You Can't Buy My Love

"Mom!" I whined as soon as I came through the door. "I can't believe you lied to me!"

She rolled her bright blue eyes, completely ignoring me. "Get back to work, Olivia." She said it in such a stern voice, that I knew not to argue with her.

She was in the kitchen, going over her finances while my sister Dina gave out orders. I could never bring myself to ask my Mother for any money, she has been through way too much this year.

After my Dad left, she's had to take over every detail money wise, all while still taking care of us. I admire her for it, but I don't hate her because she can't afford to send me away.

Maybe this is God's way of saying "take your life into your own hands". Maybe this is his weird, low key way of assisting in a miracle.

After working a long shift, I finally was left to my own devices. I laid down on my small twin bed, in a room that I shared with my little sister, Dina. I still had the card that the man from earlier gave me, and I was trying to think of reasons that I should not call. In my head I came up with a million scenarios, begging myself to just rip it up and suffer.

It was like something else was possessing me, and I couldn't stop what I was about to do next. I pulled out my cell phone, and dialed the number that he told me to. Maybe it would be a grant, maybe I would have to go a serve poor pizza every weekend for a fee. Whatever it is, I hope it gets me out of here!

"Hello?" The voice answered.

"Hi, I'm Olivia, we met earlier..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"Oh, hi! I'm so glad you called!" He exclaimed, seemingly excited.

"Yes, well, I was curious as to how I could get the money for school. Of course I'm not expecting this to be free money," for some reason, this made him laugh.

"Of course, nothing in life is free."

I nodded in agreement, as if he could hear me. This seemed like a creepy sex thing, and I couldn't ignore how it felt. I've heard stories about rich guys that buy virgins, and have some weird infatuation with them.

Was I really ready to sell my virginity for tuition money? Was that also a form of selling your soul. "Well, what I was wondering was, what will I have to do?" I asked him.

"Nothing really, and I know what you're thinking, it's not like some creepy sex thing." My eyes widened in shock, he seemingly took the words right out of my mind. "Think of this as more of an acting job more than anything."

"Acting?" I asked, raising my thick brow.

"Have you ever done it before?" He asked.

"Well..." I trailed off, thinking of all my time in school. "I was in a play once in middle school."

"That's good enough for me!" He smiled, and I bit my lip out of nervousness. "Can we meet in person tomorrow? Then I can break down all the details."

"Okay."

"Can you come by my place tomorrow around 3PM?" He asked, and I nodded my acceptance.

"Okay." After I hung up with him, my nervousness soon turned into anxiety. He said it's not a weird sex thing, so that's good. Maybe I should brush up on my acting skills though, just in case.

The next day finally came, and I had to all but beg my Mother for the day off. I pulled up at the address that he texted me, and was surprised to find an actual nice flat apartment.

I knocked on the door, unsure of what to expect. "Hi!" A smiling face greeted me, and I was rushed in immediately. "You have no idea how much this means to me that you're here! Please, sit down."

He sat me down on a blue leather couch, and looking at his place, I could already tell that this man was made out of money! Even the thread looked expensive. I began to wonder what a man like him, could possibly want with a girl like me.

"Well I bet you're wondering why you're here," he smiled. I blinked at his amazing way of always reading my mind, then suddenly felt the weight of his boyish charm attacking my heart strings. He was cute to say the least, with his shaggy blond hair, and deep green eyes. Focus Olivia, I thought to myself. This is strictly business.

"I had my lawyer draw up a contract. I know there's no need for legalities but this is a lot of money we're dealing with," he explained, placing a piece of paper in front of me. "How much is your tuition anyways? assumed it would be somewhere around fifty thousand dollars?" He asked, seemingly writing the numbers down on a check.

I blinked at how fast all of this was moving, and how easy it was to get this amount of money. What could possibly be worth all of this? And how could it be executed by little old me? I wondered.

"I just want to cut to the chase," he began, handing me the check and the contract. "I need you to pretend to be my wife for three months. If you can do that, the money is yours." I took my gaze of the check, and back onto him.

"You want me to pretend to be your wife?" I asked him, raising a questioning brow.

"Yes, you're eighteen aren't you?" He asked. Now he wants to know my age? I thought to myself, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yes, but-" he cut me off, not giving me time to ask anything else.

"Okay, then it's settled. You're perfect, of course we'll have to lie about your age but there's no one to impress but my father."

"You're doing all this to impress your father?" I asked.

"Yes," he sighed, running his hands through his hair. "It's a long story, you should wait for the movie." He waved me off in a way that showed he didn't want to talk about it, so I just left it alone. Pretend to be a wife? I guess I can do that. I watched my Mother do it for years. "Okay," I nodded. "I'll do it."

"Great!" He laughed, handing me a pen. "The contract also says that you'll be staying with me for the three months that we're together, and we also actually have to get married." At this my mouth dropped. What am I going to tell my Mom?!

"Wait, you actually want to get married?" I asked. "Pretending is one thing but, to actually marry someone is another."

"Don't worry! My lawyer is going to handle everything. You'll sign a prenup, and as soon as we're done we'll get the marriage annulled. It'll be just like it never happened!" He explained.

"You're going through a lot just to impress your father." I sighed, and he nodded in agreement.

"Tragic, but necessary. So, will you sign?" He asked with so much desperation, I don't think I could have said no if I wanted to. It seems we both needed this.

"Okay," I nodded, signing my soul away on the dotted line. I imagined him being Satan in a red suit, grinning all the way back to hell. "When do we get married?"0000I