The Perfect Substitute

A short story~

I'm a stand-in.

A lot of people know it. Some pity me, some mock me, and some ask me to my face, "He doesn't like you at all. He only sees you as..."

"A stand-in," I say.

I get paid for my work. What's there to pity?

Actually, I used to own a stand-in agency. I knew there were many people in the world who couldn't be with the person they loved. Some couldn't accept it, so they looked for a stand-in. My agency found suitable "actors" for clients, secretly arranged the right circumstances to create a huge conflict between the client and the person they loved, then delivered the final blow. That helped clients escape the swamp of unrequited love and return to normal life.

For this particular job, the client took a long time to agree. I didn't want to miss out on such a wealthy client, so I went to negotiate in person.

But as soon as the client saw me, he said, "You're the one."

I was stunned. I was the boss, not an actor. "That costs extra."

Client: "Name your price."

I smiled at once. "I'd be delighted to work for you."

I did my job diligently, and the client was very happy with my work. But just before the contract was due to expire, he said he didn't want to part with "that person" just yet and wanted to renew it.

I agreed again, for the money.

Theme: Have a complete sense of self and an independent personality