Nathan's POV
Since the visit to the coffee shop, it was impossible to get a smile off my face. It was so ingrained in my face that sometimes I looked stupid laughing alone inside my car while waiting for the traffic light to change. However, I couldn't help it because I felt happy in a way I hadn't felt in a long time.
Although I still had a whole plan to devise, with Emily's cooperation I felt I was halfway there. I knew to perfection what my parents consumed from other people: beauty and manners, for my luck Emily was already all that.
With such a companion by my side, it made the competition for Harry a little more balanced. My brother's unsavory girlfriend didn't get much attention in the family, so I could confidently assert that Emily would get all the good impressions as soon as they met him.
"I don't believe you old man, do I accept so soon?" Michael asks, booming his voice through the car's Bluetooth: "Now that I didn't see coming, how did you pull that off?"
I slap my hands against the steering wheel, excited to tell him every detail of the story.
"I got me the address of the coffee shop. I went behaved like a gentleman, implored him to help me while looking at him with puppy dog eyes and he finally agreed" I reply, not mentioning the small detail of the six thousand euros. I was not interested in letting my friend know that for the first time in my life a girl had not agreed to my requests without further request: "That's all. I got my life sorted out bro, I'm back on track."
Michael laughs on the other end of the line when he hears me, gives a long sigh, and replies.
"Well I'm really glad you're so happy Nathan, but I can imagine you haven't told him about the other part of the deal" He reminds me, appeasing my spontaneous happiness.
"Why do you always have to be so bitchy?" I question him, remembering the big part I had omitted Emily from my story: "Well no, I haven't told her and I won't for a while so you shut your mouth".
"I'm grounding you, Nathan. Plans are not just for writing them down but for executing them. Tell me then how you plan to get the girl to marry you in six months without you preparing her for the news" He questions me: "Are you just going to blurt it out to her one day and that's it?"
I remain silent for a few seconds, thinking about the repercussions of keeping this from her in the future.
"If I tell her now, she'll run out of my sight Mike. Living together the dynamic changes, she'll appreciate me more in a few months, we'll get along better, and then when that happens I'll propose to her" I reply, confident that my plan would continue to work as it was working so far "Besides, I have a small feeling that the girl is not immune to my charms." I say, remembering how those greenish eyes had been stamped on me from the first moment she had seen me in that elevator.
I mention, reviving in my memory how Emily had returned my lascivious glances in the apartment not to mention also, how her delicate body had tensed by barely touching her face.
If I put my mind to it, the girl would end up having a crush on me in a month with no problem.
"If you don't want this whole fake girlfriend act to be over in about two months, love your egg Nathan and stay away from the girl" He said.
"Are you ordering me or what, did you just like it and I didn't notice?" I ask amused, but he refuses.
"I'm saying that because you're not monogamous. You start fooling around with the girl, she gets her hopes up for you and then realizes you're an asshole. What do you think happens next?"
"Shall we get married?" I reply in an attempt to alleviate his wisdom-filled lessons because according to me, I still had the spirit of the happy klutz in me.
"Very funny little buddy" He says following the thread of my amusement. However, by now I understood his point: "What happens next is that she walks away pissed off at you for playing with her heart, blowing your super master plan. If you know what's good for you, I want you to bury your penis in a bucket full of ice as soon as that girl gives you the first bad thought, you understand Nathan?" He asked in an authoritative tone, making me laugh because he was exaggerating my reach.
Michael was acting like a real big brother to me. Unlike Harry, the blond was constantly making sure I didn't screw up in everything I did, yet he was a man who loved to have fun, he was as fucked up in the head as I was, if not he liked to disguise it from time to time.
"Keep it professional or I'm charged with the plan. That's it" I gather his words, he approves of my understanding and finally takes off.
"Tattoo it on your mind, let that be your mantra, my friend. Shall we celebrate this today in your apartment this beautiful triumph?" There was my best friend, Michael, being him in all his glory.
"Come on, but make it a calm thing Michael I need the apartment intact for when Emily moves in" I answer.
"Yeah, yeah" He answers vaguely and cuts the call, just in time for me to arrive at the company building.
I park my car, look in the rearview mirror of the car and consider for a few moments whether or not I should leave my hat on. Surely Dad would be pissed off by my casual outfit for work but as much as I wanted to piss him off as hell, I could bet an egg that Harry was wearing a suit and the idea here was to score points with my family, not to keep falling in their esteem so I decide to leave my hat inside the car.
As I cross the automatic doors of the building many familiar faces greet me kindly. I reciprocate the greeting, get into the elevator, and mark the top floor on the board. The floor of the family offices.