remain this way.” he told Nicole.His statement brought a smile to her face.“If that’s a compliment then, thank you.” she began.“But just so you'll know, no matter how much I eat, I don’t get fatter than this.” she e
Gabriel sat in his office, wondering why Nicole had told him that she loved him.Was it because she was excited? Or, was that her own way of saying thank you?Maybe someone was present at the time. But even if a maid was there, she needed not to worry because his workers were discreet.Well, he was the only one aware of that fact, Nicole didn’t.He was glad the issue with shopping had been dealt with. Now, he can get back to work.# Nicole asked the maid to tell the chauffeur to get a car ready. She also asked the maid to take off her working uniform and dress in something more casual because she would be accompanying her.The girl’s face lit up at that information. She hurriedly left the room to do as she was told while Nicole got dressed.She straightened her hair and applied
“What are you doing here?!” Gabriel whisper yelled once they were in his office.Before Nicole could reply, he cut her off.“How did you get here in the first place?”“Isn’t it obvious that your chauffeur brought me here? And oh, your chauffeur is really good looking. You have quite a good taste when employing.”Nicole’s response infuriated Gabriel even more. She was complimenting his employee while he was being serious.“Why are you here?” he said through gritted teeth.“I only came to thank you for the credit card and also to show you this new dress I got. I wanted to know if you like it.” she explained with happiness in her voice, ignoring Gabriel’s anger.“And you thought it was best to come to my office?” he asked, trying really ha