***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons or situations is purely coincidental.
...
It was another Friday night, and as usual, Dan was once again sitting in front of his computer. He had just finished rewriting his essay for the fourth time. There was nothing wrong with the earlier drafts, but he was always striving to do things better to keep his GPA high. It was because of this obsession that he didn't have much of a social life.
His cell phone rang, and he saw that it was his father calling and answered it.
"Dad, do you know what time it is?" He asked.
"Yes, but I know you, and I knew you'd be up this late studying."
"Well, yeah, you were right about that."
"Anyway, I need you to do me a favor. One of my client's daughters is visiting your area and--"
"No way," Dan interrupted.
He knew where this was going. It wasn't the first time his father tried to use him to take out a client's daughter, or niece, who often turned out to be spoiled brats. Or, in some cases, he's asked to just hang out with someone's son or nephew, who turns out to be some kind of jerk.
"I'm not asking you to marry her; I just need you to show her a good time, that's all," said his father. "I told him you would have dinner with her and then take her to a symphony afterwards."
"The symphony, are you serious?" Dan asked in disgust.
"I've met her. She's beautiful, smart, and she enjoys the symphony. What else do you need to know?"
"She enjoys the symphony; that's all I need to know to refuse."
"Come on, son, do your old man a favor; I need this."
"Is it really that important?"
He told him, "My client is a goldmine. He's the reason I can afford to pay your tuition. If he wants his daughter taken care of, then that's what he gets."
Dan was aware that his father was exaggerating about the tuition, but he reasoned that if it was important to him, he should take it seriously.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," he said with a deep sigh.
His father texted him the address and time to pick her up. When he saw that the girl's name was Greta, it scared him even more about this whole thing. Anyone named Greta and who enjoys the symphony was surely going to turn out to be boring, in his opinion.
Greta had just turned 18 and was traveling around the state checking out colleges she was interested in attending. She had finally gotten around to Dan's college and was staying with her aunt while she looked around.
Dan spent most of the next day studying and finalizing his reports, and in his free time, he connected online with the few friends he had to play Call of Duty. He did whatever he could to not think about the date he had agreed to because he was sure it was not going to end well.
That night, he arrived at Greta's aunt's place wearing a standard black suit and tie. He knocked on the door and was greeted by Greta's aunt, a woman in her late forties with at least three cats he saw running around.
"Oh, you must be Greta's date for tonight," she said. "Come in, she's just getting herself ready."
Dan stepped inside the home and was overwhelmed by the smell of cat hair. He wasn't allergic to cats, but he suddenly understood why some people were. A moment later, Greta came down the stairs wearing a black dress that was elegant but still showed off her good figure. She also wore big, thick glasses, had her blonde hair tied up in a bun, and carried an oversized purse.
"I'm Greta. You must be my date," she said as she looked at him up and down. "I guess you'll do."
Dan thought she was attractive enough, but she was already presenting herself as a prude.
"I'm sure we'll have a great time,"
"I hope so. I've been waiting for this night for a while now."
She said goodbye to her aunt and they both left the house. They walked to Dan's car, and he opened the door for her.
"Um, do you mind if I sit in the back seat for a while?" She asked. "I need to fix my makeup"
"There's a mirror in the visor up front."
"Yes, but I work better with more space, so the back seat will be fine."
Dan realized he was escorting a very high-maintenance woman. But he didn't argue. He promised his dad that he would be nice to her and that's what he was going to do. He opened the back door and let her in. He got into the car and drove off.
"Ugh, your car is so small, I can barely move back here," she complained. "And when was the last time you cleaned it?"
Dan didn't respond; he just let his anger seethe inside of him.
"By the way, how do I smell?" she asked. "I took a shower before you came, and I'm wearing extra perfume to remove that cat smell."
"It's working; I only smell your perfume."
"Good."
"So, I found a restaurant near the concert hall. We can go there for dinner, and we can make it in time for the symphony."
"Fuck that," Greta replied. "We're not going to any fucking symphony."
This took Dan by surprise. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Greta taking off her dress and letting her hair down. She was definitely naked, but the mirror wasn't low enough for him to see anything.
"I thought you said you were going to fix your make-up."
"I will," she said. "After I change my clothes."
It was at that moment that Dan realized why she needed the back seat and why she had that oversized purse; it contained the clothes she was planning to change into. He continued to take peeks at her in the rearview mirror in hopes of seeing something.
"Um, excuse me," she said to him. "I can't blame you for wanting to look, but can you please stop watching me change and watch the road?"
"Oh, sorry," he said, putting his focus back on the road. "So, if we're not going to the symphony, where are we going?"
"Someone told me about this kickass party that's going on down at your college. Let's go there."
"Oh, I don't know," Dan said, with a tone of worry. "I was supposed to-"
"Show me a good time, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"So, does it matter how we have a good time?"
"I guess not."
"And do you really want to take me to a sympathy?"
"Oh, God no," he replied with a little laugh.
"So, what difference does it make on how we have a good time?"
"I guess you're right."
"That's right, so let's go," she ordered.
She told him which fraternity was holding the party. It was one of the few places he had applied to but was turned down. When they arrived at the frat house, the music was blaring as the entire place was packed with guests running around and drinking beer. It wasn't even 8 p.m. and Dan already saw how drunk some of them were.
When Greta got out of the car, Dan saw how much Greta had changed from the prudish-looking girl he saw earlier. She was now wearing a flashy red halter top with a black mini skirt, fishnet stockings, and black heels. Her blonde hair was now down to her shoulders, and she wore enough lipstick and eye shadow to complete her trashy look.
Greta ran up the steps to the frat house and disappeared from Dan's view. He wanted to go after her but realized the suit he was wearing wouldn't work well for a frat party. He removed his jacket and tie, undid the first two buttons on his shirt, pulled his shirt out of his pants, and replaced his shoes with sneakers from the gym bag in his trunk.
He ran into the house and started looking everywhere for Greta. He had to keep an eye on her because she was his responsibility for the night and he needed to make sure she wasn't going to get into any trouble.
Inside, everyone was drinking, smoking, dancing, and throwing things around. There was a rock band playing loudly on a makeshift stage in the corner of what was supposed to be the living room. He looked everywhere for Greta, but she was nowhere to be found. He ran upstairs to check all the rooms. He didn't find her there, but he did get yelled at by a few people who were having sex in those rooms.
When he came back downstairs, he grabbed a couple slices of pizza and a beer from the snack table. He was originally expecting to go out to a restaurant for dinner and was now very hungry. When he finished eating, he looked around some more and found Greta on the dance floor, grinding on a frat boy. He walked up to her and gently guided her away from the guy to the snack table.
"What are you doing?" she yelled at him. "He was cute."
"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you."