"You are going on this date."
"No I'm not."
"You are going. If you don't I'll give your mum the okay to set you up on a date with gross Carl."
It's six-fifty five pm and the sun is setting. I had been in a good mood. Okay, not necessarily good, but I had been alright before I got this phone call and it was honestly the last thing I needed.
"Arlen..."
"Cillian..."
"I don't want a date." I said and the woman who was sitting beside me of the bus, turned to stare at me. I give her a blank look before looking to the window. "Anyother thing, I'd say yes to."
"Tinder?" Arlen asked.
"No."
"Grindr?"
"I don't want hookups, Arlen." I said with a sigh. The woman beside me coughed and really, I'm trying to be polite and not shove my middle finger in her face, she can do the same by pretending not to hear or listen in to my phone call. Other people were doing the same. Heck, I wasn't the only one on the phone in this bus.
"Okcupid?"
"No."
"Buddy, you're going to have to meet me in the middle." Arlen said and his sigh was so loud, it made me wonder if someone was listening in on his conversation too.
"What is the middle?" I asked just as the bus pulled to a stop. I don't even bother looking at the woman beside me as I got out of the seat and then out of the bus.
"I'll send you a link and you have twenty fours to decide unless I'll call your mum." Arlen threatened. I've known Arlen all my life so I know he wasn't joking about calling my mother nor was he joking about setting me up with gross Carl.
I shiver thinking about it.
I tucked my hand into my jacket pocket as I walked down the street. My job today was at this fancy house at the end of an estate but there was no straight bus leading there and It was just six blocks down, so walking wasn't a hassle.
"Fine."
"Yay." Arlen honest to heaven clapped his hands. "Are you at work yet?"
"Almost there."
"You should have used an Uber. You wouldn't have to walk." Arlen said and he was right. Normally I'd use an Uber but it was one of those days. One of those days you had to walk with your earphones in, listening to music at the loudest volume and... just walk.
"I know but I just felt like it."
"Want me to drop by after work? I'll come with pizza." Arlen offered.
"That would be awesome. I'm in the mood for half pepperoni and half chicken supreme."
"Chocolate chip ice cream and chicken wings." Arlen completes. If it wasn't for the teeny fact that Arlen was married, I'd be all up in his business.
"It's your turn to buy."
"No it's not you cheap ass. You make more money than I do and you literally just sleep on other people's bed. You can afford to buy today's food." Arlen said and i huffed.
"You own a company."
"I own a- yeah you're right." Arlen said with a laugh. I fondly shook my head at him. Thankfully I had gotten to the estate and had to show the security my ID and sign in before Bu was let through.
"Alright, Arlen. I'm here and I've got a job to do, I'll call you back when everything is settled." I said. The call ends and a couple more steps later I was in front of the house.
I pulled out my phone, checking through the email I had received. Once I got the code, I typed it in and pushed open the door.
I let out a loud whistle when I stepped into the house. It wasn't just big, it was spacious, it had those fancy stairs and an honest to heavens, chandelier. I have been to a lot of houses but this... this one takes the cake.
It wins.
According to the email, the master bedroom was up the stairs and the second door to the right. I immediately made my way up there. The bedroom was just as gorgeous as the rest of the house but it had black sheets. Black sheets, black pillow cases and a grey duvet. Floor length windows, another chandelier -how many does a person need?- four doors and a huge tv mounted on the wall.
I take off my jacket, pulled off my shoes and made my way over to the bed. My client had asked specifically for any strawberry scented perfume so I had dabbed some on my neck, wrists, clothes and a tiny bit on my socks.
I don't open the curtains, I wasn't instructed to nor do I know what my client liked besides the bed warming. And yeah, that's my job.
I, Cillian Yohan Lowell, am a professional bed warmer. It's a thing and with a steady income of two hundred thousand a year. I have my clientele and also new offers. I'm told what time to get there and leave once the owner is home, sometimes the client wants me to put on cologne or perfume and I do, sometimes my client sits and talks with me, but it's only a select few that do. There's a contract, NDAs are involved especially for the wealthy people. Sometimes I'm notified earlier, if it's impromptu I'm paid more.
All I have to do is stay on the bed, scrolling through Pinterest or instagram or reading one of the many books in my library. More often than most, I just go on Netflix.
I settle under the duvet and FaceTimed Arlen.
"Holy shit!"
"Yeah. This house is fancy fancy fancy." I said, turning into my side and pulling the duvet up a bit.
"Can we trade jobs?"
"Jared will kill you." I said and he knew this. Since I had contracts and all that were binding, I couldn't take pictures or videos of the house but I let Arlen see the bedrooms since that's where I knew I would be. Plus he has an app on his phone that can track mine for security reasons and I also had a wrist band and with one press to the black button, the police would be called.
I've got lawyers, friends and family looking out for me. So far it has been going great and hopefully that doesn't change.
"Speaking of, Jared says hi and he's coming over with ice cream." Arlen said, smiling sweetly and it made me ache.
I missed smiling like that, knowing my significant other, my partner, my boyfriend was getting me something or coming to join me somewhere or just plain, thinking about him.
Maybe going on a date wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Tell him, I love him."
"He's my husband, not yours. Your husband is on his way." Arlen said, laughing. There must have been a joke in there somewhere.
"You suck!"
"And now I have to go. Love you, stay safe, text me when you're leaving." Arlen said and that was that. That was the end of the call.
I stared at my phone for a while, wondering what the fuck I should do. So I tapped open my browser and googled top five dating sites and the more I clicked the more my interest got closer to the ground. It was fading fast.
I was about to switch from my browser to Netflix when I got a message from Arlen. I clicked it open and there was just a link.
ww.lovematch.com
I tapped on the link and just stared at the page. The letters were in bold white, gold borders and tiny hearts at the bottom left.
It's been a year since my last relationship and it hadn't ended very well, a few choice words were thrown at me and I might have cried and cried for so long. I might have thrown away those soft materials, I might have thrown away some of my shorts, I might have thrown away a little bit of me.
The plus side to online dating is I could list all my likes and dislikes, weed out the guys who would give me a headache just like that son of a bitch had.
I left the browser and logged onto my Netflix, selecting the first episode of The King: Eternal Monarch. I was still watching the first episode when I heard footsteps and then the door to the bedroom was pushed open.
"Oh..."
It's an older woman, tight ponytail, pantsuit and heels. Her lips were red and she had dangling earrings on. I sit up and smile at her.
"Good evening, ma'am."
"Oh, none of that. I get enough of that at work, call me Cassie." She said and I smiled even more.
"Do you want me to leave now, Cassie?"
"In ten minutes. I might still be in the shower but you can leave." She said and I nodded. She takes off her heels and her jewelry and I just go back to lying down. I set a timer and once the ten minutes were up, I got out of the bed, pulled on my shoes and jacket, made sure I had everything before leaving.
I texted Arlen on my way to the bus stop and I had just gotten onto the bus when I got a credit alert. My account balance had gone up by four hundred bucks.
Another day, another bed.
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Yes, a professional bed warmer is an actual job and yes it pays a lot.
So what do you think?
All chapters until the main characters actually meet will be 500 words short âð¾