Chapter 5:

I wake up at 6:50am. I lay on the bed for the next 10 minutes so I can fully wake up. Once I do that, I practically leap off the bed. It's nice waking up this happy.

So nice.

I have a quick shower, put on my nicest pair of jeans (4 year old levi's, but who's to know?), a light blue shirt, brown shoes and I'm off to the dining hall to have some breakfast. I'm hoping I run into Claire in the dining room and maybe have breakfast together? But I have no such luck. The dining room is filled with business people, all looking serious while reading today's newspaper.

I choose to have a buffet breakfast. I have no idea how long I'm going to be stuck at headquarters, so I rather have a substantial breakfast. Better safe than sorry.

While I'm eating, I start thinking about last night. The kiss. That was amazing and not just for the obvious reasons; she kissed me. She kissed me. The two kisses we've shared, I've been the one kissing her. Both times completely out of the blue. Now she was the one that initiated it.

Yes! A million times, yes!

After two bowls of cereal, a whole-wheat bagel with cream cheese, orange juice, a blueberry muffin and a coffee, I decide I've eaten enough to survive the next two years. I quickly head back to my bedroom to brush my teeth and grab my things.

I'm down at the lobby by 7:45am. So I sit and wait for Claire. 5 minutes later, she's stepping out of the elevator looking glorious. She looks around until she spots me. She smiles and starts walking towards me.

"Good morning, Owen" she says, her eyes shining.

"Good morning, Claire"

She's looking at me as if expecting something. I don't know if she's thinking the same thing I am, but just in case I'm reading the whole situation wrong, I lean in and give her a kiss on the cheek.

I feel like a damn 12 year old!

She only looks mildly disappointed. So, I didn't read it wrong. Shit.

"I knocked on your door at around 7:20am. I was expecting you to open the door and tell me of the ungodliness of waking up at this hour, but you didn't open, so I assumed you were having breakfast"

"Really? And I would've assumed that you would assume I was still sleeping. Why trust that I'd follow the programmed schedule? I never have"

Without missing a beat she says, "Well, they say that without trust, no relationship can blossom"

I grin like the Cheshire cat. I swear to God, I will fucking marry this woman someday.

"No truer words have ever been spoken. By the way, you look beautiful"

She blushes. So damn cute.

"Thanks. You're not looking too bad yourself. Are you trying to impress someone, Owen?"

"Only one" I wink at her.

The car Masrani Global sends arrives at the hotel to pick us up at exactly 8am. The ride there is not too long, about a 20-minute drive. Halfway there, Claire starts telling me to answer the questions just like I did last night. If they say something I don't particularly like, I should take a deep breath, think of a way of expressing my hate for whatever they have said in a non aggressive way and to try and avoid exploding.

"These people don't respond to outbursts. The minute someone so much as raises their voice, they start being ignored by everyone else in the room and if it gets a little too out of hand, they could even call security. Trust me, I've seen it happen"

"I'll try my best" I look out the window and whisper "… to not punch them"

"I heard that" she says punching me lightly on the arm.

"Sorry. I'll really try, I promise"

I decide to be bold. I grab her hand and lace my fingers with hers.

She looks down at our hands and then looks up at me.

"I know you will"

She doesn't let go until we get to Masrani Global.

The meeting didn't go as bad as I expected it to go. The whole time we were in a conference room with three other people. Two were from public relations and the other was some kid typing notes like crazy on his laptop.

The two people from public relations were Alba Smith and Joaquín Burgos. Alba was from Scotland and Joaquín from Uruguay. Just their accents made the whole thing a lot more fun. We were there until 12:30pm. I had been seated for so long, I was worried my ass crack was going to disappear. Just when I was about to stand up, Alba and Joaquín told us we were good to go.

We went through all the questions, they told us which ones they were more likely to ask us and more importantly, they told us when we had to answer them. The Diane Sawyer interview is going to be in 3 days at the hotel and is going to last about 2 hours. In front of a damn camera and lights, for 2 hours. Yep, not looking forward to that.

We say our goodbyes and head back to the hotel to have some lunch. The ride back was quiet. A comfortable quiet. We were both tired from sitting there answering question after question, but at least we got that out of the way.

We step out of the car and into the hotel. I feel relieved that the most tedious part of the day is over with. Now, Claire and I have to talk about what our strategy is going to be during the interviews.

"You want to grab lunch and discuss it while we eat?" she asks, walking into the dinning area.

"I can sit with you if you want. I ate a big breakfast and by big I mean, I devoured everything I laid my eyes on"

"Why exactly did you do that?" Amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Hey, I didn't know we were going to be there for 4 hours. I thought it was going to take us a lot longer that that! You can't blame me for stocking up"

"Actually, I can. That was the whole point of practicing last night. So you could be prepared and therefore safe time"

She's looking at me with that face she makes, like she's talking to a five year old.

"Well, I'm sorry. I would've probably been able to assume that myself, but somebody's lips distracted me from doing that, so…"

I shouldn't have said that. Now she knows what she does to me, and she knows it. She gives me a cocky smile and turns on her heels to walk to the dining room. I grunt and follow her.

God, I'm so whipped.