The Marriage Contract

The Treaty

When we got to the event, he took my hand without a word. I put on the biggest brightest smile that I could muster. There were people watching and we still had a show to put on.
My parents were present and so was Mr. Ian so we had to be on our best behavior. Rather yet, I had to be on my best behavior.

I didn't have a single drink mostly because Alex was keeping a watchful eye on me, which really annoyed me.

He drank more than I did.

            "How are you doing, Alex?" a friend of Mr. Ian's asked us. We were standing in a circle, and of course the men were talking. Every guy had their wife standing beside them, not really saying anything.

            "Great, thank you. Allan." Alex took his hand. "This is my wife, Eva." He introduced me to Allan. He had slicked back gray hair, and bright brown eyes. His wife next to him was a beautiful young woman with gorgeous black dreads down her back. I recognized him from a few meetings. He was CEO of one of the biggest car makers in the United States.

             "Pleasure," His eyes barely flickered over to me. I raised my eyebrows. "I wanted to talk about possibly setting up a meeting with you. My board is thinking about starting up a new line of production. We are shopping for some new material."

             "Sure," Alex nodded, placing a hand on my back. "Eva and I-"

             "She can set up an appointment," He smiled politely at me. "Alex, let's talk. If you don't mind, dear." He put an arm on Alex to lead him away.

             "Actually, Eva is CEO of Ians." Alex kept his arm around me. He blinked at me in surprise.

That's right, jerk.

I held out my hand, "Eva Cameron-Ian." He blinked rather surprised that I was CEO. He let out an uncomfortable laugh but took my hand.

"I didn't know a woman was CEO of Ians. When I was told there was a change, I thought you had taken over your fathers' position."

            "No, it was given to Eva. She has signed quite a few contracts including that Kyoto contract a few weeks back."

Eyes were on me which was kind of uncomfortable. I already knew what people were thinking. They couldn't believe that a woman was running the company.

There were also a few raised eyebrows, since that Kyoto contract had been a sought after deal. There had been so many companies that had wanted it, and thanks to Alex and his international degree we had gotten it.

                

"Well, my husband did get them to sign. I only made some negotiations." I took Alex's hand, giving it a light squeeze. I peeked up at Alex, and smiled at him.

He returned a brief smile. There was some tension between us. Alex was trying to make up for not defending me, but it was going to take much more than introductions.

           "If you want to talk, Eva will be the one to talk to." Alex put his arm around me.

           "I did hear that you were tough with West." A man in a black suit, and vest piped up. He lifted up a glass to me with a wink. "West is usually difficult to deal with. Good job." He and his wife left, leaving the rest of us.

           "Well, I'll have my assistant make an appointment with yours." Allan replied after clearing this throat with a brief nod. His wife still looked rather bored with him.

           "Of course," I smiled back at him, and turned to Alex. "Honey, my parents are trying to get our attention." I lied trying to get away from them. I led Alex away, not glancing at anybody.