"It's your decision, Blake" he completed after her strange proposal, fixing his piercing golden eyes on her, leaving her speechless.
Well, to tell the truth, he left her speechless all the time just by staring at her, or standing in front of her with her imperial demeanor and her dazzling gaze; but the reason for her current silence was due more to her proposal than to his irresistible and terrifying eyes.
When he called her at eleven o'clock on a Tuesday morning at work at his office, and being inside her asked her to lock the door, he thought of everything from a strong scolding to extra work. Anything was possible... except this that had just happened.
She even wondered if she was crazy or if she had fallen asleep at her desk and this was all just a crazy, twisted dream. Even a Disney movie could be more real than this... Maybe the morning coffee had something other than the usual caffeine...
She tore her eyes away from the amber pupils for a moment and gazed out the huge office window. Her co-workers were flitting about, working here and there, just like any other Tuesday. And there was Sussy, her cubicle neighbor and best friend of hers, sitting at her desk asking her with strange signs if everything was okay.
Ana pursed her lips, but she didn't know what to answer her...
Of course, things weren't going well, but there was no way she could tell him why, she was too unreal to discuss it with anyone. If she told anyone else, she risked getting a one-way ticket to the nearest nursing home.
"And good?" He insisted, smiling mischievously with that overflow of elegance and cruelty only possible in him.
Ana opened her mouth trying to say something intelligent or appropriate, but it was not possible. Her brain was still wondering how she could have been so cold-blooded as to propose such a thing to him during working hours, at least she would have expected it to be after six when most of the employees had already left...
Ana left Sussy with her nerves on edge, forcing herself to think of a good answer for her interlocutor, the boss of her direct boss, the "white-feathered boss" of the building, who was not going to accept her beating around the bush, like she used to do in embarrassing situations like this.
She took another deep breath before answering, knowing that anything she said could be used against her later, as it was with Armando Ishima.
"Because I?" She said finally, confused and frowning "Why me?"
Armando gave him a crooked smile, that smile that showed nothing but arrogance and evil.
"Simple…" he replied in his impassive tone. "You are perfect."
Now she hadn't understood anything. Praise was not customary in him. She even knew that more than a compliment it was an offense or a mockery. How the hell did she say she was perfect when she had claimed the opposite hundreds of times? She was sure that they supported each other by the mere work commitment, and the hatred that she felt towards him was reciprocated.
So how does she get away with the story that she's "perfect" right now? And even more so when he had repeatedly stated that he would never have anything to do with her... Well, he hadn't exactly said that, but she heard him say that he didn't like girls who were below the average height. And on another occasion, she had said explicitly and in her presence that she "didn't like female engineers."
So, she didn't qualify for Armando Ishima's select casting because first, her height was way below average, and second, she was in her final year of Computer Engineering at the University of Tokyo.
"I'm not even his type," she refuted, incensed by the joke and blushing beyond words.
"I'm not saying you are," he explained matter-of-factly.
Ana's puzzled face was immediate, as was Armando's crooked smile of satisfaction.
That man had gone completely insane. So much work had liquefied his brain and she was about to send him to the asylum. Sure, that was the answer! Not satisfied with driving her crazy, overloading her with work, and forcing her to work overtime, she now wanted to send her to the asylum with him, to continue torturing her from there.
Yes! There was no other more logical explanation
"I don't understand…" she tried to reason, "w-why?"
"It's simple, Blake," he snapped.
How much she hated that she said her last name like that as if it was something disgusting that she had put in her mouth by mistake and that she had to spit out quite forcefully and repulsively.
"A round deal," he continued. You win, I win. Easy”, he assured as if he were talking about a bank transaction or a cash loan.
However, now he understood a little. She Knew there couldn't be a cheesy or sentimental reason for all this! She knew it! He wasn't that kind of man, he was just cold and emotionless, worse than a rock, he was like an inert and perfect ice sculpture, cold and unchanging.
"I don't win anything!" She refuted in annoyance, raising her voice a little above the conventional. That man had managed to fill her patience "What benefit could I get by marrying you? You're crazy!" she exclaimed indignantly and confused.
"It's simple, Blake," he repeated. "Think about it," he whispered exasperatedly, and then he paused in which he surely hoped she would understand, but she definitely would never understand. "You just broke up with your boyfriend… your beloved boyfriend" he corrected with obvious sarcasm in his voice, something a little unbelievable seeing it from him.
"That doesn't mean I'm looking for a husband. What do you know about me? I'm not even thinking..."
"I'm not interested, and keep quiet," he interrupted her arrogantly, leaving her in the middle of her speech.
That's why she hated him. She hated Armando Ishima. He hated his dictatorship and his totalitarian regime. He hated the way he was: intelligent and calculating, always attentive…, analyzing everything around him, always ready to respond skillfully to any situation. Virtually nothing was capable of surprising him.
"He left you just when you thought everything was going so well" he reminded her, making Ana swallow hard and look down, then he continued pleased: "Don't you feel anything when everyone feels sorry for your sadness? They feel sorry because they know you expected things to happen to take a much more... stable course"
Then he was silent for a moment, remarkably pleased that he was accomplishing his goal: making her feel like scum. Ana thought that was the only thing her boss was good at, aside from making big, juicy deals.
"Let me guess…you avoid going outside so you don't run into someone you know who might put your finger on it, right?"
She made a face of indignation. How dare he tell her that, analyze her like this and to her face? And worse still, who had told him all this? The only person in the building she knew about her breakup with her boyfriend was Sussy and she would never betray her.
"That confirms it," he assured her smugly.
"Okay!" She said nervously, trying to stop him from continuing with that stormy subject, and to return to the initial topic "Let's suppose that I accept that I gain something with this madness, but… what do you gain, sir? What can you gain if I accept this?"
"Elementary, Blake... Let's just say that it is necessary to change my life in the eyes of certain investors," he explained dryly. Ana narrowed her eyes, trying to understand but keeping her guard up. "This business will give me the image I need to project without losing anything I have now" He finished coldly while answering an email from his phone.
"He's completely crazy!" she yelled at him in exasperation, forgetting for a moment who this man was and where they were.
Some of the people who passed near her office looked at her out of the corner of their eyes, cautious and waiting for the reaction of the owner and head of the company. However, he only widened that macabre and twisted smile, so characteristic of his almost inanimate face chiseled by the gods. But of course, it wasn't a pleasant smile, it was a smile from beyond the grave, and it almost meant a whirlwind visit to the River Acheron in the company of Hades' ghoulish ferryboat servant.
Ana sighed a couple of times and swallowed hard. She had to control herself and not scream like crazy.
"Think about it, Blake"
"No! I have nothing to think about T-this is..."
"I'll give you until the exit to answer me. If you don't, I'll take it as a denial"
"Perfect!" she exclaimed in relief, standing up and walking towards the door. She felt as if she had lifted an immense weight off of her, not giving a damn who that man was.
"Not exactly," she cut her off before she could turn the doorknob. Ana turned to look directly at him, only to meet his expressionless, calculating eyes. "I'll just find a way for you to accept it" He informed her in that familiar impassive tone, causing a terrible chill to run through her from head to toe. "But I advise you to accept, Blake. You wouldn't want to see firsthand my less subtle ways of getting what I need" he warned her matter-of-factly.
Ana was puzzled and stood by the door. She had never heard him say more than two sentences together, but strangely, of all the crazy and stupid things she had heard from her boss that morning, that subtle threat had been the most sensible. Ana knew perfectly well what she was capable of, she had even witnessed countless times what he had done and how he had done it…
He could destroy her in a matter of seconds without a second's thought. If he put his mind to it, tomorrow he could be in prison for life, or worse, begging on the streets.
She took a deep breath for the umpteenth time, trying to chase away the wave of chills that had taken over her body, and when her legs allowed her she left that horrible place. She felt so dizzy, like the oxygen going into her lungs wasn't enough for her brain and her muscles to work.
Back in her cubicle, Sussy was waiting for her with her usual questioning look. Ana looked around Armando's office and was met by the sight of her silver hair falling freely down her back. He was already focused on her business, typing at breakneck speed on her computer as if nothing had happened, while she continued to rack her brain.
She sighed again before responding to her friend, who had brought a lock of golden hair to her mouth. Sussy used to do that when she was anxious or worried.
"Nothing…I wanted the weekly report, that was all," she answered, puckering her mouth and exhaling deeply.
"Did he say something mean to you? Did he scold you?" She asked, brushing aside her blonde lock of hair and looking at her with concern reflected in her honey-colored eyes.
She could never hide anything from Sussy. If she told him that Sesshoumaru hadn't scolded her, she would have to find a better excuse for her worried face.
You seem to be on the verge of madness... Are you alright?" She demanded it. Sussy was too intuitive... Too much for this situation.
"He told me that I needed to see all the reports I've sent him over the past few months, but... different. He said my format sucked, that he hated the font I used, that... there was data that didn't seem real to him, and that I should review and correct them..." she sighed "So, in short, all my work seems disgusting to you, and I must repeat it"
"But how do you say that after more than four months that you have been delivering those weekly reports of...!
"Sussy!" She reprimanded her, aware of the doctored language of her friend.
"No! It's not fair, Ana! Now you must repeat the work of months in a single day"
"It's not repeating…" she tried to get out of the matter.
"But you just said it.
"Well... As much as I repeat it..., no." Now, what had she gotten herself into? Sussy wouldn't be quiet until her emotions were vented, she needed to explode. "I just have to review and correct it. It's no more"
"You're too patient, Ana. I wouldn't put up with that guy for more than two hours. Thank God my boss is the one who has to deal directly with him."
"Yeah," she murmured, turning back to her computer, "Lucky you," she stammered reluctantly, remembering that strange conversation.
