Chapter 6 A whale of a lot of money

As the meeting ended, my grandfather began to shake hands with each of the directors to bid them farewell, as each of them passed me to congratulate me on my upcoming marriage. I, meanwhile, had finally realised that all this was not a dream, but that I was in a very real situation.

How? Well, after all the announcements made by my grandfather, when I was recovering from the pale and the loss of breath, hiding my hands under the table, I began to pinch my fat rolls several times, just in those spots where it hurts most to pinch, and yes, it was painful! Which, unfortunately for me, confirmed what I had feared, this was not a dream but a horrible reality.

The goodbyes went on and on, and I needed to get out of there, to end the ordeal, I had to talk to my grandfather seriously, I had to clear everything up as soon as possible, alone. I would not be able to tell him the truth in front of all the partners, it would be humiliating.

Because now, it wasn't just a matter of confessing the truth to my grandfather about my break-up with Mike, but that everything that had been said at the meeting about my imaginary marriage would soon spread like wildfire throughout the company and when the truth came out, I would be scorched to a crisp.

Not only would I have to watch my grandfather's disappointment at learning the truth, but I would also be publicly humiliated.

I closed my eyes tightly, clenched my fists, a shiver running through my body as I imagined that scenario. Just then, a familiar voice snapped me out of my abstraction.

"Oh, Miss Golf" I opened my eyes and saw a hand stretched out in front of me, I looked up, it was Alex, he was there, serious, erect, unreachable. I reached out my hand shyly to shake it. "So, is she engaged?" he asked, clenching his jaw, was he angry about my engagement? "Because, I'd love to be one of the first to congratulate her".

I sensed a hint of sarcasm in that last sentence. I looked into his eyes and saw a note of annoyance in them. I understood, it was obvious that this behaviour was due to our recent intimate encounter, surely he believed me to be a vile unfaithful woman.

I couldn't answer, in fact, I looked down again and let go of his hand quickly, I couldn't face him any longer, the shame was starting to burn inside me, surely I must be red, being my skin so white.

"No, she's not engaged yet" My grandfather replied, in the absence of my answer. "But in fact, last night my granddaughter and her fiancé were celebrating their second anniversary, so I'm sure the announcement of the engagement and marriage will be forthcoming" He concluded proudly.

«Oh my goodness, to top it all off!» That was the day for me, for the first time in my life, to see my grandfather learning to be impertinent.

Alex was perplexed by my grandfather's statement, «Last night my granddaughter and her boyfriend, they were celebrating their second anniversary», which also echoed in my head as I remembered what I was actually doing the night before with Alex.

I broke out in a cold sweat, closed my eyes tightly, begging for a miracle, begging for the earth to open up at that precise moment and swallow me up in one fell swoop, that moment could not have been more embarrassing.

"Grandfather?" I muttered catching my grandfather's attention, he immediately turned around. "I need to talk to you alone" I added in a whisper.

"This is not a good time, Ava. Don't be rude" He muttered as Alex and his father waited in front of us.

"I'm sorry" I clarified in front of the three men. "I'm just not feeling well, I..." My grandfather seemed to understand, he ran one of his hands over my shoulder warmly.

"I'll call to see you in my office as soon as I'm free" He indicated as he scanned my expression. "Go get some air".

I excused myself again, slipped between Alex and his father, exited the boardroom like a ninja, very quickly, and made my way to the nearest restrooms.

I went into the ladies room, I felt so bad, my body was shaking, my head was about to explode, my stomach was upset, the hangover mixed with my recent worries had me in a bad state.

I looked at myself in the mirror, I was quite pale, I turned on the tap of one of the sinks and splashed a little water on my face, trying to refresh myself, I looked at the mirror again, closed my eyes tightly and repeated my mantra.

"I am an independent, strong and courageous woman" I kept muttering over and over between sighs, trying to focus, to calm myself. "I am an independent, strong and courageous woman. I am an independent, strong and brave woman".

"And beautiful".

Again, a very familiar husky voice made me react with a start, I opened my eyes and through the mirror, I saw Alex standing beside me, I held on tightly to the top of the sinks so I wouldn't fall.

"What the...?"

"What should you add to that sentence, beautiful. You are an independent, strong, brave and beautiful woman" He explained, seriously.

"No! What, what are you doing here?" I started to babble.

"I need to talk to you" He clarified, coming closer to me, staring at me with a frown.

"But... But... But... This is the ladies' room" I mumbled nervously.

"Huh?" He looked around, as if he hadn't really noticed where we were. I saw a small blush on her cheeks. "I... I'm sorry... But..." We heard a noise, heels clicking louder and louder indicating someone was approaching.

I didn't think, I just acted.

I took one of his hands and pulled him with me towards one of the bathroom stalls, the last one in the corridor, which was usually the least used.

Alex seemed to understand my intention, it was obvious that if we were found in that peculiar situation, nothing else would bring more gossip, so he quickly sat down on the toilet lid, as far back as he could, hiding his feet and sat me in front of him in between his legs, intertwining his arms around my waist, pressing me against his body.

I felt his hands on my love handles and tensed immediately, he seemed to notice, but far from holding back, he squeezed me tighter in his arms.

We heard the sound of heels as we entered the bathroom, there were two women, each of them went into a booth in silence, we listened to them do the one, and when they came out, they began to chat pleasantly in front of the mirror.

"Hey! Is the meeting over already?"

"Yes, I just saw some shareholders leaving"

"And do you know what they said?"

"No one has said anything yet, last I heard, Mr. Golf was very angry that Ava didn't show up"

"Poor girl! Maybe it was the weight that kept her from running" There was laughter.

A little fright invaded my chest as I heard them talking about me.

"Not poor! She's rich! Life usually compensates you for some things"

"What?"

"For example, if you're ugly at least you have a great body, if you're gross at least you're pretty, Ava turned out to be a whale, but at least she has a lot of money"

My heart pounded as I listened to those cruel words, was life meant to embarrass me more this day? Why did Alex have to listen to all this too?

Breathing heavily, I began to fill with rage, I wanted to go out, I wanted to see who these horrible women were and face them, to let them see that I had heard them, however, I couldn't go out.

I was already in too much trouble and being seen coming out of a bathroom with an unknown man would only make things worse. So I tried to control myself by taking deep breaths.

Alex seemed to sense my uneasiness, how my body was trembling, and he pressed his face into my neck, gently nuzzling it for a moment with his nose, what was he doing? That wasn't the best place or time to get mushy.