Chapter 4 Making it Public

The next morning, a nervous Maya got up and decided to wear a fawn colour dress which complemented her cinnamon skin tone. She wrapped her hair up in a bun with a few tendrils pulled out on the sides. She put on some light make-up and paired her outfit with some nude heels, and she was ready to leave her apartment when she received a call from Grace. "Hi friend. Nervous?" She chuckled. "Grace, I'm only doing this for you and your parents. I hate lying to Dadi and aunt about this and I feel nauseous just thinking about your brother. Sorry, no offense."

Maya said while sighing on the phone to her. Grace tried to reassure her, "Don't worry, it will all be over after the investment deal is done which is in a few months." Maya quickly ended the call with Grace and hurried over to the office, trying to get there as early as possible to avoid the media and the prying eyes of the staff members.

As she snuck into her office, she found Simone walking towards her with a folder in the one hand and a box in the other. He threw the folder on her desk and asked her to read it before the press briefing and he placed the box in her hand and asked her to wear it. Curious, she picked up the folder and read through the press release and her heart skipped a beat. It was signed off by non-other than the jerk, James Aslan. She picked up the box, took the folder with her and stomped off towards his office on the 30th floor. She got off the elevator and walked directly to his office without asking the secretary if she could go in. When she got there, she saw Jill and Mr Aslan with James and they were also reading through the press release.

"What the hell is this?" Maya asked while throwing the folder on James' desk. He smirked and sat on the edge of his desk without giving her an answer. Jill looked at Maya apologetically and walked towards her. "Jill, marriage? We agreed that we would pretend to be in a relationship until the investment deal went through, but we never agreed on marriage and that too, one month from now!" Maya howled not caring how impolite she was in front of Mr Aslan. James on the other hand didn't say a word. Mr Aslan explained that the consultant who was working with the investor called James last night and said that the investor wanted to pull out of an important project because they didn't want to work with a company that didn't have a stable and responsible CEO.

Maya snorted and gave James an evil look. Five months ago, a similar story was published with James hanging out with famous movie stars and with regular clips of him leaving bars and clubs in a drunken state with these women. The investor was concerned that this was a recurring habit of this CEO. Ferret continued, "I know we should have discussed it with you Maya, but I think that James' decision to announce your marriage is a good one. Both for the company and for our family. Maya, you know that we already consider you family and by you marrying this idiot of a son, we will gain another daughter. You can consider how you wish to approach this marriage. We do not have any expectations from you other than respecting the wows of marriage for at least one year. After the year is up and the company is stable again, you and James can go your separate ways."

James just snorted at his father's words and looked everywhere but at Maya. Maya walked towards him with her hands clenched at her sides and said, "No use trying to act all righteous. We are in this mess because of your callous behaviour." James stood up from his desk and yelled back, "And who's to tell if this wasn't your plan all along. To get me to marry your sorry..." Jill interrupted the two of them. She held Maya's hands with tears in her eyes and said "Maya, we will not force you into this marriage but let's get this press briefing over and done with and then we can take it from there. If within the month, you don't want to go through with this marriage then we will find another way out. Ok?"

Maya felt temporary relief when she heard Jill's words hence she shook her head in agreement. Ferret sighed a sigh of relief and gestured James towards Maya. James reluctantly walked around his desk towards Maya, took the box from her hand, took out a beautiful diamond ring and looked at Maya, who avoided eye contact with him. James roughly pulled her hand towards him and slipped the ring onto her finger. Maya looked at the ring on her finger with a heavy heart. Jill looked at them lovingly and wished that this was really happening. Alas she knew that it was going to take a lot more for her son to bury the hurt in his heart before he could love again.

The press conference went off without a hitch with James answering a few questions about his relationship with Maya and details about the wedding. Maya smiled and nodded however she didn't utter a word until the last question was directed at her, "Ms Sharma, congratulations on your engagement to one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. In your opinion, why is your relationship with Mr Aslan different to that of his previous relationships and were you concerned at all by the media reports about Mr Aslan's so-called flings?" "Thank you. Firstly, James' previously relationships are no concern of mine as it doesn't hold any significance in our current relationship. Secondly, something must be different if he chose to be with me, don't you think?

As for your last question, it's you the media who have made up those reports hence they were insignificant and untrue, in my view. I get that you guys want to sell sensational news however you should first check the facts before publishing such stories and damaging people's reputation." Maya ended off and handed the mic back to Simone. James stood close to her and wrapped an arm around Maya's waist. The briefing ended with all journalists being escorted out of the meeting room. When the media left, Maya pulled away from James and refused to look at him. She walked over to Grace and looked at her with pleading eyes. Grace knew what her friend needed so she looked over at her parents and her brother and said, "I am borrowing Maya for a few hours."

Before anyone could respond, she pulled Maya out of the meeting room and into the private parking lot and drove out casually. They drove over to Blue Neon, Walter's wine bar and ordered a bottle of white wine. It was almost lunch time and Grace knew that Maya was too tense this morning and skipped breakfast, so she ordered the kitchen to bring them the lunch special. Walter watched them from the corner of his eye, and he knew exactly what was going on because James was at his bar last night filling him in on the latest news.

Maya looked down at her finger and a silent tear escaped her eyes. She lifted her head to look at Grace and said "Rahul was the only man I truly loved, and it was my dream to become his wife. When he found out about my relationship with my dad's family or rather my lack of relations with them, he broke my heart and left me on the night of our engagement party. He was only interested in the commercial aspect of becoming my husband because of my family background. I kept asking myself; why do people forsake a loving, honest relationship with what could be your soulmate for the sake of a business deal or career prospects. I always thought; that's not me.

I was so glad when Rahul and I split up because I would never compromise. I wanted a love marriage. Not an arranged marriage or a marriage of convenience but a marriage with love and mutual respect where two people give their heart and soul to one another. I guess it's just a dream and this kind of wishful thinking will just bring me more heartache." Grace felt Maya's pain and leaned over the squeeze her hand to show her that she understood her disappointment. Walter walked towards their table with a bottle of wine and 3 glasses. Maya gave him a sad smile and waved her hand at him. He sat down next to Grace and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

This is the big secret that Grace had been keeping from her brother James. He had no idea that his sister had been in a relationship with his best friend for the past three years. They fell in love with one another while James was still in New York and Walter knew that James was not keen on any of his friends dating his younger sister. Maya looked at the two of them and decided to make a toast "lets drink to my fake engagement to the most eligible bad boy bachelor in the country." They raised their glasses and looked at Maya with concern however she laughed it off and told them that she was fine. She just needed a drink and something to eat and she was good to go.

Four glasses later and she was nowhere near being ok. Grace lifted her arm over her shoulder while Walter gripped her waist and put her into Grace's car. She then drove Maya over to her grandmothers because she didn't want to leave Maya alone in her apartment. James was sitting in his office and couldn't concentrate on the file in his hand because his mind kept going back to what his private investigator reported on yesterday. He gave James a run down on Maya's background and about her paternal family not acknowledging her existence. He was surprised to learn that she had been friends with his sister since high school. He tried so hard to remember her from back then, but he just couldn't recall meeting her. He was smitten by Lia that he didn't even notice any of the other girls at school and certainly not one of his sister's friends.

What got him really upset was the last part of the report. Maya had received a huge sum of money the day when the pictures of the two of them were leaked to the press. James called Simone immediately and asked him to investigate the money trail by using his contacts at the bank and their investigation revealed that the money was withdrawn the very same day. Simone couldn't believe it, but James was 100% sure that Maya was capable of taking money from Alex to sabotage him and his company therefore he had to reign her in and make sure that she pays for what she had done. He didn't care to discuss these issues with his family because he knew that they were smitten with Maya and would not believe him so between him and Simone they prepared today's press release and briefing according to their own plan. They just needed Maya to agree to the wedding in a month and appease the shareholders thereafter James would act against those who tried to bring him down.

"James, its late, why don't we call it a day, Simone said while yawning." James didn't realise the time and packed up to leave when his phone started ringing. When he saw the name on the screen, he rolled his eyes at it and declined the call. "Bethany doesn't give up, does she?" Simone said to James who just nodded his head. "This is all my mum's doing. I just hope that with this engagement with that woman, mum will cut me some slack." James sighed as he spoke to Simone. Meanwhile over at the Aslan residence, Jill and Ferret were going through some of the press coverage of today's event. They felt very concerned by James' behaviour. He was too calm and accepting of Maya at the briefing almost like he had other plans that he was not sharing with them. They didn't like this feeling but decided to brush it off.

Maya woke up to the smell of freshly brewed chai and dosai (tissue thin Indian pancake) and she instantly felt happy and remembered her childhood when her grandmother prepared her favourite dishes for breakfast. Thereafter, they would chat for hours and hours at the breakfast table. She took a quick shower and headed downstairs where she was met with lots of hugs and congratulations from her family. Everyone's eyes landed on the diamond ring on Maya's finger and all the anxiety and nervousness came rushing back to her.

She was James Aslan's fiancé and she had to pretend that she was happy and excited in front of those most dear to her because she made a promise to Jill and Mr Aslan that she will support their company through this difficult time even though she knew it wasn't her fault that their son behaved inappropriately with her only to have the paparazzi leak those photos to the media. She felt frustrated, firstly because of James' infidelities from the past which she had to bail him out of and secondly, he blamed her for conspiring with Alex to trap him and leak the story to the press. How will she get out of this mess, she thought to herself?

Maya's grandmother bombarded her with questions about James however Maya had to improvise her answers to these questions as she didn't know much about the man. He grandmother insisted on speaking to James therefore Maya reluctantly made a call to James. After a few rings, the call was connected however no one spoke on the other end of the line. Maya cleared her throat and attempted to speak, "Hi, it's me. Mhhh, I'm with grandma and she wants to..." Maya's grandmother snatched her phone and spoke sweetly to James, "Good morning James, I'm Maya's grandmother. I know that you are a busy man but don't you think that you owe us a visit. After all, you proposed to my granddaughter without taking my blessing." James was livid and tried to keep calm, "Hello grandma. I apologise for my rude behaviour. Everything happened so fast but I swear, I will arrange a visit soon."

After saying a few more words to James, Maya's grandmother ended the call and said, "He sounds like a wonderful man." Maya smiled and said, "You have no idea how charming he is." Maya kissed her grandmother goodbye and headed straight to the office where she ran into Susan, her colleague. Susan smiled and said, "You and James huh. Never would have pictured the two of you together. You are so grounded and upright and he is just so uptight. He scared me to tell you the truth. I don't care how bloody gorgeous he is but he scares me."

Maya giggled at Susan's comments and tried to stop her from going on when they heard a stern voice behind them, "Is this what we pay the two of you to do. Stand around and gossip about your personal lives." Susan immediately apologised and walked back to her office while Maya stared at the man in front of her and walked into her office. He followed her in and slammed the door shut, pulled her arm towards him and said, "Now that everyone knows about the two of us, I want you to mind your manners and don't do anything to draw unnecessary attention to yourself and please don't embarrass me." Maya looked him straight in his eyes and stressed the words, "Take your hands off me."

James let go of her and continued, "This morning you sprung your grandmother on me. Do you really think that I want to play house with you and meet your family? Think again. This wedding is just a farce so don't go getting any ideas." Maya was furious but kept her composure and replied, "For your information, Mr Aslan, I have no such dreams or expectations. In fact, you should be begging me to continue with the wedding since you need this more than I do." James didn't want to face this woman any longer. He brushed his hand over her desk and swiped all the files off it and said, "Enjoy your day, Ms Sharma and by the way, we are meeting some people for drinks tonight. I will text you the details. Don't be late." Maya shook her head at his insolent behaviour and bent down to pick up the papers.