The mountains stretched out before my eyes, the sun shining high in the blue sky, covered only by a few solitary clouds. I put my mask over my eyes, gave myself a push, and started skiing down the mountain, surrounded by snow and trees, with a few birds chirping a strange song. Wait, that didn't sound like the chirping of a bird in the mountains...

The sound of the alarm clock pulled me out of my dream. What holiday in the mountains and days spent skiing, I had another intense day of endless work. I turned off the alarm reluctantly, getting out of bed with little to no will to go to the office. I got dressed, grabbed my usual coffee, and since Noelle was still in bed, I wrote on the blackboard what time I would be back and went out. I was about to get in the car when I got a text from Charlie.

Careful to get into the office today, Malcolm is fuming. As soon as you arrive, I'll explain everything to you once you get here.

I was intrigued by the message, but knowing that my boss was so mad didn't spur me to go. I got into the car resignedly and hit the road.

When I arrived in front of the building, I took a deep breath and went inside. A bomb seemed to have gone off in the office. People were running everywhere, computers and printers were working non-stop, and secretaries were making phone call after phone call. I looked around to see what might have happened, and it didn't take long to find Charlie and Ross laughing in the corner. I walked up to them and asked for an explanation.

"It just so happened that James signed the contract of the new deal slightly drunk and didn't read a clause that could cause him to lose 15% of revenue for each client. Each client he will have between now and the end of his career. We're talking millions of pounds," Ross told me.

"That sounds serious, why are you laughing?" I asked worriedly.

"Malcolm, the most precise and punctilious man I know, who doesn't even allow his employees to have time off to stay focused on work, signs a contract drunk. Such a contradiction can only make one laugh. Admit it, it's pretty funny as a thing," said Charlie.

"Ok, I’ll admit it’s funny. But it’s also a big deal, what is he going to do now?" I asked worriedly.

"The contract can be cancelled as James was not in full mental capacity at the time of signing. They're all freaking out about a problem that's actually non-existent," Ross said quietly. 

"And no one thought to warn him of all this?" I replied.

"No, not yet. When it’s not funny anymore I'll go and warn him. By tonight, of course. But not now. I'm enjoying the moment."  Charlie replied calmly. He didn't seem to understand the gravity of the matter.

"Charlie, the consequences could be disastrous if we don't do something now," I replied seriously.

"But we may finally have a day unlike any other," Ross said.

"But we could also suffer serious loss of earnings, and that would result in lower wages," I continued.

"All right, I understand, I'll go and report right away," Charlie replied resignedly.

He walked away with heavy steps in the direction of Malcolm, not without turning several times to look at me and rolling his eyes. Of course, seeing Malcolm in that state was actually fun, but we couldn't risk such serious damage to the company. I turned my attention back to Charlie and saw the look of relief and happiness that was spreading on Malcolm's face as my friend finished his speech.

"Malcolm thanks us for telling him," he said in an annoyed tone as soon as he returned.

"See?" I replied, "All's well that ends well."

Once the situation was settled, I said goodbye to my friends and walked away in the direction of the elevator.

 ***

I arrived in my office and started working. All my days there were the same, mine was a very long and meticulous job. While on the one hand of marketing there was the creative team that made the advertising campaigns, on the other hand there was me, who analyzed the data and customer feedback. Thankfully most of them were all positive, but that didn't make the work any less monotonous. Strangely enough, however, time passed very quickly when you spent it examining documents; I would enter a state of concentration so deep that I wouldn’t even notice time passing. My lunch break was not long in coming, and I turned off the computer to switch off completely. I rummaged through my backpack to look for the sandwiches I had made that morning, but I couldn't find them. I continued to search more and more frantically, until I came to a conclusion. I had left them at home. I didn't have time to find a bar and get something there, just as I didn't have time to go home. There was only one thing I could do. I called Noelle.

"Answer, please answer." I thought as the phone rang off the hook. I was about to end the call when I heard her voice.

"William?" asked his voice on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, it's me. I have need a favor."

"What do you need?"

"Well, I'm at work but... I left my lunch at home by mistake. Would it be a problem for you to bring it here?"

"No, no problem. I'll get there right away."

"Thank you, I owe you a favor," I replied, breathing a sigh of relief.

Twenty minutes later I saw Noelle walk in my office door with my lunch.

"I don't know how to thank you enough," I said, taking the bag from her hands.

"I think remembering to bring it the next time is an idea. You should have warned me of the chaos down below though. I used it to get up here without being seen, but it was really hard," she replied slightly nervous. In fact, the situation downstairs was still a mess, despite the fact that the contract had already been cancelled. Ross had stopped by to tell me about it mid-morning. However, it seemed that the news had already been leaked to online newspapers, and now the reputation of the office had to be fixed. In short, a really messy situation.

"You're right, I’m sorry. Today we’re dealing with a bit of a situation."

"Why, what happened?" she asked curiously.

"My boss signed a contract while he was drunk and was convinced he was going to lose millions of pounds in earnings. But, fortunately, the contract was cancelled, so the damage was avoided. It's just that now you have to get the news off the online newspapers, and it's not an easy task."

"I understand, in fact it seems to me a very complicated situation. Luckily you don't have to deal with that," she said, sitting down in the chair in front of the desk.

"It's not a problem if I sit down for a moment, is it? I did everything in a hurry to get there as soon as possible and I'm a bit tired."

"No, no problem," I replied smiling, and finally I saw the expression on her face relax. She smiled back at me, staring her green eyes into mine. Her gaze caused a strange sensation in my stomach, but it was probably just hunger. I unwrapped one of the two sandwiches and finally started eating.

"So this is your office, huh?" she asked, getting up from her chair and starting to walk around the desk.

"Yes, this is my famous office," I replied between bites.

As I finished eating, Noelle continued to look around, pausing at the folders on the shelves and all the documents resting next to my computer.

"It seems... interesting. What you do, I mean."

"Noelle, you don't have to lie. I know very well that what I do it's not the best."

"Okay, it actually sounds really boring. But everyone... likes to do different things," she concluded, trying to lighten her criticism.

"It's actually a boring job, but it's also one of the most important; So, knowing that I have an important role motivates me to do my best."

"I never thought so, you're right," she replied as she sat down in front of me again, looking at me. And there it was again, that strange feeling in my stomach. This time, however, I didn't have hunger to blame. I decided to ignore it and move on to the second sandwich. But at that moment, Charlie walked into my office, and immediately noticed Noelle's presence.

"And who are you?" he asked quizzically.

"I'm Noelle, William’s..."

"William's cousin. Noelle is my cousin." I stopped her before she could finish the sentence. No one could have known she was my roommate, I would have risked too much. Especially Charlie, he definitely wasn't the right person to keep secrets.

Noelle looked at me quizzically, but she understood to keep up the play.

"That's right, I'm William's cousin. I am here to... invite him to this year's Christmas dinner."

"But it's mid-November," Charlie pointed out, confused.

"Yes, but we like to organize things well in advance. We're a family like that," she replied.

“It makes sense, William can be really precise sometimes. Now I understand who he got it from."

"Yes, a family trait..." Noelle concluded.

"Look at the time, I better get going now. Please, William, let me know for dinner," she said after realizing it was best to leave before Charlie found out the truth.

"Of course Noelle, I'll call you tomorrow night," I replied, leading her to the door.

She said goodbye to Charlie and then disappeared into the hallway. For now, I had saved the day, but I knew that in the evening I would have to give her an explanation.

"That cousin of yours is quite pretty... Is she single?"

"Charlie, go away now, I have to work," I replied nervously. Jealousy, that was new. Maybe jealousy was a bit of a big word, I just wanted to protect Noelle from Charlie. Not that he was a bad person, but he wasn't exactly recommendable. He never took things seriously, he got drunk every Saturday night... wait, was I really looking for reasons why Charlie wasn't the right guy for Noelle? The amount of work I was doing was really getting to my head, I needed to come to my senses as soon as possible.

"Okay, she's not single. Got it. See you at the hotel tonight?" he concluded.

"No, I have a dentist appointment. They’re always late in that clinic, I think I'll finish very late." And there was another lie. I just had to remember all the stories I was making up so I wouldn't get caught. Charlie nodded and walked out of my office. I went back to work, pondering what I could say to Noelle at dinner to explain what had just happened.

 ***

As I expected, in the evening Noelle gave me just enough time to eat, but as soon as she saw my empty plate she sat down in front of me and began to look at me quizzically.

"I already know what you want to ask me, go ahead, say the question." I told her without taking my eyes off my plate.

"Why did you tell your friend I'm your cousin?"

"Charlie loves to crack jokes and make up stories, he could have made up some kind of nonsense about the two of us, and I didn't want fake news about you to become a topic of gossip in the office," I explained quietly.

"Oh, thank you. I guess that way my reputation will remain intact," she replied relieved.

"That's right. In addition, there is a very stupid rule that no one from outside can enter the offices, except for the family members of the employees; so, I had to lie to let you in as well."

I was sorry to lie to Noelle like that, but it was my reputation that was in jeopardy here. I couldn't risk getting caught, and as much as Charlie was my friend, I knew he couldn't keep secrets.

"I see. In that case, thank you for covering me for both ways."

"No problem. After all, I wouldn't even have had lunch without you," I said, looking down at my plate.

"True. I'd say we're even then. Instead, how did that story of your boss's contract end?"

"Ross updated me just now. Fortunately, we will not go to trial, but we only have the lawyer to thank. Malcolm took a really big risk."

“All's well that ends well,” she answered. The same thing I had said Charlie a few hours before...

"Yes... today was quite the full day, I think I'm going to bed now," I told her. I wasn't even that tired, but the conversation was likely to end the wrong way, Noelle couldn't know the truth yet.

“Oh, of course, go ahead,” she answered.

I quickly washed the plate I had eaten from and went back to my room. All the risks I'd taken that day had really destroyed me, and I knew Charlie would have more questions about Noelle. I just had to find a way to dodge them all.