They Set Up The Poor Mechanic On A Blind Date As A Prank—but The Ceo’s Daughter Said, “I Like Him”…
The Unlikely Invitation
Jake Morrison wiped the grease off his hands with an old rag, staring at the text message on his phone for the third time. The screen was cracked, and had been for six months ever since he dropped it while working under Mrs. Patterson’s Honda, but he could still read the message clearly enough.
“Hey Jake, remember me from high school?”
“I have this friend who’s perfect for you.”
“She’s smart, beautiful, and really wants to meet you.”
“Dinner at the Riverside Club tomorrow at 7:00.”
“I already made the reservation.”
“Her name is Victoria.”
“You won’t regret this.”
The message was from Brad Cunningham, who Jake barely remembered from high school. They’d been in different social circles.
Brad had been the star quarterback with the expensive car and designer clothes, while Jake had been the kid who worked at his uncle’s auto shop after school to help his mom pay rent. They’d graduated 12 years ago, and Jake couldn’t remember ever having a real conversation with Brad beyond a few words in the hallway.
But Jake was 30 years old, perpetually single, and tired of spending his evenings alone in his small apartment above Morrison’s Auto Repair, the shop he’d inherited when his uncle passed away three years ago. His last relationship had ended badly, and his mom had been gently suggesting he should get back out there.
Maybe this was a sign.
He texted back,
“Sure, sounds good.”
“Thanks for thinking of me.”
A Cruel Plan Unfolds
What Jake didn’t know was that at that exact moment in a luxury high-rise apartment across town, Brad Cunningham and his friends were laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
Brad howled, showing his phone to the group gathered around his leather sectional.
“He actually said yes.”
“Jake Morrison the grease monkey thinks he’s actually going on a date at the Riverside Club.”
His friend Trevor said, wiping tears from his eyes.
“This is going to be epic.”
“Can you imagine him showing up in his work boots and probably smelling like motor oil and Victoria Ashford walking in looking like she stepped off a runway?”
Another friend, Marcus, asked.
“Wait, Victoria’s actually going through with this?”
Brad responded.
“Are you kidding?”
“She thought it was hilarious when I pitched it to her.”
“She’s going to show up, act disgusted, and we’ll film the whole thing from our table.”
“Social media gold.”
What they didn’t know, what nobody knew except Victoria’s father and a select few, was that Victoria Ashford had her own reasons for agreeing to this cruel prank, and they had nothing to do with what Brad and his friends expected.
Arrival at the Riverside Club
The next evening, Jake stood outside the Riverside Club feeling completely out of place. He’d done his best to look presentable.
He’d even bought a new shirt from the department store, a simple cream-colored button-up that had cost him more than he usually spent on clothes. His khaki work pants were clean but worn, and his shoes were the nicest he owned, though they’d seen better days.
He’d scrubbed his hands raw, but there were still traces of grease under his fingernails that wouldn’t come out. The restaurant was the kind of place Jake had only seen in movies, with crystal chandeliers, thick curtains, and waiters in tuxedos gliding between tables.
Through the windows, he could see people in evening gowns and suits worth more than his monthly earnings. He almost turned around and left.
But then he thought about his mom’s hopeful face when he’d told her about the date, about how she’d hugged him and said she was proud of him for putting himself out there. He thought about how tired he was of being alone, of eating microwave dinners in front of the TV, of wondering if this was all his life would ever be.
So Jake took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and walked in. The hostess looked him up and down with barely concealed surprise.
The hostess asked.
“Can I help you?”
Jake replied.
“I have a reservation.”
“Under Cunningham, I think.”
“I’m meeting someone named Victoria.”
The hostess’s eyebrows rose, but she maintained her professional demeanor.
“Of course, right this way.”
She led him through the dining room, and Jake felt every eye turned to watch him pass. He heard whispers and saw smirks.
In the corner, he noticed Brad and his friends at a large table, phones out, barely containing their laughter. Jake’s stomach sank.
He recognized that look. He’d seen it before back in high school when the popular kids would set up elaborate pranks on people like him.
This was a setup. Of course it was.
The Ashford Entrance
Jake stopped walking, about to turn around and leave with what remained of his dignity, when the restaurant’s entrance doors opened and a woman walked in. She was stunning, tall and elegant in a cream-colored dress that caught the chandelier light, her blonde hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders.
But it wasn’t her beauty that stopped Jake in his tracks. It was the little girl holding her hand.
The child couldn’t have been more than three years old, wearing a matching cream dress, her face bright with excitement as she looked around the restaurant with wide eyes. The woman approached the hostess.
“I’m Victoria Ashford.”
“I believe I’m meeting someone, Jake Morrison.”
The hostess looked flustered.
“Yes, but we don’t usually allow children in the dining room in the evening.”
Victoria said pleasantly, but with a steel undertone that suggested this wasn’t negotiable.
“My daughter comes everywhere with me.”
“Is that going to be a problem?”
The hostess’s demeanor changed immediately at the name.
“No, of course not, Miss Ashford.”
“Please, right this way.”
