Falling For Mr King

" Do you, Sandra Rakes take this man to be your husband, to live

together in holy matrimony, to love him, to honor him, to comfort him, and to keep

him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Sandra Rakes replied in a shaky voice. Although smiling, Marie rolled her eyes inwardly. Why Sandra kept acting like this was a real marriage was beyond her. God knows that she had tried to help her friend understand that her boss wasn't looking for love. He was looking for a wife for seven weeks.

"Repeat after me," the Notary was saying now as Marie tried to focus on the ceremony before her. Even though she knew the wedding was a sham, she wished desperately it was her in the white dress. That it was her getting married to Steven Kings. She wished she was the one who any moment from now would be kissed by Stevie.

She should be happy for her friend, Sandra. At least now Sandra would be able to get a studio apartment and set up her small business. When Marie has asked her why she was so desperate to marry Steven King, the billionaire in a super secret marriage, Sandra had laughed and said,

" Duh, for the money!" And though Marie had laughed with her, she couldn't help feeling bad that her boss was being forced to get married. If she was being honest, she felt sorry for Sandra as well.

Marie didn't think anyone would willingly give up marrying for love.

"Earth to Marie." Sandra said, coming to stand beside her and smiling.

" You know, for someone who's married in name only, you look ecstatic." Marie said, shooting her friend an amused glance.

" Well, I'm thinking of all the money I've just made. And that little place that's about to become mine!"

"Congratulations, darling." Marie hugged her friend tightly and stepped aside as Steven King approached.

Steven King was the Chief Executive Officer of Alden Kings Group.

It was one of the biggest advertising agencies operating in New York and had subsidiaries in seven states in the US, London and South Africa.

"Shall we go?" Steven said when he approached and Marie immediately understood and started to move outside the Notary office to the car. She shot an apologetic look at her friend Sandra who had thought her newlywed husband would at least ask her to lunch.

The drive back to the office was long and tensely quiet. Not that Steven ever had anything to say to Marie or that Marie was allowed to chatter in his presence either. Sometimes, Marie looked at Steven and feared that her secret was plastered all over her head.

The truth was that Marie loved working for him. He had high expectations of her, and didn't get in her way. With Steven King, once he paid you to do a job, he got out of the way. No micromanaging but there was no space for slack offs either. Although when Marie had first started to work for him, she had made tons of mistakes.

Ten years later, they had fallen into that easy rhythm of a couple who knew each other's thoughts and completed each other's sentences. Except they weren't a couple. No matter how much Marie wished he would look at her, Steven had never. And there was something she was hiding from him worse than the fact that she was in love with him. In fact if he ever found out, he would fire her in an instant.

Marie stole a glance at him now, taking in the gray suit he had chosen for his fake wedding and how well it suited him.

"Errr... Mr King?"

" Marie... Don't start?" Steven said without even sparing a glance from his laptop.

"Apologies, Steven..." Marie said. He was always insisting that she called him by his first name. It was industry best practices he said, but Marie had never really felt comfortable doing so. The man had enough money to buy a small country, whereas she was just a girl from South Austin trying to create a life in New York.

"Yes?" Marie came to as she realized that Steven was looking at her.

"Errr, I just wanted to say congratulations on your wedding, Steven. Er, I hope you enjoy it..." Marie petered out at the look on his face and rubbed her arms. Why was he looking at her like that? She wasn't the one who held a gun at his head and forced him to marry anyone.

If anything, she had handled the whole affair well, scouring discreetly for anyone willing to be married in name only for seven weeks.

"Thank you. Would you also congratulate me during my divorce?"

Marie felt her face blow hot before she looked at Steven and found the sides of his mouth twitching. If he was going to be like that, why would she care? The sooner they got back to the office and informed their Japanese prospects of the new marriage development, the sooner her life could get back to normal.

" So do you think they'll buy it?" Steven asked her now.

" I mean it's a stretch, Steven. It was so hushed up. There were no public announcements, no press, no engagement period. Just one day you're single, and the next you're married."

"Well, I hear you. But it's not like they said it to me directly. It's what my contacts said that the only thing between me and sealing this account was my being unmarried."

" Alright, keeping fingers crossed because this whole thing has been a nightmare." Marie said before she could stop herself.

"Because?..."

Because I love you. You blockhead. But she dared not say anything. Steven could stand clumsiness, and mistakes but one thing he never pardoned was love. All the other secretaries who had made passes at him had been gone the next day. Grateful that Steven couldn't read her thoughts, Marie was about to say something when the sound of Steven's phone ringing interrupted them.

"Steven." He said and listened for a beat before hanging up.

" Marie, how did that woman get my cell?"

"What woman?" Marie asked innocently, even though she had a hunch that he was talking about Sandra.

"You know who. Why does she have my cell?"

"Errr, well, she's your wife, Sir. I thought... maybe... anyway..." The objections in Marie's head wilted as she saw his face.

"Rules are rules. Marie..." Marie's face crumpled as she braced herself for more scolding when Steven's phone rang again.

"Steven."

"Uh huh. Yes, an intimate ceremony was most befitting as that was my wife's childhood dream. You see she's rather not interested in being in the public eye. Yes. Thank you very much for your kind wishes. Great, I'll be there tomorrow."

From the large grin on Steven's face, Marie could guess who had just called.

"Is it that Mr Kaito's office?"

"Yes, we've been called for another meeting tomorrow."

Marie smiled and then nodded in satisfaction. Their plan had worked! Taking her phone out of her bag, she texted her contact who had been waiting for an update on the deal.

"Get the hell out of bed, lazy ass and talk to me!" Marie rolled her eyes inwardly as Sandra pummeled her pillow.

"What? The one day I get a day off and I can't catch any sleep. Sandra, what's with you?"

"What do you think? I can't reach my husband! Wake up, it's an emergency."

"Okay, okay. I'm up." Marie said as she held up her hands in mock surrender and then sat up slowly. Sandra plunked herself next to her and looked at her with worried eyes.

"What's the issue?" Marie demanded.

" I can't get a hold of Mr King." Sandra said, sounding close to tears.

Marie looked at her friend and tried to assess if she was being serious. Before the wedding, Marie had warned her thoroughly not to develop any kinds of feelings for Mr King. It was a marriage-in-name only. Once the negotiations for the transfer of the Kazuko Inc. accounts to their agency was complete, the marriage would be over.

" Look, he's probably off to a meeting somewhere. What's the matter? Haven't you been paid?"

" I have. But being my husband and all, I thought we would, you know, hang out..."

"Oh dear. Mr King is hardly social. He'll return your calls soon, I'm sure. Anywho, tell me about your place!" Marie said in what she hoped was an excited voice. She didn't want Sandra obsessing over Mr King's absence. Talking about the little place always got Sandra so happy and today was no exception. Before long, both women were in Marie's kitchen eating pancakes and eggs.

They spent the next hour talking about how Sandra was a married woman now and would have no time for frivolities, how Marie had never had an off day in her life because she worked for Godzilla, and how they both needed pedicures urgently. Eventually, Sandra looked her friend in the eye squarely and asked in a small voice,

" So do you think he'll call?"

"To be honest, Sandra. No one knows the darn man's mind. He may or may not call. But here's what's important, seven weeks from now you'll be free and richer. Think about that."

"Alright. It's not like I love him anyway. It was always about the money for me."

" Does this mean you can treat me to something better than Burger King this afternoon?"

"Ha, you wish." Sandra replied and they both fell into peels of laughter.

They spent the next couple of hours watching reruns of their favorite show, Chicago Med until Sandra fell asleep.

Hearing her cell ring in the bedroom, Marie went in to answer it. She frowned as she looked at the receiver. It was her day off, after all.

" Hello, Steven."

" Why aren't you here?" The voice on the other hand demanded brusquely

"Err, well... You were out of town and so I thought I could take my day off. I thought you wouldn't be back..."

"Get here now." Steven said and hung up the phone.

Sighing loudly, Marie had a quick shower, dressed and went out to the living room where Sandra was still passed out on the sofa. Not wanting to wake her friend up, she left a note on the refrigerator

Hey. Godzilla came back and called me to work. I know. He's an ass. I'll catch up with you later. Bye.

As Marie drove back to her office, she thought back on the choices that had brought her to the life where she couldn't even afford a day off. The mess on her desk when she got back to the office didn't look appealing either.

"Oh good, you're here. Come in."

" Okay, what's up?" Marie said, stepping into his office.

" I need to make some decisions. For starters, I think the retainer calculator the team has used is shit. Look at this." He said and thrust a folder to her.

Truth be told, Marie could care less. It was not her job. But whenever Steven got nitpicky about anything, there was usually something to it.

"I think it looks fair, sir. "

" We should be doing more than that but leave that. I need your notes from our previous meetings with Kazuko Inc. . This could be really good news for Alden Kings, you know. We aren't talking about just their Japanese brands. We're talking about all their accounts globally being transferred to our subsidiaries as well. And that should shut the old man up." He finished with a satisfied smile.

" That's awesome sir." Marie said, shifting from one foot to another. The old man in question was Steven King's grandfather.

"If it goes according to plan, we'll need to start talking about expansion."

"It will."

"Of course it will. Pass me the contact reports, everything. And please set up a call with all our creative directors across the countries for tomorrow at 7AM."

"Yes, Sir." Marie said. She was halfway outside the office when an image of Sandra's worried face flashed in her mind.

"Err, Steven?" She asked in a small tone that she hoped showed that she wasn't looking to wind him up.

"Yes, Marie?"

"I was wondering if you had spoken to err, Sandra today? She's a bit, ermm... worried... about you."

For a full minute Steven just looked at Marie till she thought she had stood there and sprouted purple horns. Why wasn't he saying anything? Perhaps she should leave.

"Invite her for dinner." He said at last. Convinced she had heard wrong, Marie said

"Dinner?"

"Yes. Dinner."

Nodding her head, Marie asked,

"Shall I ring up The Sprutz and make a reservation?"

"Nope. Invite her to dinner here."

"Here?" Marie asked, eyes widening at the thought. Steven never brought personal guests into his office. One time she had let one of his cousins in and she had almost lost her job.

"Well, she's my bloody wife? Isn't she? Let her come." Marie nodded and hastily retreated from his office.

Thirty minutes later, a breathless Sandra stood before her, reeking of fruity perfume. Marie plastered a wide grin on her face even though deep down she was worried. Apart from her own feelings for Steven that she had never been able to get rid of, she didn't want her friend becoming attached and being unable to move on after the seven weeks of their marriage.

She looked so optimistic that Marie couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt. She wanted Steven King for herself but when had he ever looked at her as anything other than a person to order around. It didn't help that she was addicted to comfortable clothes.

Her motto was comfort over style and she stuck to it religiously. Her standard look was a cotton shirt, over a long flannel skirt and a cardigan when the weather demanded it. She also saw no point in applying a lot of makeup to her face.

"Earth to Marie!" Sandra's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Sorry Sandra, what's up?"

"Please, take me in to meet him."

Steven barely spared a glance to Marie before dismissing her. Stifling her hurt feelings, Marie dashed out and walked briskly to the bathroom. Even if she knew that they weren't in love, seeing them together was hard on her. She had done everything she could to make herself stop loving the man. Now he had married her best friend and there was nothing she could do.

The next couple of weeks went by quickly as more talks of negotiations took up both Marie and Steven's time. Sandra on the other hand was only too glad to be enjoying her status as the wife of the billionaire.

Apparently after dinner that night, Steven had barely said a word to her but tossed a platinum credit card to her and asked her to buy whatever she wanted. Sandra had gone wild and started shopping for all sorts of furniture and accessories for her apartment, she hadn't stopped there, she had even bought tons of designer purses and shoes as well. At first Marie had been worried but then Sandra had gotten red in the face and asked her if she knew the resale value of a Kate Spade purse and that it was all an investment. Then she had looked at Marie closely and said,

"You're not jealous, are you? Marie. I thought you were over him?" To which Marie had replied and told her not to be silly and that she was just watching out for her friend.

" The man is a billionaire, Marie. And you're fretting over thousands of dollars spent. Besides, I'm his wife and I deserve to look fab, you know."

"Sure." Marie had replied to end the argument. Not that anyone knew about the marriage anyway except people in their office and the people at Kazuko Inc. . No one even knew what she looked like. All they knew was that Steven King had married. And Marie knew that they would be making no public appearances together but who was she to stand in the way of her friend's happiness.

"Besides, do you want me to return you this lovely Cardigan I got you?" Sandra has asked and Marie has made a grab for it. It really was lovely and in a brown color that would suit her so perfectly. All squabbles forgotten, the friends had got together for dinner and Sandra had paid.

"Marie, please come in here." Steven's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes, Sir."

"You wanted to see me?" She said, popping her head into his office.

"Yes. We need to organize a party to celebrate the account. Can you brief the event team and kick the plans in motion?"

"So we've got it, Sir. They have signed over their account and dropped their former agency?"

"Yes, Marie. It's good as done. Hence the party."

"That's great news. I'll go and brief the event team right now."

"Thank you." He said and looked out his window. Marie couldn't place why he didn't sound excited anymore. This was supposedly all he had wanted before now and it had finally happened. Marie knew better than to ask Steven if he was okay. Steven has serious lines when it came to personal enquiries. That was why her mouth fell open when halfway across the room, he asked her,

"Is that a new cardigan?"

"Err, yes sir. Thank you." She said but Steven said nothing else and she walked out. Were her clothes that few that he had time to notice that she had changed her cardigan? Or could he somehow have suspected that Sandra had gifted it to her?

Putting away worrisome thoughts from her mind, she sat at her desk and began to write a brief to the event team lead.

"Heading to lunch. And oh by the way, the party should be on Friday next week. I don't want to hear it. Just make it work, Marie." He said to forestall any complaints.

Marie wished she could throw a mug at the back of his smug head. A week to plan a party for Alden Kings agencies and its subsidiaries was a nightmare. And it would be her nightmare because if anything went wrong, Steven would call her into his office and give her one of those scalding looks that made her feel she was in Kindergarten and doing something naughty.

" Hey, Sandra. What's up?" Marie said as she picked up her ringing cell.

"Well, you're not going to believe this, Marie. I sat down today thinking about the fact that I have barely one week left to be married to the billionaire. So I asked if I could go on a week-long holiday and he agreed."

"That's awesome. So where are you now?" Marie asked, trying to inject some cheerfulness into her voice.

"Oh, I'm driving to Maine right now to pick up a few things. But I have a flight to catch to Paris by nightfall. How awesome is that?"

" I wish you could come." Sandra said wistfully on the other end of the line.

"Me too, love. But I need to work. Apparently Godzilla wants to have a party to celebrate next week and I'm in charge."

"Celebrate what?" Sandra asked and Marie worried about if it was okay to divulge this information to Sandra, but Sandra was her best friend after all.

"To celebrate the new business acquisition."

"Oh, I wasn't aware and invited." Sandra said and Marie could hear the pout in her voice.

"He only just mentioned today. I'm sure you'll be on the guest list." Marie said.

"Alright then, I'll shop for a party dress for you as well in Paris. How awesome is that?"

"Fabulous!" Marie said and then laughed as Sandra ended the call.

A new dress was the last thing on Marie's mind but maybe it wasn't a bad idea to dress up nicely and let her hair down for a night.

Of course she still had to be on duty and be on high alert. Steven also requested a debrief in the morning after every social event. Nevermind that each department and sub agency within their group usually submitted close out reports. Steven always demanded that she stand before him and talk about things she felt could have been done and managed better. At first Marie thought it was just something he did to wind her up until she noticed that he always worked her feedback into subsequent events. Kicking into full gear, Marie spent the next two hours answering calls about the party, offering insights and taking down questions for Steven. The whole thing was already giving her a bloody headache.

"Marie. Come with me." Steven said as he walked into his office. She must have been engrossed in her thoughts because she hadn't even heard him come in.

"You wanted to see me?" She said, hovering around the door.

"What's the progress?"

"Err, I do have some questions for you, Sir. But I think it's best if I set up a meeting between you and Ellen to discuss some critical details like the guest list."

"Okay. Tell her to come up in an hour."

"Okay, Steven. Do I add your wife, err, Sandra for the party?"

"Of course not." Steven said and Marie nodded carefully. She had guessed as much but hadn't wanted to hurt Sandra's feelings.

"And oh yeah, one more thing." Steven said, typing into his phone.

"Set up a meeting with the lawyers."

"Okay Sir, concerning?"

"The divorce."

"Yes Sir." Marie responded. How was she going to break the news to Sandra?