Can You Keep A Secret? (Completed)

vii - dinner party for the wells

After Alex left I fell into a dreamless sleep . I woke up the next morning not feeling well rested at all and I honestly don't know why I'm upset at Alex. We hardly know each other .

I quickly got dressed for work and as soon as I step foot in my office my assistant tells me the big bosses want to see me. I went up to the conference room on the 7th floor and waited there for them. For some reason I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

"Aria, please have a seat," Mr. Philips says to me as Susan Wright walks in . She is the other half of the Philips and Wright firm. She places a manila folder in front of me and sits down.

"Miss Lawson, this is your next client and we're here to brief you," please don't let it be Trip. I specifically don't take one individual clients because those are always a headache . To my dismay the photo staring at me is Trip's face . I look up at my bosses and see their eager faces.

"Aria, before you argue that your department doesn't handle personal clients like him , I want to say that we know you're the only one who can handle this case . If you succeed in cleaning up his image and helping him rehabilitate as an upstanding citizen then we can assure you that your partnership with the firm is a solid guarantee."

Wait, did he just say partner? I look at them, "Partner?"

"Yes, we've watched you grow through the ranks and we've been impressed since day one. As soon as you pulled Hughes Inc. Out of that sticky mud, we knew that you were the right person to join us here . And this will be the biggest project out of all the clients you've ever dealt with ," Susan says to me.

I close my eyes and breathe in . They're right , when no one else could get Hughes Inc out of that PR nightmare I was able to turn their image around . After internally giving myself a pep talk I looked at both of them, "okay, but I think there's something I'll need to tell you guys first."

Both of them were seated across from me with expectant looks , "I'm in a relationship."

They exchange looks and smile , "that's good, but what does that have to do with Trip?"

"I'm dating his younger brother Christian Alexander Wells."

The silence was deafening as I tried to figure out if what I just told them was a good or bad thing . Before I can say anything else Mr. Philips spoke , "that's the best news for this situation," he says with a giant grin.

"How come you didn't tell us before?" Miss Wright asks .

"It's new and we want to keep a low profile . Being that he is a Wells and I am a Lawson," I say biting the inside or my cheek to stop me from having word vomit.

"That makes sense. You guys didn't want to have a media storm surrounding your relationship. Well , you work at the right place to protect your image," Susan says.

"I'll be having dinner the family tonight, Trip will be there," I tell them.

Both of then are grinning so hard , "wonderful , read up on his file. This might end up being easier for you than we initially thought."

With that we all stand up and walk out the door. I'm stuck in a daze as to what actually just transpired . It wasn't until I was back in my office that I snapped out of it. I had to text Alex. I quickly opened his message and began to type out :

Emergency!! We need to talk ASAP!

No more than a minute my phone started buzzing . I picked it up , "Alex, we have a problem. It looks like I'll be looking after Trip ."

"Whoa.. what? I thought you didn't deal with one on one clients?" He asked with confusion in his voice.

"I don't but apparently I'm really good at my job and they gave me his file . If I succeed, I get named partner," I finish.