Chapter 5
1111 Words
Alex's POV
"Friday it is." I said over the phone to Mr. Kyle, my prospect. "I'll bring that wine you love so much."
"You always know the way to my heart." Mr. Kyle said with a rich laugh.
"I'm honored sir." I responded. "I have to go now. I have an appointment in the next hour. We'll talk soon." I said and ended the call.
I sat for a few seconds, pinching my nose and rubbing my face thinking about how this whole thing is going. I still haven't made the decision to respond to my girlfriend's texts.
"If you wanted to break up with me you could have said it to my face!" She had texted with crying emojis.
"Manfred." I called, finally getting myself together.
"Yes, Mr. Knight." Manfred answered.
"Prepare me something to eat." I instructed. "I haven't had anything to eat all day. Prepare enough for Vivienne and Stephanie too."
"Right away, sir."
A few minutes later Manfred came back and reported that our food was ready. And while I was eating, I watched Stephanie and Vivienne walk down the stairs and I must confess, she looked stunning.
I was taken back for a moment, staring at her before Stephanie finally cleared her throat, pulling me out of my...wonder.
"Mr. Knight, she's ready." Stephanie said, extending her arms in a dramatic manner to present Vivienne.
"You don't look half-bad." I said brazenly and glanced away as if I didn't care to continue eating my food.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Vivienne asked, folding her arms as if she's offended.
"Am I supposed to compliment you?" I asked with a slight frown.
"At least a simple 'you look nice' would be good." She shot back.
"Accept what I gave you and move on." I said, waving a fork at her. "You can come join me if you'd like." I continued, extending a hand for her to have a seat. "There's enough for everybody."
The three of us sat together and ate, with Stephanie sitting closest to me, filling me in on some upcoming appointments and giving me updates on recent deals.
"Get everything sorted out and call my secretary to have all the documents printed before noon tomorrow." I said, finally done eating.
"Yes, Mr. Knight." Stephanie said with a nod.
We all finished eating with just enough time to prepare before the reporters arrived. And right on time, Manfred ushered them in.
"Thank you for having us, Mr. Knight." One of the reporters said, extending his hand.
"And wow, you look so beautiful Ms. Vivienne." The second, a lady, said, extending a hand to her.
"Oh thank you." Vivienne responded, smiling.
"Shall we begin?" I asked, extending an arm to the place we had prepared for them.
"Absolutely sir. This shouldn't be long." The first reporter said. "I'm Frank by the way."
"Frank. It's a pleasure." I said with a smile.
"You can call me Gina, Mr. Alex." The second reporter added with a blush, brushing a strand of hair behind her ears.
"And you can call me Jack." The cameraman said with a bow.
Jack set up the cameras up while we took our seat, and Stephanie stayed at a corner giving me thumbs up.
“Alright, camera rolling. Whenever you’re ready.” Jack said loudly.
"So, Mr. Knight, Ms. Vivienne— first off, congratulations. The world didn’t even know you two were a thing until, well… it broke the internet.”
“That wasn’t exactly the plan.” I said, leaning back stylishly for the camera with my knees crossed.
“Of course.” Gina said. “But you can’t blame people for being curious. Billionaire bachelor suddenly off the market? That’s news.”
“Off the market, huh?” Vivienne said, glancing at me. I believe Stephanie had tutored her on what to say and how to say it.
“Don’t sound so shocked.” I said with a smirk.
“I’m still processing it myself.” She said, turning back to the reporters which made them laugh, delightedly.
“So,” Frank said, leaning forward. “How long have you two been together?”
“Three months.” Viv said immediately.
“Three?”
“Would you like to correct me?”
“Of course not babe." I said smoothly. "It just feels longer— in a good way.”
“Oh you mean exhausting.” She said, crossing her arms, pretending to be offended.
The reporters laughed again, jotting notes.
"You two have such great chemistry." Gina chimed in. "You tease like an old married couple.”
“So how did you two meet?" Frank asked. "What’s the story behind this romantic whirlwind?” He gestured with his hand.
“Should I tell it or do you want to ruin it?” Vivienne said glancing at me.
“I’ll start.” I said. “We met at an event downtown— charity gala, I think?” I said, stroking my chin pretending to think.
“He thinks." She interjected with a soft laugh. "It was a charity gala. You should have seen him— He was pretending to care.”
"Of course I did care." I said sharply pretending I was defending myself.
The room chuckled again, and Frank leaned forward with his eyes bright.
“So who made the first move?”
“He—”
“I did.” I said at the same time Vivienne opened her mouth to speak.
We both stopped to look at each other. The silence that followed was perfect— a comedic timing neither of us planned. I felt so impressed about her response I almost gave Stephanie a good thumbs up for preparing her so well.
“You agree?” I asked, giving her a look that I was impressed by her flow, given this is all fake.
“I’m acknowledging your delusion.” She said sarcastically, folding her arms.
“You’re welcome.” I bowed my head slightly in a dramatic manner.
Gina laughed so hard she had to lower her notepad.
“You two are hilarious.” She said.
“Please don’t encourage him.” Vivienne said, gesturing toward the camera, faking seriousness.
Ten minutes in, and it was going better than we had expected. Vivienne was flowing so well you would think we actually truly have been dating each other. All that's left now is to finish up and make preparations for our dinner with Mr. Kyle. He's very inquisitive and we need to do better than this.
“So, what made you two decide to finally go public?” Gina asked, while scribbling something on her note.
- Writer
