Chapter four

  

I know, I know. And I promise, all of this would not affect your business with us. Please bear with us. We will sort it out soon. Thank you very much" Lewis Martinez said and dropped the phone in his hand, wondering how many more angry clients he would have to deal with before the day ran out. His nerves were already frayed as it was, and he knew the worst of it was yet to come. This day seriously couldn't get any worse.

He sighed and left the window where he stood, coming to sit behind his sleek mahogany desk and opening his laptop. The sounds of light tapping on the laptop's keyboard echoed throughout his large office as his hands started to beat away. His eyes were heavily hooded in a sleep deprived state and there were worry lines etched on his forehead. He groaned and rubbed his sore eyes, wondering when this will all end. Picking up the cup of coffee beside him, he took a sip and grimaced at the taste. Ugh, the coffee was already cold and tepid.

His life so far had been one hell of a rollercoaster, one he wasn't sure his mental health or his business could survive. He knew of other high-profile men who had gone through several scandals resulting from one night stands but they never told him it would be this bad. His business was severely suffering for it and the stress was already getting to him.

Ever since the scandalous pictures of him and the woman in bed had been leaked to the press, he'd been having nothing short of bad days. His company had been dwindling steadily and angry clients had begun withdrawing contracts left and right. Somehow they had gotten the impression that his scandal would somehow taint their business with him and in turn ruin their reputation.

He had also been moving around in a less confident stride than before. He heard the whispers behind him wherever he went. Damn, he couldn't even look at the members of his staff in the eye without feeling regrets.

He could feel his career crumbling, and knew he had to take drastic action. He'd been thinking of a plan to remedy the situation, and knew already what he must do. And with that thought in mind, he picked up the telephone by his side and dialed his secretary's number.

"See me in my office." He said curtly and dropped the telephone. A few seconds later, his secretary walked into his office. He gestured to the seat in front of him and she sat.

"I need you to prepare a contract for me." He said promptly and without any preamble "It's urgent."

"I understand." His secretary replied. She was used to impromptu work like this from her boss. "For which client, if I may ask?"

Lewis closed his eyes and pinched his nose. "It's not for a client this time. This is more of a personal issue I need to deal with. It's for Ava... Miss Ava Jones. This has dragged on for too long and we need to clear up this mess I've created as quickly as possible before there are more ripple effects."

The secretary nodded in understanding "Ohh... I understand, sir."

"Now listen to the terms of the contract." He continued. "There shall be a contract marriage, free of the unwanted responsibilities of a real marriage. Miss Jones shall be wife to me in writing only, as I will be the same to her. We shall have this planned like we'd always been betrothed to each other." Lewis said and the secretary nodded.

He leaned forward and looked his secretary in the eye, his own pleading. "I need you to convince her that this is the perfect arrangement. She needs to understand that there is no other way to salvage our situation, as I'm sure she is also suffering for what we did. Do you understand?"

"Yes, of course, sir."

"Do not fuck this up for me. I need this to work, alright? I hope this will be the solution to my problems. I have too much to lose and I'm already losing them." He added.

"Affirmative, sir. I will do as you ask." His secretary replied and following a dismissive wave from his hand, she stood up and left the office.

Lewis watched her leave, then swiveled in his chair to face the window behind him. His riotous mind went back to that erotic night a few days ago, when the stone-drunk woman had stumbled into his room. He had been heading toward the shower and was naked save for his trousers and a towel around his neck, and mmediately she had seen him she'd rushed to him and started seducing him. His extremely horny self had been forced to follow suit and lead her on.

He swore under his breath as he remembered even more erotic details of that fateful night. He had been so horny that he hadn't even stopped to consider the fact that she was a drunk woman who probably didn't know what she was doing or where she was. He had only needed a woman for the night and thankfully, God had blessed him with an available one. 

He smiled bitterly and closed his eyes as his mind was lost in thought. God was indeed punishing him for being too horny that night.

Only later after the effects of their one-night stand had began had he even bothered to find out more about Ava Jones. He had searched her social media pages and found out that she was a model, a hot cake in the fashion and modeling world. How he hadn't recognized her name the moment she had told him was a surprise to him. He'd had sex with so many models in the city, how come he didn't recognize her the moment she had stumbled into his room?

She was a virgin, he had guessed that. She wasn't too wild in bed, something he'd extremely enjoyed. She hadn't pulled at his clothes or forced herself on him the way other women he usually slept with did. He had liked the way she lied on the bed and looked up at him with girly, almost innocent eyes. Most especially when they had done it the second time, after she was awake and fully sober. She had been pliant yet responsive, and that had fueled Lewis' desire even more. And instead of fucking her the way he usually did with other women, he had found himself making love to her instead.

Lewis smiled as his mind went to their lovemaking. He was already hard just by thinking about what they had both done that night and the next morning. He hoped their contract marriage would work out though. He almost couldn't wait to make love to her again.

The pictures plastered on the newspapers and magazines came to mind again and he frowned, wondering how someone had planted a camera in their room. But he had studied the angles of the pictures in the newspapers and concluded that someone had indeed walked into their room while they were asleep and taken the pictures. Someone who was out to destroy both his and Ava's careers.

Suddenly his phone rang again and he opened his eyes abruptly, turning back to his desk. He rummaged for the phone on the desk and picked it up, staring at the screen. It was another angry client again, ready to rain furious words on him. He sighed in resignation as he picked the call and raised the phone to his ear, praying to all he believed in that his secretary would make the contract marriage with Ava work out. He was tired of this mess already.