Page 13 of Yours, For Now

Lina looked at me with sad eyes. She'd likely reached the same conclusion. "They'll say no, if only out of pride. Just like they say no to me, just because I'm a woman." She scoffed and dropped her head.

She crossed her arms and I released her; I ran my fingers through my hair.

I closed my eyes, and dug my fingers into the back of my skull. "You honestly think that anything that disappoints them at this time… including the fact we're not together… could make them say no?"

"Anything could spook them and leave me in the same place for the foreseeable future. If I don't get this company moving in the right direction somehow, I'll have a stagnant business when my dad retires. As long as I have permission to run this project, I can use it as a proof of concept and grow from there. But I have to get them to say yes first."

She searched my face, and I could see the request building in her mind.

"Lina… I don't know. Lying to them now means lying to them for a while. When would we stop? After they agree? They still could say no. And no one could ever know we lied. No one. Not my parents, not our employees, not even a random barista."

"If we were to do this… then I think we'd have to do it until the contracts between our companies are signed. Then my family can't backtrack."

"I…" my sentence died before I could start it. She looked at me with bright eyes, and despite her strength and drive, I could see the vulnerability behind it.

Memories of the times my mom told me about how she was treated by her family came up; how she explained, as I grew up, that it was why she was raising me the way she was. So I could be a man like she wished she'd had around.

Lying would be wrong, and not lying would leave her stuck with her family and looking for options. If this decision were easy for me, then I wouldn't be the kind of man my parents wanted me to be.

No sounds disrupted the quiet that followed. It seemed we were alone on the floor, people's working hours over. I stared at Lina, my brain jumping through possible scenarios. There had to be a way out of this, where we got what we wanted, without lying.

I spoke the first one that made any kind of sense. “Look, Lina. If this doesn’t work out for you, I'll find something for you at the Sotomayor Group. Someone with your ambition and smarts shouldn’t be treated like this. You’d be great in our construction division.”

She gave me an incomprehensible look. “That… that’s really generous, Gabe. But I have to try to make this work. For me, and all of the work I’ve put into this. I won't give up yet. Besides, I can see my family berating me for it. Then I would still have to deal with all of it at home.”

“I understand." I pressed my lips together. "But the offer stands.”

Silence continued to surround us, no obvious solution in sight for Lina’s dilemma.

"Gabe… I hate myself for saying this, but I don't see any other way. You could undo me. If you say no, my chances of moving forward with this— ever— go almost down to zero. I'd have to wait for a miracle. But you? I gave you everything on a silver platter. You could go and find another comparable company and do it with them, leaving me in the dust."

I frowned. "I know you don't know me well enough to believe me, but I would never do that."

"I hoped you wouldn't, even when I didn't know that I would have to ask you to pretend to be my boyfriend, to have a better chance at my career goals."

A scoff escaped me. "When you say it that way…"

"I’m depending on you."

I groaned. "Pulling at my heartstrings?"

She gave me a small smile and nodded once. "And I’m hoping that trying to help me will win over your scruples."

"Wow. You're really pushing it." I smirked.

"Only because of how much this matters to me. Just lie for a little bit and pretend to date me, so my future doesn't crumble right before I can touch it."

"Stop."

"I'm serious. I would never beg for things but for this… if you asked me to beg…"

"Enough." I shook my head. I jammed my hands in my pants pockets and gazed at her. Her eyes were soft on me, the deep brown of them open and raw. "No one could know. Ever. There'll be gossip either way now, about us. But…"

"We'll both get something good out of it, I know you will too." Lina reached for my arm, her fingers clinging to the rich fabric of my blazer.

We both stared at the point of contact.

I sighed. "Let me sit with it for tonight, okay?"