"I think you can add a little more in terms of the technical organization of it. Since we're dealing with billions of encrypted user information, however, I do think that more of a harsher security measure can be taken" Suriya Khan, head of our IT department says, pursing her lips.
Cybersecurity.
Her brown eyes squint at the paperwork laid out before her before travelling to the segment of an unnamed algorithm presented on my laptop screen. She's one of the few to whom I've presented the development project that I've been working on. And she's one of the few people who I appreciated the brutal honesty from. It's something that I appreciate from all my employees as I always preferred to be approachable to everyone.
I pull my lips into a grim smile. "I was thinking that as well. I just want to see if there's a way to make it more efficient in conserving space. If the main framework can be done that way, then I can easily add in the other features without the risk of overriding anything. Since it's going to be a large platform and all."
She nods, gently tapping her manicured nails on the table of her office. "I'll look into storage maintenance with my engineers and I'll send you everything that we find relevant. But this entire project is brilliant, Nova. I think the board will love the idea once you have the entire proposal mapped out. Hell, even I'm excited once we have a Beta version to test out."
I smile at her. "Thank you again, Suryia. It's almost done. But be sure to expect me back in a few days" I stand up and gather my things.
"No problem. It's what you hired me for" She replies with a wink as she gets up to open her door.
"I'll be in touch. Have a great day." I tell her with a smile once I step out.
"You too, Nova" she replies with a grin, before closing the door.
Once I get to my office floor, I greet Darren again and sit down after stepping into my office. A knock resounds just when I manage to rest my things on my desk.
"Come in" I call out.
Darren opens the door and pops his head inside. "Nova, the Montegi Group had to cancel their 5:00 meeting because Mr. Romano Montegi had a family emergency. I've rescheduled it to tomorrow evening if that's okay."
"That's fine. Thank you, Darren." I reply, realizing that the Montegis were supposed to be my last clients of the day before I take off for home. "If there isn't anything else, I won't be taking any further meetings today. I plan to leave in a bit to work on a few things. But you can leave now if you want."
Darren nods. "Got it." And he disappears, closing my door after him.
An hour later, after revising some idea pitches from the meeting this morning, I begin to pack up. Darren already left so that just leaves me on this floor. By the time I make it to the parking lot underground, I greet the security at the entrance before stepping past the bar to walk towards my car.
✦✦✦
After I freshen up and have dinner, I start clicking through the channels on my TV to find something worth watching. In the midst of it, my phone begins to ring. Keeping my eyes on my TV, I answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Please tell me you're home right now. I just left my parent's place. You and I? We need to talk about why I'm finding out a life event of yours from the internet and not you"
My lips part in amusement. I've been trying to get a hold of her for the past few days but her phone kept going to voicemail. Her role as Head of Finances at Caltrope took quite the toll on her free time and we hung out even less.
"It's finally great hearing from you. I've been meaning to explain" I add a chuckle at the end. "Are you nearby?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm almost up to your floor. You're not busy, right? Sorry, I just wanted to surprise you"
"No, come up! But, shit, maybe I should have picked up some take out or cooked extra if I knew that you were going to stop by. And no, I'm not busy right now"
Aileen scoffs and I can almost hear the eye roll. "No need. Open the door, I'm here" she says. The knock on the door confirms it. I hang up and go to the door.
Once I open it, I'm greeted by a best friend with a mischievous expression on her face. I notice the pantsuit she has on, meaning that she just came from work.
She steps inside, sits on my couch, and I close the door to join her on the spot beside her. Her eyes briefly land on some boxes that I was packing for move-in day in two days.
"I was around the area to help my brother with something. The idiot needed some consultation on the financing for his car. I've been busy as hell and didn't even get the time to properly catch up on things until this morning. And imagine how surprised I was when I saw the news articles from a few days ago. And then some of the ladies at work were talking about it too."
Aileen's brother does live in my neighborhood with their parents and it's common for her to visit them. He's an undergrad junior at U Chicago right now and studying to become a doctor. And if my memory is correct, he's also on his mid-semester break right now.
"How is Arjun doing?" I ask. "And auntie and uncle?"
"They're good. He's good. Just a pain in the ass because he impulsively bought a car and couldn't figure out how to finance it. Jeez, the guy can name all the enzymes in the citric cycle or whatever that's called called but can't figure out money." She shakes her head. "Enough of that. Tell me why I'm hearing that you're marrying someone who you've nearly murdered several times during college. I thought you claimed to hate him? Is that why you didn't want to meet Brandon's friend back at Valiant? You guys were seeing each other then? And—"
"The engagement is fake."
She blinks rapidly and leans forward. "I'm sorry. What?"
"Perhaps I should get the wine and snacks?" I waggle my brows at her.
Her eyes sparkle but she shakes her head and gives me a pout. "That would be perfect but I'm driving tonight. And I already ate. Mom could not let me leave without that extra biryani"
I feign to be hurt and put a hand on my chest. "And you couldn't save me any?"
She snorts. "Please. I think you and I both know that her biryani is my life"
I laugh and get up to go to the kitchen. After pouring two cups of tea from the already hot infuser, I return to the couch to give her a cup . "Just know that this is between me and you only."
She nods and makes a motion with a key over her mouth to feign a turn. Then she mimics tossing it out.
I explain the events of last week, all of which happened behind closed doors. After the clusterfuck of things happening one after the other, it felt good to voice it out to someone who I knew would at least listen and understand. Especially since I couldn't talk to anyone else about it. And that pent up frustration slowly molded into something that I could work with and throw out.
Several minutes later, her confusion deepens after taking in everything. "Nova, what the hell? I thought this shit only happens in those Bollywood movies. Not to people in real life."
I shrug nonchalantly and show her the ring on my finger. "Apparently it happened to me in just under an hour and I'm going to be a married in less than a month. It's great, isn't it?"
"And you're...okay with this? I know you're super decisive with your stuff, but how are you feeling about this? It's so sudden" she asks, concern and bewilderment lacing her tone.
I sigh. It has been a week since the signing of the contract. "I don't really know, Aileen" I finally admit. "I didn't exactly have a choice. It was either this or giving up everything I ever stood for. And if keeping my position means going through a year of marriage, then I guess the choice was obvious? Believe me, neither of us were fond of it and we refuse to see it as anything beyond a business deal."
She nods slowly, taking in my words. Ever since we became friends, she's always known how much the company means to me and how much I have sacrificed for it. And how much I would do to keep what I worked so hard for. "I can see why you're doing what you're doing." She sighs. "It's just not fair to you."
I only hum in response and take a sip from my cup.
"I saw the interviews and the pictures of you and Julian. It looked so unbelievable but I know that my best friend wouldn't go crazy this fast. Something felt weird."
I gape at her. "Hey, if anything, you would be the first one to lose it"
She rolls her eyes at my comment. "As I was saying, I didn't know that both of you had a knack for acting. The internet is raving about this whole thing, Nov"
"I suppose that's a good thing for our sakes." I mumble.
"I know that it's a fake arrangement, but you both actually look good together in the pictures. Work wise, I mean. Maybe it's the story you guys made up, but I suppose that's also why a lot of people reacted positively to the news. It kind of explains that part."
My eyes widen at her incredulous comment. "You're not doing drugs, are you?"
"What? No!" she replies with a laugh.
"Then it's official. You've gone crazy. I called it." I announce out loud.
She waves me off with a hand after taking a sip of her tea. "Does Melina know that this is fake?"
I purse my lips and shake my head, feeling the coil of irritation form again in my stomach. "Grandpa already told her about the engagement before I got the chance to explain to her. She did call me over the weekend, though, and we talked for a while after she congratulated me. She's coming the engagement party next weekend. Besides, I don't know if I want to stress her out by bringing her into this. She has a lot on her plate anyways"
"I know it's not my place to say but I do know that Melina cares a lot about you. I can't imagine how she would react if your grandfather or you told her what actually happened?"
I clench my teeth, recalling Grandpa specifically instructing me not to tell her. "I suppose I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it "
I also know how drained Melina has been with her residency, especially with her finishing soon this year. I don't want her wasting energy on something that I chose for myself and the company. If she knew, she would've taken the next flight here to fight it and keep me out of this marriage. But I refuse to let her waste time on something so trivial. Besides, I made my decision.
And since she's near the end, I know the engagement party would at least give her some time to unwind. "The year will be up before I know it and after the divorce, I suppose I'll have to explain everything anyways" I finally add.
Aileen nods, knowing that I don't want to speak of the matter any further. And I give her a look of gratitude.
"By the way" I begin. "How did it go with Brandon?"
Her cringe is evident. "Honestly, it was a one night thing. Apparently he was interested in taking it to the dating level and I didn't want to lead him on"
I suck in a sharp breath. "Well, then."
"Yeah, pretty much. He, however, did not disappoint in other aspects" she says with a sigh, leaning back and giving me a sly grin.
I scoff at her. "At least one of us is enjoying herself."
"I know you don't do one-night stands, but were you seeing anyone at all before this marriage clause?"
I shake my head. "Didn't have time to. I think I left all the relationship stuff back in college. Even if I wanted to, you've seen how horrendous the current dating pool is"
"I guess it's been a while, then" She winks and gives me a knowing look before standing up. I stand up as well. "Well, I should be heading out. I have to make some phone calls with a few clients. But jeez, this was not what I was expecting from our talk just now. It's insane."
"Well, that's what happened. And keep this between us, alright?" I respond. She follows me to the door and I open it.
"You know I won't tell a soul. I think you'll be fine, considering that you both inflicted enough on each other during college. But let me know if you need backup if Julian does something at all to hurt you. Fake marriage or not, I'm here for you"
"I definitely will ask for backup if needed. But I'll manage", I chuckle and pull her into a quick hug. "Get home safe and text me when you're there"
After she leaves, I let out a sigh and go back to my laptop to finish responding to the rest of my emails. After that, I go back to packing my boxes, noting that tomorrow night would be the last time in this condo.
•••
I know that this story might be a little slow right now but it definitely will pick up its pace so please be patient! There's a lot in store for you all hehe. And don't forget to hit that vote button :)