Chapter 8

Thanks to Isabelle, Helen knew that Eli was a trending topic on social media right now from the interview he did on being one of the biggest investors in the city. People were interested to find out more about the man who was seen in the magazine and in the background of those from high society.

They loved how mysterious he was popping out of nowhere but how he was always there in the background. Plus women couldn't resist following such a good-looking man. One picture of him sitting in her restaurant would be enough to cause a buzz and attract more people to the opening. Who would've thought the man would come in handy like this? Not her!

"Do you think we should probably let the people come to us naturally and not do tricks like this?" Marc questioned but seconds later he laughed along with Helen who found his words funny. Of course, he was just joking. They could use the same tricks as everyone as long as the trick wasn't low down and dirty.

"You crack me up," Helen laughed, wiping away imaginary tears. Social media was useful to help advertise a business nowadays. She didn't mind using the same tricks as the other places would. If people wanted to follow trends and spend money on them, who was Helen to deny them? They could shower that money they would spend at a terrible place right here.

"Let's be serious now. Do you still have the camera you used to take the pictures before?"She asked and Marc nodded yes showing her the camera he had in his jacket. He kept it here in case he suddenly wanted to take more pictures to upload."Great! How would we get him to pose for a picture though? If we're using him it still needs to look well done and realistic not forced."

"Ask him nicely? Whatever you plan to do, do it before the twins end up with a lawsuit," He motioned to Cody who was arguing with Eli but the man seemed to enjoy it. Couldn't Cody see Eli was just taking humor in seeing him riled up? "The two of them really don't stop and think or they are just not capable of thinking. I don't understand why you hired both of them."

Helen rolled her eyes tired of the bickering between Eli and Cody. She was already tired of her small bickering with Eli and now has her employee doing it too. Just great! Why did it feel like she was dealing with children?"Cody!" She called getting the blond's attention. "Please go and help your brother in the kitchen. I need you to mind your manners when it comes to guests. No matter how much they piss you off, try not to lose your cool till you get off the floor."

"If they're extremely rude, come to Marc or me if I'm present. For a valid reason, I don't think you watched all those lessons I set you up for. Go through all of them by tonight or I'll have someone replace you the day of the grand opening or permanently. Understood?" Helen warned approaching the trio.

As much as she cared about the twins, Helen didn't take kindly to either of them ruining her big day. She watched Cody mutter something under his breath before he went back to the kitchen. That's right. Say it under your breath, she thought.

"And you.." She trailed pointing her finger at Eli. The man seemingly glowed when she pointed him out. Helen just knew he got pleasure riling her up.

On the other hand, Eli patiently waited for his scolding but what she said next was unexpected.

"Please model for me," She finished her sentence then cleared her throat afterward. Helen almost wanted to crawl in a hole and hide after asking him this but she wanted his picture dammit! She felt someone shoot her pride a bit.

Eli thought he misheard her words because he was busy staring at her. "I'm sorry but did you just ask me to model for you? Excuse me if I heard wrong."

"She asked you to model sir," Noah confirmed. He was expecting her to curse them and throw them out. Why did she want Eli's photos? Did she finally fall for his temptation? But why not say yes to the dinner rather than ask him to model? And what was up with the random model suggestion? Did she have a weird kink? Noah finally noticed a man not too far behind Helen with a camera in his hand. Oh no.

"Noah, could you excuse us for a moment?" Helen requested seeing the man had a look of horror on his face. She sensed Noah was already against the idea and was going to tell Eli to reject it. If she got rid of him maybe she could work some magic and somehow make Eli agree.

"Sure thing," Noah answered but before he left he whispered to Eli, "No matter how much you might seem to like her, don't do anything explicit."

Eli turned his body sideways, raising his right arm in an attempt to hit Noah but the man hurried off before he could. "Why do you want me to model for you? Such an unexpected request when you've wanted nothing but for me to leave the moment I arrived."

Helen decided to be upfront about it rather than beating around the bush. "Well, the restaurant will be opening soon and we've been advertising steadily and the response is fairly good but we need a bit more. There's a trend to have someone influential promote the business and well since you're here I thought about using you."

Eli nodded understanding why she wanted to use him right away. Noah had informed him of the buzz he was causing on social media which was slightly annoying for him. He didn't want this attention being on him and too many pictures being passed around.

When he decided to stop living as Eli and choose a new life it would be harder to do because of those same pictures. Eli would have to change up his physical appearance a lot for his next life. He knew he should've denied the interview but his mother was the one who requested he do it. Unfortunately for Helen, he wouldn't do it again so easily just for anyone else. "No thank you," He flat-out denied.

"Wait! Just think about it for a second," Helen quickly spoke hoping she could convince him.

After a second passed Eli said, "No."

"Come on. I can pay you a reasonable amount," Helen suggested even though she couldn't afford to pay him to be a model. He might drain her bank account and he didn't need her small change.

Eli raised his perfectly shaped brow at her offer to pay him. Anyone with eyes could see he didn't need to model for money and if he did the price would be high. "As you said before Helen, I would rather die," He repeated her words, watching her nose flare like a dragon.

Forcing a smile Helen thought of one deal to propose. One deal he might not say no to if he was really interested in taking her out earlier. "I'll have dinner with you if you do this. Just one good picture."

Eli thought about it dragging out the moment before he spoke. "That doesn't seem fair on my end. One dinner for a modeling job? You gotta do better than that," He clicked his tongue not liking the deal so far.

"Two dates. Take it or leave it. No, don't leave!" She exclaimed when Eli decided to take the leave-it opinion. "Three dates. Three strikes and you're out. Anything after three I'll gladly let you walk out of here. I'm not going above three dates."

"Deal. And by the way, I was going to accept the two-date deal. I was going to tell Noah to clear my schedule for the next hour but I guess you mistook it as me denying it. A deal is a deal though and three dates it is," He admitted honestly. He earned the third date without even bargaining. Lovely.

"You..." Helen wanted to say many things but she at least got him to agree to take the picture so she could drop the issue for now. "I don't even care at this point. I'm growing a large tolerance for you annoying me. Marc! Let's get this over with quickly."

Helen did a quick look around for the perfect place to take the picture. She decided upon a table that was placed in front of a glass essence sign statue. "Please sit here Mr.King."

"Please just call me Eli," Eli suggested whilst sitting down in the chair she pointed out. He took off his jacket thinking it would look better without it. Eli tightened his tie and sat down in the chair with the attitude as if he owned the place. "Shall we get started?"