Page 40 of Red Queen
“Your part. Introducing me to rich people whenever we’re at an event,” she reveals as if it were the stupidest question I asked.
“Anything else, your highness?” I ask with sarcasm dripping from my voice.Just a few months, I remind myself.
“I think that’s all. Send over the corrected version and I’ll think about it.”
“Think about it? But you said—” I raise my voice as she stands up from the couch, ready to leave.
“I said I’ll think about it. And you better not use that tone with me, or you won’t have a fake girlfriend in the near future, chico,” she grumbles, and I shove the key into her hand with a scoff.
I text Enzo the updates and plop back down on the couch with a long sigh. I’ll need a minute to recover from this. Damn good way to get ready for Austria next week.
25
ROSA
It’s been a week since the polished version of the contract has been sitting on my table. I already signed it the day after it arrived, but I didn’t send it back to them yet. They don’t even know I signed it. I want Mateo to be worried about it. This is his first step in the grovelling.
When he told me what his manager’s suggestion was, I was shocked to my core. I thought he cut all ties with me, or at least wanted to, and there he was proposing to me a plan involving us fake dating to get his image back.
He’s going to be a pain in the ass, I already know it, but the idea of building my clientele does sound appealing. After I missed that meeting in Miami with Mrs. Lowe, besides the Monaco job Trina got me, I haven’t had many job offers.
I reached out to some people, but of course, not many of them want to work with someone they don’t personally know, or have been referred to by a friend. I wouldn’t want a complete stranger that I found on the internet to plan my wedding, however good they might be.
It’s Wednesday night, and I’m lying in bed, watching a Friends episode, chilling before the chaos starts tomorrow. I pick up my phone, finally sending the text.
Rosa
I signed it.
I sent it to Mateo, not playing with his nerves further. I guess his team would want to meet me first, and I’m sure there will also be an NDA document, and that needs to be done tomorrow so that Mateo can announce that he has a girlfriend now. I could not be happier that in the next few months, I’ll have to pretend I’m in love with a man I cannot stand.
Mateo
Tomorrow, 8 AM in our hospitality suite.
He texts back, and I put a like reaction on it. As I predicted. I wonder what Enzo is like. Crazy, that’s for sure, but what other traits could he have? It would be funny if he were like Mateo, which I doubt, they would’ve been at each other’s throats by now.
As I continue to watch the episode, Rachel appears in her iconic red dress, and a thought occurs to me. I’ll have to wear red from now on. Which means I can throw my whole wardrobe out. Or I can keep them and buy new red stuff. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. From the money they’ll pay me for fake dating a grumpy ass. I love girl math.
The next day, I wake up to the familiar sound of my old alarm clock I got from abuela. I’ll take this to the grave with me. I’m so attached to it. As I push the button and it stops ringing, I hear the sound of raindrops hitting the balcony. I forgot it’s raining in Silverstone most of the time.
Thankfully, it didn’t rain when I was flying here two days ago, I would’ve shit myself from all the turbulence. I check the weather app, and apparently it’s going to rain for the rest of the weekend. Great.
As I arrive at the paddock, I’m thankful for choosing black boots, or else I could’ve thrown out my white slippers I originally wanted to wear. There aren’t many people here yet, but I’m guessing they’ll start coming soon. I head up to the Moscardi suite and stop at the entrance, waiting for Mateo after the bodyguards let me in.
“Hey. This way.” Mateo pops up from behind a door, signaling for me to follow him. As I step into the room, four people are already sitting there, and then Mateo joins them.
“Good morning, Rosalia. I’m Enzo, Mateo’s manager. This is Clover and Vickie, publicist and PR manager. And that is Harvey, our lawyer.”
“Morning.” I shake hands with all of them, and then sit back down.
“I think we should just get right into it.” He pulls out a binder full of papers, and I’m already thinking about how many signatures I’ll have to write today. My wrist will hurt.
“First, here’s an NDA that you’ll keep this as a secret, and even after the contract expires, you won’t reveal that it wasfaked,” Harvey says, and I put my signature on it. “Next, these are a list of personal questions, please read them carefully and answer them honestly.”
He puts six whole pages of paper in front of me, and as I go on, the stupider they get. ‘What was your favorite stuffed animal when you were young?’, then ‘What does your gym routine look like?’. I write ‘cardio’, but I mean the one Henry Cavill was talking about in that interview, not ‘cardio cardio’.
“And you need these for what?” I ask, confused a little.
