Marvelously Mismatched

The playboy says Sorry.

*Mateo's POV*
I sat at the conference room surrounded by the shareholders. In a few months my dad would retire and he wanted me to be the CEO of the company, to take his responsibilities.
Now, it wouldn't be a problem but I've no clue how to handle the business. In the last few years, I've been pretty careless and I didn't think that one day my dad might retire and I'd have to handle his job. Now, faced with the opportunity I wanted to prove myself. I've been working under my dad for the last few months to get an understanding of how he works.
All my life I've been the worthless son, irresponsible, more like it. I earned my business degrees from Harvard, only because my dad wanted me to. When I graduated, instead of joining him in his company, I travelled. I enjoyed my life, surrounded by beautiful girls and alcohol.
The girls were the highlight of my day, and also the booze that flowed continuously. Perfectly tall, leggy blondes with a killer tanned body, the sex was amazing. Have you experienced three women pleasuring you at once? I think you should, every man should before he dies, just thinking about it made me hard. The days were blurry, fuelled with alcohol and sex and party, and I had no recollection of half of them. Money wasn't a problem, it never was with my dad earning millions. Anyway, I never wanted to take up the responsibility of a multi-million dollar business, I was perfectly happy with my endless stream of sexy women that I could enjoy, at once or one by one.
It never bothered me if people judged me for my lifestyle, but right at this moment being judged by a bunch of suit-wearing assholes, I felt itchy, irritated. I could clearly see their thought and they found me inadequate, incompetent and not fit for the position my dad wanted me to take.
"We can't let him handle the company. He's not fit for the position." Robert, the oldest shareholder spoke.
"Mateo's been working with me, learning the ropes. I assure you, Mr. Robert that he's capable of handling the company in my absence." My dad reassured in a voice the booked no argument.
"Do not forget I hold 40 percent of shares in this company, Mr. Rodriguez. On many occasions, his playboy ways have affected this company in negative ways. You appointing him as CEO would be the ultimate blow.", Robert stated.
"He's right, Mr. Rodriguez. This boy is not responsible or mature enough to handle this company." Mr. Singh said.
"The only reason he's being appointed is because he's entitled to it, not because he's worked for it!" Another member stated as he slammed his hand on the table.
"We should give him a chance. He's been training under his father and maybe we are just being hasty in making the decision." Mrs. Pattinson said. She turned towards me and winked, I just passed her a grateful smile.
No, don't get me wrong. I love beautiful women, but I prefer them to be young and around my age. Mrs. Pattinson is 53 years old with grey hair, my kinda-sorta best friend. But what I love about her is her fiery spirit. One time I told her, her chignon bun looked like a cotton ball, and she glowered at me and told me that she'd stuff a cotton ball up my dererie if I ever said that to her again. Not in so many words, and not that politely either, but you get the idea.
"He should get married." Mr. Robert declared. Everyone turned to look at him with a stunned expression.
He has finally lost his remaining marbles, I thought.
"Oh hell no!" I growled. "You have lost your damn mind, old man, if you think I'm getting married just to prove something to you. The position is rightfully mine and I don't have to do shit for that."
"Mind your language, Mateo", my dad snapped. The tension in the boardroom thickened and it suffocated me, choked me.
Turning toward Mr. Robert, my dad asked, in a much more calm tone, "What do you mean Robert?"
"I mean exactly what I just said. Marriage is a big commitment and a great responsibility for every man. Only the weak minded scare away from it. He has lived a life without any commitment, and now he has to prove himself that he isn't scared of it. What better way than getting married?
"I've given my opinion and a solution. If he fails to do so, I'm going to withdraw my shares. There's no way I'll sit back and let this man ruin this company because he's too afraid of responsibilities." Mr. Robert threatened. A few of the other shareholders nodded their agreement.
The meeting was dismissed and everyone walked out, except for Robert. He walked up to me and whispered, "Gracie would make a perfect wife for you," before leaving.
Grace Valkyrie has been my best friend since high school. We dated back when I was in college but it didn't work out so we decided to just stay as friends. I wasn't getting married to her, no way. We weren't compatible and the only reason I broke up was because I wasn't ready for a relationship. I wasn't ready for the commitment, I wanted to explore and sow some wild seeds whatever you want to call it. It wouldn't have worked out in the long term anyway. So the relationship ended as quickly as it had started.
I didn't feel anything for Gracie except for respect and love, the kind of love you have for maybe a close friend.
Robert was Gracie's dad, and he wanted us together since we started dating. I think it was his dad's instinct to put his daughters' happiness first. Maybe he thought that Gracie would be happy with me. Ha! Far from it.
Ignoring his comment, I walked out only to meet Mrs. Pattinson.
"Hey Patty, thanks for supporting me in there," I said.
"Stop calling me Patty, Mateo. And everything will be fine, just you see", she said before hitting me on the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"That was for calling me Patty, Matty" she yelled as she walked away from me.

****
*A few weeks later*
There was a girl, my mom had selected her for me and I was supposed to meet her at Marley's. My mom didn't say much except for that and I didn't know how to feel about this blind date.
Maybe this girl was getting paid to marry me? Am I allowed to reject her if I didn't like her? Why would someone agree to this setup if they weren't getting something out of it. Now, I just have to make sure that she isn't some money grabbing harpy.
Only this date, or more accurately put "business meeting" would tell.

***
I reached the restaurant at exactly 6pm. Someone bumped into me and before they could fall, I wrapped my arms around them, or more like around her.
"Are you okay, Ms…?" I asked her.
She was beautiful, gorgeous even. Perfectly tanned skin, covered in a navy blue dress which showed a bit of cleavage.
I gulped when my eyes landed on them, but quickly averted them. It was totally impolite of me to check her out without even knowing her name. Her gray eyes with streaks of blue, peered at me and then moved down towards my body.
I puffed out my chest unintentionally when her eyes moved downward.
"Huh?" She looked confused and that amused me. My ego inflated at knowing that this woman was somewhat impressed by me. I smirked at her and watched as a slight red tinted her cheeks as she squirmed in nervousness.
"I asked, 'Are you okay'?" I repeated.
"Yes, I- I'm fine." She replied in a shaky voice.
Knowing I was the reason she was this flustered, made me feel giddy. I smiled at her and then I remembered my date. Removing my arms from around her waist, I said, "I should go."
"Hmm?"
I rubbed my neck, "I have a date. Well, it was nice meeting you."
Without further ado, I walked inside. If I stayed a minute more with that woman, I'd take her right against the restaurant's wall. And I don't think she'd mind either, with the 'come hither' look she was giving me.
But I pride myself on my restraint, and also on my ability to ask for consent before engaging in sexual congress.

***
The date was a complete disaster. And I was to blame for it. I've always, and I mean always treated my woman with respect. Patty would beat the shit out of me if she ever knew.
I had assumed that she was getting paid by my mom, but considering her reaction I don't think that was a very accurate assumption. Now I was curious to know her reason and also about that asshole guy. Was that all an act? It seemed that way, but again why?
I sat at the cafe house with my two childhood best friends, Ervin and Kartik, recalling about my Titanic date.
The ship sank before it had a chance to explore the world.
"So she went ahead and called me an asshole, a brat who lives on his daddy's money and proceeded to tell me that she came in only to reject me."
"She didn't lie", Kartik said. Ervin laughed his ass off.
"She also paid someone to act like her boyfriend! I'm still confused as to what happened that night!"
At this both of them started laughing loudly, attracting the attention of the people at the cafe.
"I would have paid money to watch this. I would have sold tickets for this, 'The rich boy gets trashed'. I could have earned a good amount of money, you know." Ervin guffawed.
Kartik hit him on the side with his elbows and in his serious tone he told me that I needed to say sorry. He was the level-headed person of our group. The mama bear who always wanted to keep us on track. I loved him for that but on a few occasions he could be a spoilsport.
I wasn't going to say sorry. I wasn't the only one at fault, she definitely said a few choice words to me too.
Alex, who names their kid as Alex?
"I'm not saying sorry," I declared.
Kartik glared at me, and I turned towards Ervin hoping he would take my side.
"No, Kartik's right. You should say sorry." Ervin stopped laughing. He was the crackhead, always in trouble for something or the other.
"I'll think about it," I told them, just to get them off my back.
"Like hell you would. If you don't man up, I'm going to call Patty and your mom and tell them how you were a disrespectful little brat", Kartik threatened. He knew me very well.
"Okay. What crawled up your ass this morning, Kartik? I'll say sorry." I grumbled.
We chatted about business for a few more minutes and I told them about the ultimatum Robert gave me.
They discussed a few ideas but it was getting us nowhere. Robert had 40% of the shares and we weren't about to lose them. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
But at this moment my main concern was getting Alex to talk to me. After the date, I don't think she'd be eager to be in my presence, I'm very sure of that. I would have to upgrade my charms and maybe this time we could have a civil conversation about our situation.