Chapter 7

Madison

"Whoa hold on a minute, I thought the agreement was that I was being given a rental for six months. Now you tell me, at the last minute I am staying at Alex Stone's house. Are you insane? Seriously?" I am biting my tongue, trust me I am because letting rip at Ruben is not the thing to do. I am sure he has no choice on this with the backing to his business that he has in place to help him through the tight spot.

It's the n'th hour before I am scheduled to have an early pick up tomorrow at five a.m and my boss has just let me know that I will be staying with Alex Stone. How do you think I feel? First, I was definitely told I was getting a place on lease for the six months and now he drops this bombshell on me. Honestly, I feel like walking out of this gig and the job, but I can't. I can imagine Ruben is having a hard time at the other end and bracing himself for an onslaught.

You see, I make a good living. I have a fantastic following and my YouTube channel brings me in top dollar. If I walk away now there will be no promotion, I won't make it to the senior rank on the paper and there will be no more living the high life for me. That I suppose I could do without, but my place doesn't come cheap, a house near the lake with a deck and some forest ground surrounding it, as you can imagine is not inexpensive. Then there's the wardrobe I have become partial to, although it is fair to say I can probably live with the clothes I own in my large walk-in closet until I'm at least seventy. That's if they still fit me then.

I have no choice. My boss, Ruben is clearing his throat on the other end of the line. "It wasn't a hundred percent down to me." There's a silence, I have nothing to say that wouldn't be a string of obscenities coming from my mouth so if in doubt, say nowt as the British would say. I wait for him to continue since I have a feeling there is more that he isn't telling me.

"His management team need someone on him 24/7 and he needs his act cleaning up." Ruben coughs.

"And. What's his act got to do with me? He needs more control over himself. That guy is a like a juvenile delinquent only with millions of bucks in his bank. He is a hazard to women and on the rink right now." I huff as I throw myself on the bed. Honey-Belle makes her way to the bottom of the bed, sniffs my feet and begins to paw at my shins for a pickup. I lean forward to bring her onto the bed with me. She instantly snuggles down between my shoulder and my neck, when I lay on my back, my head rested on my scatter cushions. I turn and give her a kiss on the nose. God, I love my little girl. She's the best.

"Erm, are you sitting down?" Ruben asks.

WTF?

"No, actually I'm laying down and going into full meltdown mode. This is one hell of a surprise you've sprung on me. I am so close to saying no this job."

"You need this shot, Madi. If you want to get to the next level, you know you need the coverage of Alex Stone. It's a goldmine for you and for us. You have to stick with it."

"Why do I need to be sitting down? Shoot it out."

He coughs, it's that nervous cough he has when he has to deliver bad news usually. Like when he had to let an intern go recently because they caught him looking at porn instead of footage of a basketball player. It wasn't pleasant, Ruben isn't very good at being the bad guy. Then there was the time he had to deal with, what was her name, Rebecca, Rachel. Shit, I can't remember but in any case she'd come in half stoned usually after a night of partying and sit at her desk, put her feet up and nod off for the first hour of the day. We were always covering for her ass until Ruben decided enough was enough. You'd think being the boss he could just shout out the marching orders but truly, Ruben doesn't have a harsh or mean bone in his body so anything like that. he just wants to run from.

"Like I was saying, Alex needs to clean up his image and they need him to be fronted with a girlfriend." I don't twig what he's saying and just wait for him to continue as I turn my head to Belle and give her a little kiss on her adorable, tiny nose. She nuzzles me back. At least I know I can take her with me. Wait, will Alex Stone allow a dog in his place?

"He's going to be alright with me bringing Honey-Belle with me, right?"

"What? Yes, of course. I don't know. Er, we didn't cover the dog on the call earlier. I'm sure it will be fine." He says.

"You had best get me something in place just in case it isn't fine. Knowing that prima donna he's probably allergic to dogs or something."

"It'll be fine. As I was saying." That damn blasted cough. Again.

"Ruben, you're killing me. Spit it out for goodness' sake." Honestly, he needs a shake down.

"They want you to appear to be his girlfriend." He says.

Instantly, I sit upright, and Belle moves out the way. "What did you just say?"

"You have to pretend to be his girlfriend."

"You are shitting me, right? Now is not the time to be playing jokes on me. I'm already pissed off as it is, Ruben." My voice is stern because I am not going anywhere near Alex Stone as his girlfriend. I'd rather pull out my fingernails.

"No joke. I wish it were, Madi. Honestly, I do. But they seem to think that since you are covering him anyway and will be with him constantly, that you'd be a perfect fit to be his so-called girlfriend."

"No fucking way. This has gone too far. First, you want me to stay at his, as in live with him for six months. Which is torturous enough. And now you want me to fake date the asshole. Oh, boy. No way, Ruben. Go back to them and tell them it isn't happening."

"I can't." At least his voice sounds shameful.

"Why the hell not?"

"They offered a million dollars to you and another million to us."

I let out a low whistle. That's some big bucks. But still, having to fake date Alex Stone is like all your nightmares rolled into one, adding on top all your hates. I shudder. I can't do this. I really don't think I can pretend to be anyone's girlfriend let alone Alex Stone's, man whore of hockey, the biggest man whore I've ever come across and with his arrogance, no way.

"Are you still there?" Ruben asks.

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"Do we have a deal?"

"Do I have a choice?" I bat back. Knowing there is no choice. A cool million would mean I could set up on my own and not have to take on any other gigs that I don't want to. I could be my very own boss lady not working for Ruben, who as much as I like him, I could fucking kill him right now.

"There is a choice, but it'd mean us losing the money obviously and the money for the coverage. It'll hurt the business since we need something major right now. You know how competitive it is out there."

I know that alright. Getting top stories to cover and top players in any sport isn't easy. They've all got deals with other networks and channels and I know how much Ruben's business means to him.

"Fine. I'll do it. But let it be known I am not happy about this." I tell him. Belle sensing everything is not fine, comes to me and pushes her small head against my side. I pick her up with my free hand and cuddle her into my chest.

"Thanks, Madi. We owe you one."

"More like five or six. I'm going. Send the paperwork over so I can sign it off in the morning on the flight and get it right back to you. I want fifty percent up front in my bank account. I'm guessing they won't be all the money upfront."

"That's the deal, fifty now and fifty at the end in six months."

"Lord help me." I say as we hang up and I hold Belle closer into me.

"What's mommy going to do, baby girl?" I say and sit numbly wondering how I am going to get through six months of pretending to be Alex Stone's damn girlfriend.