Page 7 of His Weekend Girl
Well, no, that wasn’t true. Trixie was barely making it and was forced to work longer hours driving around town just to make ends meet. What started off as gig work slowly became her lifeline.
On the other hand, what did she have to lose? Well, she didn’t want to think about that. Too many true crime documentaries messed her brain up. “We’re not flying out; he’s driving us. I still think this is stupid.”
“Stupid, yes. But you’ll get paid a hundred grand and you won’t have to worry about working for the rest of the damn year if you don’t want to! Girl, that’s dumb money!” Amberswan bumped hips with her. “I told you you could always come work for me at the shop.”
“I know you love hair and nails but I don’t.” Trixie leaned on her best friend. “And honestly, I don’t think I would make a good employee. I would always be late and mouthing off to the boss….”
“…and your boss might be a tad bit of a bitch…” Amberswan agreed.
“And yeah, we’ll never get along based on that,” Trixie chuckled, “besides I need to figure out what I’m going to do with my life after this.”
Amberswan considered. “Why don’t you start up your firm? You do graphic design and you’re pretty damn good at it. You designed my logo and business cards and everyone loves them. Why not?”
“Money,” Trixie answered. “It costs a lot to start up a business, especially an online one. I can’t create booths like at these markets and fairs. People will pick up a brochure but they’ll keep it moving. And plus nowadays with A.I., people don’t even need graphic artists anymore! They can just go to a website, plug some things in and there it is – instant director, instant author, and instant graphic designer!”
“But people still need a graphic designer, love. I’ve seen it when people do their stuff and it’s with mixed results. Some, with practice, knock it out of the park. And some with no practice, it’s straight out of Compton,” Amberswan shook her head, “I told you need to go on Fiverr and all that to advertise!”
“And I do!” Trixie argued. “And I’m competing with people who can do what I do for five dollars! Well, I can’t go free!”
“No one is asking you to go free, darling, but you need to do something other than live in your car all day and night. You can’t do anything with that. And let’s be honest, you don’t want to do a gig that is only good when the economy is good and sucks once the economy slows down. The people who do that type of workdon’t even like doing it themselves, hun. They only do it for beer money or to pay bills.”
Trixie sat down on her bed. Her bestie nailed it and didn’t have to make a whole spectacle about it. “That’s with every job.”
“No, don’t do this. Don’t try to rationalize what I’m saying because it makes you feel better.” Amberswan sat next to her. “This ridesharing thing you do doesn’t have benefits and you can never rest. Look at it like this: you don’t have to bang the dude and you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. If things get weird, you can always leave.” Trixie rested her head on Amberswan’s shoulder. “Where is he taking you?”
“Malibu,” Trixie answered. “I don’t know anything about the where, what, or when. I’m assuming it’s the family estate?”
“Malibu, huh?” Amberswan whistled. “That’s rich and famous territory.”
That was one way of saying it. When Trixie researched more on Grant’s family, they were considered to be one of the wealthiest families in the world.The world.Their staff probably had staff.
It was an entirely new world that Trixie had only seen on TV and in movies. She’s read about them in plenty of romance books. But to be in the thick of it was an entirely different breed.
Imposter syndrome was real. It was how Trixie felt when she went to college. It was how she felt when she studied graphic design. It was how she felt when she lost her job and did whatever she could to make ends meet.
Could she even call herself a graphic designer anymore? When was the last time she designed anything, just for fun? “I have a feeling I’m a sheep being led to a slaughter.”
“Grant’s not going to be there?” Amberswan asked.
Grant was going to be there, all right. The way he told Trixie he was going to be by her side the entire weekend sounded more enticing than suffocating. They would share a bedroom, but theydidn’t have to sleep in the same bed. He offered to sleep in an adjoining room and she shot the idea down with more haste than intended. All he did was smile in response.
Even if there wasn’t any physical connection between them, she didn’t mind hanging around Grant in a multi-million dollar estate. Pretend to be a lucky girlfriend to a wealthy, older man for a weekend? Why wouldn’t she pass that up?
But then she thought about the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. What do wealthy people do? Swim? Go on their yachts? Eat at every fancy and expensive restaurant within a driving distance from their home?
It might sound like fun but even Trixie thought doing that all the time had to get old after a while. There’s only so much plastic surgery and Botox before being emotionless became in vogue because they couldn’t express it anyway.
Still, it didn’t stop the wilted knots forming in her stomach. While Grant was going to be there, he wasn’t always going to be around her. There might be times when she would be alone and she would have to handle herself without his presence.
Amberswan was right – Trixie should’ve asked for more money. “It’s not a matter of him being there but it’s a matter of what is he going to do when it’s me against his family? No one is going to go against their family for a stranger.” Grant made it sound like all she had to do was just play the role of girlfriend and not do anything that made her uncomfortable.
That part was easy for Trixie to digest. It was the part of Grant didn’t want to be around his family that made her want to reconsider the whole thing. The way he briefly talked about them, she wasn’t sure if he even loved them.
If he didn’t want to be around his family, why would it be any easier for her?
“Girl, you’re acting like you’re going to be the referee in some War of the Roses type of shit and it’s probably not even likethat! It’s the family gala, you get to mingle with the rich and wish-they-were-famous, and maybe make some contacts. Read up on current events. You like those reality show dramas, right? Stay current with all thoseReal Housewivesbullshit and you’re golden. Someone is going to like you.” Amberswan suggested. “Besides Grant.”
Trixie wasn’t even sure about that. The way Grant casually asked her told her it wasn’t his first rodeo. He kept a steady rotation of dates and she was sure the women jumped at the opportunity like they were participating in the Olympics long jump.
