Chapter 4 4.

"What the hell is this?" Trevor Smith threw his phone and it slid across the kitchen island and stopped an inch away from where William was eating his Honey Brunches of Oats cereal.

"Your phone." William replied, stuffing his face with another spoonful of cereal.

"William, this is not funny."

"Never claimed it was. What's got you all worked up anyway?"

"The video William! I'm talking about the goddamn video!"

"Why are you bringing up a 2 day old video now? That's yesterdays news!"

"You are going viral. Everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Even WhatsApp!" Trevor Smith fumed.

"Oh, is that not what you wanted? For the Smith Hospital to get more publicity?" William asked, thoroughly chomping on his cereal.

"Not like this! We need good publicity for you. William, there is a viral video of you butt naked, climbing out of an apartment balcony and then picking a fight with the stranger filming you."

"Well, he should have been minding his own business then." He replied, slamming his fists on the table and looking at Trevor, defiantly.

"And what did you do this time to get kicked out of the apartment, out of the balcony none the less?"

William shrugged his shoulders before picking up his cereal filled spoon again. "Her husband came home."

"H...husband? William? Are you even in your goddamn senses? Why would you sleep with a married woman?"

"I guess I learnt that from you. Isn't it?" William dropped the spoon in the bowl and pushed it away from him. He then folded his hands together on the counter.

Trevor Smith was flabbergasted at William's response. "This. Is. Not. About. Me." He mumbled with grit teeth.

"Is it not? Because last time I checked, I was your son. Right? Or is there something that I should know?" His tone was dark, rude, and sarcastic.

Trevor took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. "But then why the balcony? You are not the one to run away from a problem or person."

"Ooh. Yeah, I may have also called the girl by the wrong name when I was explaining the situation to her husband. Honest mistake on my part, that. Should have paid attention when she was introducing herself to me."

"And now you are ruining your and the hospital's reputation because you can't keep it in your pants. William, you are the most eligible bachelor in the city, and one of the best cardiac surgeons but rather than using it to your advantage, you are hell bent on ruining that very advantage."

William looked away, avoiding eye contact with his father. He hated to say it but Sir was speaking nothing but facts. He needed to get his act together.

"If you don't want to be the CEO then why are we even wasting the board's time? We can just give that position to Fred. Why keep a vote?"

"No!" William's voice boomed in his large penthouse suite apartment. He absolutely detested the mention of Fred.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Trevor gave a satisfied smile seeing William aggravated by the possibility that Fred may become CEO.

"What do you want from me?"

Trevor smiled. "Dave!"

The door to the apartment opened and Dave walked in carrying a big black binder. He side stepped Trevor and placed the binder in front of William, leaving it open on a legal document.

"Marriage Contract?" William mumbled to himself before looking up at Trevor and Dave in confusion and shock. "What the hell is this?"

"Exactly what it looks like." Trevor replied.

William glared at Trevor before turning his attention towards Dave. "Dave?"

Dave gave a worried glance towards Trevor, asking for permission. William witnessed the little exchange of glances and came booming down like a tsunami, annoyed at both his father and his best friend.

"Dave! You are MY friend, and MY assistant! Now somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on and what the fuck is this?!" William yelled, picking up and slamming the contract binder on the table.

"Abhi." Dave hesitated as he entered the war-zone. "Please calm down."

"I am calm." He replied, without an ounce of calmness in his demeanor.

Dave shook his head. "Sit down. Please."

William raised his hands in the air to showcase his displeasure before taking a seat on the kitchen island.

"Now what?" He bit out like a caged animal, fighting to be let free.

"Well. Admit it or not, you want to be the new CEO for Smith Hospital. Because the only other option is Fred and we all know how much you detest that. But -" Dave paused to gather William's expressions .

"But?"

"But. You are also a black mark to the reputation of Smith Hospital. You are a great doctor and surgeon but you are not presentable as THE face of Smith Hospital. You also have a problem with excessive drinking, partying and well...sleeping around with anything that walks."

"And?"

"And while that does not hinder your ability to be the best doctor at Smith Hospital, being a good doctor isn't the only thing they -the board wants. They need someone who will make a good impression with the donors, will connect with clients -with people. Basically someone who is good for the hospital's image."

"Ah. And that someone isn't me."

"No. Unfortunately. But. It can be you!" Dave mentioned, with hope in his voice.

"And this is what this contract is?"

"Yes. Right now, as regressive as it is, the typical definition for a "good person" is someone who is loyal, committed -basically a family man. Because if a doctor can show he's committed and in a well loved relationship -that means you will be equally committed to being a CEO of Smith Hospital. They want honesty, trust, the white picket fence with a dog running around in the backyard. The whole nine yards."

"And you think this bullshit contract is going to help me?"

"Yes. Maybe. But there is no harm in trying. We just need to make the general public and the board believe that you are a reformed bad boy and that you found the one with whom you're ready to settle down with. It's really not that difficult if you think about it." Dave explained, trying to convince himself more than anything.

"Oh. This is great and all. But you forgot one thing. I am not going to get married. So this makes your damned contract and your stupid idea useless."

"Who says you have to get married?" Trevor Smith interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"It's going to be a contract marriage. Only on paper and only for show. It's not going to be stamped or officiated. Only the public needs to believe you are married. And trust me, the general public is very easily fooled." He explained.

"So yes. You will have to act like the best husband to the world -pose for paparazzi pictures, let the news get out that you bought your girl expensive gifts -but then act like nothing more than mere roommates when out of the public eye." Dave added.

"Roommates? You mean to say she and I will be living here? In my apartment, together?" William began to choke on his own words. He felt like the imaginary carpet had been pulled from beneath him.

"It's going to hard to sell your marriage if you don't live together. So yes, you two will be living together." Dave explained, probably for the nth time.

Before William could reply, the doorbell to his apartment rang.

"And I think that is Caroline . And...I forget the name but that girl is going to play the role of your wife."

"What? What are they doing here, Dave? I didn't agree to this!" William scoffed, but Dave was already half way to the front door to notice William's displeasure.

"You don't have a choice, son. We gave you time to fix up your act. But you didn't. So we had to take matters into our own hands. And now you are going to have to live with that."

"Don't ever call me son." William warned.

Before Trevor could reply back, Dave walked back into the kitchen with two women. One was older, probably in her late forties wearing a sleek black pencil skirt with a matching blazer and heels. Beside her walked in a petite girl who was wearing converse shoes, pair of loose fitting boyfriend jeans, a plain white crop top and an open-button lose-fit over shirt. She was wearing minimal makeup.

"Hello. My name is Caroline and this is Olivia ." The elder lady started to introduce herself but William was too focused on the girl beside her.

Olivia . Yes. That was her name. She was so tiny he felt like he would break her the moment he touched her. She was gorgeous. Breathtakingly gorgeous. And for some reason he couldn't stop staring at her.

Olivia watched, her eyes wide open in shock as the man from the viral video was sitting in front of her -all real -all human -all flesh. And boy was he handsome. His jawline, his eyelashes, the bridge of his nose -everything. But why was it that the hottest most gorgeous people also turned out to the most shittiest?!

"It's you from the video!" She blurted out. She smacked her hand to her mouth as she realized what she had just done, earning looks of disapproval from Caroline and Trevor while Dave and William looked on, amused by her behaviour.