Tyler came into her office at past noon with a brochure of who she was supposed to be.
A high school teacher and single mother who had been signed into the website by her 10 years old son.
She gets furious at first but when her son demands that she goes out for just one date as a birthday present to him, she couldn't say no.
Meanwhile, he had prayed a night before his birthday for a new father and his mother to finally forget his criminal father who was in jail.
She meets Jared, who was a druggie rockstar, ticking all the boxes of a stereotyped celebrity who had everything money could buy.
After his colossal failure of an album and his realization that he had lost his muse somehow and the girls, flashy cars and sex he sings about with no soul were getting old.
He needed a muse. Frustrated after trying out all the methods he had at his disposal and even going back to the dilapidated story building he had lived with his crack addict now dead mother, he gives up.
But he sees the app pop up on his screen, a day for him to leave, and amused he decided to give that a go.
Maya smiled even as she turned the brochure, wanting to continue to read the plot. It was an incredible storyline and she couldn't wait to see Jared trying to fit into the bad boy getup but one thing was sure, she knew that she wasn't the best person for the job.
She needed to tell Tyler, she thought even as she looked up to meet his gaze, an excuse already on her lips.
"Have you had lunch?" His eyes shone brightly, a question he had asked almost all the time since she had started working with him most times through emails and a few times through her assistant.
He genuinely cared about her, she had seen it in every effort he had made up until that moment, making her yet again wonder how she would be able to tell him that she just might not be available for the advertising process.
"Yes, I did."
He held her hand, giving her a little smile, "You don't know how happy I'm to have you working with us, you are one of the best, most efficient workers I have now, and sincerely I had thought Xavier would be a problem in the way you take care of your duties. But yet again, you had proved me wrong by accepting this promotional role-play for the company,"
She gave him a small fake smile while cursing herself yet again for letting herself into such a tricky situation.
"This is going to be so big, the world would be talking about this!" He had a big smile on his face almost like he could visualize just how much stir this could cause.
A stir will be caused alright, she could tell but she cared less about the downloads this would get the application or the popularity, she was worried about the stir Xavier would cause.
"Mmm Tyler, can't..." She paused giving him a small smile, "I was just wondering if no one else would be available for this position."
"That was one of the reasons why I had been happy when you had accepted. Jared won't do this with any other person than you," her eyes widened as she tried to understand what that meant.
"He doesn't want a single woman getting an idea that they were a couple once the show was all over, he is after all one of New York's eligible bachelors," he clarified almost like he could see the question in his eyes.
"Just out of curiosity," she tried yet again, trying to find a wedge out of her current vicelike grip problem, "Can't the male character in this be done by someone else other than Jared?"
"Jared is bound to generate more interest as he is popular than just some random model, don't you think?" He raised his brow at her and even without thinking it over she knew he had a point. Besides, both of them involved in this would give it more originality and make it different than other dating sites that just pick up perfect models as their selling point.
Tyler was not only a damn good businessman but he was a perfect thinker too, a great salesman. She should be happy she was assisting him with this, she understood why Jared wanted her to do this with him knowing that she won't have a misconception later but one person she was sure won't understand or let himself comprehend whatever she wanted to say waits for her at home.
He had made a move at her yesterday, scratch it, he had tortured the hell out of her and left her aroused last night enacting revenge just because he had seen her eating out with Jared, which wasn't even pre-planned or fancy. She doubted he'll smile at her and bless her if he finds out she was going to be going on national TV with the same guy, doing all kinds of stuff like they were a couple.
"Maya, are you good?" She snapped out of her thought, realizing she must have spaced out again. Doing the exact thing that had even put her in this difficult place, don't you ever learn Maya? She chastised herself.
She nodded, smiling.
He stood up, giving her a wide grin, a part of Tyler she knew before she started working for him resurfacing. "I'm just so glad that everything is coming together. You don't know how strainful, this has been for me."
She nodded, hoping that her frozen smile was more convincing than how she felt at the moment.
"Everyone thinks it is easy when you become the big deal. But what no one understands is that the higher you go, the more, the best is required of you and it becomes, even more, demanding with each successful project."
She squeezed his hand reassuringly, "I got you," she promised, a genuine smile now on her face.
"I know I could always count on you," he gave her a slight comical bow and left the room.
She blew out a breath, sighing as she reclined into the chair wondering what she had gotten herself into even as she swiveled around the chair wishing it somehow manages to turn her now glaring problem and toss it away.
But even she knew she was in the real world and unicorns don't exist the same way wishing things away don't.
She needed to sit down with Xavier and have a dialogue with him that helps explain that this was a no-strings-attached program.
That should help, right? Communication always does the trick right?
She groaned already knowing the answer to her question.