MAY

 "No... one knows about that," Edmond muttered. His eyes were bloodshot, almost as if he was afraid. "How..."

A smile crawled up Cupid's rosy lips as she watched whatever semblance of authority Edmond had left crumble. She had gotten him right where she wanted him. "Except, of course, Snuggle. Sure the Ivy Estate is not built illegally but it could do fair damage to your agency if it were to be gifted to one of your rivals. All those brainstorming with the board will be for nothing. Not to mention the ton of loans that will be yanking at your neck. Trust me, you do not want that Mr. Walters and we don't want that for you either. All we care about is your happiness. So don't make this difficult for Snuggle." 

"What the hell do you people want?"

"As I mentioned before," Cupid answered. "We only want thirty days of your time."

Somehow Edmond's expression did not soften. He seemed to be disgusted at the thought of a hoax marriage with me and strange enough, it bothered me. "You want me to pretend like this woman is my wife? For thirty days?" Edmond spewed whilst I took a minute to check myself out in the black tinted windows of the car I just highlighted from. Was it the cheap old skirt I got from a thrift store or the barely ironed shirt that graced my top region? I had worked for Edmond once and while he was never an office person. The few times he did come, beautiful blondes who fit the model stereotype dropped by. Edmond Walters like his woman slender and expensive and I was only one of those things because I was dead broke. 

"Precisely," Cupid replied.

"If I do agree. I will get the deed and my money back, right?"

"Affirmative. The contract only binds us for thirty working days and you don't have to worry about Sundays and Saturdays because we work round the clock. As long as you don't take things further difficult for us, you should have your funds back in your account in a month."

Edmond cast a dirty look down my direction before mumbling a very low "I accept."

 What happened next seemed like a blur. With the shout of a name, Edmond caused a butler to come running my way. He pointed at the luggage and I watched with alarm glazed all over as the man hoisted the bags and made his way back into the mansion. Edmond folded his hands and looked back at Cupid. She also seemed pretty stunned at how fast Edmond had adapted to this change. This was perhaps the first positive attitude this man had displayed that I admired. 

"I'll give this your hoax of a game a shot," Edmond finally spoke. "Thirty days and all this will be over. What is a month anyway?"

"My sentiments exactly," Cupid said with a smile. She clicked the side of her tab and I watched the damned thing die. What did that mean exactly, I wondered? Somehow, I knew where the conversation was getting at and a part of me was not ready to accept that. Cupid had defeated the overbearing man that fired me an hour ago with ease and that douchebag had switched up for the sole purpose of saving his own skin. This had gone wrong on so many levels and all I could do was give a nervous smile as my entire reality continued to crumble. "Now that my job here is done. I'll leave you two lovebirds be. Snuggle will be keeping in touch."

 I stood there stunned as Cupid smiled past us and joined the driver. "Till we meet again Miss. Wolfe." The devil of a woman practically laughed before zooming into the distance. I remained rooted to the ground as debris of dust and tiny stones blanketed me. The car waltzed to the gates and soon after, it vanished, leaving just me and Edmond Walters to ourselves. I was unsure of what to do...What to say... As conflicting thoughts plagued my head, I found it difficult to breathe. From the corner of my eyes, I could feel his penetrative gaze all over me. They were probably judging me. Somehow my eyes couldn't fight his gaze. Like opposite magnets, I was pulled to meet his stare. His frown deepened and he proceeded to strut to his house. Like the alien I was, I remained where I was just trying to comprehend how one app managed to get me into this much of a mess.

"Are you coming or not?" Edmond's endearing voice roused me from the tortured reality my mind had put me in. "It's getting late and I might not like you but even a sham husband wouldn't let his fluke of a wife spend the night outside."

 God! Every time he opened his mouth, he seemed to say something that annoyed me. Now that he wasn't my boss. I had a few hurtful words I wanted to send his way but I was homeless for the time being so I knew it was smart to keep my mouth shut. I gave a false smile and joined him. I hated to admit it but the inside of the mansion was even better than its exterior. It was a vastness of white, marble, and mahogany. I would have continued to admire the beauty of Edmond Walter's home if the man had not cut my train of thought for the second time.

"You coming?" I heard him say. 

My eyes followed the sound of his voice to a flight of stairs just in front of me. Edmond tapped his foot on the marble floor causing the house to echo each time his foot went tap on the floor. It did tell me one thing about my hoax of a husband though. The house was big and hollow. It reminded me of what the emptiness and void of it all felt like. 

"Where?" I had to ask.

"If you are going to be staying here. You should have a tour of the house. The first is where you will be sleeping pending the duration of your time here."

 I had not been wrong earlier. Edmond adapted to this frightening change with scary ease. Was that made a CEO I wondered, staring at him like my burning glare would give me some answers. It didn't of course. All it did was earn me a distasteful look from Edmond who could barely understand why I kept eyeing him like he was meat. 

"Make sure to join me when you are done staring like a creep." Edmond simply said as he continued up the flight of stairs. It took a second for me to register who he was referring to. But when it did register, he was already down the hall at the top. I scrambled after him. He led me to the right side of the hall and proceeded to open a set of twin doors, revealing a quite nice bedroom. The walls like the rest of the house were pearly white. There was a glass-framed king-sized bed directly opposite the door. It was covered in a plush black sheet that contrasted with the room's decor in a pleasant way. A dresser was to the far right and on top of the dresser stood a brass-framed oval mirror. I noticed my luggage at one corner of the wall hinting that this was possibly my room.

"This is your room," Edmond informed.

"Okay. Where will you sleep?" I inquired, trying my best to be considerate. There was a chance this could have been his room.

"There are a lot of rooms in this house." Edmond chuckled. "Don't worry about me."

It almost made me chuckle myself. I wasn't worried. I was just trying to play nice. I should have known Snuggle wasn't about to make this alliance easy for any of us because the minute we decided to part ways, our phones chimed in unison. My heart was conflicted but my curiosity as always got the better of me. I glanced at the screen. It was Snuggle. And the message read thus;

Studies show that couples who sleep together sleep better.