Fairy Tale

Ronny Point of View

It was one thing to plan something crazy like fraudulently marrying my assistant, but carrying it out was a whole new experience that I had a hard time dealing with. It wasn't about the fast"paced activity of getting a passport, or handing off some work to my siblings while trying to keep my grandmother out of it, or figuring out what outfit I would wear to say my false vows. No, the difficulty was sitting in a first class seat next to my assistant as we prepared to fly to Italy for a fake wedding.

He had never traveled with her, and even if he had, he would have remained professional. Not that this situation was going to become personal, but as my fake fiancée, I couldn't treat her as my assistant either. Did he hold her hand or put his arm around her? Did she expect me to kiss her? It was driving me fucking crazy not knowing how I should behave to carry out the charade without making her feel uncomfortable or without me facing a lawsuit.

"Oh, my God," she gasped as the plane's wheels took off on its first leg of the trip. We would fly to New York, and from there to Rome, and then to Florence. The flight time alone would be fifteen hours, not including layover time in New York and Rome. Part of me thought maybe I should have resorted to chartering a plane, but it was too late.

"I have never flyed. "Her voice was breathless as she watched out the window as the ground receded. Once again, I was surprised at how different our backgrounds were. I knew I was privileged, but there were nuances about life with and without money that I didn't know. She turned her head and smiled at me. Tell me when I'm too embarrassing for you and I'll tone it down.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?”

She leaned closer to me and her scent, which made me think of wildflowers and sunshine, enveloped me.

"This is all so new, and I'm a little overwhelmed by it all. “I know it's not a big deal to you, but to me…” She looked out the window. It's all so incredible.”

I watched her, enjoying seeing something for the first time through her eyes.

"I like your emotion and your enthusiasm.” “She” turned to me again.

"Really? " Her tone suggested that she was surprised by my statement.

"Yeah. Are you surprised?” She shrugged her shoulders.

"It seems to me that you are a guy who likes subtle things, without stridency. " I frowned.

"Are you saying I'm boring?" "I wouldn't have been the first, but I always thought that Noé and my brothers made fun of me when they called me boring or vanilla.

Her eyes widened and she bit her lip. She was surprisingly adorable.

"I'm sorry... I think I went too far.”

I could tell she was worried she had offended me. My hand pressed into hers before she could realize it. I pushed her away quickly. Yes, we had a fake relationship, but we didn't have to look real here on the plane.

"No problem”. I'm kidding. But, as you guessed, I don't do it much, so I'm not very good at it. "Her lips moved slightly upward, but she wanted to see the radiant smile she had had a few seconds ago when we took off". When we're at cruising altitude, we'll drink champagne. We will add it to your list of exciting events.

"I've had champagne before. " Fuck. She now she was offending her. But then her smile turned coquettish. But not in first class.

"I don't know if you know this, but when people get engaged, others usually ask how the couple met and how they proposed. “I think we need a story about how we became a couple,” she said.

OMG, any more details to work out?

"Have you already thought about that? I asked her, hoping she had. She was very good at this kind of thing. She often anticipated my needs. I guess it could be the cliché story that we were working late and it just happened.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"We could, but why be cliché? Maybe, it could be that we fell in love through the emails we sent each other. "I laughed.

"Why stick with just email, why not also by phone call?

She blushed slightly.

"You're right, the email is a little out of place. Maybe we have to continue with the cliché. I don't go out much, what about you? "I practically snorted.

"No. "Then, I frowned". Why don't you go out much? She"she was a young and beautiful woman. She was always dressed elegantly, which made her look intelligent and at the same time feminine. Today she was not much different. She wore her hair up as always. Instead of a skirt, she wore a conservative navy blue dress. Like her skirt, it perfectly highlighted her curves. Yes, she was smart and beautiful, and even sexy, although he shouldn't think of her like that.

She couldn't imagine that she didn't have a boyfriend. fuck, she had just asked my assistant to be my fake wife when she had a boyfriend.

"Do you have a boyfriend? "This time she snorted.

"No. I work and go home. I go out with my sister. I do not like partys. I have never liked them. I guess I'm kind of boring.

"I don't find you boring.

"No? She"she looked at me with her gray eyes. There were small flecks of blue on them that she had never noticed before. I shook my head.

"I find you intelligent, efficient... "she rolled her eyes.

"I think that's the definition of boring.

"Not for a guy like me who likes smart and efficient. We could say that we fell in love because of the way we are. "She laughed, and it was charming.

"So romantic.

"Could be it. All those folders and papers, so well organized, in a big metal cabinet. It seems romantic to me.

"Well, it's not a walk on the beach, but I suppose, for our purposes, it could do.

A walk on the beach. I wondered if that was the kind of thing she would enjoy.

"I live on the beach. Maybe our story is that we worked for a weekend at my house. "He seemed to like that.

"The attraction would have been growing.

"Through email? "I joked.

"Through everything a little. Working very closely, the messages we sent each other, and then that weekend, out of the office...

"One thing led to another," I finished for her.

"Exact. Maybe we went for a walk on the beach and you kissed me.

My gaze went to her lips and I knew for a fact that, if I were walking on a beach with her, I would want to kiss her. Damn, now I wanted to kiss her.

I turned to face her, scolding myself for thinking of her in those terms. She could be my fake fiancée, but first she was my assistant.

"Unless it's too cheesy," she said.

I kept my gaze in front of her as she said:

"No. It's not cheesy at all. I can totally see it.

When she didn't respond, I turned to look at her. She was staring at me and then she too turned away from her.

"Me too," she said. Then she looked out the plane window.

I watched her for a while and realized that if I felt uncomfortable, she probably did too. She probably felt even weirder because she was my assistant. Technically, she was at my service. We were playing roles, but our positions had not changed.

"You could have said no," I blurted out without thinking. She turned to me, her eyebrows furrowed, as if she wasn't sure what she was saying. I looked away, feeling a little foolish for my clumsiness. “About this fake marriage,” I clarified. I looked at her again. It would have been nice if you said no. I know this must be weird for you... It's a little weird for me.

"Oh. "Now her expression was uncertain. As if she had said something to make her feel self"conscious. Shit, would she think I thought I was weird because of something to do with her?

"What I mean is that I'm your boss." No wonder I'm attracted to you…” God, he was about to get down the road of demands again. What I mean is, if you feel uncomfortable now or at any time, we can end this. I value you as my assistant and I don't want to ruin that.

She nodded.

"Yes, it's a little awkward, but I know this is all for business. I don't think you're trying to take advantage of me. She gave a self"deprecating laugh. That would be stupid.

I frowned.

"What would be stupid? “She,” she shrugged and looked out the window again.

"That you take advantage of me. “She,” she continued, not understanding it.

"I'm not the kind of man who would do that."

"No, you are not. And I'm not the kind of woman that men would be tempted by.

It may have been a little slow, but I finally understood that she was saying that she didn't think she was the type of woman a man like me would be tempted by. The truth is that, until recently, he had never looked at her in a sexual way. But that was mainly because she worked for me and that would be inappropriate. If I were a man dating someone and I saw her in a bar, or wherever men meet women these days, I would be attracted to her.

I let out a small awkward laugh as I realized she was about to venture into an inappropriate conversation. She flinched at my laughter and I cursed myself for hurting her ego once again.

"I'm sorry. It's just... I'm trying to find a way to tell you that you're the kind of woman who tempts a man, even a man like me, without seeming creepy or completely inappropriate.

Her expression relaxed.”

"Maybe we have to try to forget that I'm your assistant and you're my boss.

It seemed like a horrible idea to me. If I didn't remind myself that she was my assistant, she might cross the line more than she already had.

"We could be friends on this trip. "Friends who pretend to be engaged," she offered.

Friends. Men didn't have inappropriate thoughts about their friends, right? I could try that.

"Friends," I said in agreement.

We flew to New York.