My CEO's Proposal

Episode 4

Lisa rose to her feet to greet her, her feet already ached from the heels. She wore them to make an impression that she was good enough. Really hoping that Max's mother would not really recognize her from the company.

"Mom, this is my girlfriend, Lisa." Max introduced breaking the awkward silence in the room.

Brenda sharply introduced herself too, as she waited a while for that to be done by Mr Max. Mrs Smith stood there. She didn't utter a word at that moment and her face had no expression so it was rather impossible to tell if she was happy or not with this introduction.

This was certainly not the kind of girl she wanted for her son. She pinched herself to make sure she was seeing clearly, and yes, the girls that worked in her son's company were still standing before her. Mrs Smith was floored.

She was clearly not impressed that Max would stoop as low as dating a worker from his company, especially the clumsy one that seemed incompetent to her on the very first day. In order not to make things more awkward than it already was, she was willing to accept, or pretend to accept Max's choice.

"Yes my dear, lovely meeting you, again." Even if it wasn't. She hugged Lisa with a very welcoming smile.

They chatted a little while waiting for their order. Brenda wished she could be anywhere but at that Cafe, she didn't seem to be enjoying this meeting a bit.

Reaching for the napkin on the table, Mrs Smith asked, "So how did you meet my son, Lisa?" She leaned back in her chair, looking really interested in hearing the story she had to offer.

Lisa's eyes roamed the table, her last glance was at Max. His eyes met hers, they certainly did not discuss this part, probably forgot to. Lisa had to come up with a perfect romantic meetup to tell her. She already looked nervous even if she tried her best to cover it.

"Uh, we met at th…"

"We obviously met at the company Mum." Max interrupted.

Brenda laughed. Her nervousness must be funny to her, because why the hell will she be laughing at her.

"And for how long have you been dating each other?" Mrs Smith added again, she wanted to be sure.

Brenda grabbed her bag, stared on her phone for a while and then stood up. " I'm so sorry but I have somewhere to be right now." She looked at her phone again like she was expecting something, " I'll call you friend" she said as she walked towards the door. She didn't really care how they felt with the supposed sudden emergency that came up, she just wanted to be out of there.

This was the perfect excuse to get away from any more questions from Mrs Smith, Lisa thought. But Brenda was not just having it. She was tired of sitting there and pretending to be happy for her friend when she clearly wanted to be the one introduced as Mr Max's girlfriend, even if it were an act - she just wanted it, she wanted Max.

Mrs Smith kept engaging Lisa in a few conversations that made her more nervous than she already was. She was a bit impressed with the Lisa she met at the Cafe.

She reached for a slice of apple at the table. "Well, I must say that I'm very happy for you, and also surprised, son," she said with the fruit in her mouth. " I'm happy you took me unawares".

Max didn't say a word, he just sat there smiling at his mother and Lisa, mostly Lisa. At the end of their food and the whole conversation, Mrs Smith was convinced that Lisa actually loved her son, that they were in love.

It worked.

"Well, son, I have somewhere to be now." She said, putting her bag over her shoulder. " I'll see you soon too, Lis."

Mrs Smith left the cafe. At least, she felt happy and a bit fulfilled that her only don was finally going to settle down. She was also happy about finally handing over the Company to Max too.

Max and Lisa still sat there. Max smiled heartily at her, he was impressed and happy that she helped him pull that move on his mom.

He smiled faintly at her this time. " I cannot thank you enough. Thank you so much"

"Well, I'm getting paid, so you're more than welcome. Sir." That was not the way she intended to put that though. She just had to say something that would not make Max aware that she was rather happy doing this with him. "I'll be on my way now, Sir. I have to meet up with Brenda."

Lisa already stood up at the table, she was adjusting her dress, ready to leave.

Max got up too. "I'll see you this evening then, maybe." He wasn't so sure about his words, he just wanted to see her again and often.

Lisa headed for the door. Her ride was already waiting outside. She quickly reached for her phone and dialed Brenda's number.

It rang twice. This was unusual. She was just going to head straight to her place, maybe Brenda was busy with something.

She forced a smile as she waved to Mr Max who just stood outside the Cafe, she was rather shy.

Getting to her best friend's place, Brenda was nowhere to be found. She called her phone again, and it rang in her bedroom. Brenda must have forgotten her phone at home and went out. Lisa was still trying to process all she was seeing, it was really hard for her to understand because this was unlike her friend.

She picked up Brenda's phone and was snooping around. Lisa was surprised by what she saw, it was a text from Brenda to Mrs Smith requesting a meeting to discuss something important. Quietly sitting on her bed. " Why would Brenda possibly want to meet with Mr Max's mom?" She thought.

She immediately called Mr Max, she knew Brenda was a bit jealous of the situation she had with him, and she also had this feeling that she would tell Mrs Smith the truth of the whole story.

"Sir, I think there's a problem. We have to find your mom." She told him as soon as he picked up the call.

Getting to where Brenda was at, Mrs Smith sat there, there was this look on her face. Lisa was already scared, she walked counting her steps to where they were both seated.

Brenda really had no expression on her face but Lisa assumed she had said something bad to make Mrs Smith look the way she did.

Max arrived shortly. He didn't see a problem as Lisa said.

Standing up from where she was sitting, "So you can be this desperate for the company to lie to me, son?" Mrs Smith yelled at him.

He immediately got the message. He just looked at Lisa. She was scared. She glanced back at her friend who was just comfortably sitting at the table.