Love For Hire

Chapter 6: 6

It was seven-fifteen when she walked through the door of the palace. The man at the door began to pat her down, looking for weapons. “There is no need for that,” Octavius said as he came into the foyer. He smiled pleasantly at her. “I trust she is not packing,” he said, standing in front of her. “So nice of you to come.”

“Well, I am curious it is the only reason I came.”

“Please follow me,” he said, leading her away from the door through the house. Octavius led Kinsley through the building to a large room with a dining table. The table was set with two place settings, one at the head of the table and the other right next to that one. She walked over to the table and looked at the quail and asparagus on the plate. It looked great, and she was starving.

She made to sit down when the Prince walked in. Octavius cleared his throat and looked at her subtlety gesturing for her to rise. She stood up as Nicholas made his way over to the table. “Please sit,” he instructed as he took his seat at the end of the table. Kinsley looked back at Octavius, who nodded that it was ok to sit now that the Prince had. Kinsley felt out of sorts. She did not know what proper edict with royalty was. “Leave us,” Nicholas instructed as Kinsley took her seat. Octavius bowed his head respectfully and then exited the room pulling the large double doors closet to give them privacy. “Thank you for coming,” he said, picking up his full glass of wine.

“Well, Octavius said you might make it worth my while. Since he paid my rent this afternoon, the least I could do is show up. Besides, I get a free meal out of it,” she said as she picked up her fork and knife. “You have until I am done eating to say what you want, then I am leaving.”

“You seem miffed with me.”

“You think?” She snapped. “You got me fired.”

“I am sorry that had not been my intent.”

“Well, your apology will not pay my bills.”

“No, I suppose it will not. I had Octavius call the agency this morning to see if I could schedule another date with you. I wanted to apologize, but they told me they had let you go. So, we tracked you down….”

“Yeah, I do not know how I feel about you investigating me. Where do you get off snooping in my life?”

“It is standard protocol. Everyone must have security clearance.”

“Well, I do not like it,” she said as she wolfed down the last of her quail and started in on her asparagus. “Why am I here? Last night you could not get rid of me fast enough.”

“I wanted to offer you a position in my home.” Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.

“What? Like maid? You want me to clean toilets?”

“No. The position is more like an entertainer,” he said. “I just want you to spend time with me.”

“Doing what?”

“Doing anything. Talk, watch a movie, dance, have dinner….”

“Fuck?”

“Yes, that would be part of the deal.”

“Is not that what LA’s Angels is for?”

“Yes, but I have grown tired of dealing with random women. I want consistency. I want the ‘girlfriend experience’ without the strings and complications of having an actual girlfriend.

She stared at him, confused. “You do not strike me as the type of man that would have trouble finding a woman.”

“I do not want commitment. I just want a few months of companionship.”

“Is not this palace filled with people willing to hang out with you?”

“It is not the same,” he sighed. “Our investigation of you tells me that you are in dire financial stress. That in order to dig yourself out of it, you need a considerable sum of funds and quickly. I am willing the compensate you for your time. If you come to stay in the palace with me for three months, I will pay your rent for the next two years. I will pay off your outstanding debt and give you a million dollars on top of everything else.”

“I do not think I heard you, right?” She said sure she had misunderstood his offer. “You want me to spend three months with you, and for my time, you are going to pay my rent for the next two years, square away my outstanding debt, and pay me one million dollars?”

“Yes.”

“I am sorry, I just do not understand why you would not just go out and meet someone and just have a real relationship with someone. Why pay me?”

He sighed as his gaze fell to his meal, the wine still in his hand. “I am dying,” he confessed. She was speechless. Kinsley did not understand he looked healthy. The question on her face prompted Nicholas to explain. “A few years, I was diagnosed with Bacton Disease. It is a rare degenerative genetic disorder. The end result of this disease is premature death. Those who it affects have a life expectancy of thirty years. I am twenty-five. I have five years to live. But in that time, my body and mind are going to fall apart. I am going to go blind and lose my ability to communicate. My motor skills will become impaired. I will lose my ability to walk. My cognitive capability will degrade; I will slip into psychosis and

then dementia. I will develop a form of Parkinsonism. Eventually, I will develop cardiac problems, and my heart might give out.”

She did not know what to say. His confession was horrible.

“As it is, I already suffer from seizures. My hands shake. I am nauseated constantly. I am in pain almost all the time. My coordination is lacking. And I can feel my mind slipping; I have been hallucinating. I do not have a lot of time left. I just want to feel normal for a few months, even if I am just pretending.”

She felt awful for him. She looked at his wrists. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt again, hiding the scars she had seen the night before. “Is that why you tried to kill yourself?” She was just assuming he had attempted suicide and that he was not just cutting.

“Would not you want to die too if your future was a bleak as mine?” She supposed she would.

“Why me?”

He actually smiled. “Your innocence, it intrigues me. I want no emotional connection to anyone. I think I can get that with you. Besides you clearly, need some help in your life. I figured it is a fair trade. You help me; I help you.”

“I…”

“Please, Kinsley, I just want to experience normalcy just once before I lose myself to this disease. Three months… one million dollars. No emotional connection, no strings, no complications.”

Kinsley did not know what to say. She felt for him. His situation was clearly frightening and emotionally draining. Part of her thought she should say no, but another part of her thought maybe she should accept. If she could make his limited time on this earth more pleasant, she should. Plus, it was her debt cleared and a million dollars. She would be insane to say no. Besides, it was only three months of her

time. Would it really be any worse than what she had been willing to do yesterday? How many other escorts could say they could make a million dollars in three months? If anything, she should be flattered that he chose her.

“Ok,” she said, making up her mind, “but I want it in writing before I do anything,” she wanted to make sure he could not back out at the last moment and not hold up his end of the bargain.

“Alright,” he agreed. “I will have my barrister draw up the paperwork tomorrow.”

With that settled, Kinsley finished off her meal. She could not help but notice Nicholas did not eat a bite. He sipped his wine but never picked up a utensil. He just sat there watching her eat. “Do you not like the food?” She asked, wondering why he was not eating.

“It is fine,” he said.

She had now had two meals with this man, and she had yet to see him actually eat. “Do you ever eat?”

He offered her a grin. “I do; I am just not hungry right now,” he looked down at her empty plate. “Did you enjoy your meal?”

“It was very good,” she answered. Then again, she had not had anything to eat since the last time she saw him, so puppy chow would have tasted great. On the plus side, entertaining, Nicholas would ensure she never went hungry again. “I suppose I should go home and pack for my stay,” she said. Three months was a long time, and she would need more than just a few dresses.

“Of course, I will have one of my men drive you home. I will send someone to pick you up tomorrow evening. We can sign the deal when you get here,” he said, rising to his feet. “Have a lovely evening,” he said, taking her hand and lifting it to his lips. He placed a chaste kiss on the back of her hand and then walked out of the room.

Seconds later, Octavius appeared next to her. She had not heard him come in. It was like he materialized out of nowhere. “Miss. Wells, please follow me,” he led her to the door where the same man that drove her home last night was waiting. “Stephen, please take Miss. Wells home.”

Stephen nodded and held open the door for Kinsley. “This way Miss. Wells,” this was going to take some getting used to.