Her Two Fake Husbands

Chapter 4: Proposal

Nyrissa thought about it for a few minutes and decided that one small glass of wine couldn't hurt anything. She wasn't much of a drinker. But she certainly couldn't be accused of being a lightweight.

“Take a seat," Quentin insisted, waving a hand towards a small intimate table in the corner.

It really looked out of place in the elaborate kitchen. Nyrissa would have expected them to have a separate room with an enormously long table that would force them all to sit an awkward distance away. But certainly, not a small, intimate, slightly rectangular dark wooden table that looked like something straight out of her grandmother's dining room.

They chatted as they served the food and were acting so casual that it was driving Nyrissa quietly insane.

Ryan watched almost in amusement as Nyrissa shifted in her chair impatiently. He knew she was the worst at waiting for anything. Though he knew this was absolute torture for her, he really just wanted to get to know her in a more casual setting before springing the kind of arrangement he and Quentin had in mind on her mid-bite.

Quentin defiantly noticed how uncomfortable Nyrissa was, and there was a need in Quentin's eyes to take pity on the poor girl. But Ryan gave him a hard look and a slight shake of his head.

He knew it was a weird request, but Ryan had to learn more about Nyrissa outside the office before he went any further.

However, on the other hand. It was not like Ryan had much choice. Nyrissa was a strong, smart, independent woman that didn't back down when she knew she was right. He respected that… hell, he liked it.

Plus, with her being a lesbian, he knew she wouldn't try to come between Quentin and himself.

It really was the perfect relationship!

He just needed to figure out how to present it to her without her getting insulted and… you know… suing the pants off them.

He heard a low grumble from her, but when he looked towards her, she was trying to pull off the picture of serene as she bit into her cheese and beef ravioli.

Unfortunately for her… it wasn't working.

Unfortunately for Ryan… Quentin noticed it as well.

Ryan knew this wouldn't last as long as he had hoped.

Nyrissa grew increasingly frustrated as she watched them act oblivious to her plight. They didn't seem to care that they had her sanity hanging on by a thread. How could they eat and chat when her stomach was like a twisting whirl of anxiety and dread? What on earth did they need to talk to her about? What was SO important that she had to come here TONIGHT, but it couldn't be discussed at the office? Was she in trouble? Was she going to get fired? Is this how big corporations get rid of their people?

No… wait. That was just crazy. Nyrissa chided herself, giving her spinning brain a hard shake.

She'd had jobs before this one. Granted, most of these jobs were just the typical high school/ college student jobs designed to help pay for the small stuff and not really to go anywhere. They defiantly were not a 'climb the corporate ladder' type of job. And she had gotten fired from a few of them as well. If they were honest, they would call her into a small room, give her the last paycheck and inform her politely that she wasn't working out.

However, none of that was what was happening here.

So, they weren't going to fire her.

Maybe they were planning a secret company takeover. Or maybe, they had someone trying to take over their company.

Oh, f*ck.

That could spell an end for her job, anyway.

Damn it.

Nyrissa couldn't do it; she couldn't sit here quietly sharing a polite, casual dinner while waiting to find out what the h*ll they wanted from her.

She set her fork down next to her plate and pushed it away, then looked the men in their eyes.

“With all due respect, I am not waiting until the end of this meal to find out what exactly is going on," Nyrissa began with a tone of strained patience. “I need to know what is happening immediately. Or I will just leave, and you can forget whatever you're thinking."

Quentin, with the subtly of an elephant in a fine china shop, leaned over and whispered a “told ya so." Before pouring everyone another round of wine.

Nyrissa really didn't want anymore. But she didn't want to protest, afraid it would force them to change the topic.

Ryan slowly wiped his mouth with a napkin and then stared at her for a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts.

“Very well," he relented finally, seeing he was outnumbered.

Despite his agreement, he still took a few sips of wine, forcing Nyrissa to wonder if he was honestly trying to give her a heart attack.

“Almost ten years ago, Quentin and I built this company from the ground up. There is not a single job in our company that we have not done ourselves. We have put our blood, sweat, and tears into this place-

“It's true!" Quentin butted in. “Several of those pictures in our offices I hung myself, and I have the scars to prove it!"

He pushed his thumb into her face forcing her to see the long thin scar that went down one side of the digit, almost as if he was a small child showing his boo-boo so he could get a kiss and hug.

Unable to stop herself, she gave him a sympathetic smile. “Ouch. That must have hurt."

“Q," Ryan reprimanded him.

“Right, sorry." Quentin gave her a wink. “I'll show you my other scars later."

Nyrissa rolled her eyes at his flirtation tone but didn't say anything knowing from experience that anything she said would just encourage him.

“Anyway, what was I saying...."

“Blood, sweat, and tears," Nyrissa supplied.

“Right, thank you. We are damned proud of what we have built. We do not want to see anything happen to it or anyone that has come to depend on us," Ryan explained cryptically.

He stopped to stare daggers at his glass of wine before picking it up and gulping it like it was hard liquor. Feeling the anxiety and stress rise again, Nyrissa took a long sip of her wine as well.

What did it matter? If she was going to lose her job, she really didn't wanna do that sober, and she could always take a taxi home.

“So, this is about a corporate takeover," Nyrissa supplied.

“Yes… no… it's a bit more complicated than that. We have dealt with corporate takeovers before and have survived them. This is something I have done to us," Ryan admitted as his whole body seemed to shrink into itself.

Nyrissa could see the weight of what was happening rest itself on his shoulders, and she felt the need to comfort him. It was such a powerful urge that her hand moved before she could stop it. She rested her hand on his arm until he looked at her.

“I'm sure you would never do anything awful on purpose and without a good reason," Nyrissa comforted him.

“He wouldn't," Quentin defended him sternly.

She glanced over and saw that Quentin was doing the same thing as she was. She blushed and moved her hand away. Nyrissa had always suspected that Quentin and Ryan were a couple. But they had hidden it so well that she hadn't had any sort of true confirmation up until now.

“I appreciate your faith in me. I don't wanna drown in my self-pity today," Ryan said, waving his hand in the air like it would erase the conversation.

“Alright. So, how can I help? Assuming that was what you asked me here for," Nyrissa got to the point.

The wine was settling extremely well on her almost empty stomach, and she was starting to feel a wonderful buzzing in her head. She picked up her glass and took a nice long, delicious swig reminding herself to tell them that they had an excellent choice in wine.

“We want you to marry us," Quentin blurted out.