JPOV
All Fool's Day, better known as April Fool's Day.
Scholars had debated its meaning and origins for a great many years, and although they all had their theories, no one really knew why or by whom the tradition had started. Regardless, it remains a day that has been annually celebrated throughout the world, even extending back to the time of Ancient Rome. Set during a time of year when nature so often fools us with sudden changes between rain showers and sunshine, it seemed apt that I would find that the day of the all-important board meeting had fallen on April first. Traditionally, the day was celebrated by the execution of hoaxes and practical jokes of varying sophistication with the goal of publicly embarrassing the gullible.
I was not gullible. But then again, neither was Jake Johnson.
Monday morning came quicker than I thought it would. I was nervous, hoping like hell that the plan we had concocted would be a success and not somehow backfire in our faces. Either way, by the time the day was through, the fool would definitely be determined.
And to the victor, would go the spoils.
Win or lose, king upon the throne or court jester, the whole masquerade would finally be over, and Bella and I could live our lives without the fear of someone finding out about the deep, dark secret we were keeping.
When Bella had arrived home with Louis and Jasmine and the contract in hand, we'd immediately taken it, along with her copy and my shredded version and burned them in the same damn trash can Bella had used to torch the lingerie. Watching the last and only bit of proof of our arrangement disintegrate into ash was like a weight being lifted off our shoulders. Both of our bodies seemed to relax at the same time once the fire burned out, proof of how much stress it had taken on us physically in addition to the mental and emotional turmoil.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...we had given ourselves a new beginning and we weren't going to take it for granted.
Louis had been only too excited to show me his prize video from their excursion. I could only take the briefest of seconds of it before I turned away in horrid disgust. I wasn't homophobic or anything of the sort, to each his own and all, but I didn't want to see the shit. It gave me the damn heebie jeebies...at first, and then I got a rather brilliant idea.
And so, there I was: Monday morning, just moments away from the board meeting and Bella and I were riding my personal elevator up to my office floor. She insisted on accompanying me for moral support and all that jazz, and truthfully, I was glad she did. If, for whatever reason, shit backfired on us, we needed to be able to form a united front. Or get the hell out of town quick, fast and in a hurry. I heard Alaska was really nice that time of year.
I wasn't really worried though. We had that shit in the bag, and Jake was going to go down.
"Nervous?" she asked as she walked up behind me and put her arms around my waist.
I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. "Nah, just another day at the office as far as I'm concerned. I'm really hoping the board approves of my newest charitable campaign though."
Bella turned me around and looked up at me. "I'm sure they will. You worked really hard on the presentation all weekend. That can't be all for nothing, right?"
She was smiling, and the confidence I saw in her eyes set my mind at ease. When she looked at me like that, it gave me a renewed confidence that couldn't be shaken. It was me and her against the world, and by God, I believed we had a damn good fighting chance. Together, we could bring it to its knees.
The bell on the elevator dinged and the doors opened to show the hustle and bustle of the office before us. Employees were always on high alert when it came to board meeting days, trying to look even busier than normal. Everyone was decked out in their most professional attire, the looks on their faces ones of all-business.
