Chapter 7 A Crazy Plan

• I stirred in Alex's arms as he pulled me tighter, his warm breath on my neck making my skin crawl, I didn't quite understand what he was trying to do, maybe divert my attention from what the two women on the other side of the booth were saying, which turned out to be impossible.
• “Ah, yes, thanks to that, at least he doesn't die a virgin. Money and family influence saved her”
• “No, she won't stay a virgin. Who knows if she'll be single, though”
• “What are you saying? If she's Mike's girlfriend, I bet you he's marrying her to secure the good life”
• “Well, you're dead wrong”
• “Why would he do that?”
• “Listen, nobody knows” They lowered their voices a little, although from where we were standing, it was very audible. “But Lisa told me this morning that she finally got Mike to break up with Ava”.
• “What?! I don't believe you!”
• “Yes! That was yesterday and Lisa told me about it today, she was even there and watched the whole scene”
• “How could that be?”
• “It was one of the conditions she set for Mike”
• “But when the old Golf finds out....”
• “According to Lisa, Mike already has several job offers, much better than his current job”
• “No shit”
• “Yeah! And what's worse, he's been offered those jobs thanks to Ava's praise”
• “That's brutal. Poor boss”
• “See? In the end, it's not worth all that money...”
• There was the sound of laughter as they walked away, the sound of heels getting more and more distant, the women left. I stuck my head against the wall of the cabin, completely dejected, feeling how the words of some strangers broke me inside.
• I didn't know who they were, surely they were a couple of secretaries I had barely noticed, yet how right they were, they seemed to know more about me and my life than I did.
• “Ava?”
• Alex's voice brought me to my senses, I jumped to my feet and hurried out of the bathroom, trying to control the spasms that were starting to occur in my chest and the lump in my throat.
• I felt so humiliated and Alex hearing all that was the icing on the cake.
• “Are you alright?”
• Alex tried to come closer to me, to take my hands, but I dodged him, started pacing back and forth like crazy, breathing in and out, counting internally, trying to control myself. Until, after a few seconds of watching me, Alex grabbed me by the shoulders to stop me in front of him.
• “Ava?” he asked, looking into my eyes.
• “I'm fine” I finally answered, my eyes crystal clear, feeling the rage and helplessness wash over me. “What do you want? Why did you come looking for me?” I asked, remembering where we were.
• “I told you, I need to talk to you” He clarified, speaking softly. Maybe it wasn't like that, but his kind tone and his sweet look made me think that, after everything we heard, he felt sorry for me, and that was starting to bother me.
• “Well, speak up then” I responded, feeling choked up.
• “Listen, I... Regarding what happened at the meeting..." He started to explain, making me remember the meeting, which increased my anger, I didn't let him finish.
• “Ah, that. Well, congratulations on your appointment” I hissed sarcastically, feeling the fury start to prickle in my throat. “It must have been satisfying to sleep with the granddaughter of the CEO of a company, and then take her place” I expelled the comment without thinking.
• “No! It's not like that, I thought you could imagine something like that and I wanted to make it clear to you that..." His eyes opened wide. “I was very surprised when I saw you” He looked down and began to slide his hands over my shoulders gently. “In fact, I was thinking about you while I was at the meeting, I was looking forward to your call and then I saw you walk in there....”
• “So, it was pure chance...” I mused with irony.
• “Yes, and I was very happy to see you there, but then your grandfather said that you were about to get married and I thought....”
• “What? That I'm a bitch?”
• “No! Listen, about what those women said just now, is that true?” He asked measuredly.
• “That I'm a dumb, fat woman with money? Seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it?” I muttered, feeling the pressure in my chest, very angry.
• “No, that's not true. Obviously not” He assured me solemnly, kindly. Then he slid one of his hands up to my chin to gently lift my face. “Ava, your boyfriend broke up with you, is that true?”
• After everything I'd heard, after everything my grandfather had said, after trying to hold back for so long, hearing that simple, stupid question from Alex, it felt like he was rubbing my face in my reality.
• Like an explosion, the rage and anger boiling inside me came out.
• “I don't think my personal business is any of your business!” I shouted in exasperation, slapping his hands away from me. “And I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention anything about it!” Before he could respond, I ran out of the toilets, feeling my tears finally fall.
• I ran straight to my office, ignoring as I entered my assistant, Taylor, who was waving at me. I ran in as fast as I could and locked the door behind me.
• I started pacing back and forth, pacing the space, crying like a desperate woman, wondering what to do, I had so much on my mind to take in that I didn't know where to start.
• What was Alex up to? Maybe I didn't think what I told him, maybe I was too hard on him, I might have misjudged him, but it could be true, he could have slept with me knowing who I was, why else would such an attractive, sensual man sleep with me, being me as I am.
• I assumed that the first day of my new life would be great, but as it turned out, my new life sucked. The only good thing that had happened in the last twenty-four hours was my slip up with Alex and now that I found out he was my new partner, I was so sorry about that fuck.
• A second later, I remembered that my grandfather was going to call me any second, I tried to put Alex out of my head, try to concentrate on my immediate problem, I started to meditate on what I should say to my grandfather.
• It was a lie that got him into all this mess in the first place, could he keep on lying? Or would I tell him the truth? I doubted it.
• If I told my grandfather the truth, first he would be very angry, I could imagine the humiliation, having to rectify in front of all his associates, everything he said about me. Then would come the disappointment, not only for having lied to him, but for another broken hope for a relationship that was ending.
• And I knew how much he wanted to see me married, with children, starting a family. I guessed that's why he hadn't withdrawn and was always so uneasy. Now that he seemed more relaxed about my future, I would cause him this displeasure.
• While it was true that my grandfather would have to resign himself to seeing me single, he didn't have to find out this way, I couldn't let him know that I was through with Mike and that we would have to announce to all his associates that his words were ill-founded.
• I needed time, that's all I needed. If I could just keep my breakup a secret for a couple of weeks and then announce that Mike and I broke up over something stupid, that would be perfect, so my grandfather wouldn't be mentioned and he wouldn't have to recant in front of everyone.
• Of course, that situation would still disappoint him, but I thought it was the least humiliating way out. So what was I to do? I had to talk to Mike as soon as possible, I had to ask him to pretend we were dating for a while, and then break it off publicly, it was out of this world.
• Yes! That was perfect. Although it would be a bit humiliating to have to ask Mike for this favour the day after we broke up.
• I weighed it up, there was a chance he might refuse to help me carry out this crazy plan, however, he left me for someone else, he was unfaithful to me, he was the one who hurt me and therefore, he owed me this favour.