Undercover Lover

Chapter 1

I scoop up the last remains of the meal in front of me. It tastes so good, Spanish chicken and French fries accompanied with Ceasar’s salad and red wine. The perks of the job I suppose... I look up to see my current assignment looking back at me. I've only been working on him for three months, but I think I have cracked him. He is a pale, fat, 5ft 4inch man. These ones are easier to crack. They don't normally have girls interested in them, especially not their ideal woman. The detectives find out what they like. In this case, blonde hair, big boobs, super slim waist and quite tall. With the help of a wig and a booster bra, I fit the description perfectly. He is in love... I has happened it many times and sometimes I do feel bad, but these men are criminals, right? However, it’s human nature to feel cruel when you declare your undying love for a guy that you are paid to go out with in order to get a confession. But at those times, I think of myself as an actor (which used to be my ideal profession) and that combined with the fact that the guys are usually good-for-nothing criminals makes my sensitivity and qualms disappear.

Anyway, wouldn't you be in love if your perfect woman walked through the door and showed  interest in you? I'd be in love very quickly if my perfect man walked appeared like that... 6ft 4in, brown hair, brown expressive eyes, olive skin and a muscular body. Not body builder muscular, just the toned guy who spends hours at the gym but hasn’t made it his house. A whole lot of perfect! Oh and if he drives a nice car, that gives him a bonus. I am one of those women who have some knowledge about cars and I appreciate a good car when I see one. Who would say no to a Lamborghini or a Porsche? All those small, cheap cars in general…

I am currently sitting in a 3-star restaurant with my latest assignment. The restaurant is small but big enough to seat around 50 people at a time. It’s decorated in warm colors, red table cloths, maroon coloured uniform for the workers and orange lamp shades that brightened the room a tad. Plus, the waiters and waitresses are very kind and friendly, not the fake kind. The kind that makes you feel comfortable. It seems like a professional, yet comfortable place and from the windows you have a great view of the city and its lights. One will most likely visit again.

'So, Ellie… Erm, well I've had a great time with you over these past couple of months and I want to know if you want to…' , he pulls a small black velvet box out of his pocket at gets on one knee. '… if you will do me the honor of becoming my wife?'

I put my hands to my mouth and gasp. The acting skills kicking in! 'Oh I'd love to baby', I say in a fake enthusiastic tone but he is far more enthusiastic than me to understand it. He slides the ring on my finger. Now the ring is quite nice, gold with a pink diamond on top. Simple, yet beautiful. It’s such a pity, I can’t keep it…

'It's beautiful thank you so much!' ,I lean across the table and kiss him on the mouth. He is disgusting and I feel like throwing up when I even get this close, but I get paid an awful lot for what I do so I don't mind (much) . I always wash my mouth when I kiss one of these men. It’s a habit that makes me feel cleaner in a way…

 At least I don't have to have sex with them, I play the whole no sex before marriage thing. Once they know I'm a virgin, it usually drives them crazy. Ugh, guys are all the same… Turned on by the innocent! It must be why I've had so many marriage proposals over the years. I just dread the day that doesn't work! Of course, I'm not… A virgin that is.

'But Paul, before we go any further with our relationship, we need to be really honest with each other' I say trying to bring on the confession. ' So, I have to tell you about my past. Paul, I once...enter dramatic pause here… killed someone', I say in a hurt tone and using as much persuasion as I can. Of course I didn't, but I need him to confess to a murder. His eyes widen in shock. 'It was a couple of years ago Paul, a-and one of my friends had slept with my boyfriend, so I killed her. I don’t know what possessed me to do it. I just learnt what happened and the next thing I know Lucy is dead. Now my ex is in prison, serving life for my crime. I’ve been having nightmares about the whole thing! Baby, I know that it makes me a horrible person and I totally understand if you don’t want to carry on with the wedding’ I say and I put my head in my hands and begin to cry.

'Ellie it’s alright' , he says and comes to sit on the chair beside me. ' If it makes you feel any better, I have a bad past too. But we've both done things were ashamed of, so it’s okay, isn’t it?' I nod and rest my head on his shoulder. This way my microphone is nearest to his mouth for the confession. ' I've killed people too, quite a few…'. I just need him to say the name of the right one, Alan Hartley.

'Oh baby… You must have had a very hard life! What were they called?' I ask still sobbing.

He sighs. I cry into his chest but the microphone is still able to pick up his confession and whilst doing so I start to smile. No more acting as if I actually like Paul, the facade can be done with! I just need him to say it.  ' Tim Renolds, David Holmes, Peter Stansbury, erm... and Alan Hartley' Bingo!

I stand up from my chair and wipe the tears from my eyes. My team walks  into the restaurant. Five bulky men dressed in black… They handcuff him while he is in a state of shock. His mouth opens, but no words come out. Poor guy, he doesn’t know what hit him!

‘Paul Morrison, you are under arrest for the murder of Alan Hartley, anything you…’, my colleague starts to say, but Paul interrupts him.

'Whats going on? Ellie?'

I rip my wig off and let my long brown curls fall out of place. 'Thanks Paul' I say as I take off the ring. 'But, no thanks', I hand it back to him. Sometimes you have to feel bad for doing what I do but I'm glad I lasted long enough to squeeze a confession from him. He must have been one of the worst assignments I’ve been called to work on. Honestly, the guy had the worst sense of humour you can imagine. He would say those horrible jokes and I had to try really hard to make myself laugh. Not to mention, all the funny looks I received when people saw me with this man. I mean, would it seem normal to you if you saw a model-like girl with a short, fat and bald guy? They probably thought I was an escort or something…

Back to reality, Paul is dragged out of the restaurant swearing and cursing at me. The whole place is watching us. To be honest I don't care if people are watching the whole ordeal unfold. They don't know the story and quite frankly they can't judge. I walk out of the restaurant with my head held high and stand in the cold evening night. I sigh whilst I pull out my phone and to send a text to my boss.

DONE! NEXT ASSIGNMENT TOMORROW, ON MY DESK X

I call a taxi to spend another lonely night at home. Even though I make criminals fall in love with me, there's always a voice in the back of my head saying it’s not really me. It’s a persona that I have created for the purposes of my job. My appearance, my personality and everything that is related to me is fake. Even my past changes… And sometimes, I wish I could just be myself. I would like to feel loved for who I am. Not that I would like a criminal to fall in love with me, but you know sometimes your insecurities kick in.

Less than an hour later I was at home. My house is quite big for one person living in it. It has two bedrooms, a spacious living room with a separate kitchen and two bathrooms. I decided that I wanted ice cream (chocolate of course!) so I left it on the counter to soften whilst I got changed out of my lovely red dress. I think this is one of my favorite things about my job, I can get the nicest clothes with the card I was given from the company. However, nice clothes don’t always compensate for enduring those men for whole months. It’s just an aspect of my job that I enjoy. After getting dressed into a vest top and pajama bottoms and managing but struggling to fit my dress in the wardrobe which is full of clothes and shoes, I grab the ice cream and a spoon and sit on the couch. Now, my living room has two couches and the one is big enough for me to sleep on, which lately has become a habit. I contemplate turning the TV on but decide that I like the peace and quiet more.

I don't know what time it was when I went to bed as my mind was flooded with thoughts of what my future may be, if I continue this job. The one I came to love.

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Chapter edited by @Chirpy_Chelsea and @m_dreamer