4

Wanda was moving the last of her things from her car into Elliot's house. She was tired and hungry and wanted to nap, Elliot helped her move, doing most of the heavy lifting but she spent the previous night packing and sorting things out. She didn't need to bring a lot of things, she didn't intend to either but by the time she started, she couldn't stop to decide what needed to be taken and what didn't need to. Elliot had laughed when he saw her things, he was surprised at the number of things she brought.

"Do you want to live with me forever?" He joked.

She felt embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I have a problem with my stuff."

He could see she was feeling bad. "It's okay, there's more than enough space for your things."

After moving everything, Wanda dusted her hands and closed the car door. "Okay, I'm done."

"Oh good. Do you want to get something to eat?"

She thought he wouldn't ask. "Yes please, I'm famished."

He nodded, "I know a place, let me get my keys."

~~~~~

Elliot guided Wanda into the restaurant, it had a relaxed ambience and soft music played in the background. She liked it. He pulled out a seat for her before sitting down. She felt butterflies as he did so, he was quite the gentleman. The waiter came to their table to take their orders and left. Wanda played with her skirt, the silence was awkward and she didn't know what to talk about. She looked at Elliot and they made eye contact, she looked away immediately and pursed her lips. Elliot too could feel the awkwardness, and the silence bothered him so he decided to break the ice.

"So let's get to know each other." He said. "We need to know each other to be able to live with each other."

"Yeah you're right. I'll go first." She replied. Wanda opened her mouth and closed it, she didn't know where to start from or what exactly about herself he wanted to know.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where to start from."

He smiled and sat up straight, "I'll go first. My name's Elliot Cyrus, you already know that though, I'm twenty-five, I'm rich and I love golf."

Wanda laughed. He laughed too and continued.

"I have two sisters, an older one named Sarah and a younger one, Maya. My father like you already know is Peter Cyrus of SEM Group and my mother is Diane Crest-Cyrus famous jewelry designer." He paused when the waiter arrived with their meal. The waiter placed the food on their table and bowed out. Elliot continued. "Umm, I'm a nice guy with a Masters in Business Management from Harvard Business School. I love my family, and the business and to take over one day has always been my dream and that's why you're here now. Okay your turn." His throat was dry from talking, he took a glass of water and waited for her to start.

Wanda let out a big sigh before talking, she took some wine and then started. "Okay so my name's Wanda Davis, I'm also twenty-five, I'm not so rich and I love to paint."

Elliot stopped her briefly. "I love paintings, I go to art galleries when I'm tensed or upset, they calm me down."

She nodded in approval and continued. "I'm an only child, my parents got divorced when I was fourteen, my dad remarried soon after and now lives in Seattle with his new wife and two daughters, and my mom–" She paused and look down to her feet. She didn't like to think of her mother. It hurt.

Elliot saw she was looking sad and close to tears and he didn't want that so he stopped her. "It's okay Wanda, you don't have to tell me."

She sniffed and shook her head. "It's fine. I'm fine." She sipped some more wine and continued. "My mom passed away when I was fifteen. She found out my dad had a mistress and a child somewhere else, she asked for a divorce and my dad moved away. Less than a year after, she heard he had gotten married to his mistress and that they were expecting another child. My mother couldn't handle it. One day I returned from school and found her in the bathtub." Wanda couldn't continue. She broke down in tears. Elliot felt horrible for her, he got up from his seat and walked to her side, he bent and gave her a hug.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

She released herself and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry I ruined the mood."

"No you didn't. You did not." He tried to console her.

She sniffed again and smiled. "I studied Marketing Management, I really loved my job honestly."

"Did you get fired?"

"Something like that. They let off some staff and I was unfortunately one of the people affected."

"Oh, sorry about that."

"It's fine. I've got a high-paying job now thanks to that and also because of Zia Beauty's biased interview." She smiled and it made him feel better. Elliot thought Wanda was a nice woman with a cool personality. He was happy he chose her. He was happy a good person was taking Tara's spot temporarily.

They spent the remaining time drinking at the restaurant before leaving. Elliot thought they were alone but he had no idea someone was watching and taking pictures.

When they got home, Wanda thanked Elliot for dinner and went up to her room, they had agreed the day she moved in to use separate rooms for comfort and to respect each other's privacy. She shut the door behind her and sat resting her back on the door and her knees drawn to her chest and she cried. She hadn't talked about her mother to anyone in a long time. The last person she told was Cherry and that was years ago. She didn't talk about her mother to just anyone, and she didn't think she'd be telling a man she barely knew but for some unknown reason, she felt it was okay to open up to Elliot. She got tired of crying, she changed out of her dress and into her nightwear and went to bed. That night, she dreamt of her mother.

~~~~~

"Good morning." Wanda greeted as she came down the stairs, Elliot was making breakfast.

He looked up at her and he scrambled eggs in the pan. "Morning. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded and stood beside him. "Pancakes and scrambled eggs?"

"Yes. You don't like it?"

"No, no. It's great." She answered. "Who doesn't like pancakes?"

"I know right. Could you please get some plates from that cupboard?" He pointed to the white cupboard hanging from the wall. Wanda nodded and did as he said.

It all felt strange to both of them. Making breakfast and eating with someone else. It really felt like they were a couple.

"What's in today's itinerary?" She asked him as they ate.

"I have to be at work this afternoon."

"What do I do when you're away?"

Elliot chuckled, he found her question funny. She was free to do whatever she wanted.

"You can do whatever you like. Stay in, go out, whatever you like. You're not a hostage you know?"

She let out a small laugh. "Okay then."

He was done eating, she too was done. He got up and took her plates but she wanted to take them herself, he refused and told her it was fine but Wanda didn't let him be, she stood with him until he was done doing the dishes and she helped to clean the table and kitchen.

After breakfast, both Elliot and Wanda went back to their rooms to shower. Wanda finished first and was downstairs watching a movie, Elliot came down shortly after to join her. He handed her a small box as he sat and she looked at him confused.

"It's your ring." He told her.

She opened the small blue box and came face to face with a diamond ring. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and probably the most expensive too.

"Wow this is so beautiful but is it okay for me to wear this?"

Elliot laughed. She always found a way to make him laugh.

"Of course you have to wear it. What kind of engaged lady doesn't have an engagement ring? Especially when she's engaged to me."

She was still mesmerized by the ring, she didn't even want to touch it. He moved beside and took it out of the box. "Should I put it on you?"

She took the ring from him and shook her head, she thought it'd be weird if he did considering the fact that the whole thing wasn't real. She put the ring on herself and lifted her hand to admire it. It was heavy. She kept admiring it until she remembered it was all fake.

"Wait what happens when the contract ends?"

"What are you talking about." His eyes not leaving the TV

"I mean the ring." She said. "Do I return it?"

This time he looked at her. He looked at the ring and then at her again. "I guess you can keep it." He shrugged.

She didn't say anything when he said that. She just kept looking at the ring.

Time went by fast and Elliot needed to leave for work. He said goodbye to Wanda and drove out, leaving her alone in his big house. She spent a long time deciding what to do, she watched TV but she was still bored and she felt a bit uncomfortable being in the house alone, it wasn't hers after all. She thought of calling Cherry so they could hang out but she remembered she was in Boston for her parent's anniversary. Wanda had just one close friend, Cherry. She didn't know how or why but it just happened that way. She had other friends but she mostly hung out with Cherry, maybe because they've known each other for a long time. As she was contemplating what to do, her phone rang. It was a colleague from where she used to work, Beth. She and Beth hung out a few times, and just like her, Beth was also let go by the office and they both bonded over that. Wanda actually liked her better than all the other people she worked with. Beth had called at the right time because Wanda was bored out of her brains.

~~~~~

People stared and whispered as Elliot walked by, they greeted him but still stared. He wasn't even bothered, it wasn't new to him. Someone stood beside him in front of the elevator and cleared their throat, when he looked up at the figure, it was his assistant Louis.

"What's everyone whispering about today?" He asked adjusting his tie. The elevator door opened, they stepped in and closed door closed behind them.

"Everyone's just surprised to see you looking good."

"What do you mean?" He was genuinely confused.

"Elliot the last time you were at work you were a mess. You didn't even spend two hours before we had to send you home."

He caressed his chin. He really messed up, and it was like Louis had read his mind. "Yes, you really messed up."

Louis had been working for Elliot for close to three years now and they had a great relationship. Elliot didn't really treat Louis like an assistant, he was more like a friend and Louis loved him for that, although, when the time came for them to be serious, they kept their friendship aside and worked like professionals. Elliot liked Louis, he was diligent, hardworking, very proactive and smart. They made a great pair.

"Also, everyone now knows you're single again so tongues are wagging."

The elevator door opened when they arrived at their desired floor. Elliot's secretary stood to greet him and smiled. Something looked different about her appearance. He greeted her back and entered his office. He continued his conversation.

"Well they're going to wag more when they find out I'm engaged to someone else."

Louis nodded in agreement. Even he couldn't believe Elliot had moved on, it seemed like he would never move on from Tara. "I can imagine how crazy it'll be. Even I still can't believe it."

"You better believe it buddy, because it's true."

"How did you two meet?"

Elliot paused. He had never thought of what he would say if people asked him that.

"You don't remember?" Louis questioned

"Of course I do." He was trying hard to think of a lie, then one came to him. "We met at a gallery. She loves to paint."

"Oh that's nice."

He let out a sigh of relief, his skill of paying attention saved him this time. While trying to think of a lie, he remembered Wanda had mentioned she liked to paint.

"Okay, play time's over. Brief me."

Louis briefed him on reports and left the office. Elliot switched on his computer and saw his wallpaper was still a picture he and Tara had taken when they went on vacation to Switzerland. He had to change it before someone else saw it. He thought of what he did to all the pictures he had of both of them in his house, he couldn't bring himself to destroy them so he had just stashed them away in an empty room. Thinking of Tara, his mind drifted to his fiancee, he picked up his phone and called her.

~~~~~

Wanda and Beth were at a cafe near where she was now living, they were talking about what they were up to after getting fired. Beth said she wasn't ready to work again yet so she was just trying to enjoy herself. Wanda on the other hand couldn't talk about the contract so she just simply said she got a new job. When Beth asked what the job was, she struggled to answer and just as she was thinking of a lie, her phone rang. She let out a sigh of relief, Elliot had saved her.

"Hi." she said.

"Hey, I was just checking on you. Did you find a way to keep yourself busy?"

"Yes." She replied. "I'm out with a friend."

"Oh that's good. I'll be leaving the office soon so we'll meet at home."

"Okay, see you later." She ended the call.

Wanda and Beth parted some minutes after Elliot's call came in. She told Beth she had something to do and that they would meet some other time. After separating, Wanda drove to the supermarket and bought ingredients for dinner. She didn't want to get home and be idle and she wanted to do something nice so she decided to cook. She had no idea what his favourite meal was so she decided to play it safe with mashed potatoes and meatloaf. She finished shopping and hurried home, she wanted to get home before him and she did. Once she got in, she changed into some comfortable clothes, washed her hands and began to prep dinner. By the time she was setting the table, she heard Elliot's car pull up in the driveway. She took off her apron and finished setting the table.

"Something smells nice." He said as he entered the house.

She let out a shy smile. "I made dinner."

He walked to the dining table and widened his eyes. "Mashed potatoes and meatloaf?"

"Yes I didn't know what you liked so I went with something everyone likes."

"Well you chose right because this is my favorite. My mom used to make all the time for me when I was younger."

When she heard that, she felt good. She was satisfied.

He sat and thanked her for the food. They ate in silence, the only words spoken were "It tastes wonderful." from Elliot and "Thank you." from Wanda.

After dinner, Elliot took a shower and knocked on Wanda's room door. She opened the door for him and asked if he needed something.

"Today at work I realized we didn't talk about how we met and stuff like that." He said. "I already told someone a story so now we have to go with that."

"Okay. How did we meet?"

"At a gallery. I said you love to paint."

She nodded, "Okay. That's fine, we both love paintings but what made us date?"

He scratched his head. "Uhh, we fell in love with a piece and we both wanted to get it but none of us was ready to give up."

She was laughing at how hard he was trying. She found it cute. She decided to help him. "In the process of arguing about who wanted it first, you ripped my outfit unintentionally and apologized immediately. You felt bad about it so you let the painting go."

He laughed at her too. "So what next?"

"You ask to buy me a meal as a further apology and I agreed. Over dinner, we felt a connection and here we are now."

He was laughing really hard. "You're good."

She smirked. "Well, I try."

Satisfied with the story, Elliot told her goodnight and left. She said the same too and shut her door.

When he got back to his bedroom, he lay on the bed and looked at the other side. Empty. Tara used to occupy there. Tara used to make him laugh but now another woman was in his house making him laugh. He had someone to talk about paintings with now, Tara wasn't a fan, she didn't understand why he loved them. He actually enjoyed talking with Wanda and it made him feel guilty but he had to do what had to do for the sake of the company. It was only temporary, that's what he told himself. He closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.