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I pick up my glass of wine and take another sip. “Actually, he’s quite… dishy.”
She walks back to the table and looks sideways at me. “What’s his name?”
“Ivan Ivanovich.”
Wordlessly, she pulls out her phone and googles him. I wait for it. A few seconds later her scream nearly tears down the walls of my tiny apartment.
"Holy fucking shit!" she yells. "This guy! This guy wants to pay you to sleep with him. That's fucking amazing."
"Leila, I can't believe you! That's not amazing at all. He wants me to prostitute myself to him?—"
She looks at me like I'm crazy. "Are you kidding? I’d sell both of us for a hundred and twenty million dollars."
"That money doesn't go to us. It's for the owner," I correct dryly.
"What percentage does the agency get?" she asks crisply.
"I don’t know. I haven’t calculated it, but it’ll be more than I’ve ever earned in my whole life.”
She laughs incredulously. "Seriously. What are you thinking of? What's the problem here? We've both dated guys who weren't even one percent of the man this guy is, and we gave it up for them. I mean, I love you, you’re my best friend and everything, but honestly, you’re stark raving mad if you don’t take him up on his offer. Jesus, Lara. This is like a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Nobody else is going to come along and make this offer again. If you don’t take it, you’ll always regret it."
I stare at her with surprise. "Wow, I really thought you’d?—"
"That I'd have some reservations about sleeping with Russia’s version of freaking Adonis?" she cuts me off impatiently. "Hell, I’d be jumping in there with both feet. What you need to find out is why you have any reservations about going for it. I know I’d do it even if there was no money involved."
I consider her question and don't get a clear answer even though I have not been able to get the intriguing and infuriating man out of my mind successfully for even a few minutes since he made his offer.
“Look. Be honest. If we’d met this guy on one of our girl’s night and he came up to you and asked you to go home with him, what would you have said?”
“Yes,” I admit readily.
“There you go,” she cries triumphantly. “It's just sex, Lara. Both of you are going to have a great time, but this time around, you also get to help your father get out of debt."
"Can you not just casually say that," I say. "He doesn't know I know anything about his debt. I found out by mistake when I was trying to pay one of his bills. It’s not really all that much, but if he knows I know, he'll be ashamed and devastated, and I don't want to do that to him."
"He's not here, is he?" she mocks. "Anyway, I think the problem is bigger than you know. The last time I saw him, it didn’t look like it wasn’t really all that much, your dad looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. You shouldn’t pretend with him, Lara. It’s getting to be a serious problem."
"It's just a bit of gambling," I say defensively.
She raises one eyebrow. "And the drinking?"
"He doesn’t do it during the day,” I say feebly. “And I will intervene, but just not yet. He’s going through a hard time right now, with the business being the way it is. It’ll be better once this period is over."
She looks at me, and then she sighs. "People hide just how bad things are from others—you do know this, right?"
I pick up my glass once again and drain it. "Yes, I do. It’s always been a problem. I can remember one time when I was eight years old and my father had gambled away his whole salary and my mom was so furious she refused to cook any food for him for a whole month. The problem has got worse since mom passed away. I will tackle it, but I just don’t want to go in there all guns blazing, I want to do it right, Leila, and not make it worse.”
"Okay, I trust you. Now, let’s get back to the rich, drop-dead gorgeous asshole. Jeez, I love the idea of him. Can I have him?"
I grin at her. “Yes, if you’re willing to share the money…”
"Oooo yes. You know I will.” She stops and becomes serious suddenly. “Listen, Lara, I know I’m giving you a hard time about saying yes, but you don't have to. You've always been more proper and careful than me, and you’ve never just given yourself to anyone. And I’ve always respected that. It’s an admirable quality. And right now, you're only considering this offer because of the weight it will lift off your dad's shoulders, but I don't think he would want you to do that for him. Especially, if it will mean you will lose something important to you."
I nod slowly as her words grind into my head.
"Maybe, the debts are not as bad as I think and if you keep working hard with your videos and ads soon enough, you'll be rewarded and the money will come pouring in.”
“Oh God, if only.”