An Unexpected Engagement

Chapter 4

Steve

The situation is clearly getting out of hand.

And if there's one thing I abhor, it's losing control.

Since I woke up this morning with this unknown girl side babbling nonsense as she slept, I'm feeling a runaway train going downhill, where there is only chaos.

A train named Natasha Romanoff.

And I don't like it one bit.

That's not how I got to where I am. On the top. Where everything is order and discipline. Where all follow my orders. That's how I like things to be.

That's how I kept control.

I always know where I'm going, how I'm going and what awaits me when I get there.

I always know the end result.

I always have the final word.

Now the girl in front of me has just muddled my mind.

What the hell had she just proposed? I probably hadn't heard right. She's still there, looking at me with her chin up. Blond hair in complete disarray, arms crossed over her chest, tapping her little bare feet on the floor.

Her green eyes, smudged by the remnants of black makeup running down her face, held mine in defiance.

But who the fuck?

When I proposed to her to pretend to be my fiancée and she started this talk about her wanting something in return, I figured it was money.

What more could she want?

However she wanted ...

"Is she saying she wants me to have sex with you?" - I express my doubt as clearly as possible, so there is no confusion.

Because I could only have misunderstood.

- Exactly. It's that or nothing.

I open my mouth to refute and find no words.

I'm not a man to lose words. I was class speaker at high school graduation, president of the college guild, and I'm the fucking CEO of a fucking major corporation!

“Okay, I think maybe you need to think,” she says at last, in the face of my silence. "I'm going to take a shower, you'll have a few minutes to think."

And she keeps looking at me, until she shakes her head, stunned, understanding that she wants me out of the bathroom.

“Okay,” I mumble in a way that's strange to me as I leave and close the door.

How did I get into that mess?

For starters, I should never have lied to my family.

They exasperated me too much. Ever since my two younger brothers, Sean and Hope, had gotten married, they'd started acting like I was some kind of black sheep. And do not lose the opportunity to riddle me impertinent questions about my loving relationships and when one of them would become serious and I would put a ring on the finger of some fortunate.

It was difficult to explain to my family that I wasn't interested in a serious relationship at all. Since I dropped out of college, I've been focused on my career and a full-time girlfriend would just get in the way.

If I want female company I just go to a pub and get one. And dispatch her the next morning. Very simple. No strings attached, just good times and goodbye.

Then, about two months ago I was spending the weekend at my parents' house in Costwoods and they invited Sharon, my ex-girlfriend from college age daughter and a couple friend of my parents. Sharon was beautiful, educated and from a good family, everything my parents dreamed of for me. While I hadn't had dreams about Sharon in a long time, she seemed quite willing to play my parents' game.