How he said it so calmly, how he made it sound so easy.
" Maybe...I..." I was beginning to say but he had already pulled out a file with a golden pen, handing it over to me.
He tilted his head slowly to look at me.
" What? Are you having second thoughts?" He asked.
I was.
" No...but um..." I was beginning to say.
" Then sign the contract. You can go through it but we don't have that much time." He said..
I looked at where my signature space laid. I had nothing to lose.
I scanned through it hurriedly.
No sexual relations, no alternate affections when alone.
It was a fair enough deal. coming with a price of three million dollars.
With hands hesitating, I finally signed the contract.
He stretched out his hands for a handshake.
" I hope we work better" he said.
A knock came on the door and the woman at the reception came in.
Her eyes were filled with disgust and anger as she turned to look at me, then at Jayden, flashing him a smile.
" Sir, they are ready for you now in the conference room" she said.
He got up and I followed suit mostly out of impulse.
" Where do you think you are going?" She asked, tone harsh, eyes harsher.
" She is my girlfriend and you will accord her some respect from now on. Do you understand me?" He snarled at her.
Her look was priceless. The sheer confusion, and jealousy all intermingled in one nearly drew a laugh out of me.
" Yes I understand sir..." She said.
As we stood outside the conference door, he turned to look at me again.
" Don't forget to smile" he said, finally pushing the doors open.
The conference meeting was packed full with reporters, and the cameras started flashing from the very moment we both stepped inside.
He held my hands gently, his eyes suddenly filling with such love that it shocked even me.
By the time we got to the podium, the whispers were already pooling quickly.
" Good afternoon and thank you all for coming at such short notice.
I am here today to introduce the world to my fiance, Audrey." He said and again, the camera's flashes came quicker.
The announcement was received with a lot of drama.
I could see the reporters looking at me in disbelief, their eyes holding surprise, some judging me, others wondering how I had met him in the first place.
" What did you mean by your "fiance"? There have never been rumours of the both of you together" one reporter firmly said.
" That is because we wanted to keep our relationship a secret. But now we are coming out with it and I do hope that everyone is wise enough to accept this relationship now and treat me and my beautiful fiancee accordingly" he said.
I just stood there like a little Chinese doll, watching them go on and on about my existence.
And finally, when even he was tired of the back and forth, he pulled me by my wrist, dragging me out of the conference room.
I could see the look of surprise and disgust that most of his employees cast my way as I walked with him.
I felt so small, a part of me wishing the ground could open and swallow me whole. Anything that could hide me away from their painful judgmental stares.
" You will get used to it. Now that that is over with, we can now discuss the terms of you working as my worker" he said to me.
We were back in that office of his now, in the space that somehow now gave me succor, away from the judging gaze of the world.
" What am I supposed to do?" I asked him.
" First, we will need some public display of affection to catch the eye of the crowd. And that is the main reason why you are working here.
Because rumors spread faster in a company. For two weeks, not regularly, I will send flowers to your table and I will have someone record your look of surprise and glee, then that will be posted on a fake account that will be created in the main aim of making us the perfect couple in the eyes of the people." He said to me.
I nodded, my mind reeling with the sudden intake of information, wondering if it was too late to back down now.
" I will do that too. I do have a question" I said to him.
His brows tilted in slight surprise.
" Can I tell my best friend about this? I told her I was coming to your company earlier for the...interview, but I will have to tell her now that the development has changed" I said to him.
I gulped.
He scoffed, pulling out the document I had signed earlier and thrusting it in my hands.
" You should go through this and see the rules and regulations for this to work. No one. Absolutely no one can find out about this. That will be a breach of contract and if you do that, you will be paying a fine of twenty million dollars for damages." He said
My jaws dropped.
" Twenty million dollars!? Why would you do that? I was never told this!" I yelled at him in protest.
" I asked you to read it. You were too lazy to. That is on you and not me." He said, his tone calm and collected like he had not just managed to tie me down against my will.
" I'm no longer interested"I said.
He shrugged.
" That is totally fine too. But you will have to pay a fine of thirty million dollars for termination of contract without the prior notice of the other party" he said.
I felt my head reeling now, tears stinging my eyes.
Perhaps that made him feel bad, because he walked towards me, eyes still holding no remorse, but posterior saying otherwise.
He was directly in front of me now, a small sigh escaping his lips.
" I'm not saying you have to. All you have to do is keep shut about this engagement for two years. And then you get three million dollars.
Note that this money is different from what you will be paid monthly for working as my secretary" he said to me.
The offer was enticing. I could not deny that fact.
" Okay" I said to him.
He nodded, walking back to his drawer and pulling out a phone to hand over to me.
" My number is in here..you can use this to contact me. I can see you don't have a phone too" he said, again, making my cheeks tint up in Shame.
"I will come to work tomorrow"I said gruffly, moving to leave the office in slight annoyance.
But he did not stop me.
I dialed Natalie's number and she picked up on the first ring.
" Hello?" She asked.
" Where are you? Can I come stay in your house?" I asked her.
" Oh goodness Audrey! I will send the directions to this number right now" she said.