Pretend Love

Chapter 1: Deal

"I just keep telling myself that one of these days, he will recognize my potential and promote me," Suzy said while trying on a dove grey silk blouse.

"Have you slept with him?"

"Andie! God, no! Ew!"

"What? He's hot!"

"That's not how I want to get ahead in this world."

"I'm just saying… he might notice you more if you put some effort into your appearance. Wear a push-up bra on occasion, for example," she shrugged.

"I'm not slutting it up to get a promotion, Andie. Is that what you did?"

"No. But it's different for me. For one, my boss is a woman."

"Forget it. No way in hell will I ever hook up with Vincent Lee."

××××××××

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Vincent said as he entered Dean Frey's office.

"I did, Lee. Come in and shut the door, will you?"

"I take it you wish to congratulate me in person on the success with the Donalds account. I admit, it was a bit of a challenge to get that first book on the shelves, given the content and the genre, but I'm happy to say we pulled it off."

"That's not what we wanted to talk to you about, Vincent," Dean said, a serious tone in his voice.

"It's not?"

"Do you by any chance remember the Paris Book Fair you were not supposed to attend? As your visa application was pending and you were not allowed to leave the country?" Dean's second-in-command Patrick Wigman drawled.

"I do… but there was an emergency. I had to fly out."

"I'm afraid the US government disagrees. We spoke with your immigration lawyer and you are being deported. Now, we can re-apply, but you will have to leave the country for at least a year."

"A year? You're kidding me, right? I haven't lived in South Korea since I was a little boy! I spent my entire teenage years here and even went to Columbia University, for crying out loud."

"Times have changed, Vincent. I'm afraid we have no other option but to let you go."

"Let me go? I'm your editor-in-chief. You can't fire me! I can work from the South Korea office."

"We can certainly find a place for you there, as an assistant."

"An assistant?" Vincent couldn't believe his ears. For ten years he had worked his way up in the publishing world, created a name for himself, and now, because of some stupid paperwork, he was going to lose everything he worked for? "No, there has to be some other way…"

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door.

"Yes?" Dean said, annoyed at the interruption.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Frey. Mr. Lee, Light Spencer is on the phone for you, I told him you were otherwise engaged, but he insisted he speak with you before your videoconference."

"Actually…" Vincent turned around to look at the vision that was Suzy Bae, an idea forming in his head as she spoke in her soft, melodious voice. "Please come in, Suzy."

Suzy frowned but did as he asked and closed the door behind her.

Vincent turned to Dean and Patrick with newfound confidence. "Gentlemen. I understand how my immigration status may be an issue, but there is something you should know…" he walked over to Suzy and took her hand in his. "We're engaged."

Suzy opened her mouth to protest, but Vincent put a finger to her lips. "We were thinking a June wedding."

"Uh… well… isn't this highly inappropriate?" Dean said. "She's your secretary, after all."

"Assistant, actually. Executive assistant. And can we really help who we fall in love with?" Vincent said, giving the two men a look that said he knew exactly what went on behind closed doors.

"Miss Bae, are you a willing participant in this?"

A look from Vincent said that it was best to play along.

"I am."

"Well, then, just make it legal and I don't suppose we'll have a problem," Dean said.

"Right. We'll get right on that," Vincent said quickly, pulling Suzy with him out of the office.

"What the hell, Vincent Lee?" she hissed when they got in the elevator.

"I have a proposal for you."

"What was that about?"

"Ssshhh, we'll talk in my office."

"Don't freaking hush me, Lee Seung gi," Suzy growled, calling out his Korean birth name in annoyance. "Tell me what's going on."

"I'm being deported. If we get married, I can stay as editor-in-chief at Frey Publishing while my visa application is re-evaluated."

"I'm not marrying you!"

"Let's talk in my office."

"Vincent…"

"Please?"

"Fine. I'll wait until we get into your office to yell at you," Suzy huffed and crossed her arms.

××××××××××

"I'm not marrying you," Suzy repeated when she had closed the door behind them. "You can't make me. This is sexual harassment," she said with her hands on her hips.

"I'm not forcing you to sleep with me, Suzy. I'm forcing you to tell the immigration office that we're getting married."

"Screw you."

"What if I promise you'll get that promotion you're so desperate for? We'll have a quickie wedding and an equally painless divorce, and you will have everything you've worked for."

"No deal."

"Fine. You won't last two minutes after I'm gone. I know who my replacement would be, and she'll have your job like that," he snapped his fingers.

"Who?"

"Heather Trinkett."

"No way..."

"Think about it, Suzy. All those nights at the office, the missed weekends, the spilled coffees… are you just going to throw all that hard work away?"

"You guarantee I will have my promotion?" Suzy looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Absolutely. By this time next year, you'll be a junior editor."

"No. You make me an editor today, and we have a deal."

"Impossible."

"Then forget it," she shrugged and moved to leave.

"Wait."

"Yes?" she turned around.

"One month after we're married, I'll make you editor. It will look suspicious otherwise."

"Fine."

"So you're on board?"

"Yes."

"Great. Now we just have to get through this meeting at the immigration office and this whole mess will sort itself out."