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But with all this engagement talk, I can’t help the longing I really feel. Longing to be sitting next to my real fiance.
Admittedly, I have always been busy with working and making sure I have money I can send back to my family. It takes more than twenty bucks to send someone to college or to repair a house. With that, I never had any real chances to meet a guy and give dating, let alone a relationship, a real go. But that didn’t mean I didn’t fantasize about it.
Whenever I oversee a romance film shoot, I think about putting myself in that situation; the meet-cute, the first date, the proposal, and then the big wedding. I had always thought that the guy I’ll marry would take me to the ocean and get down on one knee, telling me how much he loves me before asking me to marry him. Of course he would promise to stay by my side through sickness and health. Is it a little cheesy? Hell yeah, it’s cheesy, but it's good-cheesy.
But unrealistic. I can't help it that the fantasy was inspired by the movies. Despite how unrealistic it is, I still want it. And it doesn't have to be big. I can take simple, but I just want real love.
But instead, I’m boarding this ridiculously luxurious plane, following a man who proposed to me only so we could both hold on to the very things we had each worked for years to have.
It’s a career move, basically, and I never thought I’d be marrying for that, but here we are. We all want romance that is real and amazing and breathtaking, but I guess that's not for me. At least you can't say my life is predictable.
The flight attendant smiles warmly and greets Leo by name as we step onto the plane. She gives me a tour of the plane at Leo’s request and I blush slightly when I see the one bed in the back area. It’s a fifteen hour flight. There’s no way we can sleep in the chairs, as plush and comfortable as they look.
It doesn’t seem to bother Leo, who just sits down in a chair and pulls out a thick binder.
“Alright, well, let’s get started, shall we?” He gestures for me to sit across from him. “If we’re going to survive the interview, we have to study each other,” he adds, carefully reading through the binder of data compiled about what they usually ask during these interviews.
“Are we going to have to share one bed?” I blurt out. I can’t help myself. It’s occupying all of my brain space. The idea of sharing a bed with Leo. I need to know if I have even a prayer at focusing on the interview research. “Can’t we request an extra bed or something?”
Leo chuckles lightly, clearly amused by my discomfort as I shift on my feet, before gingerly sitting down in the seat across from him.
“This isn’t a hotel, Isa,” he says, lifting an eyebrow in my direction. My heartbeat picks up pace as I think about sleeping next to my boss. It’s weird… no, scratch that, it’s literally something I never, ever imagined as something that could happen. I mean, WTF!!!
Then again, all I had to do was look around and realize I was in a situation where everything was WTF!! I close my eyes to try to ground myself again and slow my racing heart.
“I think it’s best if we focus on the more personal questions that they’ll ask.” Leo returns back to his binder. My brain fog clears as I try to push the bed situation out of my brain.
“I actually think I already know a whole lot about you.” My voice is much more confident now, especially since I know it’s true.
“Oh, really?” Leo tilts his head sideways with a smirk, clearly urging me on.
“Think about it. I’m your assistant and it’s technically my job to know you.”
“You can’t knowthat muchabout me, though. We only ever talk about work.” I fight hard not to roll my eyes at his outrage that he’s not more mysterious. “I have some things I’m pretty sure I haven’t mentioned to you before. Like how I once spray painted the –”
“You spray painted the film reel depository sign with red paint when you were in high school because your father caught you smoking behind the studio,” I finish the story for him, more than a little proud that I could prove him wrong. But I also wonder how these things stick in my head. He maybe mentioned the story once when I first started working for him. How do I still remember?
But Leo’s expression is a bit priceless right now. His irritatingly handsome face is stunned, scarlet lips hanging open and green eyes filling with shock. “How do you…?”
“I heard one of the veteran crew members tell the story once or twice. They’re really fond of your rebellious days.” I give him a cheeky smile, causing his nose to wrinkle in the most adorable way. It’s a side of him I’ve never seen before; his boyish side. Usually, he’s a perfect representation of classy masculinity with his sleek suits and ties, so it’s really refreshing to see such a casual side of him. “There’s also that time when you stole a custom-made car for a spy movie from a set, though they never really found out the reason why you did it,” I add, kind of egging him on a bit, but it just feels comfortable right now. Which is a first since this whole thing started.
This time, Leo lets out a loud bark of laughter as he looks down at his hands. He probably has the film reel of the story playing through his head right now. And I can’t get the sound of his laughter out of my head. It’s not something I hear very often and it rings in my ears. I have this strange overwhelming feeling of wanting to hear it over and over again.
“The reason for that one was…” Leo starts, his hand runs through his light brown hair, and I’m just now witnessing how soft and slightly curly the ends of his hair are.
I have seen his hair a million times before. Hell, I’m the one booking appointments with his favorite barber, but this is the first time I’m seeing it up close. He then looks at me directly with the warmest smile I have ever seen on his personable face, and I swear, it’s heating me up in places where there are cobwebs. Cobwebs disappear with fire, right?
“...It just seemed like fun at the time,” Leo finishes with a smile.
Yet another glimpse of his boyishness, and this time, he actually leans into it. It almost feels like the man sitting across from me is an entirely different person. I’m even beginning to feel like he isn’t my boss at all. Just a very interesting man who I'm just getting to know.
And that’s when I catch myself staring at him, so I clear my throat and reach over to gently take the binder from his lap.
For some reason, I’m only just realizing that he’s not wearing his usual suit and tie. He’s wearing jeans and a lightweight white and black striped sweater that perfectly accentuates his muscles. The way the material stretches across his broad shoulders and his chest, gently hugging his well-formed biceps. The sleeves are pushed up and showing off strong forearms that are tanned and lightly dusted with brown hair.
I shake my head, trying to stop myself from staring… again.
“Well, it’s clear I know a great deal about you.” I start flipping through the binder and see a lot of trivial questions that would likely be easy for me to remember.
