Chapter Five

“Who the hell does he think he is? Ignoring me, treating me like shit?” Sandra shouted in anger as she dabbed eye shadow on Marie’s left eye.

“Hmm…” Marie said, already regretting coming to Sandra's house when she was still in such a foul mood. Truth was since Thursday when she had signed the divorce papers in Steven’s office, Sandra had been upset.

“He’s such a monster, Marie. How do you cope? Married for seven weeks and he didn't even so much as hold my hand! Our last and only kiss was on our bloody wedding day!”

Marie had long given up defending Steven and reminding Sandra that it was supposed to be marriage-in-name only because it only made Sandra get all prickly and accuse Marie of still being in love with Steven.

“Why are you going through all this trouble anyway, Marie. Not like he's going to notice you and want you.”

Sandra must have caught Marie's eyes in the mirror because she immediately tried to apologize.

“Look, I just mean that you should be careful. See what I went through.”

“I’m not dressing for Steven King, Sandra. I just want to look nice and attend a party where I'm not working.” Marie said in a tone sharper than she intended.

“Well, You look gorgeous, Marie. I was right to choose this black satin dress for you. It sets off your raven hair and green eyes perfectly. I’ll just curl your hair some more and my darling, you’ll be a vision!”

In spite of herself, Marie laughed. The thing is Marie knew that with some effort, she could be pretty. She had black curly hair that came to her shoulders, an oval face and full, wide lips. But the part of her face Marie loved the most was her cheeks. Her grandmother used to joke that Marie had the rosiest cheeks she had ever seen on anyone older than age twelve. Marie was just not interested in make up so everyone had come to associate the thick glasses, messy bun and no makeup look with Marie.

“I’m all done now, Marie. Take a look” Sandra said and turned the chair so Marie could see.

Marie stared in silence at her reflection in the mirror. When was the last time she looked this beautiful? Sandra had curled her hair and let it down to fall across her shoulders. Her lips looked so good she was tempted to touch it. But what really stopped her in her tracks was her eyes. Hurt feelings temporarily forgotten, she thanked Sandra and hailed a cab to the party. She intended to have some fun so she wasn't driving.

The drive to Alden Kings Inc. felt longer than necessary because Marie realized she was very nervous. She had never put an effort into looking this nice for any party or event. Well, that had been because she was always working. She remembered how shocked she had been when Steven had given her the day off and said she didn't have to attend. Marie had decided to come anyway, if anything to make sure that things ran smoothly. Plus, she kept having this gut feeling to attend that she couldn't shake off.

Finally, the driver pulled into the parking lot and Marie walked into the party.

Her first thought was that Ellen had outdone herself. The gentle golden hues contrasted quite nicely with the pure white highlights of the decor. Everything looked so regal and luxurious. Feeling self-conscious, she grabbed a glass of cocktail and went to be by herself in the corner. Hopefully, no one would recognise her and draw attention to her makeover.

“Marie! Hey, I thought you weren't coming in. Oh my God, you look gorgeous!” Amy, a senior copywriter gushed.

“Shh, Amy. Just thought I would pop in and see how everyone's doing. You look lovely yourself.”

“Oh Marie! I order you by the powers vested in me to burn those awful cardigans and skirts you wear!”

Amused, Marie threw her head back in laughter. She supposed she really did look like Cinderella. She was so busy laughing she didn't notice when Amy had quietly retreated and Steven had come to stand beside her.

“What are you doing here?” He asked in a low voice.

“I thought I gave you the evening off?”

The laugh died in her throat at once.

“Errr…” Marie began to say and petered out to nothing. She could feel her heartbeat quickening as he looked at her from her heels all the way up to her face. Suddenly cleared his throat and said,

“Well, you needn’t have come. Everything's under control. Have a good one.” And with that turned away and walked away.

Feeling utterly stupid, Marie helped herself to a glass of wine. What had she been expecting? That he would have taken one look at her made up face, bare back and suddenly fallen for her? Sandra had warned her that the man had no heart and she had refused to listen. Or maybe it was that she wasn't attractive enough. Maybe one night wasn't enough to expunge the memories of plain Marie from his mind. Whatever. Why did she even love him? He practically had no heart. While he wasn't cruel, he was the most dispassionate man she had ever meant.  She was his bloody secretary and not once in ten years had he had a serious relationship. Girls were like takeout to him. He ordered when he wanted. Why had she come? And why were there so many people?

Grabbing a glance of wine, she stumbled out to the terrace to have a quiet moment when she heard some soft voices. Instinctively feeling the need to hide, she veiled herself behind a curtain.

“Look, Mr Kaito is quite upset. He suspects he was deceived. He won't say how but word on the street is that he got an anonymous letter explaining that Steven Kings isn't really married.” A Japanese man was telling another man Marie didn't recognise.

“Look at least give me till tomorrow to confirm this. You can't just come in here and spring this on me and expect me to pull the plug. The handover has been done, you know.”

“You have till tomorrow 1PM. I’ll be at Alden Kings to confirm but if he's really deceived Mr Kaito then find a way to pull the plug!”

Marie stood in shock long after the two men went inside and joined the party. Who were these men? Were they from Kazuko Inc? And how could they have found out about the marriage being a sham?

She suddenly felt dizzy. Memories of the past few months flooded her brain. Late nights, incessant calls, the creative teams working, and not to mention the entire recruitment process that had been undertaken since the account was won. It would be a nightmare to lose the account. This wasn’t just about Steven. Too much was at stake. Frowning, Marie called the only person who could help them out of this, her contact–Alden Kings.

As they spoke, a plan formed in her head, it was a crazy, stupid plan but if she worked hard enough, it could well save them all. Faking a confident air she didn't feel, Marie went in search of Steven King.