Acting

Romi

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If Ignatius had any say in the matter, there would be no parties at all. No social events, no galas, no fancy dinners. Or, if they really had to exist, he'd prefer that everyone had to go by themselves. He didn't like showing up to fancy galas alone. It was, quite frankly, embarrassing. The majority of his compatriots were married (or at least engaged), and almost all of them showed up with an attractive women on their arm. After several uncomfortable get togethers, Ignatius had decided that he would no longer be showing up alone.

It had been months since he'd gone to any sort of event without a date. He had it all set up. He arranged for 'dates', paid them well for their service, and showed up to every social event with an attractive woman on his arm. They lasted four or five dates, and then he was onto the next one.

Of course, he didn't take them into it blind. No, they met him first, he screened them, and then he moved on. They were paid for their silence, even if he turned them down, and if any of them ever came out with it? Well, who was going to believe them?

He didn't leave any proof.

He had an appointment that very day, sometime in the next ten minutes. He was already in his office, relaxed in his chair and waiting. They would show up with only a vague idea of what they were there for (an interview for a short term acting gig), be shown up, and then... well, he'd see if they were any good.
 

Sarrain

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"[A]n interview for a short term acting gig."

That's all the information Eliana had needed to try this out. How could she pass that amount of fun up? Not only was she a great actress, she had the face of a star.

Eliana strolled into the office languidly, her usual roguish smile in place. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in all the detail she could in the five seconds it took.

Although Eliana had never been here, there was a way about her body language that suggested she had come to this office many times before. She wasn't at all nervous to be interviewed.

Rather than her usual ripped jeans and leather jacket, today Eliana donned black tights, black fuzzy boots, and a steampunk jacket with a line of rustic buttons up the front and black lace tying the back.

She took the seat in front of his desk and met his eyes. She liked the look of this guy, specifically his eyes. They were sick.

"So," Eliana began, to prompt him into speaking.
 

Romi

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Ignatius gestured for the woman to sit almost immediately when she entered the room. He supposed (although, in truth, he was a very poor judge) that most would consider her attractive. As it was, he found her intriguing, but nothing more. Her clothes weren't bad by any means, but they also weren't the kind of things you were to a charity gala, which meant he was going to have to go shopping again.

He hated shopping for women's clothing. He didn't even like shopping for his own clothing, only he was blessed (or cursed, depending on how you wanted to look at it) with being far too tall for any store bought clothes to fit. He simply picked an outfit, and his tailor would adjust it to his already known sizes.

She was the right age, the right look. She would pass, assuming she could act worth a damn, so he got right to it. He wasn't the kind of person who would waste everyone's time beating around the bush.

"This job is, above all else, intended to be discrete. You'll be paid well for your cooperation and your silence. There's a non-disclosure agreement as part of the contract." He didn't pick it up, but he did gesture to a several page document on the side of his desk. That could come later.

"The rough outline of the job is that you'll be playing a certain part at social events. Anywhere from three to five events is the usual number. There shouldn't be anything above a normal acting job involved, although there will likely be some amount of eating, so if you have any dietary concerns or allergies, now would be the time to speak." It was all very technical and formal, but that was how Ignatius was when he dealt with this sort of thing.

His (brief) explanation done, he slid the contract over. "Assuming you sign, you can back out at any time - however, you are still bound by the NDA." Essentially, if she found out the exact details and then told someone, he could sue her into the ground for violating the NDA.
 

Sarrain

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Eliana took the contract, still meeting Ignatius' eyes. She gave it a quick look over, flipping casually through the pages.

This dude was all business. Not something Eliana was used to people being able to maintain around her.

"No allergies or anythin'," she said, half distracted as she read.

Acting was, at its core, just pretending. Eliana was great at pretending when she cared to attempt it. Depending on the way a person looked at the situation, Eliana was either always pretending, or never pretending. Either way, she was confident in her ability to pull off any part.

She looked up, eyes scanning the desk. When she found a pen, she snatched it and quickly signed the contract where requested of her.

She dropped the pen and kept the thick set of papers between both of them on the desk.

"All righty," she clapped her hands, leaned back, and put her eright ankle on her knee. "Let's hear the details."

Yes, she was totally willing to sign the contract without looking it over as thoroughly as most people suggest she did. The chances of Eliana doing something she wouldn't be comfortable were so slim; they were practically non-existent.
 

Romi

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Ignatius was essentially made of business. If you cut a chunk off of him, he would probably bleed tax documentation. He lived it and breathed it, and for the most part, he had nothing else. He had his parents, certainly, but the relationship he had with them was formal, and not loving by the measure of almost anyone else. He had friends, but for the most part they were business contacts first and foremost. He was more likely to have lunch with a highly powered CEO than he was to go out for a casual lunch with friends.

Ignatius mentally shoved her face into a pile labelled 'either gullible or over eager' when she signed it so quickly. He wouldn't sign so much as a dinner bill without looking it over.

"Then I'll get straight to the point: It's considered unusual - even odd - for someone in my position to show up at an event like a charity gala alone. Having said that, I'm an extremely busy person, and I have no time for casual dating. Assuming you have no objections, you'll be my date for a number of events. There are few obligations that go with this - you'll go, be presentable, pretend to be interested in me, and that's essentially it. Any clothing, meals, and transportation will be provided for." There was a lot more details, but they tended to come up as they went along, and the majority were fairly obvious - she was expected to look interested in him, but absolutely no one would be surprised if Ignatius showed essentially zero physical affection for the duration of any given 'date'.

And, because apparently it needed saying (Ignatius had thought it went without saying, but more than one girl had misunderstood), Ignatius went right on to clarify his exact intentions. "This is not prostitution - this is simply acting a part."
 

Sarrain

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Upon being informed of her obligations, Eliana was positive this was the easiest acting job in the history of acting jobs.

"Check, check, and check," she said about her obligations. "And I've got my own clothes, no need to provide." She held a hand up as she said this.

She figured what these fancy people got up to would be all long gowns and modest yet sexy appearances. She could pull that off; it wasn't her favorite look but for the big bucks, there wasn't a lot Eliana wouldn't pretend to enjoy.

"So three to five events you say," Eliana repeated as she ran a hand over her jaw thoughtfully. "How often do these events come up? Are you going to want me to meet up with you at your place or here when we're going to an event?"

Eliana knew enough to know that women who were taken on a man's arm to any kind of event weren't expected to know about business or much of anything. They were to be beautiful and impressive in their charisma. They were rated on who could hold the most attention in the room. Eliana was about ninety-nine point nine percent certain, she'd win any attention game.
 

Romi

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Well, she was nothing if not enthusiastic. She was quick to volunteer her own clothes, and while Ignatius couldn't be sure that they wouldn't be up to par, he was still wary. He found that the wealthy tended to have a different idea of what counted as 'formal wear', and he was eager to be seen in public only with a woman who looked her absolute best. Whatever the first date would be, it'd be something lower key than usual - a test run, to make sure things didn't crash and burn. The last thing he wanted was to find out she was a terrible actress in the middle of an important event.

That said, she was asking all the right questions. She wasn't wasting his time with stupid questions that she should be able to figure out on her own - instead, she was getting right to the meat of it, an action that he could respect, and he grinned, showing his rather sharp teeth.

"Events vary. The first one is two weeks from now - I expect the contract will have ended within three months or so." He actually had a date with a completely different woman three nights from then, but he was always planning far enough in advance to avoid coming up short. "You'll meet here - my home is far enough out of town that it's fairly unreasonable to expect you to get there and then drive home after any given event. If necessary, I can have someone drive you home, as some events will finish late."

With the formalities (mostly) finished, Ignatius decided to start at the beginning, now that he'd decided she wasn't completely incompetent, and now that she'd signed.

"With that out of the way - my name is Ignatius Paltiel. I'm forty one, I run Paltiel investments, and we'll have been dating for three weeks when you first appear in public with me." Only not, but that was what they would say, and it was important their stories were firmly straight.
 

Sarrain

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Eliana figured it was her turn to say her name or whatever. Politeness and all.

"I'm Eliana Ria, twenty-two, and have been your girlfriend for three weeks," She said this as a fact. Eliana pretended it was, and she would continue to act. "And we met where? How did we run into each other?"

Her eyes narrowed a little as she committed all this information to memory. She had never had someone tell her what she had to fake being, so in that way, this was all new to her.

She also made the mental note to look into Paltiel investments once she left this place. If she was going to do this thing, she was going to do it right and impress the socks off those stuffy businessmen.
 

Romi

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Once upon a time, Ignatius had a list. He paused, frowning for a moment as he checked the top three drawers of his desk before giving up. It was long gone, wherever it was, and his list of 'how we met' explanations was probably half used up anyway.

"I had a list somewhere of plausible ones so I didn't double up, but at this point I doubt anyone has kept track anyway." Most people only knew of a small portion of his dates, a slice of all the women who supposedly paraded through his life.

"I suppose the easiest method would be to go from what you know - if you have work, hobbies - most of those would make it easy to fabricate a plausible story." He paused, considering. "If you take other acting jobs, I could say we met when I hired you to film a promotional video or something of the sort." The trick with lies was that the closer they were to the truth, the more easy they were for people to buy.
 

Sarrain

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Eliana got a distinct feeling that she would have never met this man doing anything she normally did. So she said, "yeah, I act. Not professionally, but I've been around."

One might say it was a lie, but that was only if you looked at it factually. In actuality, Eliana acted all the time. So she'd work with that and roll with it.

"We met during a promotional video and had been together for three weeks during the first event we attend together. Is there anything else? I can't think of anymore questions."
 
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