Just One Kiss

Chapter 16

" I think that concludes our final meeting for this project" Carla said as she switched off her laptop in the boardroom. The heads of the finance and marketing department thanked Carla for her time as well as Nicolas, but his head was not there. 

They had sat in the room for most of the day atempting to do damage control to the news that had not stopped buzzing around the streets of Spain for the last twenty four hours.

Nicolas had been almost a zombie since his conversation with his father. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't care what the press said. He was head over heels in love with China.

None of this made any sense to him. He had only met her just a few months ago and already he couldn't stand to be away from her for so long. They continue to talk to each other daily, Nico being the first to console her the last night after her breakup with Charles. He mostly stayed silent as she cried, talking to herself about it being the right decision.

Nico was waiting to have his own time with Maya, who had not been picking his calls since the news broke the morning before. The more time he waited for her to answer, the more the guilt of his actions set in. 

As the board all filed out, there was just Nicolas and Carla left in the room. She had her head cocked to the side as she watched him in his fantasies.

"There's something you're not telling me" Carla said, breaking the silence.

"Come on Carla, not you too" he said, brushing her off as he took laptop to leave.

"I know you Nicky" Carla said "I've known you for longer than I've known myself, and I know when you're lying."

Nico looked at his best friends eyes, the best friend that he had started his company with, built his legacy with. The best friend that had turned into his sister. He realized that she was right. The more he looked at her, the more her smile grew.

"You know who it is, don't you" he said, as he began to walk out of the room.

"Of course I know" she said, laughing walking behind him. " I knew from the moment we entered Bailar. You couldn't stop looking at her and every time she opened her mouth you couldn't stop smiling."

"Am I that obvious" he said, reaching his desk in his office, sitting down to put his head on the table. Carla sat across from him, crossing her arms.

"I also know that you never been like this before" she said. He lifted his head to look at her, seeing the endearment in her eyes.

"The only time I seen somebody look at someone like the way your sister looks at me. Maybe it's a sibling thing" she said the last part to herself.

"I don't know what to do" he repeated to her as he had to his father.

"The answer is very simple honestly" Carla said. "Do you love her?"

"Yes, but it's not just that" he continued, finally opening up. It felt like a dam of his emotions had finally burst open, just him and Carla in the office.

" I confess my love for her every time I'm alone. Every second of the day, the only thing I can think of it is her smile. I can't wait to see her again even though I know it's just for work. Any moment that I get to spend with her, every single second, every single kiss. I never want this project to end because I never want to have to not see her again."

"I'm sorry, every kiss" Carla asked her eyebrows raised. He explained to her the story from the beginning to the end, the sun setting behind them as they continue to talk. By the time he finished the office was dark, only Carla and Nicolas left, holding a glass of whiskey in their hands.

"Is it so crazy to fall in love so soon" Nico said after he finally finished his story.

"Love doesn't recognize time" Carla said after a while. "You can know somebody for two months and fall in love but you can also know somebody for 20 years and fall in love. Love is an emotion that is so strong that it breaks the barriers of time of space and even of life sometimes."

"Look at your father" she continued. "Guzmán still wears his wedding ring on his finger even though your mother has been gone for almost a decade" It's true; Nico's mother had passed away right when he started FlorenTech, when he was twenty three.

"Look at me and your sister" she said. "I've known her almost all my life, but I didn't fall in love with her until much much after, and now, I can't imagine my life without her as my wife."

Nicolas listened as he finished the last of his drink, thinking over her words.

"I have something for you" Carla suddenly. She grabbed Nico's hand and led him to her office. Once they got there, she switched on the light and unlocked her secret cabinet underneath her desk. From it, she removed a black box and handed it to him.

"You say you love her right" she asked. 

" So much" he said.

"And you can't live without her, right?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Then your sister and I want you to hold onto this" she pointed to the box. Nico opened it to find a three carat princess cut diamond ring, the band surrounded with red rubies.

"My mother's" Nico breathed out, a tear coming to his eye.

"Your sister proposed to me with that ring. Your mother had given it to her because your mother knew that she loved me. We feel like she wants you to have it now."

Nico said nothing but he close the box, put it in his pants pocket and hugged Carla for a long time, leaning in and crying into her shoulder as she patted his back, telling him everything was going to be okay.