The car stopped a few metres from the office complex. They had been silent since they entered the car. Leila looked at her husband for an explanation.
"You don't want people to see us together, right?" Her head automatically bobbed. "You can get off here and walk the remaining distance to avoid any suspicions."
Leila couldn't consider it a distance because it was less than five minutes on foot but she appreciated his thinking. They shared another glance, he wasn't smiling but he wasn't frowning so she did the unthinkable. She kissed him on his cheek.
"Thanks, Kev."
Her husband was stupefied. She giggled. That was payback for his morning kiss. Her grin widened when she noted Amara's small smile. Leila didn't let it bother her. Kelvin already assured her so she had nothing to worry about.
She skipped the remaining distance to the office and her smile fell once she glimpsed the time. Five minutes more until her presentation. She rushed into her office to pick her things but Lily blocked her from leaving.
"Where were you?"
Her location was none of Lily's business. After all, Lily wasn't in the office when she left. This presentation was supposed to be done by all three of them-her, Lily and Susie but they backed out the minute Sarah mentioned only the project leader's presence was needed.
"Lily, I don't have time for this."
She brushed past Lily and walked out of the office. At the door to the conference room, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She had done numerous presentations, this time would be no different. Yet, her hands shook. This was her first presentation before Kelvin. The former boss always found fault in her slides, she could only hope Kelvin was not the same.
Someone tapped her before she opened the door. A smile broke out on her lips when she saw Sarah. Knowing the good things Sarah spoke about her to Kelvin, she appreciated the woman more than she already did.
"I saw you getting into the boss's car," Sarah spoke. Her eyes were hard and unfriendly as she stared into Leila's. Leila was ready for the ground to swallow her. This was what she had been trying to avoid but that stubborn man wouldn't listen. "Whatever thoughts of him you have in your head, erase them, Leilani." Leila forced down her reply. "Our new boss is a married man."
The former boss wasn't and he frolicked with some of the staff. She was among those who never fell for him.
"He asked me to join him," she offered. Leila didn't want a misunderstanding to get in the way of her promotion. "There was no way I could say no to him."
Sarah backed off. "That had better be the case."
"It is."
"Be careful." She was. But apparently, she wasn't careful enough. "Good luck with your presentation."
Sarah left and she let out a breath. Her forehead pressed to the door for some seconds while she tried to collect her thoughts. How many people saw her?
Kelvin was already seated when she entered inside. He frowned when he spotted her and she immediately knew why. She was ten minutes late. No one mentioned her lateness so she didn't. Instead, she stepped to the front of the conference room to set up her laptop.
The presentation started off slow. Kelvin badgered her with questions that almost suffocated her. Leila did her best to answer but at some point, she was convinced he would reject the project. Leila was talking about the statistics of youths and supposed revenue from launching Stars Glow when he stopped her.
"Who compiled the numbers?"
Lily helped her with that but she didn't veto it because the approval came in late. Leila looked to Amara but the assistant stared at her blankly. The other lady by Amara's right hand side never spoke a word and it heightened Leila's anxiety. They were just four in the room but it felt smaller than it was.
"I did," she finally replied.
Kelvin picked a sheet from the file she shared to all of them earlier and circled the numbers she generated in red ink. "This statistics is wrong."
His face was expressionless. She didn't know if he was disappointed at her but she croaked out, "Sorry, Sir."
"Fix it."
"Yes, Sir."
They held each other's gaze but she was the first one to break it. She moved to her laptop, unsure of her next step. There was no point continuing with the wrong data but she couldn't leave until Kelvin said so.
As if reading her mind, he said, "You can leave."
"Thank you, Sir."
Leila cringed at the sound of her own voice. She was certain Kelvin noticed her nervousness too. His blank face was nothing to work with. What did this mean for Stars Glow? He didn't suggest another meeting.
She stopped at the door. Kelvin was talking to Amara so he didn't notice her. Whatever he was saying must have been very important, it had Amara's head bobbing. Leila hated to interrupt their mini meeting but she needed to know the next plans for her future.
Their heads raised when she cleared her throat. Annoyance flashed across Kelvin's face and she gulped. "Sir, will we be meeting again?"
"My assistant will communicate that with you."
Her heart rolled to her stomach, her head bowed as she took her leave. He didn't outrightly dismiss her, so she stood another chance with him, right? In a bad mood, she walked to her office floor. Her frown turned into a scowl when Kelvin, the computer guy, stopped her. He was smiling but she found nothing amusing.
"Lily said you wanted to fix your phone," he told her.
They fell into step as she continued to her office. She brought out her phone and showed him the screen.
"Yeah. It's nothing bad," she said.
Kelvin inspected the phone. They halted in front of her office and he returned the phone. "Only a screen change?" he asked and she nodded. "You want it done now?"
Her husband could call her anytime to invite her for another silly meal, then act like he didn't care for her.
"How long does it take?" A second later, she asked, "Do you have a middle name?" Calling him by her husband's name was weird. He frowned at her. "Just tell me already."
"Michael. You can just call me Mike."
"Sooo, Mike, how long will it take to fix the screen?"
"Thirty to forty minutes."
"Alright. I'll get back to you." Mike chuckled when she opened the door to her office. "What is it?"
Using her shoulder to keep the door open, she placed a hand on her hip. Mike shrugged. "You didn't ask about the price? It will cost you about one million."
"One million dollars?" Leila snickered. "You will be lucky if you get more than fifty box from me."
Mike laughed. "We will talk about it when you're ready."
Leila smiled at his words. Her phone rang before she could reply to him and her heart jumped when she saw the name of the caller. Freya. She excused herself to use the bathroom, already preparing for an explanation. Her friend wasn't aware she was married though she helped her set up the Tinder account. Freya didn't even know she moved.
"Leilani May Collins," Freya said as soon as the phone touched her ear. "Where the hell are you? Your landlord said you moved."
Freya was the only one who knew about the situation at home. The plan had been for her friend to stay here for only two weeks but she had met and fallen in love within that period and stayed back in California because of her husband. If anyone should be the first to know about this marriage, it had to be Freya.
Leila massaged her forehead. "Yeah." She stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked tired. After a look around the bathroom to confirm she was alone, she said, "I'm kind of married now." Freya screamed from the other end of the line and Leila cringed. On a sigh, she dropped the remaining bombshell. "I married my Tinder match so I had to move in with him."
"You're kidding?" Freya muttered. She wished she was. The only reason she left her ring at home was to avoid questions. "What the fuck, Leila?" Leila turned on the tap in case someone was eavesdropping outside. "Tinder match? I thought you said the guy was a catfish? Are you insane?"
A sigh left Leila's lips. She had a lot of explanation to do. "This is someone else."
"What the hell?" Freya screamed.
Leila placed a hand over her forehead and offered her reflection a tight smile. "Yeah."
"Jesus. What if he's a serial killer?" Freya was saying so many things at once. "Shit. Are you okay? Are you in danger? Did he drug you? Were you forced to marry him?"
Kelvin was anything but a serial killer and she was perfectly fine. Leila was growing annoyed at her best friend. She understood Freya's concern but this marriage was consensual. No one forced her to do what she didn't want to do.
"Look, I have to go," she cut Freya off. "I'm at work."
Before Freya said another word, she ended the call. Leila would have to see her best friend and explain things to her, but right now, she had to get to work.