It was a normal Wednesday, sort of. This time around, I would be taking a trip to Las Vegas and would bring a fake girlfriend with me. In that respect it was different.

In other ways, it was ordinary. I would be travelling out of town for business reasons. Normal. I would have to make good impressions. Normal. I would have to try and land huge business deals. Very normal.

I didn’t get a lot of sleep, either. Sometimes when I have a lot of things that I want to accomplish, it eats away at my mind and I have problems dozing off. I’ve told my semi-useless doctor about it before, but there is still no solution at hand.

I thought about Maya – my fake girlfriend. I didn’t hate her, but I wasn’t emotionally attracted to her, either. I just think she’s polite and has a nice ass. I was in a tight spot, and knew that I needed a saving grace like her to come to my rescue.

I plopped down into my Mercedes S and closed the door stiffly. It was time for action – phase one. I would need to go and pick up Maya.

I started moving down the road and I thought about Vegas. In most cases, I’m not a big gambler – but I do have a fetish for Blackjack. It’s fun.

In my view, Blackjack is one of those games that is fairly easy to understand, and win at. If you’ve got a good hand – say seventeen or higher – don’t try to overdo it. Just hold and wait to see what the dealer has.

Mix it up, too. If you’ve lost four games in a row, start betting more money. A winning hand has to come eventually. There is no such thing as someone who loses one hundred percent of the time – not in Blackjack. Then after you’ve won a hand, cheap out your betting because a losing hand is probably coming.

We pulled into her place – which wasn’t very attractive. It was an apartment in a complex that was plain and ordinary. The parking lot had a lot of old and battered cars. It wasn’t poverty-stricken, but it was arguably middle-lower class.

I opened my door and looked right in front of me. She was standing in the distance beside a maple tree, and looked like shit. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. She looked like a person who had just got done exercising.

She had on baggy sweatpants, sneakers, and a sweatshirt. Maybe she was just trying to dress to make herself comfortable for the flight. Or, maybe this is what she looked like when she wasn’t at work. Was she a slob?

The more I thought about it, the less angry I got. What did the board of directors want to see? They wanted to see a real relationship. Real relationships sometimes have sloppiness and flaws. That’s what she had. She looked a little sloppy and unclean.

She looked exactly like what the board wanted to see. In fact, I think I nailed it and found the perfect woman. It was at least worth a try. If it didn’t work, I could then go to bed at night without having any regrets about not trying to possibly save my job.

I don’t think she saw me, because I waved over at her and hollered. “Hey! Maya! Over here!”

She turned her head just a little bit and spotted me. She started walking over to the car without saying anything back. She found me, but I wasn’t sure about how she was perceiving me.

She didn’t wave back at me, nor did she smile. She didn’t verbalize anything, either. She looked a bit sloppy and didn’t look very excited, enthusiastic, or even happy. Doubts started to fester in my mind. Did I make a mistake by picking her? Would she make my life miserable the whole time?

When she finally got up close to me, I greeted her and opened the trunk for her to toss her bags in.

I looked at Maya who was standing there with crossed arms. Sometimes, the human body can talk. Hers was saying: “I’m here just because you’re forcing me. I really don’t want to be here. Let’s just get this over with.”

I can’t really explain it, but I find her to be fascinating. She just seems to have the right amount of spunk, bitchiness, assertiveness, and shyness to her. She’s got a good blend. I’ll explain what I mean.

She was bitchy enough to keep a man on his toes, but not totally get turned off.

She was assertive, too. When I told her that I would give her company the contract under one condition, she waved me away because she thought I wanted sex with her. Many women are so easy, that they give me sex just because I ask. That wasn’t her. She is a challenge and I would have to work for it.

She was a little shy, too. When Franca gave the presentation, Maya stayed quiet and tucked herself to the side. Then when I approached and talked to her, I saw her lower lip trembling about. She didn’t always make eye contact, and doesn’t seem like the type of person who would initiate important things.

“Are you ready to roll?” I said to her with vigor and held my breath as I waited for her to answer me.

“Roll? I’m ready” she said goofily. Right after she said that, she tightly shut her eyes and very slightly rotated her head from left to right. I think she was stating: “that was a stupid comment, Maya.”

I looked over at her small packing bag, and that was a mess, too. Nothing was neatly folded. It looked like she took it out of a washing machine, rolled it into a ball, and crammed everything into a bag. For good measure, it looked like she threw it from an overpass onto the expressway, where it was run over a few hundred times from semi trucks. I decided not to say anything. If we’re going to pull this off, I suppose it is better if we get along.

Not only was her bag sloppily thrown together, but it was missing a few things – a few formal things. I made an oversight when I didn’t specifically explain to her what she needed to wear. No matter, because I knew I could fix it. “We need to get you some clothes.”

She turned her cute little bushy head and looked at me. She scrunched her eyebrows closer together. “What do you mean? I’ve already packed quite a bit of clothes.”

“Do you have any cocktail dresses or an evening dress?” I said to her as I looked over and listened carefully. It was an important matter.

“What is the difference between a cocktail dress, and an evening dress?” she asked in a manner that sounded serious, and not sarcastic. Maybe she grew up as a country girl or something. She really didn’t know the difference between the two.

I held my breath – and a little laughter because I thought it was funny. Many women tend to be prissy and proper. They would know the difference between a cocktail dress and an evening dress. Even if they didn’t, most would never admit it. I liked her honesty, too. “I’ll explain more later. No worries though. I’ll get you hooked up with someone who I know is a good personal shopper.”

When we got over to the airport, I tried to take her bag, but she wouldn’t let me. She was more interested in being independent. Many women I know would want a man to pamper and spoil them. They would demand money, want someone to help them with bags. They would be snobby and rude, and stick their noses in the air and walk past anyone they didn’t approve of.

Maya isn’t like that. She pulled her bag all the way to my private jet. It was a big bag, and she didn’t struggle with it, either. She must have some muscle that can get things done. I jokingly wondered what it would be like if I arm-wrestled her.

I started climbing up the collapsible staircase so we could board the plane. When we got about four steps up, she screamed and slipped as she fell right back onto me. I caught her, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

I started quickly realizing that she was a clumsy girl. I hadn’t know her that long, but she had already fallen on me twice. Maybe she was doing that on purpose? I quickly ruled out that thought. She was more direct and frank. If she wanted to be in my arms, she probably would have just said something. “Well, this is a fun return to this position for us, isn’t it? You’re doing a great job with the rehearsal to pose as my girlfriend.”

I didn’t say anything to her, but I think it was hot how she fell into my arms like that. Other than making a wisecrack, I kept most of my feelings to myself. I could already tell that she wasn’t the type of person who would go for a threesome. Besides, I already had promised her that our business arrangement would be sex free. In a way, I wish that I hadn’t promised her that. Alas, because I did.