The Lady's Everyman

-CH 3-

The room was quiet for several moments after Zach had announced his engagement with Amanda, a woman that he had only just met minutes prior. Amanda didn't seem to take the news well, but the thin man looked even worse. He knew well, that Zach had no relation to the young entrepreneur whatsoever.

"You... Engaged to her?" He asked through gritted teeth while holding back the urge to strangle Zach.

"I don't see why I should tell you anything, more. It's none of your business what we do with our lives." Zach answered without fear. At least that's how it appeared on the outside. He had been screaming internally since waking up in this situation. He wanted out of it as quickly as possible and this seemed to be the best way. He just needed Amanda to play along.

He gave her a glance to alert her to his plan and with a few moments of deliberation, she began to nod slowly as if she understood his intention.

"It's just as he said. This man here is my... Loving... Fiance. How could a scandal erupt from a picture of two freshly engaged youths? Do you really think there's something so wrong about such an innocent scene?" She spoke calmly despite clearly struggling against what was happening around her. She hated every second of having to pretend that the stranger lying beside her was her fiance, but they both knew what their current circumstances were at that moment and this was their only chance to escape unscathed.

The other person in the room however wasn't willing to accept the young woman's explanation as his anger rose within him, but the man knew that there was nothing he could do. He had nothing to disprove their lies. He was left with no choice but to leave with his dignity intact, at least he wouldn't leave without leaving some form of revenge behind.

"Since you two are such shameless lovers, I guess you wouldn't mind the world knowing about your engagement. Enjoy the rest of your lives together. I just hope you don't break up so soon after announcing the engagement or someone might find out about your little lies." He growled before turning on his heel to walk away, leaving only his final words in the air as a warning to Amanda. If she were to ever separate from Zach, then this lie would be quickly exposed for all to see, And she knew this all too well.

The door slammed shut loudly with Zach sitting alone with the young woman still staring blankly ahead while thinking of her what to do now. Her expression was one of complete shock and disbelief as if she didn't believe what had happened herself.

This silence was broken as Zach spoke up to try and ease her troubles. I'm... sorry about how everything went. I didn't mean to get you mixed up in my ruined life.

She looked back over towards him, giving a single nod of her head. "You have nothing to apologize for." She said without much conviction in her voice. It was clear that the entire situation was far more difficult for her than it appeared to be.

Yet despite how things had turned out, she refused to place the blame solely on Zach. Her words were kind despite being pushed into such a bizarre predicament. "What happened now will soon be in the past. What we need to do now is look to the future. For Fermoso's lost glory." Amanda gave a forced smile before extending a hand out to Zach. I don't know how you found your way here, but our fates have now become intertwined with each other.

Whether I like it or not, I need you right now. If only until we can find a good time to break off this forced engagement. I may not have much to offer you now, but your quick thinking just now was enough to save my company for the time being. After I bring Fermoso back up to his former glory, I will repay my debt to you. So long as you help me keep up this charade for a little while longer.

Zach stared down at her extended hand unsure of how he should react to her sudden proposal. It was no doubt his fault that she was in this situation, and yet she was speaking to him as if she owed him a debt. Was it her inexperience or her noble nature? Or perhaps she was just simply a caring woman who knew what needed to be done regardless of personal gain?

Whatever was the case, he found no need to turn down the arrangement. It wasn't as if he had any place to go back to. And even so, the idea of being engaged to Amanda for however short of time felt almost pleasant given the circumstances. Maybe it could even give him an escape from his betrayal.

Reaching out his hand slowly, he accepted her gesture before gently squeezing her delicate fingers. "You're quite kind." He said with genuine gratitude in his voice. "I will do whatever it takes to aid you in restoring your family's glory."

She responded by giving a slight nod before turning away from him and towards a window that overlooked the street below. She placed a single hand on the glass and gazed outside. Giving only one sentence to break the peaceful mood that had been created by their new agreement.

"With our business taken care of, could you please put on some clothes? I... don't think it is proper to continue our talk in that state." Zach couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed after realizing that he was still stark naked even to this moment. He had almost forgotten about his current state while dealing with Sanntach's threats, but now all too soon his attention turned back to the more important issue at hand: His lack of clothing.

"O-of course!" He spoke up quickly to hide his embarrassment and then immediately got up off the bed and began rummaging through drawers within the room until finally finding something that might fit around his body.

He pulled over what looked like a woman's t-shirt and struggled for a few moments before eventually getting it on. As much as he would have liked to wear something else for the sake of propriety, he knew how few his options were. He was just barely able to fit into a pair of shorts when He noticed Amanda looking at him with a hint of worry in her eyes as she attempted to hold back laughter.

He realized then how silly he must look standing there wearing the tightest of clothing around his rather muscular frame. For once, he regretted all of the physical work that he had done in his youth.

"Ahahaha..." She began to laugh. But he had no other option than to accept it. At least it helped ease her stress somewhat. "Oh my... We need to find you better attire if we are going to go outside together." She said while continuing to giggle under her breath. "And I think it's best you not be seen by others in this state. I will go out and buy you something a bit more... Proper. Then we can make our leave of this hotel.

Zach nodded in agreement while laughing a bit himself. "Thank you for your help, Amanda. I'll make sure to pay you back for the clothes as soon as I can."

"Don't mention it." She answered with another small laugh. "Now just wait here and I will return shortly."

With that, she left Zach alone in the hotel room as his face reddened with embarrassment. It wouldn't take her long to return as the hotel had its own slew of stores and services at the convenience of its wealthy inhabitants.

He decided that he might as well do some research on Fermoso from what he could remember about it before she returned so that he would at least know where he was headed once they left the hotel.

As far as his memory served him, he remembered that Fermoso was the name of a once highly coveted brand of lingerie. The company was based out in London and had a long history of producing quality products along with top notch customer service, but recent times hadn't been very kind to them. Their product line had slowly begun to decline for unknown reasons and only continued to sink over time.

Though there was one rumor that had persisted which placed the blame solely on the previous owner, Thomas Carter. According to reports, the man had brought upon such financial hardship onto the company that it had yet to fully recover from it all. That led to a large number of customers and investors leaving and many others never returning. This in turn caused a downward spiral for the once successful business.

The rumors seemed to hold merit to a degree. Zach was not even aware that the ownership of the business had transferred to someone else, let alone their daughter. However, he did remember how much he loved Fermosos' designs despite their financial situation. Of course, he was never capable of affording such designer pieces for any of his girlfriends.

To think that he now had the chance to be close to someone from the family itself made him feel almost elated. Even if he was nothing but a shield for her.

He spent the next few hours poring over books on Fermoso's past to get as much information as he could on the company's current state. After reading through everything that he could find on the topic, he came across an interesting article that discussed why Fermosos' profits were so low in modern times, and the answer surprised him greatly.

The report claimed that the main problem with the once prosperous lingerie line was due to their lack of innovation and new ideas in design. Over time they had grown stale in taste and failed to appeal to a younger crowd who often preferred more risqué styles. It went further to say that they had also neglected to focus on their branding or marketing which had been left to others to handle since the previous owner lacked such knowledge.

Most of their designs were more geared towards conservative mature women rather than teens and twenty-somethings which had always been their target market. This along with the fact that most of their product lines only sold for several years before being discontinued due to poor sales meant that the company had lost touch with what people wanted from them. The end result was a company without a clear vision for its future. And this was what eventually led to their demise.

After a few more minutes of research, Amanda returned with two shopping bags in tow. She smiled at Zach while taking out clothes one by one to show him.

"This one should fit you best."

She handed him a pair of blue jeans that seemed to hug his body in all the right places, paired up with a white shirt that he would have easily mistaken for a button down, black leather jacket, boots, scarf, hat, and even underwear. Far too much clothing for his liking, but he still managed to take everything she offered him. He didn't even bother looking at how much it cost either; instead simply putting the clothes on, excluding the scarf and hat.

Looking him up and down, she gave him a gentle thumbs up in approval of her work. "That will do nicely." She said before packing any leftovers into the bag.

"Now let me show you where you will be staying for the time being."