The CEO's Scar Faced Wife

Anita José knocked on her boss's door for what felt like the hundredth time. She had been standing at the door adjoining her office to her boss's office. She looked weary from hours of sorting out documents, handling mails, keeping record of events and typing responses.

She let out a deep sigh. The thoughts of the many tasks she still had to complete before the close of work and the urgency of reminding her boss of his meeting ran through her mind. No response yet again. She gave up knocking and opened the door.

Zachary Smith was standing by the window of his office staring down at the busy street below him. Cars and pedestrians were moving about their business.

He thought of how the people were probably without any pinch of worry, unlike him. He was yet to grasp the idea of him getting married. He hated how the clock was ticking as if to remind him of how little a time he had left to make a decision. Marriage was one thing he had never contemplated and losing his inheritance was another thing he had never imagined.

As the door of his office creaked open for Anita to come in, he turned to look at her.

"You think it's unnecessary to knock before coming into my office?" He asked. His brown eyes, the color of a chestnut narrowed in irritation.

"I'm sorry sir but I knocked multiple times and you gave no answer" Anita replied. Although she knocked, there were many times she didn't knock and he was fine with it.

He looked intently at her as if to ascertain the honesty in what she said before taking his seat behind his large desk. "Yes?" He asked, finally.

"You have a meeting in about thirty minutes sir, the boardroom is..." She was interrupted.

"How many times do I have to remind you about putting on some makeup?" He asked, his voice tinged with exasperation.

"Sorry?" She was taken aback, "Make up?"

"Yes. Make up" He gestured to her face.

"Don't you think your face doesn't look good enough to fit in at the meeting?"

On an impulse, Anita touched her face. It took her a few more seconds to realize he was talking about the discolored patches that graced the left side of her cheek where her skin was a blotchy mix of pink, white and brown, a contrast that stood out against her luminous porcelain skin. She sighed.

She wanted to say "This is my face, do I have to hide it away like it's infected with a disease?" But instead she said, "I'm sorry sir, I'll put on some concealer."

"I think what you know how to do best is apologize, You can leave".

Anita has been living with a scarred face since she was twelve and although she screamed after seeing her face for the first time after the fire incident, she healed quickly and began to feel comfortable in her new skin. She never felt the need to hide the scar behind layers of makeup, not even when her young niece, Andrea, called her 'Monster Aunty'. The little girl was just five and innocently spoke her mind. When her mother tried to chastise her, she shouted even louder that Anita was ugly. That could be said to be the basis of Anita's strength in the face of staring passersby and even her colleagues who snickered when she came to sight.

As she looked in the restroom mirror at her now concealed face, she wondered why Zachary never saw her beyond her scarred face. Her phone rang a few moments later.

"Where on earth are you? The meeting is about to start" Came Zachary's smooth bass voice over the phone.

"I will be there in a minute sir" She replied while Zachary cut the call without another word.

She hurried into the meeting to find everyone already seated. She hated being the last person to enter a gathering because it meant everyone in the room would turn to look at her. She glanced at Zachary who nodded in approval of her face. She smiled.

The presentation went smoothly as planned.

"Good job today, Anita," Zachary commended her, which was one thing he rarely did.

"Thank you sir" She replied coyly.

"Don't forget your concealer again. You don't want to scare the participants of the meeting with your face".

The comment hit Anita in a rough place. Her forehead creased as she struggled to keep a smiling face. Zachary did not notice, he had already walked away.

"Excuse me sir" She called out

"Yes?" He responded, stopping in his tracks and turning to look at her.

"You seem to space out frequently these days... Is everything okay?" She asked quietly.

"Well, I guess I just need someone to help me relax. It's nothing" He said and left with a dismissive wave of hand.

Anita shrugged her shoulders and sat at her desk, she was used to such brisk replies from her boss who she was convinced was too full of himself to notice his own flaws.

She was about to leave after the close of work when her boss shocked her with a question

"Do you mind going out to dinner with me?" He asked. Anita was stunned so much that she looked around, trying to be sure the question was directed to her.

"I'm talking to you" He said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"My pleasure sir" She replied.

On the way to the restaurant he picked, she could not help but wonder why had chosen to eat with her. Was he touched by the fact that she was worried about him?

As they sat to eat, Zachary's gaze kept drifting to her. At first, she thought it was her face so she politely excused herself and went to the restroom. Her scar was well concealed but she added more powder anyway before returning to him but his eyes kept lingering on her.

"Is everything alright sir?" She asked.

"Marry me" He spurted out.

"What?" She responded, shock written all over her face.

Zachary cleared his throat and set down his fork. "Look Anita, I need a wife and it's urgent. I mean, very urgent."

Anita felt anger rise within her. Who did he think he was to make such a baseless proposal to her? She exhaled. " sir I..."

"You may be ugly, I know" He interrupted, his right hand making a breezy wave in the direction of her face. "I will pay you," He added.

"Who said you could marry me by just paying me off?" Anita snapped. She hated how he was looking at her intently, his eyes locked with hers, it made her feel weak.

"What do you want?" He asked calmly, his calmness surprised Anita. This was the same Zachary who would not miss a chance to yell at her. She kept mute, her mind racing with thoughts of how this marriage, false as it may be, can be of advantage to her.

"How much can you pay?" She asked finally.

He leaned back, a triumphant smile playing on his lips "You should have asked this moments ago