Chapter 28
Natalie
Tip #28: Be true to yourself and your fake fiancé about your feelings. Confessing is scary, but hopefully will be worth it.
I cautiously stepped into the office building on the Warner Print campus. As it was after hours, it looked like almost everyone had already left. Thankfully, I spotted Charlotte, Isaac’s executive assistant, bundled up in her winter coat and heading in my direction—probably to leave for the night.
When Charlotte saw me, she flashed me a warm smile. “Hello, Natalie. Are you here to see Samuel?”
“Yes! But he doesn’t know I’m coming.”
“A surprise visit? He’ll love that,” Charlotte said. “He’s in a meeting room with Miguel and Isaac right now, but they should be finished with all official business.”
“Thanks, Charlotte. Where’s the meeting room?”
Charlotte gave me instructions, pointing to the hallway I’d need to take. “It’ll be the only room with a light on in that hallway, since the rest of the staff headed home for the night.”
“Thank you for the help. Have a nice evening.”
Charlotte smiled. “Of course. Enjoy!” She waved, then stepped outside into the chilly night air.
Following Charlotte’s directions, I took the hallway she’d pointed out and spotted the meeting room easily enough. Not only was the light inside the room on, the door was open, so I could hear Samuel’s smooth laugh, mingling with Miguel’s more reserved chuckle. I was about to call out to Samuel, but something Miguel said stopped me in my tracks.
“You wouldn’t believe the conniption the board had over your sudden engagement,” Miguel said, his voice tinged with amusement.
“Really?” Samuel asked. “Why haven’t I heard about it from any of them personally?”
“I only found out because one of the board members accidentally cc’d me in the chain email in which they were lamenting the situation,” Miguel said.
My heart skipped a beat. Was our fake relationship causing problems for Samuel? I leaned against the wall as I listened.
“How mature of them,” Samuel said, his voice growing an edge to it.
“Don’t worry about it,” Miguel said. “The board members know that your romantic decisions are a personal matter and beyond the scope of their jurisdiction. It just surprised them.”
Samuel laughed, and I heard the tenseness melt from his voice. “It’s a shame I can’t tell them how Natalie’s plan to stop our feuding families has positively impacted Warner Print. They’d throw us a party.”
Unbidden, a small smile tugged at my lips. It wasn’t a bad thing that Warner Print was benefiting from this—especially since I’d come to realize that both families frequently had valid arguments.
“Speaking of success,” Miguel said. There was the sound of a chair scraping the ground before he continued. “You’ve certainly had a lot of wins lately. You’ve finally gotten some headway on some of your long-term plans, even if it wasn’t entirely your own doing.”
“What topic are you dancing around?” Samuel asked.
“Nothing, nothing,” Miguel assured him innocently. “I just meant that you’ve worked hard to get here.”
“Of course I have,” Samuel said, sounding a bit defensive. “It hasn’t been easy.”
“True,” Miguel said. “You did work hard to get the purchase of the old middle school pushed through. But it seems like your long-term plan, the one you came up with roughly a decade ago, has only seen any real forward movement because you lucked out when Natalie suggested the fake relationship idea.”
I frowned, trying to make sense of their vague conversation. I wasn’t thrilled it sounded like the Warners were continuing with their luxury condo idea, but what on earth was this long-term plan they were talking about? Was it something I should be worried about, or was I just overthinking things?
A decade ago Samuel would have been in college, just like me. What plan could he have possibly made back then that would be affected by us fake dating?
We’d fought like cats and dogs in high school. There was no way Samuel had any kind of positive feelings for me back then when he was planning out his life. I doubted he’d had the emotional maturity then to make mending the fence between our families a life goal of his, and if it had been, he’d done a terrible job of it with the way he’d plagued me.
“I admit that I lucked out when Natalie approached me,” Samuel said, his voice low but determined. “But I’ve done my best to take full advantage of our agreement.”
“Yes,” Miguel said, a touch of skepticism in his tone. “You certainly strategized to make the arrangement as beneficial as possible. Although, in hindsight, I’m not sure if all of your moves were the wisest.”
I cringed, a little pained by how businesslike they sounded discussing our relationship—or rather, our farce of a relationship. It was kind of cold considering we were close friends now.
“Are you referring to me asking Natalie to marry me?” Samuel asked Miguel, his voice tense.
“Exactly,” Miguel replied. “That was quite the misstep, don’t you think?”
I covered my mouth with my hand to hold in a gasp of surprise, and my heart sank.
“I did what I had to do,” Samuel said. “And what’s with this change in attitude? You supported the proposal.”
“I did,” Miguel agreed. “Because I thought you’d take action after it instead of dragging your feet!”
“What are you getting at?”
“I’m trying to point out that you need to tell Natalie the truth about everything!”
Truth? The truth about what? My heart already ached from the casual way Miguel and Samuel were discussing his proposal to me—which apparently was nothing more than a chess move instead of a family-inspired impulse as he’d told me.
Samuel sighed. “It’s not that I haven’t tried.”
Miguel snorted. “Cut the crap—you have not! You’d be perfectly happy to continue the way things are because you don’t want to risk something happening. I told you after the proposal that you needed to talk to her, and I meant it. I’m not willing to keep my silence on the issue much longer.”
“I understand that you’re mad.”
“Then do something about it!”
The exchange was a dagger to my heart. Not that I thought Samuel was betraying me for some nefarious plot. Despite the overheard conversation, I knew Samuel well enough to believe that he wouldn’t hurt me like that.
But the talk of risking things, hidden truths, and Samuel’s willingness to propose to me for some kind of goal… It was obvious I didn’t matter to him as much as he mattered to me, and there was no way he had any romantic feelings for me.
Not a chance.
My vision blurred from the stinging tears pooling in my eyes. I pushed off the wall and staggered down the hallway.
I had to get out of here.
Owen had been right—it was odd that Samuel had so suddenly asked me to marry him. He was a genius when it came to handling people, after all.
“Owen and Jenna are getting serious.” Miguel’s voice drifted down the hall. “You’re running out of time, Sam.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make this succeed,” Samuel replied firmly. “There is no other option.”
As I stumbled away from their conversation, my heart raced with questions. I didn’t dare pick up my pace until I was out of hearing range. Then I fled to the office building’s entrance.
I burst through the double doors, my heart pounding as I ran across the visitor parking lot to my car. The cold night air stung my face, but I hardly noticed as I fumbled with my keys and threw myself into the driver’s seat.
“Get a grip, Natalie.” My breath fogged up the windows and tears stung my eyes, making it hard to see. I tried to push down the torrent of emotions that threatened to consume me, but it was like holding back a tidal wave.
Numbly, I started the car and drove off, needing to put some distance between myself and Samuel—between myself and the conversation I’d just overheard.
I mindlessly drove. I had no idea where I was going until I pulled into Owen’s driveway. I paused for a moment, teary-eyed, and tried to regain control of my emotions.
The one positive to all of this heartbreak was that I could keep my dignity since I never told Samuel how I felt. But I couldn’t even be mad at him about it. It wasn’t his fault I’d fallen in love with him, and he’d always been upfront about his drive to see Warner Print succeed. He’d lied about why he proposed to me, but…
“Ugh, I can’t even think straight!” I rummaged around in the car glove box for some old, tattered napkins to clean myself up.
In defense of my poor broken heart, Samuel hadn’t been entirely professional in his dealings with me. There were several times when he’d acted in ways that could make someone question his intentions, but now that I thought about it, he’d always been careful to maintain boundaries between me and his family. Like when he’d freaked out about me being at his mother’s house without him or when his grandfather had taken me out for dinner.
But why would he lie about why he’d asked me to be fake engaged when he’d been open about the Warners’ plan for the middle school?
“Why is this so complicated?” I groaned, my voice loud in the quiet confines of my car.
The truth was, I was scared—scared of what I’d just discovered and terrified of what it meant.
I gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. I didn’t know what truth Miguel was hinting at. Maybe I was just blowing this whole thing out of proportion.
However, the mention of Samuel’s decade-long life plan kept gnawing at me, like a puzzle piece that refused to fit.
But it would be OK. I’d confront Samuel when I was ready to find out the truth. At least now I knew he didn’t feel the same way about me as I did him.
Taking a deep breath, I picked up my phone and typed out a text message to Samuel.
Great news—Owen and Jenna are officially going out! This means we can plan our breakup. :)
As soon as I hit send, a strange mixture of relief and sadness washed over me. This was a heartbreak, but I was almost thirty and was no stranger to the feeling. It would go away eventually, even if it hurt like hell for the moment.
I exhaled, then opened my phone’s contact list and dialed. As soon as the phone picked up, I spoke. “Hey, Owen. Are you home?” I tried to swallow the pain that strangled my throat, but my voice cracked. “I could use some help.”