The Call Boy I Met in Paris — Episode 21
Justin watched hope brighten Sophie’s face and felt the truth press against the back of his teeth. She had offered him a place in her company with such earnest confidence that refusing would hurt her, yet accepting meant carrying his lie into the one place where she should have been able to trust everyone around her. “Sophie, the thing is…” he began, searching for an explanation that would not expose Lake Enterprises or humiliate her kindness.
“Just come in for an interview,” Sophie interrupted. She leaned toward him across the restaurant table, too excited by her solution to notice his hesitation. “Please. I think a career change won’t hurt you, and it’ll help our story.” If her family investigated their marriage, a husband employed at Swift Architecture would look far more convincing than the mysterious man they believed she had hired from a hotel.
Justin lowered his gaze to hide his amusement. A career change, she called it, as though the CEO of a global construction empire merely needed encouragement to discover his potential. Yet beneath the absurdity lay something that affected him more deeply: Sophie saw no shame in the life she believed he lived. She simply wanted him safe, respected, and close enough that no one could use his supposed poverty against him.
The waiter arrived with the bill before Justin could answer. “And here is your check, sir,” he said, placing the leather folder beside Justin with the careful neutrality of an employee who knew exactly whose signature could determine the restaurant’s future. Justin opened it casually, grateful for a moment to think.
Sophie watched him reach for the pen and mistook his silence for anxiety. “It isn’t a promise that you have to stay forever,” she assured him. “Come in, talk to my team, and see whether it feels right. If you hate it, I’ll never mention it again.” Her voice softened on the last sentence, turning the offer into a choice rather than an obligation.
That distinction decided him. Too many people in Sophie’s life disguised demands as concern, from her father’s marriage ultimatum to Derek’s possessive cruelty. Sophie had every reason to repeat what she had been taught, but instead she kept leaving doors open for other people. Justin wanted to walk through this one, even if it led deeper into trouble.
He signed the check and met her expectant gaze. “Just give me a time and a place, boss,” he said, allowing a teasing smile to return. “I’ll be there.” He could rearrange board meetings, international calls, and an entire executive schedule. Apparently, all it took was one quiet plea from Sophie Swift.
“Yay!” Her delight escaped before she could contain it. The polished heiress vanished for a heartbeat, replaced by a woman openly pleased that he had trusted her advice. Justin stared, charmed by a reaction no calculated society smile could imitate.
Sophie quickly recovered and reached for her glass. “I mean, good. That’s sensible.” The color rising in her cheeks betrayed how much his answer mattered. She began explaining that Swift Architecture valued creativity and practical thinking, though her rapid words sounded more like reassurance to herself than preparation for him.
Justin listened with a warmth that made the deception increasingly uncomfortable. He knew the firm through contracts, financial reports, and the Maple Plaza partnership. He also knew it was more vulnerable than Sophie realized, its future threatened by family politics and competitors waiting for weakness. Working beside her might let him protect more than their cover story.
“Who will interview me?” he asked. He hoped Sophie would name a senior architect unfamiliar with his public profile. Lake Enterprises kept him out of most promotional campaigns, but anyone deeply connected to the industry might recognize either his name or his work.
“I’ll arrange it with one of our directors,” Sophie said. “You won’t have to perform for a room full of people.” She interpreted the slight tension in his expression as ordinary nerves. “They’ll probably ask about your experience, your education, and what kind of projects interest you. Nothing terrifying.”
His education presented the first problem. The architecture degree and celebrated Paris projects on his real résumé would make him wildly overqualified for an assistant’s position. Inventing a weak résumé, however, risked failing an interview Sophie had personally requested. Worse, she would think he had lied to her about being capable of more.
“What if my background is a little unconventional?” Justin asked. The question was honest enough to ease his conscience, though not honest in the way she deserved. “Your director might think I don’t belong there.”
Sophie shook her head at once. “I don’t care where you started. I care whether you’re willing to learn.” Her certainty settled over him like an unexpected promise. “And if anyone treats you as less because of your past, they can answer to me.”
Justin had negotiated hostile acquisitions without blinking, yet her fierce defense left him briefly speechless. She believed she was offering dignity to a man society would dismiss. She had no idea she was speaking to someone powerful enough to buy the building, the firm, and every company that mocked him.
“You really think I can do this,” he said. It came out quieter than he intended. Praise had surrounded him for years, but most of it was tied to the Lake name, his money, or the leverage he could offer. Sophie’s faith rested on the version of him she thought possessed nothing.
“I wouldn’t risk my mother’s company on someone I thought was useless,” Sophie replied. The mention of her mother sharpened the stakes. Swift Architecture was not merely a workplace; it was the inheritance Sophie had fought to preserve and the last living piece of the woman she missed.
Justin reached across the table and closed his hand over hers. “Then I won’t let you regret it.” He meant the work, but the vow expanded inside him to include the marriage, the company, and the trust he had not yet earned. Sophie’s fingers remained beneath his instead of pulling away.
The next morning, Justin sat outside the interview room at Swift Architecture with his real résumé resting on his knee. Sophie smiled encouragingly beside him and murmured, “No need to be nervous, okay? We’re just going to chat a bit.” He smiled back, but when the office door opened and the interviewer called his name, Justin realized one page of truth might destroy every lie keeping him close to her.
