Acting

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.