Playing a Game of Hearts

Alex groaned in his mind as his closest friend droned on about being in love.
"Alex, when it happens you'll understand what I mean." Jack gushed. The taller of the two, Jack, was grossly cuddled up with his wife. Alex rolled his eyes and said "Yeah, I get it. So in love, fill your heart not wallet. All that bullshit. I know."
Jack frowned and said "Dude, cheer up. You'll find someone."

"I don't need you anymore, just leave. She makes me happy, not you. Marissa, I don't love you."
Aaron's sharp words stung like the cut on her cheek.
"I-Where will I go?" Fear building in her stomach. She had very little money, her parents hated her.
"I don't care."
He shoved her out of the house, the snowy air of Baltimore greeted her bitterly.

Alex was finally alone with his thoughts, he pulled on his coat over his suit. Adjusting his longish hair; he left the towering office building. Snow drifts amounted on the edge of the sidewalk. He got into his Lexus and started the heat.

Marissa shook; she was without a coat, dressy work clothes for her temp jobs, or any form of money. Fear welled up deep within her, leaving a nauseous feeling over her. She took out her cellphone and tried to call Aaron.
"I understand, but please; I need my things! I'm going to freeze to death." She pleaded with his voicemail. Giving up she went to her job at Starbucks.

"Large mocha-peppermint latte, with extra whip. A slice of your lemon cake, and two cake pops." Alex ordered, staring at the board. He'd never admit to anyone he worked with, but he had a horrible sweet tooth. Looking at the woman behind the counter he noticed goosebumps running up her arms, her hands shaking as she put the sweets in their respective bags.

Marissa looked at the man who was buying all the sweets. He was good looking, the sweets were no doubt for his girlfriend... Or boyfriend. His light brown eyes surveyed her closely.
"Here you go, sir." Marissa said handing him his coffee and sweets.
"Thanks." He said shortly.

"Sir, please. Just until I'm on my feet." Marissa begged.
Her manager looked at her and said "I can't let that happen, you know that."
"I understand." The brunette said, her head hung.
It was a cloudy late evening, winter wasn't technically upon them. Early December brought cold air and snow to the Baltimore area of Maryland. Turned down, the young woman pulled out her cellphone.

Alex patted his coat pockets, he was sure he'd put his agenda back into one of them. Thinking back; he recalled leaving at the table in Starbucks. He quickly turned around and drove back down the snow laden streets. He pulled into a parking spot and felt his phone ring.
"Hello?" He answered
"Alex! Oh honey, I'm so glad you answered!" The happy sound of his mothers accented voice flowed through the receiver.

Wiping down the tables after her manager left, Marissa called her best friend.
"Hey Mila, I have a problem. Call me back."
She closed the call and noticed a small dark blue planner sitting at the table the business looking dude was at.

"Alexander, I spoke with Jack tonight."
Oh great, he thought bitterly.
"Oh?"
"Honey, your father and I are worried. At this rate you'll be alone for the rest of your life."
Alex suppressed a groan of annoyance, she always did this to him.
"Love you, I have to go for now." He rushed to hang up on her.

Alex walked into the coffee shop; he found the woman who'd served him holding his planner.
"What the hell do you think your doing?" He asked, briskly approaching her. He snatched it from her grasp and tucked it into her coat pocket. She blinked, her large green eyes filled with confusion.

Marissa looked at the guy, he had a cold look on his handsome face. A lump formed in her throat, his brown eyes watched her closely. There was a sever beauty about them, the dark rims on the light brown eyes.
"What do you think you were doing?" He repeated.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I was going to put it behind the counter. I didn't know you'd be back, I-"
"Whatever." Alex cut her off. She was taken aback by his response, he could have at least thanked her for finding it. She shot him a look and asked "Did you need anything, sir?" The "sir" part was forced through gritted teeth. He nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

Just as Alex began to order another coffee; the young woman got a phone call. She smiled apologetically and picked it up.
"Hey." She paused and listened to the other person.
"Aaron cheated, then kicked me out," she appeared to have been cut off. "It's okay, you didn't know. I was gonna see if you had an extra room or something."
To Alex, this was fairly rude. She was suppose to be serving him, not arranging a slumber party. His phone vibrated in his dress pants pocket, he took it out. A text from his mother -
Alex, think about it.
He tucked the phone into the pocket his planner was in.
"Okay. No, no; don't worry about it. I'll figure something out." The woman said hanging up the phone.

"Sorry about that, what can I get for you?" Marissa scrambled back behind the counter to take his order.
"Gingerbread latte, please. Also a cranberry scone."
Marissa couldn't help but raise a questioning brow, more sweets?
"Problem?" The man asked, noticing she hadn't moved.

Something nagged at the back of Alex's mind, she looked so helpless on the phone. It made him think of an abandoned puppy on the street during winter. He received another text from his mother -
Alexander William Gaskarth, meet a woman. You need someone, the dogs don't count, human companionship. Plus, your father and I want grand-babies. Love, Mummy.

"You look down," Marissa commented as the man sat down to enjoy his coffee.
"Girlfriend on her period?"

Alex frowned, this girl was trying her damnedest to talk to him. She casually tossed out the girlfriend card, he felt a pang of irritation, he'd let it go. She continued to clean up, he felt her eyes on him.
"Wanna sit?" He finally sighed.
"Sure." She complied, she took a seat across from him, she interested him for some reason.
"What happened with your boyfriend?"
The brunette looked up at him, clearly appalled by his odd question, regarding her closely he repeated his question.

"He cheated, kicked me out, and kept my stuff. Like my car and stuff, but I'm stuck now with no money for a hotel room. Oh well, whatever."
She didn't look up all the while, eyes trained carefully on the spot on the table she was scrubbing away at.

-Alex, think about it. Growling Alex shoved his phone away. The woman looked at him and said "What about you? Fourth text since I sat down, your girlfriend must be bad."
"I don't have, nor do I want, a girlfriend."
"Oh." She paused for a moment, "You're gay?"
"No, I am not. I just prefer being alone, rather than deal with an overemotional women."
"Aha." She replied giving him an odd look.
"You don't believe me?" he snapped.
"Who was it then?" Her persistence was starting to irritate him.
"My mother, who insists that I need a girlfriend."
"Oh?"
"Yes."

Marissa looked at the man, with whom she'd been speaking with. She thought back to before she'd bet Aaron, she'd been beautifully thin. The doctors had told her it was unhealthy, she was treated and fed until she gained weight. Thinking back on it, she felt fat and ugly. Coming to, she looked at the guy again, he was looking at his phone again. Suddenly she felt self conscious about her self. His voice startled once more;
"What's your name?"
"Uh? Marissa Clay. Yours?"
"Alex Gaskarth."

Time passed, they spoke very little until Alex sat up straight and addressed her.
"I have a deal; you're the person that will be able to help me. This deal is sweet on both ends."
She blinked; her mind rushing, what could she possibly do for him that he couldn't pay for?
"You need a place to stay, and I stable job.... right?"
She slowly nodded in agreement, where was this going? "Yeah, what about it?" She asked, eyebrows drawn together.
"Well, it just so happens that I could get you almost any job you wanted. I'm the CEO of Raven Industries, that'd be no problem for me. What I'm asking is...odd. I'm fairly desperate I-"
"I am not a prostitute! How dare you!" She yelled at him.
"Let me finish, dammit. I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend, once my mother leaves me alone you can go off and be happy."
Left perplexed by the situation she fell silent, His what?her mind screamed.

"You're really in no position to turn me down, but I'm sure you realize that. I'll give you a few minutes to think about it."
She hesitated then said "What if you're some serial rapist! I don't even know you! Her hands flying around in an attempt to express herself.
"I'm not, go ahead and google my name."
Marissa went quiet as she though on it.
"How long?"
"Three weeks at most." He said shrugging nonchalantly.
"I-I don't have any clothes."
"Money's not a problem; buy new ones."

"Well?" Alex asked, Marissa felt she was about to make a deal with the devil. She looked up and said;
"Okay, fine. I'll do it. You have gotta swear to get me a job!"
A smug look crossed Alex's face and he said "Great, we're leaving now." He grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the coffee shop.

Marissa stumbled behind Alex, they finally got outside. She shivered violently as the snow fluttered down onto her bares skin, he unlocked his car and gestured her to get into the passenger seat. She nodded and got in; Alex followed her and got into the drivers seat. He turned on the heat and started to back out of the parking lot, he got onto the busy street and began to speak;
"Okay, we met on Halloween at a party. We've been dating in secret for one month, the reason was your ex was stalking you. We need to know a lot about each other; my favorite food is pizza, I can't hold champagne, my favorite band is Blink-182."
"Is music important to you?" Marissa asked, a soft smile played on her lips.
"Yes, if you know that Jack will believe us all the more. What do you like?"
He didn't even seem interested as he asked.

"My favorite band is also Blink-182, autumn is my favorite season, I don't drink often." She thought for a few seconds then continued "I like sushi a lot."
"I'll be sure to remember that, where are you from?"
"New York, New York." She knew he'd tell her that she didn't have the accent, everyone did.
"Really?" He responded coolly.
She nodded and said "Yeah. Are you from Baltimore?"
It was quite for a few minutes, finally he spoke again;
"No, I'm from Surrey, England. I've lived here since I was seven years old."
"Oh, so your parents have accents?"
"Yeah." He replied, his tone flat and bored. Marissa couldn't keep the conversation going with him at all, he was horrible to talk to.
"No wonder you're single." She muttered under her breath.

The Lexus pulled up to the shopping mall; Marissa blinked and cast a glance at Alex. He was taking off his coat, once it was off he handed it to her.
"It sould look bad if I had on and you didn't."
She took it and pretended not to see the flustered look on his face.
"You sure?"
"Just take the fucking jacket." The redness spread to the tips of his ears. A snicker lefter her mouth, He does have a heat! She thought.

"Get a coat." Alex said as they entered Topshop. He walked with her, providing unnecessary, commentary on items she passed. She hurried through the checkout and He dragged her to the next store, JC Penney. She quickly found skinny jeans and a few tops she'd be able to wear. She needed a suit, Alex carried the bags like a gentlemen, she looked through the wracks and found a skirt suit she'd be able to wear for an office job.
"Why do you need that?" Alex questioned.
"I just do." Was her only response. She grabbed more winter clothes and a couple pairs of shoes.
Finally, Alex was satisfied with the amount of clothing she had. They went back to the car, she sat silently. This wasn't how a relationship worked, she felt this was how the next three weeks would be spent. The silence weighted down on Marissa's mind, she looked out the window. Silo Point - luxury condos: the sign read.

"There are two bedrooms, you can have the guest room." Alex said, he led her to the room she'd be in. It was huge, the second level was amazing. He set her things down and said "You should rest, you're going to my office tomorrow to meet Jack."
"Okay." Marissa muttered looking around.
"My room is right over there, I'm a fairly light sleeper."
She nodded and started putting clothes into the closet. She was exhausted, today was insanely stressful. She changed into her sleepwear and pulled back the sheets of the nice double bed.
"Good job, Rissy." She mumbled to herself.
"You managed to get stuck acting like some asshole's girlfriend. For what? A job?" She shook her head and closed her light green eyes. Sleep came almost immediately, wrapping her in levels of dreaming.

Notes