CAITLIN
I hit ignore on Ms. de Leon's twentieth call of the morning, sending her a nice "Whatever you need (as long as it's not about THAT), let me know about it via email" message instead. I was in disbelief that she'd asked me to marry her, and I should've known something was up when Deanna sent me a text message about my ring size last night.
I would've never guessed that, though.
Opening my laptop, I logged into our portal of pending contracts. I wanted to see which of them was supposedly worth going through a month of lies for.
It took me all of a minute to find it.
The $5B Watson deal with the family-oriented CEO...
I shut my eyes and sighed. We'd worked on the math of that deal together right after her previous CFO left, and it was clear that without that deal and the pieces that came with it, new deals would falter in the years to come.
Still, there has to be a better idea than getting a face fiancé to seal that deal...
"Pongs?" I pressed my intercom button a few hours later.
"Yes, Miss Viray?"
"Could you bring me a fresh printout of the Watson files?"
"Absolutely. I'll bring it in five minutes."
I ended the call and sent a quick email to our research department. As I was organizing my notes, Ponggay walked into my office with a cup of coffee.
"Here you are, Miss Viray," she said, placing it on my desk. "May kailangan pa po kayo?"
Coffee? "Hindi ito yung printout ng Watson files, Pongs."
"Alam ko." She lowered her voice. "Ms. de Leon said the only thing I was allowed to bring you today was coffee."
"Excuse me?"
"She made it very clear na tatanggalin n'ya ako if I chose to do otherwise. Would you like some more coffee, maybe?"
"No, thank you." I waited for her to leave my office and called Jet.
"At your service, Miss Viray."
"Jet, nasa garage ka ba?"
"Oo."
"Great. Naiwan ko yung folder at organizer ko d'yan sa backseat kanina. Pwede ba kitang i-meet sa baba para makuha ko?"
"No need, Miss Viray. Dalhin ko na lang po d'yan sa taas." He hung up, and I spotted a note on the sleeve of the coffee cup Ponggay brought in.
Come to my office and read the contract. NOW.
-Bea de Leon
I tossed it into the trash and shook my head. I couldn't wait to see the look on my sister's face when I told her the reason why Bea wanted to meet with me this morning.
Seconds later, my door opened, and Jet walked inside with a different cup of coffee.
"What the..." I crossed my arms.
"Sorry, Miss Viray." He set it on my desk. "May utos po galing kay Ms. de Leon ngayong araw tungkol sa lahat ng iuutos mo sa akin, at hindi po kita pwedeng ipagdrive pauwi hangga't walang go signal n'ya."
"Seryoso ka ba? Nagsend ba s'ya ng company-wide memo or something?"
"Um." He smiled. "Oo, actually."
"Pwede ko bang makita?"
"Syempre naman." He pulled out his phone and handed it to me.
Subject: Important – CAITLIN VIRAY
Miss Viray is working on a high priority task for the company this afternoon, and since you are a member of my team who has direct daily contact with her, you are NOT to do anything that will distract her from this task at hand.
Should she ask you for anything, you will immediately deliver her a cup of coffee. (That's all she needs from you today.")
Failure to comply will result in your immediate termination.
Bea de Leon
PS – One of you needs to bring me my lunch... and my goddamn updates.
Ugh!
I picked up my phone to send her a scathing message in response, but she'd emailed me first.
Subject: The Deal (Again)
Miss Viray,
I rewrote the terms of this agreement and adjusted the financial compensation to the amount you requested.
I highly suggest you come to my office to pick up the contract. I also suggest that you give me an answer by the end of the day.
Otherwise, the security team will not allow you to leave the building.
Sincerely,
Bea de Leon
I rolled my eyes and stood up.
"Thanks for showing me that email, Jet," I smiled. "I'll call you when I'm ready to leave later today."
"Looking forward to it."
I waited until he left the room, and headed over to Ms. de Leon's office.
When I walked through the door, she looked up from her desk and smiled.
"I see you've re-considered my offer," she said, holding up a manila envelope. "Good decision."
"I haven't reconsidered anything." I walked over and snatched it from her hand. "I already gave you an answer."
"You gave me the wrong answer."
"I don't want to marry you."
"Hence the word, fiancé. And then, pretend." She looked at me. "It's only for thirty days, and I'm willing to rewrite any part of the terms that you don't like. Minus the obvious fiancé part."
"How much time do I have to read this?"
"As much as you like," she said. "You just won't be allowed to leave the building until you do."
I took a seat on her couch and pulled out the papers. "Did Deanna help you write the contract, or did you attempt to write it yourself?"
"I wrote it myself. Why?"
I gave her a blank stare. "Because you tend to put sarcasm and personal thoughts into every contract you write. That's why I always have to go over them long after you're done."
"I think you'll be surprised," she said, smirking. "I was pretty straightforward in this one."
"My answer is still no."
"For now..."
