"Wha… who might not be so accommodating?" I said, confused.
And more importantly, who could matter to Mr Rowley so much as to matter in this?
"I apologise, Abigail, but I haven't been entirely sincere. I think you're clever enough to maybe have noticed something?" He let the question hang.
At first, I thought it was rhetoric and he intended to continue, yet he didn't.
"I…" I started, unsure. It was a hunch, but I'm not sure I've noticed anything specific I could point out. "I don't know… It was more of a feeling that you were omitting some information, but… It could have been something personal."
"I appreciate your honesty, and that you didn't try to pry." He paused. "But this is something that will affect you directly"
"So, if it will affect me directly why wasn't this mentioned before?" I was slightly bothered by this secrecy, if the deal had things I did not take into consideration, my decision might have not been the same.
"I understand completely that you feel confused about this. Let's stop for 5 minutes, I will do my best to explain."
I could only guess that he had calculated more or less when to mention this because he signalled ahead to a resting area where he could stop. And so, a few minutes later I was staring impatiently at Mr Rowley, while he stared at the windshield.
"Funny how when you imagine how to present something the actuality never looks quite as easy." He finally started. "Well, Abigail, the honest truth is that I didn't want to reveal this part of the deal - the real deal - until you had accepted."
"The REAL deal!?" I repeated, shocked.
My mind kept going back. I read the papers and the contracts, what was I missing? But more importantly, could it be something hidden I didn't notice?
I read the papers once, twice and then another time, just to be sure. And he let me take my time...
"Well, let me re-phrase, the deal is the same, I didn't lie about any of it" He was quick to continue "But I did carefully omit which Mr Rowley you were going to marry."
"What do you mean, how many Mr Rowleys there is? You don't have brothers..." I never paid much attention to Mr Rowley's family history, I remembered reading something about him being an only son... But there might be someone I didn't consider, so I made a deduction: "A son?"
"Yes, indeed. Abigail, you're to marry my son, Mr Rowley Junior – Mark Rowley, the heir of the company, and future CEO." I was so shocked by the change in plans that I couldn't say a thing, so Mr Rowley continued. "I'm truly sorry to have misled you like this, I do have a good reason, well, a few good reasons. And I will reveal all of them to you, no more hidden details. I always had the intention of doing so before signing the actual wedding papers."
"Should I feel relieved by that?" I spitted out ironically, not currently minding my manners.
"No, of course not. I understand the frustration" he conceded, patient.
Pieces started to click and suddenly, something started to make sense.
Mr Rowley would refer to 'himself' – now revealed to be Mr Rowley Junior – as CEO or in the third person. He was actually very careful about the wording, might have been what I noticed as odd. But how could have I imagined this?
And the article picture...
"The picture, you looked younger..."
"...Because it wasn't me." he continued my thought. "Mr Walker, Abigail... I could waste my time saying that I'm sorry, which I am, but you and I both know that I intended to do things this way. It was my way of probing your character and getting to know you a bit better, and, although we only had brief encounters, I consider myself a good judge of character, and you are exactly what I need. And what my son needs."
I paused, letting his words sink in.
"I'm listening" I said, allowing him the chance to explain further.
He nodded, and took a small pause before he started narrating.
"You see, as I told you, I've keept my family as private as possible, but that doesn't keep my only son from being in the spotlight from time to time, as an eligible bachelor and the heir of Rowley & Associates. There's been many women who have tried to 'catch' him. One of my reasons for conceiling his identity, masking it as my own, was that perhaps, if it was my son instead of me in the offer, you wouldn't have thought twice about it, and that would have left me feeling uneasy."
"I wouldn't have said yes right away either. I feel its even worse not to have even seen or talked to the person Im going to spend a year with."
"I'm pretty sure of that myself as well now, but I still didn't feel comfortable sharing it right away. You see, there's a very big problem." He winced, as if uncomfortable with what he was going to say. "My son is definitely the main candidate to inherit the company, but altough I have a big influence, he needs the support of all the partners, especially if something were to happen to me"
"Why wouldn't your partners agree with him being your successor? Do they have another candidate?"
"Because of the precise reason of my worries and the reason I didn't share the full truth with you: Women."
I arched my brows in confusion. How could I solve anything if the problem was women?
"Its not my place to give more details, but my son was awfully close to marry someone who turned out to be a person who was only looking to get company information and plant scandals. Mark was young, and he was much of a fool in love to notice, as much as we tried to warn him... The partners are old and traditional, they have awful long memories for things like this. And they don't care how long it's been, they still don't trust him. He made various bad choices with women since, and, has never intended to get married with someone who could calm the partners, with all of this, they're still on edge."
"And this is where I come in, instead of letting him marry whoever he wants?" I asked, still surprised at all the scheming behind this.
"My son, despite my explanations, and my pleads has no intentions of marrying anyone." He insisted.
"What about this?" I asked, even more perplexed than before.
"He doesn't know about my plan, or about you."