Contract Marriage with My CEO Boss (Kylan and Katrina)
Chapter 3

The day's meetings and errands continued on in a rush, and by the time their meeting with Ryan rolled around, Katrina was exhausted. She was on her third cup of coffee, and her feet were aching in the confines of her heels. Still, she managed to get to the meeting with Ryan a little bit early. She took a seat in front of his desk and sighed, finally taking some pressure off her screaming feet.

"Long day?" Ryan mused from behind his desk.

Katrina smiled at him. "I had to get him another phone," she told the CFO, gesturing to the small bag she had with her.

Ryan chuckled lightly. "I'm not surprised. I saw his ranting and raving on Litter last night, and I figured it would end the way it always does." He shook his head with another laugh.

"I told him to stop going in there again. I don't know why he doesn't just listen," she said with a tired sigh.

"Maybe because he doesn't care to listen," Kylan deadpanned from the doorway of Ryan's office.

Katrina flashed him a stern look. "Why to bother hiring a PR specialist as your assistant, if you're not even going to listen to her opinions about how you handle the public?" she asked Kylan carefully.

Kylan sat in the seat next to hers. He looked every bit bored, and she was once again confused as to how a man like himself, and a man like Ryan, had ever come together to create Ross Corp, all those years ago.

"I told you before, and I'll tell you again. I'll not have my life called into question the way those internet shits do," Kylan said sternly. He reached for the bag containing his new phone, and she handed it to him wordlessly.

Ryan sighed loudly from behind his desk. "This is precisely why the stocks are falling, Kylan. Your behavior has never been favorable, but it's getting increasingly more sporadic. The public's perception of you translates directly to sales and securing potential deals with fellow companies," he explained, his eyebrows furrowing. "Stocks have fallen nearly double what they have in the last few years. And they did so over just the last few months alone," Ryan concluded meekly.

She looked at Kylan with a frown. "He's right. Your attitude with both the press and people online, have both been lacking any kind of humanity. It goes against what Ross Corporation stands for, at its basic function. Which is to aid in the investigations of the police, and the security of someone's home," she reminded her boss.

Kylan scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What would you have me do?" He asked both Katrina and Ryan impatiently.

Katrina looked at Ryan expectantly. She had no idea what to do, truthfully. Talking to Kylan and reminding him why it was never a good idea to get in a fight with a teenager on the internet or to grab and toss a photographer's camera, never worked. Katrina honestly wasn't sure what would get through to him, if anything could at all.

"We're losing employees rapidly. Their work environment has no life to it anymore," she added for good measure. It was true, there was no company spirit, or pride anymore. What once was a vibrant, blossoming company in its infancy, was now a lackluster and slowly dying spark.

Something needed to change. And quickly.

"I have a proposal," Ryan began cautiously. Katrina and Kylan both looked at him curiously, and he cleared his throat. "I think... Well, Kylan, I think you need to begin a relationship with someone. It needs to be someone with the right personality. Someone with whom you can openly show to the world, and who can handle the inevitable limelight that will follow. You need someone charismatic, who can shine when you yourself choose to complain," he droned on.

She couldn't say she was entirely surprised by Ryan's proposal. Kylan was, after all, a thirty-two-year-old bachelor. She could understand the public appeal that could come from a seemingly unobtainable, hardened individual, dating a less high maintenance person. If it were at all possible to appeal to Kylan's humanity to the public, he had to do it. He had to try. Or Ross Corp would be run into the ground.

"I think it's a fantastic idea," she agreed earnestly. "If you can appear even a little more... Approachable, or relatable on a personal level, we need to showcase that," she added for good measure. "And that is having a girlfriend."

"A wife," Ryan suddenly said.

Katrina turned to Ryan while Kylan had his eyebrows furrowed so much that his face looked scrunched and constipated.

"I mean, someone you can agree with for a fake marriage. A contract."

Katrina's face lit up before looking at her boss. "That's right! Having a fiance, someone you will "marry" is more convincing than having a girlfriend."

Kylan was looking at both Katrina and Ryan like they had each grown a second head, and she knew she was fighting a losing battle already.

"How many fights did you get into on Litter yesterday?" she decided to ask Kylan.

Her boss shot her a menacing glare, but she didn't even flinch. Katrina was so used to his tactics, and Ryan wasn't wrong with this idea.

"How many phones have you gone through in this last week alone?" she pressed on.

Kylan sighed and rubbed his forehead, very clearly annoyed. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing his bangs back in the process. "I only get into fights on Litter that are worthy of my time," he grumbled.

Katrina very nearly laughed. "Fighting with, what is it, twelve year old's, is worthy of your time?" she mused, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"F*ck off. The one yesterday was a damn tyrant," Kylan insisted with yet another glare aimed her way.

She shook her head. "Sir, did you not hire me because I graduated college with a double major in public relations and business management?" she asked her boss.

Katrina was already exhausted from trying to sway his feelings, but this wasn't a situation where she could relent, and she knew that. Something had to give, and this was a logical idea.

"I can fire you just as quickly, Katrina," Kylan reminded her, but his voice lacked any bite. She knew as well as he did, that Kylan would drown without Katrina Morgan. He had gone through enough assistants before her, for him to realize as much.

"Think about it, Sir. You're thirty-two. You've never openly dated anyone. If you pick the right partner, you could appear vastly more relatable and human. Go to a few galas, take some pictures, and post some of those on social media. It makes sense. You're plenty desirable around the city, among both women and men alike," she continued to try and sway Kylan.

She knew probably better than anyone, that Kylan didn't date. She wasn't entirely certain he even knew how to date. It was impossible for her to picture someone like Ross Corp's CEO being... Open enough to date anyone. She couldn't even wrap her mind around the concept.

Sure, she knew he had the occasional one-night stand. She had run into one or two of the women as they left his penthouse when Katrina dropped off his dry cleaning, but that was as far as any sort of relationship going.

Ryan had been sitting silently for the duration of her speech, watching both her and Kylan closely. She wasn't sure if he would have any more luck than herself, but she looked at him for help. Graciously, he took the hint.

"Kylan, you and I have worked incredibly hard to build Ross Corp from the ground up. We're in twenty-seven countries, and in almost five-million homes around the world. Several police forces have opted to use our drones. It pains me greatly to see our stocks plummeting and to see you receiving the brunt of the backlash on social media. Would you please at least consider this idea?" he implored Kylan.

Kylan sighed, shoving his hands in the pockets of his immaculately pressed suit, and then he began to pace. Katrina and Ryan, both let him walk for a while. Katrina had said all she could, and now she had to let Kylan process the information. It was how he worked, each time a big decision was involved. This was no different, and perhaps it was an even larger choice than what was normal.

"F*cking fine. I don't see how this could possibly help the company, but I'm not the PR expert, I suppose," Kylan looked at her with narrowed eyes, and she flashed him a small smile. "Give me a week to replace someone," he told her and Ryan, looking at both of them in turn. "Do you need help downloading some dating apps, or something similar? I just need to know your preferences. Woman, man-" She was effectively cut off.

"Woman, Katrina. And no. I'll try and replace someone the good old-fashioned way, by going to a f*cking bar," Kylan pinched the bridge of his nose.

She nodded her head. "Sounds good, Sir. If there's nothing else, I'm going to freshen up before we go to dinner with Charlie." She stood from her chair and waited to be dismissed. "Fine." Kylan waved her away.

Katrina gave a polite nod to her boss, and then she smiled with relief at Ryan, before she left his office.

She didn't know if this would really work, but she and Ryan were hopeful.

She couldn't help but feel mildly sorry for the poor woman Kylan was going to marry. He really was an impossible man to get along with.