MR.CEO'S CONTRACT WITH HIS SECRETARY.

CHAPTER THREE

(Noah Ortega POV)

“You can’t be serious about this Tommy, that woman is the clumsiest, most unattractive person I’ve ever met in my entire life. She doesn’t even know what a mirror is for!” I exclaimed in utter terror.

Tommy must be out of his mind if he thinks I’d listen one bit to his stupid suggestions. He wants me to marry Sarah Lockwood?_

I guess I should then run to the altar with ‘Spongebob's’ if that was the case.

There was nothing appealing about that woman. She wasn’t my type, nor did she have the poise and charisma I loved to see in my women.

“That’s not important, Noah, she’s not going to turn on you when things get serious, she’s obviously clueless like she looks and that’s the best kind of person for this job as well.”

“What if she wants money?” I threw at him.

“Of course, she can only be persuaded by a good sum. She needs it man, look at her”, Tommy gestured, flipping his hands towards the living room.

He drew closer to me and lowered his voice. “If you decide to marry one of those beauty queens we party around with, then kiss your fortune goodbye. They’re smart, ambitious and lazy… and they will milk you dry till there’s nothing left” he jabbed at my chest.

“We don’t want that bro, so it’s either you choose a nerd who has absolutely no idea of what she stands to benefit from marrying you and can be easily blown away by just a million bucks or go for those girls who have their fangs ready to drain you out” Tommy said with his hands wide apart.

I scratched my jaw, contemplating his words. He was right, Tommy was never wrong with his assumptions, he was a fast analyzer and made great decisions that always yielded fruit. It was one of the reasons I kept him around. But this was too hard for me to accept.

Marriage, wife and all that rubbish weren’t my type of thing. I loved to have my freedom as a single man. To live the way I wanted and have any woman I desired. It was no fun being tied down by the prospects of marriage, but as a good business person, I had to consider, I had to conform to the status quo.

“And who says she’s any different from the others? Just because she’s a klutz doesn’t make her better than the rest.”

Tommy sighed.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about women like her, it's that they always have lots of bills to pay. They’re always in debt, and we can use that as a trap…” he paused.

“We clear her debts and literally own her. She’ll have no choice but to dance to our music”, Tommy was convinced.

I watched him twirl around to the other side of the room in contemplation.

“Your aunt Taylor’s recommendation isn’t going to be as great as the one you chose yourself. You just have to convince the old lady to accept yours”, he finished talking.

I threw my hands up in resignation, hoping dearly that Tommy was right about this.

“I’ll have to think about it man, this is all too sudden” I said, picturing myself with Sarah Lockwood.

Me in a black tuxedo, while she in a white dress made with the finest lace was reading each other’s vows. I cringed. The dress might probably not look good on her. The woman was a walking closet malfunction.

We stepped out of the room and met my secretary, Sarah, occupied with a book. Her creased brows were very thick and bushy like she didn’t know it had to be trimmed. I carefully observed her features, clearly noting every bit of her that I'd never paid attention to.

She wasn’t even pretty to begin with. Her head looked too big for her tiny frame, a body frame that was always wrapped up in thick dull fabrics adding to the weight on her slouching shoulders.

My eyes fell on her shoes and I almost had a seizure. Were they from the thrift shop? There should be a strict ban on people wearing second-hand shoes for as long as a year.

I suddenly got annoyed with the whole idea. How could I present such a horror to the public? A man of my status, CEO of Ortega, a multimillion-dollar company with five branches in different aspects of the world. I could boast of any kind of woman but ended up with a rag doll.

“Is there anything else sir?” Her petite voice brought me back to the present. Tommy glared daggers at me, signaling that I should act nicer towards her in preparation for the future deal. But I wasn’t cut out to play pretend.

“Nothing, you can leave” I dismissed. She took her purse and turned to walk away when I stopped her. I just couldn’t let it go, so I said the words in my mouth.

“And don’t come to work in those ugly shoes again”. I didn’t wait to see her expression before I left and continued to prepare for the activities lined up on my schedule.

I heard Tommy’s pounding steps following me. I grunted in despair because I wasn’t ready to get schooled by my best friend.

**********

Tommy and I drove to aunt Taylor’s house later in the day. We wanted to get things done on time before it was too late.

On our way there we argued fiercely about the choice of wife Tommy made.

“I’m literally going berserk thinking about her right now. How can I present her to my family?”

“It’s nothing a makeover can’t solve,” he pacified.

I hissed, Tommy was acting like everything was alright.

“Makeover my foot. I bet she’d still look horrible even with that. Are you trying to punish me for being a prick to you in the past?” I asked.

Tommy chuckled hilariously, his left hand on the console. “I have better ways to retaliate to your awkward behavior towards me, but this here is strictly business. I don’t like her for you too, but we have limited options and the earlier we access those shares the better we can get that awesome deal with De Luca.”

De Luca was a private company in Spain that dealt in the production of vintage wine but had to shut down due to poor management and finance.

They were a well known brand back in the days and when the company got put up for sale they had quite the turn up of interested buyers.

Tommy had sought out the owner of De Luca and, after days of negotiations, promised to buy out the company in a fortnight. He made a huge offer, and we had just a week to get such a huge sum of money ready.

Aunt Taylor offered us sweets and side dishes to welcome us. She was happy I visited.

Ever since my mum died, she and uncle Charles have treated me more like family than my own dad did. They were nice people and I bet their children would’ve been loved dearly if they had, but life was unfair.

“I apologize for leaving the way I did the last time” I spoke, wanting to break the awkwardness.

She waved it off and sat across from us. “I understand how you felt. I never thought your grandfather would put you in that position in the first place. He has always worried about you settling down and having a great family, but I didn’t think he’d take matters into his hands.”

“It took me by surprise,” I said solemnly. I saw Tommy busy with the sweets like he wasn’t interested in our conversation.

“So what will you do about it? I know it’s so sudden, and you’re not in any relationship. I can recommend a friend’s daughter”

Tommy cut in sharply “Uh… that won’t be necessary, aunt, you see Noah here”, he gestured at me.

“Is in a relationship”

“What?!” I and aunt Taylor exclaimed together.

Tommy blinked my way, giving me the impression that I should concur with him. I shifted to my seat and nodded.

“Yea aunt”

Tommy continued. “He’s just never been proud to say so because it might be breaking office rules and cause a little rumor in the office”

Aunt Taylor held her chest and listened with rapt attention. “Who is she? Does she work in your company?” She stared at me for answers.

“Yes she does” Tommy said. “She’s his secretary.”

“Sarah Lockwood?” Aunt Taylor exclaimed.

Tommy and I glanced at each other in shock, wondering how she knew my secretary by name.