30: Her Smile

Mario set the marker down in the whiteboard tray and went back to his seat to gather up the folders he had handed out earlier.
"I'm going to put away the folders with all the paperwork—" he lied smoothly, trembling slightly "—we don't need that many copies."
He had put on the face of someone utterly sure of himself — but it was nothing more than a mask of confidence that, had Marta given him one of those smiles from the weekend, would have collapsed like a house of cards.
In his mind, the name was not the sum of two companies. It was GO and the final E wrapping around DAN. GOZZE embracing, enclosing, holding ADAN. Marta surrounding him, protecting him, being the anchor of everything he felt.
He knew that if he ever admitted out loud that the name was his way of being held by her forever, Marta would have to contest the vote immediately — for the sake of her own survival. Mario understood she could not allow the company's identity to be a secret love poem. So he would never tell her.
When Melisa had said the name reminded her of an ancient goddess, the image that had come to Mario's mind was the goddess Diana with Marta's features — and though he hadn't thought of it in the moment, it struck him as a perfect fit.
Mario left the boardroom with the folders under his arm and ran straight into Felisa, who was waiting on a chair outside the door.
"You gave me a fright, Felisa!"
"Did I." She waved her hand dismissively. "I listened to your presentation from the door. It was very good."
"Thank you."
"Could I suggest Hugo for your website?"
Mario took a step back and looked at Felisa with wariness.
"Are you blackmailing me, or does Marta know about this?"
"I mentioned it to her before I knew what I know — I'm not that kind of person. But I feel embarrassed interceding for Hugo in something like this."
"Well, seeing as I'm not the only Business Manager at GODANE, I think you'll need to talk to your niece." Mario excused himself with a smile. "And go inside — you don't want to miss the celebration."
He walked away in the direction of his office.
Felisa knocked at the door and, getting no answer, opened it to find everyone chatting easily among themselves. She didn't take long to blend in.
Manuel was genuinely pleased to see her, and Marta took the opportunity to slip away and step out. Ana and Eva caught her at the door.
"We like the way you assert yourself — with such elegance." Said the one with the longer face.
"Thank you — but let's talk when I'm back, shall we?" Marta gave a brief smile and took a couple of steps forward.
"Of course!" the other answered.
And then she was free — out of the boardroom and sitting in one of the chairs outside the door.
"Could there be a compliment hidden in the name?" Marta twisted the lower seam of her Dubai jumper. "Godane, godane... it doesn't ring any bells."
"I think your daughter was referring to the Greek goddess Diana — I hadn't considered that." Mario was coming back from his office.
Marta narrowed her eyes, giving him a searching look from head to toe.
"But you hid something. I know you did."
"I'd rather show you something else." Mario sat beside her. "By the way — earth tones suit you even more than any grey or white."
"Don't change the subject, Mario. What did you hide in the name?"
Mario looked away — he didn't want to tell her, not before it was registered. And as though Diana herself had shed some light on him, he offered another reason he hadn't even consciously worked out himself.
"GOZZE comes first."
Marta's eyes went wide, taken aback by the simplicity and innocence of that distinction.
"It's a rather childish thing to argue about, don't you think — who goes first?"
Mario weighed the alternatives to that version and laughed quietly under his breath.
"Either Diana or dragon — I'd rather the goddess. Wouldn't you?"
"Dagone..." Marta smiled along with him. "You're right — Godane does sound better."
Mario awarded himself a small private victory — he had navigated Marta's suspicion for now.
Showing her his first act of rebellion, done in her honour, was going to be something else entirely. Wasn't it?
"I don't want you to be angry when you see it."
Marta looked surprised, frowning slightly.
"Angry with you — why?"
"Because of this."
Mario slipped his hand under the collar of his burgundy shirt and drew the fabric aside, slowly raising his shoulder to reveal a glimpse of that reddened mark on his skin.
"I don't re—" Marta dropped her voice to a whisper and even leaned towards Mario so he could hear her. "I don't remember any mark on your shoulder." She alarmed herself with her own thoughts and looked at his face, asking for forgiveness. "Did I bite you in the end?"
"What? No!" Mario was taken aback, and a flicker of something pleasurable made his voice drop. "Blimey!"
"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry."
Mario leaned back and, without removing his hand from under his shirt, let his gaze travel down Marta's back to her lower spine.
"If you find it even half as sexy as I find yours, I'll be more than happy."
Marta's eyes went wide, and she dropped her voice even lower as Mario's words sank in, her hand going instinctively to her lower back.
"You got a tattoo?" A look that was half offended, half unable to hide a smile — and her eyes went straight to that mark. "Are you out of your mind?"
With barely a thread of voice and a tone far lower than usual, Mario let out what he had been wanting to admit since Monday:
"Mad about you."
Marta felt her heart bolt as she couldn't stop herself looking sideways at the tattoo on his shoulder.
"It's shaped like... a cork?"
Mario gave a slow smile, swallowing, looking directly at her face.
"This is my other reckless thing from Monday. Do you like it?"
Marta drew in a breath, puffed out her cheeks, flushed and looked away from him. She gave the faintest, slowest nod — and let out the only thing she could manage:
"A complete blockhead — cork for brains and all."