The Subtle Art of Love and War

Chapter 7: Cherry

I'm a mess the rest of the morning and Tracy had to repeat herself a couple of times just to get my attention. My mind is completely muddled with the dreadful thought of Hero coming over to my place tonight.

I'm gonna be so screwed.

He's going to find out who I am and this will all blow out of proportion. He'll think I'm a crazy woman and he'll call mum and dad. It could only go down in two ways; either he's gonna think "fuck this shit, I'm out" or he's gonna demand to cut the engagement short and push the wedding to an earlier date. I can't take any risks. I'm gonna need a backup for this.

Excusing myself from Tracy, I head to the fire escape once again and call my ultimate how tos for dummies, Cindy.

"Hey Jo, what's up?" She immediately answers on the first ring. Prompt as ever.

"I need your help. Hero will be having dinner at my place tonight," I say, going straight to the point.

"Shit!" She mutters. I wait a couple of seconds after until she finally continues. "Okay, I know what to do. I'll call you in a couple of hours after. Wait, will you be cooking? Or should I arrange for that as well?"

I think about her question for just a second before huffing. "No, I'll fix something for us. Just call me for the plan."

"Copy that." And then she hangs up. I have full faith in Cindy; I've seen her do her magic so many times, it's insane how she does most of them.

By lunch time, Tracy and I are in the pantry eating her bag full of lunch that really could feed five people. I'm digging into a garden salad with grilled chicken and feta cheese as she demolishes her lasagna.

"How far are you?" I finally ask the question that's been bugging me since I first saw her bump.

"Four months," she smiles, rubbing her tiny belly bump.

"And yet you're already leaving for your maternity leave? Wouldn't you need the extra time for when the baby finally arrives?" I ask curiously.

She softly laughs before sipping from her water bottle. "Hero actually gave me the extra leave credits so I can relax before giving birth, says I won't be of any use to him if I can't even accompany him in his meetings and travels but of course I know he's just saying that. I know he worries about me spending too much time running around for him while I have this baby in my womb."

"Oh, that's nice of him," I force a smile. God damn it! Can she spill anything negative about her boss or something? At least information I could use against him.

"My husband's a French and he wants to bring me to their countryside estate in France. We'll be staying there until I give birth," she smiles fondly, her eyes sparkling and I suddenly find myself envious of her glow. She's so lucky to be wedded to a husband she truly loves and who loves her just the same.

"When should I expect you back here anyway? You know, so I could at least find another job before you kick me out of here," I chuckle.

"Oh, you don't need to think about that now Jo," she laughs, taking a bite of her lasagna. "I won't be back for the next two years," she continues.

"Two years?" I gasp in surprise. Daniel never told me about this piece of information.

"Yeah, Hero's generous like that," she laughs.

Generous indeed.

Just thinking of Cindy leaving me behind for two years makes me nauseous. I don't think I'll be able to survive that long without my PA.

As impressed as I am by this piece of information, it's of no use to me at all. This will definitely not help me in my case with my parents against Hero. My next hope is the documents I snapped with my phone earlier this morning. I should be able to find something I could use in there.