Page 52 of Interning For A Billionaire

But after a few minutes, I got a call from Belle.

“You were terrific!” she said. “You spoke so well, and with such command! I think it went very well.”

“You’re still there?”

“Yeah,” she dropped her voice. “I’ll leave soon. I just wanted to warn you… we may have a problem with Marianne.”

“What do you mean?”

“She says she knows about you and me.”

“What?”

“She says she saw us at the bar. She saw you touching me, and she says the newspapers will love a story about tech giants abusing young female employees.

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. But the thought of such a media story made me feel ill. I was trying to make a deal with a big data analytics company, but they would not sign if I was embroiled in some scandal around ethics and female employees.

“I told her she was wrong, but she just laughed in my face.”

“We have to stop her from talking.”

“I know, I want to keep an eye on her, but I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to handle this?”

“Where is Josie now?”

“She’s talking to some people at another table.”

“Okay, I’m sorry to ask you this, but keep talking to Marianne and try to convince her that nothing is going on with us. I don’t want her wrecking this deal!”

I couldn’t expect Belle to fix this, but somehow, I did. I’d already noticed how good she was at dealing with tricky situations, talking and charming her way out of tight corners. She was better at dealing with people than I was, and it made sense that she worked in HR.

I thought of seeing Marianne and knew that she was the reason I had been so wary of Belle at first. I had been with so many unsuitable women over the years, people I never really cared about and kept seeing only because it was convenient. But I liked being with Belle, I enjoyed her company. It was different with her. We thought the same about so many things and our love for an active, outdoorsy lifestyle was also the same.

For the first time in perhaps ever, I had found a woman I didn’t think I could tire of.

Chapter 21

Belle

After I spoke to Michael, I went back to the table where Marianne was talking to some other investors about fintech. I looked around for Josie and saw she was still chatting to someone at a nearby table.

I drank more champagne and nibbled on a pastry although I wasn’t really hungry.

Dessert was served and I saw Marianne tucking into her cassata. When she got up to go to the bathroom, I followed her, waiting for her at the basin.

“Seems Michael has left,” I said to her.

She washed her hands, then looked at her reflection in the mirror, adjusting her hair.

“He was quite upset.”

“Why?”

Finally, I had her interest.

“He wasn’t expecting to see you here,” I said.

“Oh?”

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