His Fake Hired Girlfriend

Anna POV

Several months earlier...

"I'm sorry. I wish there was more I could do for you." Karen, the brown-haired receptionist said.

"There has to be a mistake. I sent my dad to pay the bill. I am never late on bills. You know this, Karen." I responded hurriedly, not understanding how the water had been shut off for the month.

"I know, honey. I'm very sorry. Your dad said he was going to bring it by?" She asked.

"Yes. So much for assuming he could accomplish this one thing for me." I laughed, despite there being zero comedy behind it.

I handed Karen the money I had left from this week's payday. Hopefully, this will be enough to have the water turned back on for the month.

"You will get through all of this, I promise." She assures me. I offer her a forced grin and depart fast.

Despite the strong connection that Karen and I have, she lacks a thorough knowledge of what truly goes on in my regular life. She will only see what I allow her to see. She sees me in here quite often, because I'm the only one who is responsible enough to pay the bills.

This is the same thing over and over again. I'm weary of this. I'm weary of supporting my family merely because my dad can't hold a job. Ever since Mom went away, I have been responsible for caring for the entire family. I love my family. I adore my sister, and I treat her like she is my kid. Half of the time, it feels like she is. I simply want to feel like a regular 20-year-old too.

I phone my father's number and eagerly wait for him to respond.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Dad, I just got back from the city, and Karen tells me that you never went in to pay the water bill?" I do my best to be cool, but it isn't working.

"Oh yeah, I'm very sorry about that, Anna. I'll pay you back for it." He mumbles.

"Where the fuck did the money go, Dad? That was $120." I shout. Tears begin to collect in my eyes, and I have to struggle to prevent them from flowing out.

"I took it to the casino." He admits.

Of course. And the Dad Of The Year honour goes to...

"What the hell is your issue, Dad? Our water got switched off. You can't keep spending the money I give you for bills and just take it to the casino! Does this house signify nothing to you? Are you fucking kidding me?" I shout at him. I tried maintaining cool, but all of my self-control went down the toilet.

"Calm down, Anna. I was hoping to double it." He states gently.

"Yeah and how well did that work out?!" I inquired before hanging up the phone.

I wish my life was normal. I wish I had a typical life of a twenty-year-old. But, no. I have to slave away and work my ass off to maintain my family while my dad takes all of my hard-earned money to the casino and tosses it away. I feel hot tears stream down my cheeks and hurriedly attempt and brush them away. The walk to my job is near downtown, and only takes around five minutes to get there. Thank God. Crying absolutely will only make me seem worse if it starts to rain and I have to go to work with wet hair and wet clothes. When I come inside the modest cafe, I see Sara smiling brightly at me, but her countenance instantly crumbles when she sees my bloodshot eyes.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" She asks with anxiety on her face.

I attempt to hold it together, but it is practically impossible as I stand in front of my closest buddy. She promptly pulls me in for a hug.

"What happened? Who do I have to kill?" She asks. Mother Sara doesn't play.

I chuckle softly at her reply, "My dad is just so aggravating. He grabbed the money for our water bill and squandered it all in the casino. So I just had to pay another $120 and now I'm not going to have enough money for my textbooks. I simply don't see why he needs to go and do this type of thing all the time." I cry.

"Hey, don't weep. I know, he truly sucks right now. It will be okay, though. I promise. I suppose my brother might have the identical textbook you are seeking that you can just have. Don't worry, okay? Everything will be OK. I promise." She assures me. It sounds so easy when she says it. I wish it were as easy as just 'not worrying'. God, I want to.

I had to make myself appear decent before my shift started, and thank God Sara brought some makeup with her to disguise the black bags around my eyes. Working as a waiter has its rewards, I think. I nearly always come home with cash, and occasionally I come out with considerably more than I expected. The drawback is that some nights, I come home with considerably less than I expected. It's never stable. But it's all that I have right now. This is the only business that will pay me $8 an hour plus whatever I make in tips. I don't know of any other waitress that earns that much.

As the shift dragged on, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. As I read the name on the computer, I sigh vocally. James is calling, yet again.

"What do you need? I'm at work." I snap into the phone.

"Nice to hear from you, too." He reacts. I could nearly see his attitude from here. Not that mine is much better.

"What do you want, James."

"I need my keys back. Now." He says simply.

"Well, that's not going to happen. I'm at work. You may come and fetch them when I get off tonight or you can wait until I have time to deliver them to you." I snapped. Why the heck does it matter when he gets his keys back? He has his own set, and I'm surely not going to break into his flat.

"I'm coming by tonight to grab them. Just put them in your mailbox. I don't want to see you." He snapped back.

I roll my eyes and hang up the phone. I am starting to worry that my relationship with James will never get any better. I miss the man who used to be my best friend.

"Hey, I'm coming over after work. I want to show you something." Saral murmured, interrupting my thoughts.

"Show me what?" I grumbled, taking some additional pens before walking onto the floor.

"You'll see." She grinned widely. I stared at her suspiciously and proceeded to wash down the tables. "Oh, don't look like that. It's nothing bad...well, I don't think so at least."

"What does this involve?" I inquire curiously.

"It's just a website. Plus, an excellent opportunity to generate a little bit of additional income." She states.

"I'm not doing porn." I laugh. I'm desperate, but I'm not that desperate.

"It's not porn. I'll tell you all after work." She chuckles as she walks back over to her table.

I kept what she said in the back of my head for the duration of my shift, and couldn't quite get my mind off of it. I need money. Desperately. I despise having to rely on my phoney pleasure towards clients as my only kind of revenue. Maybe I need to find a part-time job elsewhere. Retail is always an option, and because they work insane hours to begin with, it may even fit with my availability.

By the time our shift finished, Sara and I did the same thing we do every night. We sit at the diner counter and count our tips together. I made enough to reimburse what my dad lost in the casino. Being the only waiter in this restaurant, I am extremely thrilled with the quantity of cash in my palm. It could always be worse, I guess.

"Are you still coming over?" I ask, grabbing all of my belongings.

"Yeah. I'll just follow you there." She smiles as she ties her long hair into a ponytail.

When we come to my house, I ignore my father entirely and head directly to my room. He should know better than to attempt and talk to me right now.

"Okay, so tell me this brilliant plan of yours to make extra money." I giggle, attempting to disguise how fascinated I truly am.

"Don't judge me, alright. I haven't told anyone this before." She says anxiously.

"You know you can tell me anything." I react honestly.

"Okay. I'm a sugar baby." She admits.

I must have appeared as perplexed as I anticipated since she quickly attempts justifying herself.

"Don't judge me! It's not horrible, I swear!" She laughs uncomfortably.

"I'm not, I'm not! Just...define sugar baby?" I ask.

"I go on dates for money."

"What? How?" I ask, utterly startled. I know what a sugar baby is, but I don't know what she's doing, either. "It's this website I found one night. It's called SeekingArrangements.com. You just establish a profile detailing what you are seeking, and you may discover others in your neighbourhood who are prepared to pay for you. It's not strange like prostitution or whatever. I don't sleep with any of them." She assured me. Relief floods over me instantaneously. I don't want to contemplate my best friend sleeping with old males for money.

I must still look astonished and perplexed because she grabs my laptop and opens the page with a grin on her face. This can't be good.