Pretending To Be His

A PR Nightmare

A few hours later, Nicole made her way into the Sauntino building once again. She was glad that it wasn't Maria manning the reception desk today as she did not have the patience for her behavior. As she approached the reception desk, the young woman with a pixie haircut’s eyes widened, as if she was seeing someone she did not expect to see. Nicole turned around, just in case someone famous was behind her and she was missing the fun but found no one. With a slight shrug, she stopped in front of the woman with shiny eyes. 

"You are here to see the boss right?" she asked as her eyes glowed with excitement.

Nicole nodded, "yes I am, Wendy." she said as she read the girl's name tag.

Wendy nodded and called for a person behind her. "Jackson will escort you up."

Nicole raised an eyebrow, "no questions about an appointment or whatnot?”

Wendy shook her head, “the boss left a message saying we should let you through once you show up.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes. So he was expecting her? Turning she gave Jackson a huge smile. “Hello, handsome!” she giggled once she saw the blush on his face. 

“This way, ma’am.” Jackson ducked his head before leading Nicole to the private elevator. Going up, they were both quiet. Nicole trying her best to calm her rising anger while Jackson tried not to stare at the young woman who caused his boss to walk in with a smile this morning.

The reception area was empty apart from Bianca who looked up with a smile. “Nice to see you again, Miss.”

“You too. I am sorry about the last time.” Nicole gave her a sheepish smile. 

Bianca waved her off, “don’t worry about it.”

“I am showing myself in,” Nicole pointed to the door.

“Yes. They are waiting for you.”

Another frown marred her face. They? Shaking her head she made it to the door and without knocking walked into the room. Marko was sitting behind his huge desk. They were two more people in the room with him: a man and a woman. The man gave her a curt nod when he noticed her looking at them while the woman’s face was blank. There was also another man in the room. He gave her a small smile.

Her eyes turned to the man in front of her, “mind explaining to me why my face is on every freaking tabloid in the country?” she went straight to her point. She did not mince her word.

“No greeting?” Marko raised an eyebrow at her, amusement dancing behind his eyes. "We never saw each other this morning. You could want to know how I am doing after last night." Marko continued. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the gaping mouths of his employees but he ignored them, instead focused on the woman who was approaching his desk. 

Nicole rolled her eyes and walked towards him, “not in the mood. Do you know that there are people with cameras camped outside my apartment? If it wasn’t for the fact that there is an exit through the basement at my apartment building, I would still be held up at my apartment!” She turned to the people in the room. “I assume you are all here because of the same thing?”

“What gave it away?” Marko asked, leaning back and as he continued to take in her presence. She was dressed in tight black denim and an oversized sweatshirt. Her natural curls framed her face, making him want to reach out and pull them just to watch them bounce back into their position.

“Otherwise they would have walked out once I came in.” Nicole took a seat in front of Marko.

“You are correct. Wes and Chantal are part of my PR team and Alex is my head of security.”

Nicole nodded then turned her attention to Wes and Chantal. “Any ideas of how to refute these allegations? I am not his new squeeze and the only bells anyone will hear is when I box someone in their ears!”

Wes raised an eyebrow. “You sound very-uhm-violent.”

“I am,” Nicole shrugged. “That is not what I asked. I need ideas and solutions. I want to be able to get out and not be hounded by guys with cameras! And the most important thing is I am not in a relationship with him.”

“Well at the moment you will have to act as you are,” Chantal replied in a condescending tone. “This is not about you but about Marko and the image of our company.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Nicole shot her a dark look. “I am not part of this company, I have no future plans of joining this company. So I have nothing riding on the image of this company!”

“As I mentioned earlier, this is not about you!” Chantal replied, dismissing her. “Marko, I suggest we ride with the story. We can make up a story about where you met, be seen together a few times, and then call it quits at the end of the month. Something else ought to be in the news then.”

Nicole turned her gaze to Marko, fuming. “Is this your counter plan? After you kidnapped me and I refused your proposal, this is your payback?”

There was silence in the room as Marko’s eyes widened on that. He should have known that Nicole was one clever woman. 

“Kidnap?” Chantal asked, for once looking unsure of herself. “What kidnapping is she talking about?”

"Proposal? As in a marriage proposal?" Wes asked as he turned between Marko and Nicole.

“Everyone out!” Marko ordered. His gaze was fixated on Nicole’s.

“Why? They should know that you had that big oaf of a man carry me like a sack of potatoes and-”

“Out!” Marko interrupted her, his voice loud and hard, leaving no room for discussion as he chased the others out.

Nicole watched them leave. “Was that supposed to be a secret?” She turned her gaze at him, eyebrows arching.

“You see!” Marko grunted. “It’s talk like that that will land us into more trouble.”

“There wouldn’t have been any trouble if you had used your power and money to make the stories disappear! I am sure you have done it before. But because this is exactly what you wanted, you did not think about me or my life and you let it run!”

Marko looked at her angry face. “And what exactly would you have had me do?”

“Threaten to sue all those that ran the story. It’s a lie! We are not a couple, we barely like each other!”

“And who would have believed me? Have you looked at those pictures, Nicole?” Marko asked as he reached out for the newspapers and threw them across the table to land in front of her. “What do you see?”

Nicole takes one tabloid after the other, going through the pictures. There was nothing of a story, just pictures. And whoever the photographer was, they made sure they captured intimate-looking photos. There was one of Marko looking down at her as she looks up, both smiling with their hands intertwined. Another was of Marko playing with her hair and her looking at him with a small smile. But the worst one had Marko kissing her, his hand on her hip.

Nicole threw the papers away and leaned her elbows on the desk before covering her face with her hands. “This is not happening!” 

“You have seen the pictures. Tell me, what would you have done?”

“Tell the truth,” Nicole’s voice was muffled by her hands. “Tell them it was just a misunderstanding.”

Marko reached out and took her hands in his. “Looking at the pictures, would you believe that?”

Nicole shook her head. And that was the truth. She had looked at the pictures and she knew that it would be impossible for anyone to believe otherwise. Heck, even she could believe the couple to be in an intimate relationship were it someone else. 

“I am going to let the PR team and my head of security back in and we are all going to talk about a way to get past this. No mention about the club. I have already apologized for that.” Marko warned.

Nicole nodded. “But I don’t like the team you have chosen. Wes is a wimp and Chantal is a cold b***h, no offense.”

Marko chuckled at that, knowing she was trying to deflect her anger onto something else. “They are the best when it comes to situations like these.”

Nicole looked up and frowned, “and how many times have you been in such a situation?”

“More than I can care to count.” Marko reached out and pressed a button on the phone by his side. “Send them back in.” He said into the speaker. He looked at Nicole, his thumb brushing her knuckles. “You good?”

“No,” Nicole answered truthfully. She took a deep breath and removed her hand from Marko’s as the door opened and the trio walked back in.

Marko glanced at her once again as his now empty hand turned into a fist on the desk as he tried to preserve the warmth he got from hers, a frown on his face. “Bianca, please bring some water and a coffee for Nicole.”

Nicole turned to him with surprise on her face. She gave him a small appreciative smile. "Coffee with cream and two sugars, thank you," she supplied when Bianca looked at her.

“Ok. I think we started off on the wrong foot. Wes, Chantal, this is not a typical case. Nicole is right. We do not know each other, we have just met about three times. There has never been a date or any kind of relationship between us. So let’s not treat this as our past public nightmares.”

Chantal looked at the woman sitting by the desk. Even though she had seemed strong before but it seemed as if she was now deflated. She wasn’t a model that is a fact from the clothes and the no makeup on her face. She seemed like a regular girl. A beautiful regular girl. A regular girl that would never have a date with Marko. She wasn’t the type that Marko was known for.

Chantal took a deep breath, “You are right, Marko. Nicole, I apologize for coming off as uncaring. It is new territory even for us. You are not the typical girl that Marko is always associated with nor are you a celebrity or someone famous, and for that on its own is newsworthy. Many will want to know your story, even if it's innocent.”

“Not the type?” Nicole frowned and turned to him. “Just what kind of women do you date?”

Marko raised an eyebrow. Did this mean that she doesn't even know the kinds of women who threw themselves at him? Where has she been living, under a rock?

“Tall, skinny, mostly blonde but he has on occasion been seen with a brunette.” Wes supplied with his focus on the tablet in his hand.

Nicole nodded with a slight smile on her face. “but never with a short, fat black girl. Is that what you mean, Wes?”

Wes turned beet red as her words registered, “n-no. That’s not what I meant. You aren’t fat! Got curves that any girl would kill for. And those curls, how do you get them to look so curly?”

“You are shooting yourself in the head, Wes,” Marko laughed. “She was joking with you.”

Nicole turned to Marko, wondering how he had figured out she was teasing the man. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. Marko placed a finger on the side of his lip as if telling her that he had seen the smile that she had hidden. Nicole rolled her eyes at him when he winked at her. 

Wes looked from Marko to Nicole then to the door that opened and Bianca walked in with bottles of water and a coffee for Nicole. “Gosh! You two deserve each other,” he muttered as he shook his head.

Chantal had been watching the exchange between Wes and Nicole but had also noticed the smile on Marko’s face as he watched Nicole tease Wes. Before the teasing Marko and Nicole had exchanged a look, they seemed to be communicating with each other without words. “Interesting,” Chantal commented loudly. “I think I know what we can do.”