I started to feel more and more tired. Between the meeting, the visit, and trying to figure out a plan, I needed to rest. I lazily moved the mouse so I could do one last email check before I slept until it was dark out. At the top was a forwarded message from my receptionist. It was from that Ms. Maxwell. She’d left her briefcase behind and would be around tomorrow to pick it up.
That’s when the idea struck. Ms. Maxwell needed an investor and I needed a wife. Perhaps we could help each other out. I would tell my grandfather that I had fallen in love at first sight during that meeting or something else as sappy. He had often told me stories of how he and my Sobo had met walking home after school and catching sight of one another. Despite being traditional, he would believe in that kind of connection. It wouldn’t be too suspicious either: Ms. Maxwell was an attractive lady. She had deep brown skin and soft, round, brown eyes. Her body certainly wasn’t bad to look at. If I had any interest in a romantic relationship, I could maybe see myself dating someone like her.
Could I trust her? That stopped my line of thinking. I pushed the thought around in my head for a while. Money could buy most anyone, which would help convince her to be trustworthy. But I had learned that it could only go so far. She would certainly need to be taught how to lie a little better. She couldn’t even come up with a convincing excuse as to why she was late. She had told the truth. I was stuck on that for a while longer. I slowly came to the realization that I could trust her enough to get the job done. She was honest to a fault. Who else could I trust to keep her end of the arrangement than someone like that?
I quickly typed up a response to my receptionist telling her to tell Ms. Maxwell the case was in my office and I would make sure to return it personally.
I headed up the grand staircase to the third floor and entered a room full of boxes. They were from when I had lived at home. With my mother. I tried not to think about her as I rummaged through my old belongings. Once I had moved here after joining the company, I used all my initial earnings to buy all new things. Even though I hadn’t opened these boxes since then, I quickly found what I was looking for. In a wrinkled, old plastic baggy was a pair of pearl earrings my mother had worn to her wedding to my father, and the ring he let her keep when they divorced. I found both in the bottom of some drawer in our kitchen. I don’t know why I kept them, but now I’m glad I did. It was a silver band with a pearl surrounded by small diamonds. My mother had always preferred pearls to gems. I slipped it into my pants pocket then headed to my room at the other end of the floor. I didn’t bother changing before lying down in my bed under unmade sheets and fell asleep quickly.
***
The next day I put on the nicest jacket I owned, a slim rusted orange suit jacket that had caught my eye a few months ago. I assumed she would probably appreciate a more fashionable look. Before I left and, in the car, as I drove, I checked my pocket several times to check for the ring.
As I sat in my office, I could feel my cool settle over me. When I got the buzz from the receptionist that Ms. Maxwell would be up in a moment, I fixed my tie.
I straightened up at the knock. “Come in.” I said loudly enough for her to hear through the door.
She stepped in, looking every which way throughout my office. “Hello Mr. Hirano.” She greeted me. She looked like she was considering offering a handshake by the way her right arm began to raise then stopped then moved again.
I decided to interrupt that. “Take a seat.”
She sat in front of the desk and I decided to look her over again. Today she was wearing a gray silk button up that had a loose bow tie instead of a collar. With her job, she’d be able to fit in at any event I needed to take her to when keeping up appearances.
“Thank you for meeting with me again.” She said. Her eyes were light brown, like a watercolor. Yes, she would be perfect.
“Of course.” I said, making an effort to keep my tone gentler than I was used to. She seemed startled by it, the way her eyes slightly went wide for a moment before carefully schooling her expression back.
“About yesterday.” She took a deep breath. “I deeply apologize for the way I behaved. I not only wasted your time by being late, but I also made ill-thought out remarks about your wonderful company. I know that we can’t be business partners, but I hope that you won’t think badly on Sew Fit because of my mistakes.”
“Don’t apologize.” She was speaking so fast she was tripping over her apology and I didn’t really want to hear it anymore.
“What?” She looked taken aback.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“You have?” She said, leaning forward over the desk.
Explaining everything was going to be so tedious. “I need you to marry me.”
Chapter 3: Lydia
“No?” I blurted out in response. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. Out of anything he could have possibly said to me, to marry him wasn’t in the top ten, or even the top one hundred.
“I’ll give you the funding you need.” He said nonchalantly, like this wasn’t a crazy conversation.
“Are you bribing me?” I frowned, genuinely appalled. Mr. Hirano wasn’t very nice to me yesterday, I’d admit, but this was on another
