“Whoa. Hang on a second there.” Ryan sat up in his seat as a bolt of discomfort shot through him. He was watching Poppy being held in the arms of another man and—fuck it!—he didn’t like it.
“I need to tell you something, Miss González. I’ve been wanting to say this to you since the moment I saw you walk into my office.” The man pulled her glasses off and tossed them to the floor. He stared into Poppy’s eyes with great drama.
“Yes, Santiago. What is it?” Poppy whispered, looking up at the man.
“I’ve fallen in love with you,” the man said, and then for some unknown reason, he looked directly into the camera and narrowed his eyes before quickly looking back down at Poppy.
Ryan gripped the side of the couch and crossed his legs, trying to hide the fact he was feeling very, very uncomfortable with this scene.
“I . . . I . . . I’m in love with you too,” Poppy’s character spoke. Tears trickled down her cheeks. “But what will your wife say?” she whispered to him.
The man looked pained for a second. His face tensed up, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. “My wife is having an affair with Methat Ishmail, an Arab sheikh. She met him on her trip to Dubai at the top of the Burj Khalifa. I got a private investigator to follow them. They were drinking Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac, it’s our favorite drink, and eating our favorite food, beluga caviar.” The man looked up at the camera again and then let out a long moaning sound. “I feel so betrayed.”
Poppy’s character gasped. “But isn’t Methat Ishmail the man who’s trying to steal all your company secrets?”
“Yes,” the man blurted out. Then he flared his nostrils as if he was about to sneeze, only he didn’t. “I think he and my wife are plotting to kill me and take over the company together.”
“Nooo.” Poppy leaned in closer to the man, as if she was about to kiss him.
Ryan jumped up and pressed pause. “Okay, I think that’s enough,” he said.
“Ryan, I’m thirteen. I’ve seen millions of people kiss on TV before.”
Ryan didn’t want to admit it, but that wasn’t what was bothering him.
“It’s just a short kiss,” Poppy said quickly.
“That is so gross, how do you just kiss people like that?” Emmy asked.
“It was so horrible! And he always stank of garlic. I used to hold my breath while it happened. I hope no one ever noticed.”
Emmy laughed. “I could never do that.”
“Of course you couldn’t,” Ryan said. “You’re not ever going to be kissing boys, or making out, or whatever you call it.”
“Whatever!” Emmy rolled her eyes. “Enough kissing talk, let’s watch.” Emmy turned her back on Ryan. “Press play.”
“Yes, press play . . . this is when I get killed,” Poppy said.
“Fine.” Ryan pressed play, just as the actor’s lips came down on Poppy’s.
Emmy laughed. “I can see you’re holding your breath.”
Poppy laughed. Ryan felt slightly sick.
“Wait! What’s that?” Emmy gasped at the cutaway to a man in a suit, tied up in a closet.
“That’s herrealboss,” Tamlin piped up. “She’s actually kissing the evil twin brother who is just pretending to be Santiago Alvarez.”
“No!” Emmy gasped.
“¡He regresado de la jungla para vengarse la reputación de mi familia!” the man suddenly said and Ryan pressed pause again.
“WAIT! What does that even mean?” He looked at Poppy and she gave a small, somewhat embarrassed-looking smile.
“ ‘I have returned from the jungle to avenge my family’s name,” she said in a small voice.
Ryan burst out laughing. Now he knew why the architect had laughed so much.
