Mr. Big Shot (Mr. Big 1)

She googled Luke Marshall, and for the next hour, we read everything we could get or hands on about him. His Wikipedia page detailed his family, the death of his parents and adoption by the Marshalls, his education and his startup, Chatter. It even had a link to his ex — Jenna Cornwall. We googled her name and there were dozens of images of her, taken by various gossip columnists.

She was stunning. Dark hair, perfect features, classy clothes… In every picture, she looked beautiful. There were a few of her with Luke, before their breakup.

There were a few articles about the wedding being called off due to mutual agreement.

Luke looked so happy in those pictures…

After we’d had our fill of snooping about Luke Marshall, I went to my own computer and read over his emails and then I re-read his texts.

I thought – what the fuck are you doing, Alexandria? What would your father think?

My father, the upright law-abiding honest-as-the-day-is-long father, Air Force officer who valued truth and honesty above everything else. What would he think if he knew I was masquerading as a high-class hooker so I could go on a date with a newly-minted soon-to-be billionaire?

He'd give me a withering look that said everything I'd need to know.

LEXI911: Look I really must say no. I'm so booked this weekend that I can't make the time you want. I've got a client earlier in the day and then one after you. I need some down time…

MRBIGSHOT69: Cancel your other appointments. I'll pay you whatever you would have earned from them plus what you'll earn from me. It will be the easiest night you've ever had.

LEXI911: I don't know… I don’t like cancelling on clients. Especially repeat clients. If I piss them off, I could lose business long-term.

MRBIGSHOT69: Just this once, please! I'm desperate. I need someone with me at the function.

ALEXA: I could fix you up with another escort at the agency. Candy. You'd really like her.

MRBIGSHOT69: No, no, please! It has to be you. John described you and I want you. No one else will do. Period. I'll quintuple your usual pay plus add in what you would have earned from the other two clients… I'm desperate, Lexi.

I read over his texts and could sense his desperation. He really did need someone to come with him on Saturday and he seemed set on Lexi. I felt bad that I'd strung him along for as long as I had. To string him along even more and then not show up would be really mean.

He probably deserved it, considering he was hiring an escort and all, but at the same time, I felt sorry for him. He obviously needed a date for Saturday night.

LEXI911: Okay. I’ll meet you at the event. Tell me the time and place. We can sign the NDA before it starts. And since I'm squeezing you in, there'll be no dessert. Just a straight up date. Is that acceptable?

MRBIGSHOT69: PHEW… Thank you. Yes, certainly. If you insist. I'm not using you for sex. I really just need a date for this function. Believe me, you won’t regret it. Cipriani on Wall Street. We can meet before at Club 55, on the upstairs terrace so we can sign the NDA. Seven sharp. How will I know you?

LEXI911: I’ll be wearing a jade Mala bead bracelet with a white-gold tree of life bangle.

MRBIGSHOT69: Cool. See you then.

“Welp, I did it.” I looked up at Candace, who had a huge grin on her face and forced a nervous smile back at her. “I just agreed to be an escort to a rich jerk who calls himself Mr. Big Shot 69.”

"A rich gorgeous jerk and soon-to-be billionaire who calls himself Mr. Big Shot 69," Candace corrected me. "What can go wrong?"

What indeed…

* * *

Friday went fast since I had a seminar to attend and lots of work finishing up edits on a paper. I was honestly too busy to think very deep or hard about Mr. Big Shot and my date with him, but on Friday night before I went to bed, I did google him just to check him out. As Candace said, he’d been engaged but called he wedding off only a week before. His bride-to-be was from one of Manhattan’s wealthiest families. The google search turned up a blind item on gossip page that other people said was about Luke Marshall’s failed engagement.

…A little birdie told this reporter that a recent society wedding featuring the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette was called off because a he cheated and she found out…

What a dick. For a moment, I almost changed my mind. If he cheated on his soon-to-be wife, and he hired escorts, I could see why he couldn’t get a date…

Despite what I read, when Saturday came, I woke up with these annoying butterflies in my stomach that lasted all morning as I tried to focus on studying for my comp, but it was no use. I was a basket case.

“Did you know the wedding was called off because he cheated on his fiancée?”

“No,” Candace said, frowning over her cup of coffee. “He really is a dick, if that’s the case.”