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 he finished chewing. “Are you sure you don't want to try it?”“I plead guilty. It’s too red for me. Tonight, a girl like me can only taste sugar and spice. Blood isn't on the menu, but,” she said, twisting her hair between her fingers, “I don't mind if you drink it." She looked alluring, but in her heart, she was questioning what was on his mind eating something that raw. It was disgusting.Mark was doing his best to ignore them as he began sawing into the loaf of courtesy bread.“Are you all right?” Laura asked him, taking the knife from him and doing it more delicately than he was able to. “Let me do that,” she said.“You’re very capable,” he said turning away from her and looking at the other diners instead of Laura.Guys had said things like that to Helen many times, and she’d always taken it as a compliment. At that moment, she realized Mark meant it as an insult. Had all those boys who had said similar things to her meant to insult her? Most of them hadn’t hung around. But one thing was clear, Mark didn’t care if Laura was good at slicing bread or not.Helen picked up her fork and started in on her meal. Thank goodness it was completely delicious.***After dinner, they went to a local movie theater. Helen fought to remember afterward which movie they saw, but it never came to her. She had spent the whole movie in the dark holding Dominic’s hands in decent locations. She didn’t know if he would stray, but she didn’t trust him enough to take the chance. In the dark of the movie theater, she sat between Dominic and Laura, by Dominic’s design. Helen thought he was trying to rub Helen’s beauty in his sister’s face and also keep his date as far away from Mark as possible.After the film, the three of them went out for hot chocolate at a nearby cafe and Dominic and Laura criticized the movie for a solid hour. Helen had nothing to contribute. She hadn’t been paying attention. Mark simply stared at the floor. Anytime Helen looked at him, he seemed fascinated by something away from their table.Dominic and Helen said goodbye close to midnight on the street outside the cafe. They had already shaken off Mark and Laura.“Do I get a kiss?” Dominic asked, moving in to get one anyway.Helen put her fingers over her mouth and said, “That’s not part of our contract tonight. Besides, you don’t even want to kiss me. You were just relishing making Mark and Laura suffer.”“And you helped me!” he said positively, drawing her into an embrace. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were a good sport.”“Don’t kid yourself,” Helen said sharply. She didn’t feel under any obligation to remain under the pretense they were on a happy date when they were alone. “It’s in my contract to play your game. I keep my promises.”Dominic laughed. “Tell me you didn’t enjoy teasing them?” Helen averted her eyes.She had found some of it interesting.“Where did you get the idea to do something like this anyway?” she asked instead of answering his question.“My sister wants Mark. I took you away from him so he would go out with her tonight,” he said.“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t seem to me that you like your sister very much. Why do her such a grand favor?”“I owe her,” he said simply. “Now how about if I make you a deal?”“What kind of deal?”“Anytime Mark phones your agency and asks for you to ‘accompany’ him, please promise to telephone me. I’ll double whatever he offers for the night, and you won’t have to bother with anything as silly as a date with me. What do you say?”Helen frowned. She needed the money so badly, and who was Mark to her? After Valentine's Day, he would probably never think of her again without simultaneously thinking a curse. There wasn’t anything there to fight for. Most likely, he hated her. Finally, she answered Dominic humorlessly, “I hope he calls every night this week."“That’s a good girl,” Dominic said brightly, before helping her into a taxi.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
Monday MorningOn Monday morning, Helen got dressed with unusual deliberation. She intentionally dressed herself to look prudish. She couldn’t help it. If she showed up at work looking even a little bit playful she knew it was going to be a day of backlash. She wore black trousers, a white collared shirt, no accessories, and only minimal product so that her short hair didn’t look unruly. Her glasses looked thick even after she applied her mascara. She had to look professional and steady.When she came into the office, Mark was waiting for her. Leaning against the wall in the reception area, he said, “Drop your bag off at your desk. We have a meeting with Collin this morning." Then he handed her his half-filled coffee mug and said, “Oh, and please top me off.”Helen took the mug from him and headed down the hallway toward her desk.Collin? Helen had heard the name before from one of the other girls in the office, but what had she said
He was looking at her face very closely. It was making her so uncomfortable she started sweating.“I’m not sure what you’re looking for,” Helen asked, looking over Collin’s shoulder at Mark.Mark was shaking his head and pacing.“Do you have a complicated morning routine for your skin?” Collin asked suddenly.“No. Why?”“Because, it’s damn near perfect,” he said moving away from her. “You had long hair at New Year’s, didn’t you? Have you had a haircut since then?”“Not exactly,” Helen answered. “I normally wear my hair shorter than this. I was wearing a wig.”“And did you always wear a wig when you dressed up as an escort?” Collin went on.“Always, but I don’t work for the agency anymore.”“Did you do your hair and makeup yourself for these occasions or do you have someone at your agen