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Everyone in the room, including myself, is in shock, but I know there’s no turning back now.
Chapter 6
Leo
Isalooksabsolutelystunnedright now, and I can’t really blame her. I literally just found out that she’s about to be deported, and I just called her my bride. All so I can save face in front of my cousin Peyton, who obviously wants this film studio for himself.
“Leo?” Isa asks as she walks toward my desk, voice audibly filled with surprise and confusion. It’s apparent that she hasn’t fully processed what I just said, but I can’t act aloof now. Not in front of Peyton. I can’t afford to be caught because I cannot lose this company. Especially not to him.
“Oh, babe, we don't need to hide anymore,” I say immediately, opening one of my arms to beckon her to come over. “I know I should have told you first, but I was just so excited to share the news of our engagement with my cousin over here.” I try to fill her in as much as I can, but I know it won’t really clear any of her confusion. She doesn’t know why I’m suddenly doing this, and she can’t know until Peyton is out of this goddamn office. I give Isa a soft yet pointed look to come near me as she hesitates.
She’s still obviously hesitating, as evidenced by her wide eyes and agape mouth, but her feet manage to shuffle and stand next to me. I pull her in for a side hug, and even I have to admit that it feels weird. Isa’s always just been an assistant to me. Hell, I don’t even think I’ve shaken her hand other than the first time I met her, and now a side hug? It feels so unnatural, I'm hoping Peyton doesn't notice. I have to convince Peyton this is real, otherwise he’ll continue to be a thorn in my ass.
Peyton seems to be on the fence at my out of the blue reveal. “Your… admin assistant? Are you for real, Leo?” He crosses his arms, glaring at each of us.. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I just never sensed that you two were…”
“But doesn’t it make sense, Peyton?” I cut him off. If he keeps talking, he’d quickly poke a thousand holes in the story. Because, honestly, Isa and I have never behaved anything but professionally around each other since the day she started and everyone knows that.
“Have you ever seen me with any other woman than my… beautiful Isa right here?” I continue, and admittedly, I am suppressing the weirdness while I talk. “We just… spent so much time together in this office, and one thing led to another, and here we are. Right, babe?” I rub my thumb against her shoulder, urging her to go with the flow. I realize that in my stress, I'm almost crushing her, and I let up a little. I feel Isa breathe out with relief.
Isa looks at me for a split second, her brown eyes still filled with disbelief. “T-That’s right, Peyton. Though w-we tried to keep it professional, but –”
“But the heart wants what it wants, you know?” I finish for Isa because her stammering is going to give us away. I try to smile as genuinely as I can, and I’m hoping Isa is doing the same.
Peyton looks back and forth at the two of us until he puts his hands in his pockets, then just shrugs.
“Well, I never thought you’d be a cliché and fall in love with someone you work with, cousin,” he states, still managing to insert some form of shade in his words. I pull on all of my internal strength to not roll my eyes at him. “But I suppose if this is what you want for your life, then I would like nothing more than to be happy for you both,” he adds, thankfully starting to walk toward the elevator, though his condescending tone fails to leave his voice. “God knows you’ll need it,” he mutters as the door of the elevator starts to close, but I hear it. I hear it very clearly, but now isn’t the time to think about that.
As the elevator starts sending him down, I let out a deep breath and let go of Isa. Wordlessly, I sit back down on my chair to go back to work, but she stays just to my left the whole time, still frozen in time.
“You can take a seat, Isa, please,” I urge her, because I’m honestly just not used to having someone looming over my back while I work. Thankfully, she sits down in one of the chairs in front of my desk, and I can still see her shocked expression clearly etched on her face. “I’m assuming you have a lot of questions for me.”
“That’s one way of saying it,” Isa says with a biting laugh, and even I’m a bit taken aback by her sudden response. It isn’t like her to be so… sassy, but I can’t really blame her right now. “Ineveragreed to marry you, Leo,” she states firmly.
I take a deep breath, kind of already expecting this reaction. “Alright. I know. I’m sorry that I put you through that. I just had a little trouble with my cousin, and I wanted to get him out of the room and this hairbrained idea just popped into my head when you walked in,” I try to explain, but Isa’s frustration is festering. Her usually determined and confident brown eyes now become ones of rage. Again, I can’t really blame her.
“What kind of trouble are you in that it requires you lying about us being engaged?” Isa questions, starting to hyperventilate, and it’s not doing any good at trying to keep my calmness in check. I’m also frazzled by the situation, even if I won’t say it out loud, and her heavy panicked breathing isn’t helping me feel any better.
“What kind of assistant doesn’t inform her boss that she’s about to be deported?” I counter before I can stop myself, and that’s when all of my exasperation immediately disappears. I know I can’t approach this situation with such a negative emotion, so I calm myself down by taking a few deep breaths.
Isa stays quiet for a while too, stunned once more. “You knew?”
“Teresa just told me. I think she thought that you already told me, and she assumed I was ignoring the situation.”
Another lull lingers between us, not really knowing what to say next. Though, deep down, I know we both have our faults, I’m quite aware that mine is much more… egregious.
“Look,” I start, knowing I have to be the bigger person. “My father left this place in my ownership in his will, but there’s a condition.” I sit up as I’m about to divulge a very personal thing to my assistant; the first time I’m ever doing this. “If I fail to marry on or before the age of thirty-six, I am forced to return the ownership back to my father’s estate, where anyone can take it to court to vie for ownership.”
“You mean to say you’re going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars to someone else,” Isa points out, and this is also the first time that she’s been bold enough to try to call me out.
“I don’t care about the money,” I retort. I can’t help but be defensive about this, but she doesn’t seem to believe me. “This is my father’s film studio, and this washis dreamforme. Not to mention that this is his legacy. I can’t let just anyone come and claim it for themselves,” I elaborate, and I seem to be gaining her trust, but I know I can never fully get it… not like this.
“If this is what your father wanted for you, then why did he put a condition in his will?” Isa debates. This is where she truly catches me defenseless.
I let out another breath as we have a stare-down, and she’s not wavering whatsoever. That’s good, ‘cause neither am I.
“I don’t know,” I confess, her eyes widening at my honesty. “I have absolutely no fucking clue, to be honest. The old codger just wanted me married. Maybe it's a legacy thing. I’m willing to open up and let you in… if it means that you’ll do this with me and help me save this film studio.”
Isa squints at me. “What makes you think I’m willing to help you?”
