Chapter 2

MARIANELLA

After the news three days had passed, my despair level was gradually rising as my options went wrong, not that I had many to begin with.

We tried two of Karen's cousins, which only served to make me realize

that I can't have a decent conversation with a gym personal trainer in the first place, I am extremely sedentary and they are crazy about the gym.

The bouncer seemed too rough, his stories about getting annoying drunks out of nightclubs would certainly not be a very encouraging subject for my family.

Then I felt bad about the whole thing. I'm putting my family's expectations on the shoulders of people who definitely have nothing to do with my problems.

They had no obligation whatsoever to meet a standard.

Finally we are trying a guy from accounting, first hand he seems very decent, he was very cute accepting an invitation that was not even made by me.

My hands were sweating as I pushed open the doors of the cafeteria, I looked around recognizing Ethan at a middle table, his hands folded on the table, he is a handsome and presentable man, but I don't know, I felt something was still missing.

I offered him a wide smile before pulling out the chair in front of him and sitting down.

“I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, the traffic was horrible," I explained, receiving a sweet smile in return.

“ I didn't arrive that long ago, don't worry.”

“ Have you ordered anything yet? “ I ask as I take a quick look at the menu.

The truth is that I have no idea what to do, nor how to start a conversation.

“ I thought it best to wait for you, so what will it be? “ his torso hung forward as he used his elbows for support, he looked too charming from this angle.

“ Coffee with cream and muffins? “ I try not to sound like an idiot, which I think is inevitable.

“ Coffee with cream and muffins then.”

As he placed the order for the waitress, I thought about how to explain my situation to him, there wouldn't be time to bond with him in the little time I had left, so my only alternative was to be honest.

“ So Ethan, I'll be honest. “ I sighed, "I'm in a bit of a complicated situation right now.”

“ Are you married or getting a divorce? “ he raised his eyebrows.

“ No, never! I wouldn't date anyone if I were in that position.

“ I can't think of a more complicated situation than this," his brow continued to furrow.

“ I need a date for a family party, to be more precise, someone to pretend to be my boyfriend for months.”

“ Do you need someone to pretend? “ he questioned, confused and perhaps a little disappointed.

“ I believe that with the little time I have, I won't be able to get into a relationship with anyone," I said calmly.

“ How long are we talking about?”

“ A week and a half.”

His mouth dropped open, he wasn't expecting this and I can't blame him, I mean, a woman calls you for a date and says she needs a fake boyfriend?

I would certainly leave.

“ Look Marianella, this is a lot of information to process…”

“ I understand, but honestly, Ethan, I'm desperate! It's too long a story to tell…

“ I'd like to hear it anyway.”

I shamelessly tell him everything, and he listens attentively and agrees in some parts - or pretends to agree - I don't know how much he has understood, but I hope it was enough to at least consider helping me.

Our orders arrive and we drink our coffee in silence, my nerves raw from the fact that he has not said anything, it even seems that he is avoiding looking me in the eye.

“ I would love to help Nella, honestly you seem like a nice woman.”

“ But? “ I completed, already feeling my throat sinking.

His eyes move out of my reach and focus elsewhere in the cafeteria.

“ The boss!”

“ What does he have to do with this conversation? “ My brow furrows this time, confusion settling on my face.

- Nothing, I meant that he is here.

 I look over my shoulder, then see him, he and Dante enter the room talking, for a few seconds I hoped I would go unnoticed by them, but Dante sees me, just in time for a wicked smile to cross his lips and he nods in my direction.

Oh great, that was all I needed at this moment.

To make matters worse, Ethan looked petrified, I didn't understand why, we weren't in the company, what was the reason for the fear paralyzing him, he looked like he was caught committing a crime.

This irritates me a little, Roman is intimidating, but frankly, what does this meeting have to do with it?

Men and their need for male validation.

I close my eyes and count to five, before a palm brushes against my shoulder, from the cheekiness I know very well that it is Dante, only he would be obnoxious to that extent.

I shook my shoulder to deflect his touch, I think he was saying something I didn't pay attention to, my brain made sure to block it out.

At some point in the conversation, two more chairs were pulled up to our table, I mentally cursed Ethan for saying it was okay for them to join us.

Maybe he didn't realize that Dante Osborn is a big jerk and that our boss isn't much better, or maybe he just doesn't care.

Either way, I can't look at Roman's face without thinking about the things my sister suggested, because it seemed like the dream solution, if he wasn't a living nightmare.

“ Did we get in the way of something? “ Dante pokes me “ You don't look very comfortable.”

“ Not at all," I force a smile.

“ We were just making small talk," Ethan replies, and for the first time I feel grateful for his attitude.

“ I didn't know you two knew each other, I've never seen you together before," Dante declares, his tone more interrogative than anything else.

“ We bump into each other from time to time," I cursed myself mentally for explaining something to him, "I shouldn't say anything to this man.

“ You should show up more at employee celebrations, if that's the way it is," I tried not to roll my eyes.

My boss didn't say anything, which made everything more unbearable.

“ I have to go," I get up from the table, slipping my bag over my shoulders, "I'll see you later.

“ I'll come with you," my boss says for the first time, and I almost fall backwards.

I leave my share of the money on the table and walk out without answering. I don't know if it was rude of me, but my mood was particularly sour right now.

I could feel his presence all the time beside me, which made my throat feel dry.

“ You really took the idea seriously," he said, stopping in front of the crosswalk.

I did the best I could do at that moment, I invoked the role of the clueless one.

“ What are you talking about? “ I put on my best confused expression.

“ This whole boyfriend thing.”

“ We are outside the company and definitely don't have to talk about it.”

“ Maybe it becomes a professional issue when everyone in the company is talking about my secretary.

I felt my blood boil, this was too much.

“ Maybe you should look for more professional employees than you currently have," I retorted.

Those gray eyes caught me in their orbit, as they always do.

“ Maybe I really should replace some employees.”

I felt my body freeze, that's it, he is going to fire me.

“ I need to talk to you, but I have things to deal with first," he simply lets out.

And with that the sign opens and he quickly walks through, leaving me there, planted on the spot.

I arrived at the company some time later, stamping my feet. I was acting like a child with problems, but in my defense the anger was beginning to consume me, what's wrong with the men in this place?

I locked myself in my office, which was actually the space in front of Roman's office, made as little noise as possible and avoided entering his office at all costs.

Around lunchtime, I had to go downstairs to get some folders, when I came back jammed with them, I sat down at my desk and started organizing each of the documents I needed for the meetings the following week.

Those words wouldn't leave my head, they rattled around in my brain until they gave me a headache, I don't know how to deal very well with waiting, anxiety gets on my nerves.

At some point between one folder and another I started cursing in Spanish, all the offenses I could think of.

“ What kind of bug has bitten you? “ Karen appears out of nowhere, and I jump out of my chair in surprise.

“ A millionaire bug," I replied bitterly, she laughed.

“ And tasty too? “ I looked at her reproachfully.

“ Remember that walls have ears," I crooned.

“ No joking now, what did Mr. Tasty do? - he asked, plopping down in the chair in front of me.”

“ He decided to have an opinion about my situation with the boyfriend search, and also may have thrown in my face that the whole company is talking about me.”

She throws back her long brown hair and brings her face close enough to me to say softly.

“ That's good buddy, you're famous, take advantage of it.”

“ I don't consider that kind of fame a good thing.”

She looked at me as if I had just run over a litter of helpless kittens.

“ What I'm trying to say is that maybe Esmeralda isn't so wrong," she explained, gesturing with her hand as she always does.

“ Oh no Karen here you come... - I whimpered, almost crumpling a sheet of paper in my hand.

“ I would find it highly suspicious if my boss was suddenly so interested in my love life, it's honestly not normal," she suggested, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

“ Maybe he just doesn't like gossip," I offer, but she doesn't seem satisfied with this explanation.

That is indeed true, I well remember watching his fits of rage when there would be some newspaper article involving the name of some lover of his, he hates to be involved in this kind of thing, not that he is involved with my life, of course.

I have also received many yellow and red cards for being caught on the cell phone with Esmeralda during breaks, whenever he could prevent some gossip he did.

On the other hand, I can understand, it must be horrible to always be in the media spotlight, he has no peace and everywhere he goes he attracts conversations with his name, this is kind of impossible to avoid when it comes to the world of millionaires.

I just couldn't see where my love life could be something that bothered him, I mean, he was always skeptical and rude to me, there is no plausible reason for all this interest.

“ Sometimes I don't know if you're just naïve, or if you're just plain dumb," she rolls her eyes.

I'm neither, I just refuse to believe in some things”

“ Come on, Nella, there's a lot of things in this situation that you're not seeing, maybe we can get these doubts out of your head.”

“ And what do you suggest? That I show up in his office without a bra and ask him if he wants to travel to Spain with me while pretending to be my fake boyfriend? For God's sake! “ I explode, waving my hands in the air.

Her expression is blank and I don't know why.

“ That was strangely specific “ says the voice, that voice that has been troubling my mind all day.

I want to die.

That's right, today is for sure my last day of life, I wonder, how is it possible for a single human being to be so unlucky as this?

I breathe in and out loudly before I pluck up the courage to turn to him.

There is a smile, almost imperceptible, something I never thought he was capable of, a small smile that distorts everything in my brain and makes my tongue freeze, all I can do is watch.

I have to agree with Karen sometimes, he is too hot.

“ Sir... “ I start to speak, but he interrupts me with his hand.

“ What have I said about calling me sir? “ he replies between his teeth, I managed to change his mood in just a second.

May God protect me.

“ I am sorry! “ I say exasperated “ I don't know how much you heard…

“ Believe me, I heard a lot.”

I look to the side for support from my friend, but only then do I realize what she has done, thrown me into the den of lions and left me to deal with them alone, a traitorous cretin.

She could have at least given some indication that he was there, but when it comes to her, I know it was probably on purpose, she always seems to want me to live an adventure that has a 200% chance of ending in tragedy.

I started to mentally pray, who knows if I begged hard he might forget all this, I will tell him that I am not to blame for anything and maybe I will put it on Karen's back.

She deserves it and I'm totally telling Dante about the erotic dreams Karen has been having about him, that's it, if I'm going to be fired, I'm going to drag her along.

“ I think it's time we had that talk “ he points with his hand into his office for me to enter.

This is one of those perfect moments for one of those tragedies to happen, if the ceiling fell on my head I would be really grateful.

Maybe I am exaggerating and being dramatic, but my brain is crashing, I can't cope with everything that has happened today.

I get up from my chair feeling my legs shaking, I walk into his office doing my best to fake fullness, I sit on the chair and hold my nose, because if he is going to fire me, I will do my best to get out of the situation.

Or not.

I heard the door close in a deafening thud, he entered my field of vision as he leaned against the side of the desk, his mesmerizing metallic eyes analyzed me from top to bottom.

“ What did all that talk outside mean? And I'm telling you up front, if you don't tell me the truth, I have other methods of getting it," he spoke with that creepy calmness, putting his hands in his pockets.

“ I have an extremely traditional and conservative family, my younger cousin is getting married, and they would make my life hell if I showed up there without anyone.

“ Go on “ she asked.

“ My soon-to-be ex-sister told my mother that we were engaged, and she hates our cousin, and frankly she's the type to take advantage, so in order not to be down on her luck my sister made it seem like our boyfriends, who don't even exist, were a big deal.

My cheeks were burning with embarrassment, Roman was paying attention to every word I said, and he shook his head encouraging me to continue.

“ My sister thought I could ask you, which is crazy I know, I told Karen this just to get it off my chest, now she's created a whole love story in her head that she believes is real," I huffed, putting my hands on my forehead.

“ Why me? “ he asked, looking very curious about this.

“ The truth?

“ The naked truth," he pointed out.

“ You're the kind of man who would not only shut my family up, but make my cousin fall hard to the ground," I shrugged.

Roman was silent for what seemed like hours, not looking away for anything, and I could only calculate the degree to which I was screwed.

“ Please don't fire me," I pleaded, "I promise that you will not hear any more of this kind of talk, it was a crazy thing that got out of hand, I will find a way to control things…

“ Marianella," he interrupted, "I won't fire you.

I let out the air that was trapped in my lungs, the relief that gripped my body was almost palpable.

”Thank you so much," I thanked him with a gigantic smile.

“ Actually, I can think of a way to help both of us. I have a proposal for you.”