The Billionaire's Fake Fiance

Chapter Four

Jean couldn't work, properly. It had been two days since Richard had asked her. She hadn't given him a reply yet, and he hadn't asked. Probably, he had forgotten, she assured herself. Her intercom buzzed, "Jean, in my office, now!" Her boss ordered her and she made her way into his cabin.

Alexander Hamilton sat on his chair, peering at her with gaping eyes. "Jean, I don't know if you've heard, but Mr. Jones retired from the position of Marketing Head. And I will give anyone of you a promotion to that position."

Jean nodded her head. "Yes, sir. I do know that."

"Mmm, I need you to prepare a presentation for tomorrow. And I'm gonna select which one is better: yours or Jacob's."

Jacob? Shit, he was damn good at competition, Jean thought. "Okay, sir."

She turned around but Alex called out to her, "And, Jean?"

"Yes sir?" She looked at him, clueless.

"I want you to do your best. You're very talented, and you deserve this position." Alex said, giving her a small smile.

"Thank you, sir. I'll not let you or Hamilton Inc. down." Jean prompted and shortly left the cabin.

Going into her cabin and sitting down on the chair, she swiped a tendril of wavy,  red hair from her eyes and puffed air past her lips to cool her cheeks. Perspiration ran in rivulets from under her breasts and trickled over her ribs, the sensation making her itch under the silky material of her black, shirt dress that reached upto her knees.

Resuming her work with renewed vigour, she refolded her laptop anf then opened it again, then bent to resume her listing. She had been working hard on this project, the company was going to launch a new line of handbags, and she had to chalk out the marketing strategies to sell it. She hated Jacob, she hated his guts. He was a stuck-up, uptight, and over-dramatic jackass who judged everybody and everything!

Jean was goddamn tired! And confused. She had been working so hard, and now she had to compete with that Jacob! Her blood boiled with overflowing anger.

She was angrier because of Richard. How dare he ask her if she would be his pretend girlfriend? Couldn't he ask her to be his real girlfriend? God. It pained her, as she sunk into the chair, her head reeling with fatigue. She closed her eyes for just one second, allowing the visions of the day, just fade away into darkness.

His eyes. Grey and full of depth.

Jean shot opened her eyes, unable to process anything. Her eyes felt heavy as if drooping down with weights. She couldn't think about Richard, she just couldn't. And she wouldn't say yes to his proposal. It was absolutely outrageous, absolutely wrong of him to ask her that, and she was mad at herself for thinking about him more than a hundred times in the past three hours.

Faith swindled in her cabin, looking at her with sad eyes. "Alex isn't allowing me to come to office!"

"What?" Too dazed to understand, Jean prompted out. "Oh, I understand."

"Do you? Really? God, Jean, I'm just three months pregnant! There's no baby bump yet! And he's ordering me to not work!"

Jean shook her head. "Your husband is quite headstrong. I know that, cause he's my boss."

"I'm determined, too! Come, let's go." Faith hurried, dragging up Jean from her chair.

"Ah....where?" Jean was left more dazed.

Faith turned around, "Shush, it's a secret!"

The secret place was a shopping mall, Jean sighed, following Faith who had been entering most shops and buying most anything. Jean liked to be with her, she was her only friend. Jean looked at her, she was so happy, married to Alex and it made her heart swell. She also wanted that kind of love, that kind of passion.

Entering a salon, Faith nudged on her elbows, asking her to grab a seat. "Babe, what are we doing?" Jean got restless.

"Relax, Jeanie. We're just taking a whole beauty appointment! It's on me. And yeah, thank me later."

"Do you think, that we aren't beautiful as we are?" Jean questioned, with hope in her heart.

Faith sighed, and smiled at Jean. "We're beautiful, Jean. But sometimes, from all the hardwork, pressure and struggle, we need to relax. We need to take care of ourselves, our body. You're beautiful, but since so long, you've done anything for yourself, huh?"

"Providing for mom, is hard, Faith." Jean didn't wanna say that, but it was only Faith, she knew everything.

Faith rolled her eyes. "Jeanie, why are you still-"

"I can't help it, she's my mom. My only living family. I just, I can't abandon just because she..." The words couldn't leave her mouth anymore.

"It's okay, babe. Relax. You're a good person, and you deserve this rest." Faith patted her arm.

Jean reclined on the massaging, cushioned chair and took a deep breath, "Faith,"

"Uh-huh,"

"Thank you." Jean felt only gratitude when the hair expert came and started to unlock the tangles in her hair.

It was a dream. A long, two-hour sleep. Jean opened her sleepy eyes with much force and stared at herself, in the big, royal mirror that was all over the salon. She looked so different. She was herself, but a much more glowing herself. She looked at the mirror, tracing her eyes through her scalp to the tip of her hair; the red, voracious waves were more remarkable now, they were shinier, silkier and prettier.

And her face? It looked so clean. She barely washed her face or took time to take care of it, but now it looked like glass, sparkling clean. The pores and limes were gone, and the blackheads? Woah, her nose was smoother than butter and her freckles looked more amazing now. "Ma'am, do you need anything else?" The expert asked her, flashing a sweet smile.

Jean turned her face towards the young lady and smiled, sweetly. "No, dear. Thank you."

Faith removed the cucumber pieces from her eyes and looked at Jean, whistling like a man. "Oh, damn! You look amazing!"

Jean beamed. "So, I looked ugly before?"

Faith's eyes sparkled. "You looked beautiful before, but now, you're simply an angel."

Jean got flattered. "Oh, thanks." She sang happily.

Both of them shopped some more, as Faith bought lots of things, a few accessories for herself, and two shirts for Alex. She loved to shop for her husband, while Jean bought a dress. It wasn't anything stylish. It was just a wrap dress, in shiny sequinned design. It was a mixture of light and deep blue, almost like a cobalt shade. She had immediately loved the dress and had bought it in impulse, though she had no invitation to a function or party where she could wear it. 

Nevertheless, the shopping spree with Faith helped her calm down. She got so relaxed that when she reached office, she instantly started working out on her strategies. Almost an hour later, she took the hardcopy of her file and walked towards Alex's cabin, her heart beating rapidly. She had finished her assignment, and it was good.

The moment she reached the corridor that led to the cabin, she bumped into a hard figure, quibbling down like sand, and just like that, she was going to fall and she snapped her eyes shut, unable to see herself crashing on the hard, marbled floor. But, she hadn't fell, instead she was stuck between air and earth. God.

She opened her eyes, fluttering them like a butterfly, trying to believe if the vision she saw was true or not. Richard. He peered at her, his face pressed into a thin line of concern. His grey eyes hovering over her, and he was bent over on her, gripping her waist with his strong, muscular arms. She shivered, feelings his touch swindle against her hips.

"Richard," She breathed out, seeing him made her automatically nervous.

"Yes," He answered, his eyes fixed on her, hard.

His stare didn't move. It was still and scary.