The Arrangement | Completed | Wattys2020

3

When I go to work the next day, Steph is at the door to greet me as always. As much as I don't want to work Today, I know that I have to.

"Good morning, Love." I smile, greeting Steph the same way I always do.

"Morning. Are you ready to work for the next eight hours?" She laughs sarcastically.

"Ecstatic." I smile widely. Sarcastically, of course.

With today being a Monday, the likelihood of the diner being busy is little to none. On this particular day, Steph and I will more than likely only serve about five people the entire day. The weather is nice, so everyone is either out of town for whatever reason or having a cookout at home. The weather has been nice, though. So, I don't really blame them. I would have a cookout too if given the opportunity.

Just like the one Daniel is having tonight.

I don't  want to be nervous for tonight, but I am freaking the hell out. This guy that I'm going to be dating will change my life. Not emotionally, of course. I just need the money. I need this more than anything right now. I wish I could be at home right now getting ready, but of course I will be at work until an hour before the cookout.

Hours went on, and this day is dragging. Time usually goes by pretty quickly when it is busy, but on the slow days there is nothing to do but stand and stare at the wall. One customer came in and Steph and I fight over who gets to serve him.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors on who gets to be his waitress?" Steph asks, offering the way that we always use to settle situations like this.

"Sure. One round. Winner takes it all." I laugh, and we immediately begin to shoot. With my hand balled in a fist and her hand forming the scissors, she groans and throws her hands up in frustration.

"Rock crushes Scissors. I win!" I laugh, grabbing a silver wear bundle and walking towards the man.

As I approach him, he gives me a polite smile. "Hi. My name is Candace. What can I get for ya?" I ask, leaning on the counter in front of the only customer in the diner.

"I'll just get a large cup of coffee. Black. Thank you." He smiles, and lifts a book up to his face and begins to read.

Well, so much for that table. Steph might as well have taken it.

Once I give the man his drink, I see Steph in the back window waving for me to come over to her. I glance over at the man one more time before heading to the back room. He's keeping himself busy, I'm sure.

"So, find any guys on that website?" She asks, giving me a raised brow.

"I kind of found someone."

"Wait, what? Pause, rewind. Really? Shit, I asked but I didn't actually think the answer would be yes!" Steph exclaims with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I kind of found someone. Kind of." I laugh in reply.

"Well, no shit. I'm asking for you to explain how. Who is it?" She laughs, stopping all of her current work to listen to the story.

"Okay, well it was kind of weird actually. I was scrolling through the website and just kind of reading the posts. I was just entertaining myself, really. But then I came across one post that a guy made for his son." She cuts my words off immediately.

"Wait, wait, wait. So this guys dad made a post for his son? Why?" She laughs loudly.

"I guess his son just recently got cheated on by his girlfriend of like two years or something. Basically, his dad wants him to be happy again or help boost his self esteem. I'm just going to be a rebound. It's perfect. I don't want a real relationship with this guy, I just want to get paid. Guess how much he is willing to pay me to be his fake girlfriend."