Alexander’s Plan

“Marry Me.”

Gabriella stared back at Alexander with wide eyes. She waited for him to burst into laughter and tell her he was joking, but the serious expression on his face didn’t waver.

Her eyes blinked rapidly before she could finally bring herself to respond.

“What?” Her mouth fell open.

“Gabriella, I really don’t like repeating myself, and within the short time we’ve known each other, I’ve done so more times than I would like”

“Really?” she chuckled, and a mocking smile played on her face.

“Well, forgive me sir, it’s just that you asked me to marry you out of nowhere, and I have never heard anything more ridiculous in my life. You’re really funny, sir.”

Gabriella still thought it was a joke, but the frown on Alexander’s face said otherwise.

“I’ll explain this to you as best I can,” Alexander started. “The reputation of my company is at stake, and to save it, I must devise a way to gain back the trust of the public. To do that, I would need to obtain the favour of another company, a company whose competence no one can question. In so doing, some of that trust would rub off on me, and this whole talk of me being a failed CEO and the company losing credibility would be laid to rest.”

“Okayyy…but I still don’t see what I have to do with any of this.” Gabriella interrupted his explanation. She was getting more confused and frustrated. How could her boss ask her to marry him out of the blue?

“Would you just listen and quit interrupting me?” Alexander said, gritting his teeth. He seemed to be trying to control himself.

“Sorry, sir.” Gabriella shrank back in her seat.

“Now, in a few weeks, there will be a charity gala. Every respectable businessman and socialite will be in attendance, including Patrick Manchester, the CEO of  Mavins LTD.”

Gabriella had heard about that company a couple of times. It was run by an elderly business tycoon whose family had built a well-known name for themselves in New York over the years. Literally every businessman in the city wanted to be affiliated with the company.

“It won’t be easy getting the CEO to partner with us. He’s a very old-school man, and with all the bad publicity the company is getting right now, our chances are slim.”

Gabriella was still waiting to hear where he was going with all this. What did she have to do with Mavins LTD? Her palms grew sweaty as anticipation built up inside her, but she remained quiet in order not to provoke Alexander any further and only nodded politely.

“The good news is I have made a couple of phone calls, and with the intel I have gathered, I know that in the past, Mr Patrick has only agreed to partner with settled family men like himself. Since the day he took over as CEO from his father, every company he has partnered with has been led by a CEO who was married. That’s his bias. He favours married men.”

Gabriella let the words sink in, and she was finally coming to realise where Alexander’s plan was going. He wanted to use her to lie to Patrick Manchester to secure a partnership. Gabriella was utterly dumbfounded.

“So?” Alexander’s voice snapped.

“Will you do it?”

Gabriella stared back at him. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and he repeatedly rubbed his hands together as he waited for her response.

“You want me to help you lie to save your reputation as well as the company’s.”

“Well, not lie per se. We would get married for real if he agrees to the partnership to evade suspicion that we only got married so I can gain Mr Patrick’s favour”

“But that is exactly what we would be doing.” Gabriella let out, waving her hands in the air dramatically.

She had had enough of this nonsense marriage talk, and she couldn’t care less about provoking him anymore. The man was talking absolute nonsense as far as she was concerned.

“And what even gives you the assurance that marrying me would somehow grant you his favour? I’m just your secretary, remember?”

“It has nothing to do with your status, Gabriella. I just need to get married or be engaged at the very least. It’s all about his values. He’s old school, and for some reason, I guess he believes he can only trust family-oriented men enough to partner with them”

“So we just lie to everybody that we are engaged in hopes that he agrees to the partnership.” Gabriella was in disbelief at what her boss was asking her.

“Look, I know it’s a long shot. But it’s all I’ve got. Can’t you see I’m under a lot of pressure here? I know you may not understand it, but this could be very bad for me, Gabriella. I mean, really bad. Have you seen what they are saying on the news for goodness sake?” 

Alexander slammed his palms on the desk, making Gabriella flinch. He got up abruptly and walked to the windows. Staring out at the city, his shoulders rising and falling as he tried to take a breath to calm himself. 

Gabriella watched him in silence as he tried to collect himself, and somewhere deep within her, her heart ached for him. Though she was not well acquainted with this man, she could see how the mask he wore to appear calm in the face of trouble was slowly coming off.

After a few minutes had passed, Alexander returned to his desk and sat down.

“Look, believe me, I don’t want this marriage anymore than you do, but I’m out of options.”

‘Ouch.’

That last part stung a bit. ‘Is this how he convinces people?’ Gabriella thought.

“It would just be for one year,” Alexander continued.

“One year and we get a divorce. Just long enough to evade any suspicion and rectify this damage that has been done to the company.”

Alexander’s eyes were locked on hers. His tone came out with a hint of pleading, and Gabriella caught onto the desperation in his voice. Though she felt a bit of pity for him, she honestly couldn’t see the sense in this plan he had created. It was just too bizarre to wrap her head around.

“But why me?” she finally asked.

“Why must I do it? Why can’t you just marry someone else?”

Alexander sighed and leaned back into his chair.

“Who else is going to be as committed to making this plan work than you?”

She could only stare back at him.

“You need this to work as much as I do. Gabriella, you know you do. What will happen to you if the company goes out of business? Have you thought about that?”

Worry crossed Gabriella’s features,  her face slowly contorting with concern as the question lingered in the air.

“You spent seven months unemployed before I hired you. You’ve not had much luck, have you?”

She couldn’t answer his questions because she didn’t have an answer. He was right. Gabriella bowed her head and played with her fingers, trying to avoid eye contact.

“Listen. You wouldn’t be doing it for free. I know it wouldn’t have been easy putting yourself through college. Any debt you’ve incurred until this point, I will cover it plus extra if you agree.”

Gabriella’s head shut up. She couldn’t believe the nerve he had. First, he rubbed her misfortune in her face, and now he was trying to buy her compliance.

“So now you’re bribing me with money?” Gabriella replied bitterly.

“Not a bribe, just compensation. Oh, and if you don’t agree, you’re fired,” he said carelessly.

“Excuse me?” Gabriella responded. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, they looked like they would pop out of the sockets.

“I mean, if you don’t help me, the company is doomed anyway, and you’d still lose your job, so we might as well get it over with.”

“Wow. So this is a threat then.” Gabriella nodded her head in understanding. He wasn’t appealing for her kindness or anything like that; he was using his power to coerce her. She felt a pang in her heart.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. You have so much to gain. Don’t you see? Just agree, and I’ll cover all your debt. I’ll pay any price you want. Heck, I’ll set you up for life. Disagree, and you lose your job and any other possible job in the future.”

Gabriella looked back at him with a scowl, anger radiating through her. She wanted to call his bluff. He couldn’t blacklist her in the city, could he?

“I’m a very powerful man, I’m sure you know that, so just agree to my terms. Don’t tempt me because I can promise it will end very badly for you.”

The air was thick with tension as they locked eyes with each other, staring in an unspoken battle. Gabriella’s eyes narrowed, and Alexander’s gaze hardened, his jaw clenched in a silent dare.

Gabriella weighed her options. Deep within her, she knew she had no chance.

“Fine.”