I wasn't late to our meeting.
Ever since that day a year and eight months ago, I was never
late.
Why?
Aaron Blackford.
One time. I had been late one single time in Aaron's presence, and yet
he kept flaunting that fact every chance he got.
He never chalked it up to me being Spanish or a woman. Both
unjustified stereotypes when it came to being notoriously unpunctual.
Aaron didn't do nonsense. He pointed out facts; he stated verifiable
truths. He had been disciplined to do that, just like every other engineer in
the consulting company where we worked, me included. And technically, I
had been late. That one time all those months ago. It was true that I had
missed the first fifteen minutes of an important presentation. It was also true
that it had been Aaron leading it—during his first week in InTech—and it
was again true that I had made a miserably loud entrance that might have
involved accidentally knocking over a coffee pitcher.
On Aaron's stack of dossiers for the presentation.
Fine, partly on his pants too.
Not the best way to make an impression on a new colleague, but tough
shit. Things like that happened all the time. Tiny, unintentional, unexpected
accidents like those were common. People got over them and went on with
their lives.
But not Aaron.
Instead, week after week and month after month ever since that day, he
had barked stuff like, "Try not to be late to our ten o'clock meeting. It's not
cute anymore," at me.
Instead, every single time he entered a conference room and found me
sitting there, painfully early, he checked the watch on his wrist and raised
his eyebrows in surprise.
Instead, he moved coffee pitchers out of my reach with a warning tilt of
his head in my direction.
That was what Aaron Blackford did instead of letting go of that
incident.
"Good morning, Lina." Héctor's kind voice reached me from the door.
I could tell he was smiling before I took in his face, just like he always
did. "Buenos días, Héctor," I told him in the mother tongue we shared.
The man that I considered like an uncle after he welcomed me into the
close circle of his family placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed
lightly. "Doing good, mija?"
"Can't complain." I returned the smile.
"You coming over to the next barbecue? It's next month, and Lourdes
keeps telling me to remind you. She's preparing ceviche this time, and you
are the only one that will eat it." He laughed.
It was true; no one in the Díaz family was a big fan of the fish-based
Mexican dish. Which, to this day, I still couldn't understand.
"Stop asking dumb questions, old man." I waved my hand in the air
with a chuckle. "Of course I'll be there."
Héctor was taking his usual place to my right when our three remaining
colleagues in attendance poured into the room, mumbling their good
mornings.
Lifting my gaze off Héctor's easy smile, my eyes tracked down the men
walking around the table to assemble into our ten o'clock formation.
Across from me appeared Aaron, eyebrows raised and gaze quickly
meeting mine. I watched his lips tip down as he took a chair out.
Rolling my eyes, I moved onto Gerald, whose bald head glinted under
the fluorescent light as he folded his rather chubby frame into the chair.
Last but not least, there was Kabir, who had been recently promoted to the
position everyone in this room held—team leader of the Solutions Division
of the company. Which pretty much encompassed all disciplines but civil
engineering. Which was a beast on its own.
"Good morning, everyone," Kabir started with the enthusiasm only
someone who had been on the job for a month would have. "This week, it's
my turn to lead and protocol the meeting, so if you could, please say present
when I call your name."
An exasperated grunt I was extremely familiar with filled the room.
Glancing at the blue-eyed man across the table, I found the irritated face
that went with the sound.
"Of course, Kabir," I said with a smile even though I agreed with the
scowling man. "Please call away."
Ocean eyes pinned me with an icy look.
Meeting his stare, I heard Kabir go through each of our names,
obtaining confirmation from both Héctor and Gerald, an unnecessarily
cheery present from me, and another grunt from Mr. Grumps.
"All right, thanks," Kabir said. "Next point in the agenda is, project
status updates. Who would like to start?"
He was met with silence.
InTech provided engineering services for any entity that did not have
the ability or man power to design or engineer plans for their own projects.
Sometimes, they outsourced a team of five or six people, and other times,
only one person was needed. So, all five team leaders in our division were
currently working and supervising several different projects for several
different clients, and all projects never stopped moving forward. Eating
away milestones and encountering all kinds of issues and drawbacks. We
had conference calls with the clients and stakeholders on a daily basis. The
status of each project changed so briskly and in such a complex manner that
there was no way every other team leader could catch up in only a few
minutes. That was why Kabir's question had been met with silence. And
why this meeting wasn't completely necessary.
"Um …" Kabir shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Okay, I can start.
Yeah, I'll go first." He shuffled through a folder he had brought with him.
"This week, we are presenting to Telekoor the new budget we've been
developing for them. As you know, it is a start-up that's working on a cloud
service to enhance mobile data on public transportation. Well, the resources
available are rather limited and …"
I absently listened to my colleague while my gaze roamed around the
meeting room. Héctor nodded his head, although I suspected he was paying as much attention as I was. Gerald, on the other hand, was openly checking
his phone. Rude. So rude. But I didn't expect anything else from him.
Then, there was him. Aaron Blackford, who I realized had been staring
at me before my eyes met his.
His arm reached out in my direction, his gaze holding mine. I knew
what he was about to do. I knew. The long fingers attached to that massive
palm spread out as they met the object in front of me. The coffee pitcher. I
narrowed my eyes, watching how his hand curled around the pitcher's
handle.
He dragged it all the way across the surface of the oak desk. Very
slowly. Then, he nodded his head.
Infuriating blue-eyed grudge-holder.
I gave him a tight, closed-lip smile—because the other option was
launching myself across the room and pouring all the contents of the
goddamn pitcher on him. Again. But this time, intentionally.
Trying to distract myself from that thought, I averted my eyes and
furiously scribbled a to-do list on my planner.
Ask Isa if the bouquet she ordered for Mamá was peonies or lilies.
Order either a peony or lily bouquet for Tía Carmen.
If we didn't, she'd be giving me, Isa—my sister and bride—and Mamá
the stink eye until the day she or any of us kicked the bucket.
Send Papá my flight details, so he knows when to pick me up from the
airport.
Tell Isa to remind Papá that he has my flight details, so he picks me up
from the airport.
I brought the pen to my lips, this awful feeling I was forgetting
something important making me uneasy.
Chewing on my pen, I scrambled my mind for whatever it was I was
missing. Then, a voice I was terribly—and unfortunately—doomed to never
forget thundered in my head.
"You are delusional if you think you can find someone in such a short
amount of time."
My eyes bounced back to the man sitting across from me, meeting his
gaze again. As if I had been caught doing something wrong—like thinking
of him—I felt the heat in my cheeks and returned my attention to the list.
Find a boyfriend.
I scratched that.
Find a fake boyfriend. Doesn't need to be a real one.
"… and that's all I have to report." Kabir's words registered somewhere
in the back of my head.
I continued working on my list.
Find a fake boyfriend. Doesn't need to be a real one. And also, NOT
HIM.
Surely, I had other options. Not the escort though. A quick Google
search had confirmed that Aaron had been right. Again. Apparently, I had
been lied to by Hollywood. New York seemed to be filled with men and
women offering a wide range of varied and different kinds of services that
were not limited to escorting.
I grimaced and then chewed harder on the pen. Not that I'd ever admit
that to Aaron. I'd rather give up chocolate for a full year than admit to
Aaron that he was right.
But I was desperate at this point. He had nailed that down too. I needed
to find someone who would pretend to be in a serious, committed
relationship with me in front of my whole family. And that didn't only
include the wedding day, but also the two days of celebratory events that
preceded that. Which meant, I was screwed. I was—
"… and that would be Lina."
My name broke into my brain, making everything else vanish.
I dropped my pen on the table and cleared my throat. "Yes, here." I tried
to reinsert myself in the conversation. "Listening. I'm listening."
"Isn't that what someone who wasn't listening would say?"
My gaze shot across the room, meeting a pair of blue eyes on the verge
of showing amusement if the man behind them was capable of human
emotions.
I straightened my back and turned a page of my planner. "I was writing
down something for a call I have with a client later and lost track of the
conversation," I lied. "Something important."
Aaron hummed, nodding his head.
Thankfully, he let it go.
"Let's recap a little bit. Just so we are all clear on where we stand,"
Kabir offered in a gentle voice.
He'd be getting a muffin tomorrow.
"Thank you, Kabir." I gave him a bright smile.
To which he blushed and reciprocated with a wobbly one.
I heard an impatient exhale coming from across the room. Now, he
would not be getting a muffin tomorrow. Or ever.
"So," Kabir finally said, "Jeff wanted to attend today's meeting to tell
you personally, but you know how busy the schedule of a head of division
is. Lots of parallel appointments. He will forward you all the info you need
anyway, but I thought it would be a good idea to give you a heads-up
before."
I blinked. What the hell are we talking about? "Thank you again for
that, Kabir."
"You are welcome, Lina." He nodded. "I think that communication
between all five of us is key to accomplish—"
"Kabir"—Aaron's voice filled the room—"your point."
Kabir's eyes jumped to him, and he appeared a little startled. "Yes,
thanks, Aaron." Then, he had to clear his throat twice before he could
continue, "InTech will host an Open Day in a few weeks. A big group of
people will attend, mostly potential clients who are curious about what we
offer but also some of the biggest projects we are working on. Jeff
mentioned that all attendants are pretty high in management, too, which
makes sense because this is an initiative to expand and strengthen our
network and to do it face-to-face. He wants InTech to show off. To look
good. Modern. To demonstrate that we are up-to-date with the current
markets. But at the same time, show all prospective and current clients that
we are not all about working." He chuckled nervously. "That's why Open
Day will last from eight a.m., when the attendants will be welcomed here at
our headquarters, until midnight."
"Midnight?" I murmured, barely able to conceal my surprise.
"Yes." Kabir nodded enthusiastically. "Isn't it refreshing? It will be a
full-blown event. All kinds of workshops on new technologies, knowledgeexchange sessions, activities to get to know our clients and their needs. And
of course, we'll have breakfast, lunch, and dinner catered. Oh, and afterwork drinks too. You know, to lighten things up."
My eyes had gradually widened as Kabir delivered his explanation.
"That …" Héctor started. "That sounds different."
It did. And it sounded like a complex event to plan in only a few weeks.
"Yes," Gerald answered, sounding suspiciously smug. "It will definitely
put InTech ahead in the game."
Kabir nodded as his gaze met mine. "Absolutely. And Jeff wants you to
be in charge of everything, Lina. How amazing is that?"
I blinked, resting my back against the seat. "He wants me to organize it?
All of it?"
"Yes." My colleague smiled at me, like he was giving me good news.
"And host it too. Out of the five of us, you are our most attractive option."
Blinking very slowly, I watched his lips fall down, probably because of
the expression coating my face.
Attractive. Taking a deep breath, I tried to steady myself. "Well, I'm
flattered to be considered the most attractive option," I lied, willing myself
not to focus on how my blood had started swirling. "But I hardly have the
time or the experience to organize something like this."
"But Jeff insisted," Kabir countered back. "And it's important for
InTech to have someone like you representing the company."
I should ask what someone like me was supposed to mean, but I didn't
think I wanted to hear the answer. My throat dried up, making it harder for
me to swallow. "Wouldn't any of us accomplish the same objective?
Shouldn't someone with experience in what sounds like a public relations
affair throw together an event this important?"
Kabir deflected, not answering my question. "Jeff said you would be
fine with the organization. That we don't need to spend extra resources,
hiring someone. Plus, you are …" He trailed off, looking like he'd rather be
anywhere else. "Social. Perky."
Clenching my fist under the table, I tried my best to hide my inner
turmoil. "Sure," I gritted out. That was every person's dream, being referred
to as perky by their boss. "But I also have a job to do. I also have projects
that I'm working on the clock for. How is this … event more important than
my own clients and current responsibilities?"
I remained silent for a long moment, waiting for my colleagues'
support.
Any kind of support.
And … nothing, just the usual loaded silence that followed these kinds
of situations.
I shifted in my chair, feeling my cheeks heat up with frustration.
"Kabir," I said as calmly as I could, "I know Jeff might have suggested that
I be in charge of this, but you guys understand that this doesn't even make sense, right? I … wouldn't even know where to start." This wasn't a thing I
had been hired or was paid for.
But no one was going to admit that, even when their support would
make a difference. That would lead to the real reason why I had been given
this task.
"I'm already covering for two of my best team members, Linda and
Patricia. I don't have hours in the week as it is." I hated complaining and
fishing for some—or at this point, any—kind of understanding, but what
else could I do?
Gerald snorted, making my head swivel in his direction. "Well, that's a
drawback of hiring women in their thirties."
I scoffed, not wanting to believe that he had just said that. But he had. I
opened my mouth, but Héctor stopped me from saying anything.
"All right, how about we all help you?" Héctor suggested. I looked at
him, finding him with a resigned expression. "We could maybe all pitch in
with something."
I loved the man, but his soft heart and lack of confrontational spirit
weren't helping all that much. He was only tiptoeing around the real issue.
"This is not high school, Héctor," Gerald snapped back. "We are
professionals, and we won't be pitching in with anything." Shaking his
greasy, bald head, he followed that with another snort.
Héctor's mouth clamped shut.
Kabir spoke again, "I'll forward you the list of people Jeff put together,
Lina."
I shook my head again, feeling my cheeks heat up further, biting my
tongue so I wouldn't tell my colleague something I'd regret.
"Oh," Kabir added, "Jeff also had a few ideas for the catering. That's in
a separate email that I will forward to you too. But he wants you to do a
little research on that. Maybe even think of a theme. He said you'd know
what to do."
My lips parted with a silent curse word that would make my abuela take
me to church by the ear. I'd know what to do? How would I know?
Reaching for my pen and holding it with both hands so I could squeeze
some of the growing frustration away, I took a deep breath. "I'm going to
talk to Jeff myself," I said through pressed teeth that formed a tight smile.
"I'd usually not bother him but—""Would you just stop wasting our time already?" Gerald said, making
the blood in my face drop to my feet. "You don't have to take this to our
boss." Gerald's chubby finger waved through the air. "Stop making excuses
and just do it. You can smile and be extra friendly for a whole day, can't
you?"
The words extra and friendly echoed in my head as I stared at him with
wide eyes.
The sweaty man, crammed into a dress shirt designed for someone who
had a class he'd never achieve, would take any chance he could get to bring
anyone down. Even more so if that happened to be a woman. I knew.
"Gerald"—I gentled my voice and increased the pressure on my pen,
praying it wouldn't break and give away how outraged I really felt—"the
purpose of this meeting is to discuss issues like this one. So, I'm sorry, but
you are going to have to listen to me do exactly—"
"Sweetheart," Gerald interrupted me, a sneer breaking across his face,
"think of it as a party. Women know about those, don't they? Just prepare
some activities, get some food delivered here, put on nice clothes, and crack
some jokes. You are young and cute; you won't even have to use your brain
all that much. They'll be eating right out of your hand." He chuckled. "I'm
sure you know how to do that, don't you?"
I choked on my own words. The air that was supposed to be getting in
and out of my lungs was stuck somewhere in between.
Not able to control what my body was doing, I felt my legs straighten,
bringing me up. My chair screeched back, the noise loud and sudden.
Smacking both hands on the surface of the desk, I felt my head blank for a
second, and I saw red. Literally. In that precise moment, I understood where
the expression had come from. I saw fucking red, as if I had slipped on a
pair of glasses with crimson lenses.
Somewhere to my right, I heard Héctor exhaling heavily. Muttering
under his breath.
Then, I heard nothing. Only my heart hammering in my chest.
There it was. The truth. The real reason why I, among the four other
people sitting in this room, had been handpicked to do this damn thing. I
was a woman—the only woman in the division, leading a team—and I had
the goods, no matter how generous my curves were or not. Perky, cute,
female. I was the attractive option, apparently. I was being showcased to our clients as the golden token that proved that InTech was not stuck in the
past.
"Lina." I willed my voice to remain firm and calm, hating that it hadn't.
Hating that I wanted to turn around and let my legs carry me out of the
room. "Not sweetheart. My name is Lina." I sat back on my chair very
slowly, clearing my throat and taking one extra moment to rein it in. I have
this. I need to have this. "Next time, make sure to use my name, please.
And address me with the decency and professionalism you do with
everyone else." My voice reached my ears in a way I didn't like one bit.
Making me feel that weak version of myself that I didn't want to be. But at
least I had managed to get it all out without flipping or running away.
"Thanks."
Sensing how my eyes were starting to feel glassy out of pure outrage
and frustration, I blinked a few times, willing that and everything else away
from my face. Wishing that the lump in my throat had nothing to do with
embarrassment, even when it did. Because how could I not feel
embarrassed when I had snapped like that? When—even after what had
happened all that time ago, even being that this wasn't the first time I'd had
to deal with this kind of crap—I still didn't know how?
Gerald rolled his eyes. "Don't take it so seriously, Lina." He shot me a
condescending look. "I was just joking around. Right, guys?"
He looked over at our colleagues, searching the room for their support.
He didn't find any.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Héctor deflating in his chair.
"Gerald …" he said, sounding tired and discouraged. "Come on, man."
Keeping my eyes on Gerald and trying to stop my chest from heaving
with building helplessness, I refused to look at the other two men, Kabir
and Aaron, who remained silent.
They probably thought they were not taking any side, but they were.
Their silence was doing exactly that.
"Oh, come on what?" Gerald scoffed. "It's not like I said anything that's
not true. The girl doesn't even need to try—"
Before I could muster the courage to stop him, the last person in the
room I had expected to speak beat me to it. "We are done here."
My head snapped in his direction then, finding him looking at Gerald
with something so thick and chilling that I could almost feel the air in the
room drop a couple of degrees.
Shaking my head, I snagged my gaze off Aaron. He could have said
anything in the last ten minutes, and he had chosen not to. He could remain
silent for all I cared.
Gerald's chair scraped against the floor, allowing him to stand up. "Yes,
we are certainly done," he said flatly, gathering his things. "I don't have
time for this either. She knows what to do anyway."
And with that little pearl, Gerald walked to the door and left the room.
My heart was still hammering in my chest, pummeling in my temples.
Kabir followed suit, standing up and looking at me apologetically. "I am
not taking his side, okay?" His eyes moved in Aaron's direction quickly,
returning to me just as fast. "This whole thing came from Jeff; he wants you
to do this. Don't think too much about it. Take it as a compliment."
Not bothering to answer, I watched him leave the room.
The man who had almost taken me in and treated me as one more of the
Díaz clan looked at me and shook his head. He mouthed, Qué pendejo,
which plucked a weak smile out of me because even if that wasn't
something we would ever say in Spain, I knew exactly what he meant.
And Héctor was right. What a total asshat Gerald was.
And then there was Aaron. Who hadn't even bothered to look at me yet.
His long fingers methodically gathered his things, and his even longer legs
pushed the chair back, making it possible for him to straighten to his full
height.
While I glanced at him, still out of sorts by everything that had just gone
down, I watched how his gaze bounced from his hands to me. His eyes,
which I could tell had sobered up and returned to that aloof semblance,
remained on me for a heartbeat and then dismissed me just as quickly.
Just like he always did.
My gaze followed his oddly large and sturdy figure walk to the door and
into the hallway, the hammering in my chest somehow speeding up and
settling down, all at once.
"Let's go, mija," Héctor said, now standing and looking down on me.
I have a bag of chicharrones in my office. Ximena slipped it into my laptop
bag the other day, and I've been saving it." He followed that with a wink.
Standing from my chair, I laughed lightly. Héctor's little girl was getting
a bear hug from me the next time I saw her.
"You need to raise that girl's weekly allowance." I followed him out,
trying my best to return the smile.
Although I couldn't help but notice that after only a few steps, the
corners of my lips wavered, breaking into something that didn't quite reach
my eyes.