I push the door open without knocking. She looks up at me with wide eyes.
"Ilay, I told you I just need fifteen more—"
I don't let her finish.
I walk around her desk. Before she can react I bend down, scoop her up, throw her over my shoulder. She lets out a scream that probably echoes through the entire floor.
"Ilay! What are you doing? Put me down!"
"No."
"I have work!"
"It's Valentine's Day."
"I know but—"
"No buts."
I carry her out of her office into the hallway where her colleagues have gathered to see what the commotion is about. They stare at us with open mouths as I walk past them with my wife kicking and squirming over my shoulder, her fists pounding against my back in a way that doesn't hurt at all.
"This is so embarrassing," she hisses. "Everyone is looking at us."
"Let them look."
"Ilay, please, put me down, I can walk, I have legs, I am a functioning adult who can move on her own."
"You had your chance to walk. You didn't take it."
I carry Iris into the elevator and press the button for the ground floor. When the doors close she finally stops struggling, lets out a long breath against my back.
"You are insane," she says.
"You married me."
"I'm starting to regret that decision."
"No you're not."
She laughs despite herself. I feel her body relax against my shoulder, her hands now resting flat against my back instead of hitting it.
"Where are you taking me?" she asks.
"You'll see."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer you're getting."
The elevator doors open. I carry her through the lobby where more people stop and stare. I can hear someone gasp, someone else laugh as we pass. The glass doors slide open. The bright afternoon sun hits us as I step outside onto the sidewalk.
I pause at the top of the steps and take a deep breath.
"ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET!"
For a moment nothing happens. Iris lifts her head to try to see what's going on.
Then my men spring into action, unrolling a long red carpet that stretches from the building entrance across the sidewalk down to where Viktor is waiting with the car. The fabric unfurls in a wave of crimson against the gray pavement. People on the street stop walking to watch.
