6

"I hate you! You cheater! Liar!" Tears blinded my eyes and choked my voice. Oh God... too much pain squeezed my heart as I thought of Jason.

How could he do this to me? I had been loyal, sweet, caring and loving to him. For two years, he was my everything. My sun, moon and stars. What did I do wrong?

Whenever he needed help, I was always there. I would bring his mom groceries whenever he was out of town. I had once fetched his dad from the airport because he had a hangover. I made his sister's costume during their International week. I would even lend him money when he was broke...

Why?

I saw his post on Instagram this morning. He was on bed with his partner field reporter, Vanessa. With hashtags #relationshipgoals #soinlove #truelove #wokeuplikethis #destiny #freedom. I looked for our pictures together. It was all deleted.

He'd been cheating and lying to me for months. He was secretly dating that girl Vanessa for two months already. My source was his cousin who could not stand his arrogance.

I looked at our pictures on the walls, above the counter table, in my bedroom, even in the bathroom. We shared so many memories together and it all vanished. Forever gone.

Rrrriiinngggg!!! Rrrriiinngggg!!! Rrrriiinngggg!!!

The doorbell rang again. That new neighbor could not understand the word NO. I told him that I'm not interested. He kept on pestering me since yesterday to buy life insurance from him.

Stomping my feet, I went to the door and opened it angrily. "I told you I have a life insurance already!"

"Chill," the man in front of me said.

My jaw dropped on the floor. It was not my insurance agent neighbor, but my boss, Alessandro Russo. I was so embarrassed for shouting at him that I wanted to crawl at the nearest hole like a mouse. I'd be dead if I don't have a job on Monday anymore.

He looked so handsome, intimidating, aristocratic and powerful as usual, dressed in his overpriced custom-made gray suit and shiny Italian shoes. While I looked like a mess in my old dotted green-and-white bathrobe, loose white shirt, and red pajama pants. My hair was a mess for not taking a bath for three days and my eyes swollen from crying. I was so miserable. I just wanted to stay in bed and cry my heart out.

"Miss Brooks," he greeted me with a nod.

"Mr. Russo. What are you doing here?" I tried to comb my hair with my fingers but stopped when I saw my dandruff were flying.

"I came here to check if you're okay." I was surprised at the concern in his voice. It did not occur to me that he cared for his employees. He rubbed his hands and said. "Can I come in? It's cold out here."

"Um... of course. Come in." I ran to the red leather couch and dusted it with the throw pillow to remove the visible flakes of dandruffs.

Mr. Russo closed the door and came inside. He looked so big in my tiny fifty-square-meter apartment. His eyes roamed around my place, studying the frames on the wall, the kitchen, everything. Then his eyes meet mine.

"Sit down, sir."

"Thank you," he said and sat down on my tiny couch.

I sat down on the armchair opposite him. It was so awkward facing each other like this, with the center table between us. It made me nervous.

Why is he in here? Is he going to fire me for being absent for three days? I called the Human Resource Department. I'm entitled to use my sick leave, right? But, am I sick? Well... my heart is aching, broken, miserable. Therefore, I'm sick.

"Are you okay now?" The sympathy was there. Did he know what happened to me?

I shook my head.

"So... you're not going to report tomorrow in the office?" he asked calmly.

I shook my head again.

I heard him heave a sigh then stood up. He looked at the pictures on the counter table. "Nice picture. This is in Disney World Orlando, right?" he asked and looked at me again.

I could not help myself, I burst out crying. It was in that picture that Jason and I made our relationship official.

"What the..." Mr. Russo said and moved closer to me. "Stop crying, will you? That guy is stupid. A jerk! It's his loss, breaking up with you. You're a sweet nice girl, young, beautiful and hardworking—"

"I hate him. He's a cheater. A liar."

"That's it! Good that you know." He sat down on the wooden center table, looking at me intently. "You don't deserve a guy like him. You deserved someone better. Someone who will love you and take care of you. You're beautiful, Lisa. Don't waste your time crying on him."

He called me Lisa? He knew my name?

"I don't know, Mr. Russo. Yeah, I hate him for what he did. But I can't deny that I still love him so much. I feel like the world ended now that we broke up. I know it's stupid, but if I could, I would do anything to have him back."

"No, don't you ever do that. He cheated on you already, then he'll do it again."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Trust me. He will just play with your emotions. Be thankful that you've gotten rid of him." He smiled weakly.

I just realized that it was the first time he smiled at me. The first time that he actually looked at me too. "But it's not that easy to forget him, Mr. Russo. We've been together for two years. In that two years, we loved each other so much."

"You're lucky you only had two years with him. I was with Gretchen for eight years, but I'm still struggling to get over her."

"What do you mean?" I became curious.

"We're the same. I'm heartbroken too. I broke up with her the other weekend. It's not easy. I wanted to forget her, not to fall in her trap again."

"You love her?"

"Unfortunately... yes. I love her so much. I wish I don't. She's already married."

"Really? That's so wrong." He was referring to Mrs. Hore.

"I know. But they said that you can't choose the one you love."

"Yeah. I wish we can stop loving them. I wish we can erase them in our hearts and minds. I wish we can move on and be back to our normal selves, so we can find our own true love," I said, wishing everything would happen.

"Heartbreak can take up to six months."

"Yeah, I googled it last night. Some even took six years to move on and others a lifetime," I informed him.

"That's terrible. We are doomed by those two jerks." He stood up and paced the room. Then he stopped and said. "I have a suggestion, Lisa."

"What is it?"

"We can move on easily if we help each other. We'll show them that we're not vulnerable to the break up and they don't matter to us."

"How?"

"Let's pretend to be together, that we're dating. We'll show the world how happy we are together. We'll make those two jealous for hurting us."

"Well... that sounds like a good idea... but... "

"Come on, we need to move on. Let's do it together and have fun with it. Your boyfriend will regret breaking up with you, he'll beg to have you back. But, I still think that it's not a good idea to take him back. He cheated on you."

"What about you? You will end up losing Gretchen..."

"That's the point. I want to get over Gretchen Hore. You know her, right?"

I nodded.

"I want to stop this crazy feeling I have for her. She's nothing but a toxic manipulative bitch in my life."

"I don't think we can pull this off. We're living in two different worlds. It's impossible that you'll like me. I'm not a sophisticated classy woman and you are... worldly... People know that I'm not the type of woman that you usually date."

"There are no barriers in love, Lisa. Come on, let's do it. Two years, let's pretend to be together."

"Two years? No way. That's too long."

"Okay, one year. We can't go less than that. We'll end up being losers. They will just laugh at us. Besides, there's a possibility that we can't still move on by that time then."

"I'm not still convinced."

"Really? What if I'll offer you a monthly allowance equivalent to your monthly salary, an opportunity to live in my penthouse in Manhattan for a year and a new car?"

I was shocked. I inhaled deeply then said, "You sound desperate to get over her."

"I am. I can't get her out of my system. Every time I see her, I go crazy. I want to fu—" He stopped and cleared his throat. "She's married to Luigi and she won't divorce him for me. She want to suck all his money. I know she's a materialistic bitch and she's no good for me, but still, I can't just forget her and move on."

"That's too bad." I could tell that he was obsessed with her.

"It is." He nodded, then raked his hand through his hair. "I worked hard for years to build my own company. And now, I'm losing my focus because of that bitch."

I felt like I was facing a different person. Not the strong-willed, arrogant, controlling and domineering boss I knew. I could not believe that he opened up his vulnerable side to me. He was also heartbroken just like me.

"We suffered the same, Lisa. Those jerks rejected us. We need to help each other to move on with our lives," he continued.

What he's asking is difficult for me. First, I'm bad at acting. Second, it's like lying to everyone. Third, the offer is not really great. I will be tied up to him for a year.

I'll be needing sideline soon to save money for my dad's knee operation, then my mom's new dentures that I promised her last year. There's my brother's university tuition fees—

"Nope. I can't do it, Mr. Russo. I'm sorry. Just find someone who can do it for you."

His expression showed disappointment. Then he held my eyes and said firmly, "Additional one million dollars, Lisa. With a contract. Fifty percent downpayment upon signing and fifty percent full payment after a year. Take it or leave it."

I gasped and said yes.