“DECLARATION OF WAR”
“You're ready, Chris. You look absolutely beautiful,” says Rashid, my hairstylist, and slowly I turn around to look up at myself in the mirror to admire his artwork. Whenever he does my hair and makeup I feel like a supermodel.
“Good job, as always.”
“Say it, honey, say it.”
“You're the best,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“I know!”
“You're being vain” he shrugs walking to the other side of my closet to get my dress, unzips the holster where it is, and puts on a very disappointed expression.
“What”
“Are you going to wear this?” she asks, pointing to the beautiful pink dress with crystals embroidered on the bodice.
“Yes. Why? What's wrong with it?” he lets out a sigh and begins to rummage through my closet until he finds what he is looking for.
“Aha! Here it is. If I were going to see an Italian businessman and I had your legs, I would use this deadly weapon,” he says pointing to the black dress she is holding in her hands.
“Have you been watching that movie again?”
“I would be lying to you if I said no” I take the dress from her hands and put it on, I can't deny that her choice is better than mine, this dress is amazingly beautiful, the long sleeves are lace and it leaves my back exposed.
“You're done babe, now go and get him!” Ah? oh! he thinks...
“Rashid, this is not a date.”
“No?”
“No, it's a negotiation closing celebration.”
“Too bad,” he says with regret.
I leave my apartment accompanied by my loyal James, more than a bodyguard is like a big brother, he can act as my best friend but keeping always the limit of respect. I chose Daniel's restaurant for being one of the best in town. When I arrived the two gentlemen were waiting for me.
“Good evening,” they are both elegantly dressed in dark suits.
“Good evening, Miss,” Mr. Vitto greets me in Italian and kisses my hand gallantly.
“Good evening, Miss Swan, I expected you to be accompanied by your assistant.”
“Stefano, please don't start,” his father speaks to him in their native language, "I'll have to take Italian lessons.
“Actually, I need to wait a couple more minutes, my boyfriend is running a bit late, that's why we were not able to arrive together. This very moment I'm going to call him to know where he is” I quickly look for Roger's number amongst my contacts.
“Hi Chris, I'm...”
“Hello my darling, I'm already at the restaurant with the businessmen. Where are you, my love?”
“Ooohhh! So I have to play the lovey dovey boyfriend role” he says laughing.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Okay, I'm turning around the corner, I'll be there in two minutes.”
“I love you too, mwah,” I say ending the call.
“My boyfriend is nearby, he'll be here in a couple of minutes or so.”
“I can tell you are deeply in love with your boyfriend, Miss,” the jerk addresses to me.
“Yes Mr. Stefun... sorry, Graziani” his face reddens with anger at the way I called him.
“I think we should drop formalities, how about I call you Christie and you call me Vitto?”
“Okay,” I say giving him a warm smile.
“I prefer distance, thank you” what an asshole!
“Same here.”
“Hi honey, I apologize for the delay.” Says Roger
“Hello love, don't worry,” I say giving him a peck on his lips, “these are Vitto and Mr. Graziani, my business partners.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you both”
We move inside the restaurant and the maître d' guides us to the table I had previously reserved, we chat pleasantly while we wait for our orders to be brought and even laugh because of Graziani’s jokes, it is a relief that he is relaxed, I was seriously thinking that he had a grudge against me, I think all he needed was a bit of confidence and a drink, however, I don't trust his attitude at all.
“Have you two been dating for a long time,” Vitto asks.
“Six months,” I answer with the first thing coming to my mind.
“One year,” answers Roger at the same time. Damn!
“One year.”
“Six months,” he says again along with me.
“Six months or a year,” Vitto asks with a mocking grin.
“Six months,” replies Roger, “but we've been dating for a year, when you love someone it's hard to keep track of time” that's it! Good save Roger, I mentally give him a thumbs up.
“Yes, of course,” says Graziani sarcastically.
“Any problem, sir?” asks Roger with a hint of irritation.
“None,” he says raising both hands. Luckily during the rest of the dinner, there were no awkward questions but I could feel his blue eyes on me at all times, which sent a shiver down my spine.
***
“Hi Alena,” I greet my dear assistant as I arrive.
“Hi Christie.”
“What's the matter? Why do you have that circumstance look on your face?”
“It is better if you see it for yourself” we walk towards my office and as we enter I can see Stefano Graziani comfortably sitting behind my desk checking some documents.
“What are you doing in my office,” I asked, extremely annoyed.
“Why are you showing up at these hours? It's ten o'clock in the morning, in case you didn't know,” he replies without even looking up.
“Excuse me? Not that it's any of your business but I had a breakfast with some of our clients, we do it once a month. You didn't answer my question by the way.”
“Why was I not informed about the meeting?”
“Because you just showed up yesterday and that was scheduled weeks ago.” I am making a great effort not to strangle him.
“Now tell me what the hell are you doing in my office?”
“Your assistant has informed me I do not have one so in the meantime, we will have to share.”
“Not a chance! You don't have an office because you notified me yesterday about your decision to work here, nevertheless, don't worry, we have some space you can use for the next few days while the decor team sets up your office. Follow me” we left my office and I took him to the most secluded area of the floor.
“Here you go,” I say, opening the door.
“Are you kidding? this is a storage room! How do you expect me to work from here?” Damn he is mad. I believe I can see some smoke coming out of his ears.
“That's your problem, there you have a desk and a telephone, Alena will kindly assist you while we find a secretary for you.”
“I would like to remind you that I am part owner of this company and have the same rights as you,” he says, crossing his arms.
“I know, you own 35% of the stock in my company just as I own the same amount in yours, but that doesn't give you the right to take over my beautiful office.” I know, I'm being a bitch but he brings out the worst in me.
“I'll take this as a declaration of war.”
“Take it as you will.”
“All right Cruella, but who laughs last laughs best.”
“Don't worry Stefunny, I always have the last laugh,” I turn around and leave him there in front of the storage room.
I am checking my emails and I see an urgent one from one of our providers, they have had problems in receiving payment for last month and it has been ten days since this month started.
“Alena, please communicate with Charles Perry, the bank manager where the company's main account is” I do not get any answer from her “Alena” I call again through the intercom, and nothing happens. I go out to the reception area and find an empty desk.
“Maggie, have you seen Alena?” I ask the maintenance lady.
“I saw her a while ago walking in that direction” she informs me and resumes her work.
“Thank you,” I go where Maggie told me to, that's where the storage room is, I discreetly peek into the office that has the door open and find her having a nice chat with Graziani.
“Exactly, and this is the list of the extensions of all the departments, this one here is my extension, you can call if you need anything no matter what it is.” What the fuck? “I also brought you a restaurant list in case you need it for lunch.”
“I really appreciate it Alena” Oh! they are now on a first-name basis! How nice! This is too much.
“Ahem,” I clear my throat, standing in the doorway.
“Ah! Hello Chris...”
“I needed you to make a call and to my surprise, you weren't at your desk.”
“I'm sorry, it's just that Stefano needed me, I mean Mr. Graziani.”
“I need you to put me in contact with Charles Perry, now!” I said with emphasis on the last word.
“Right away,” she rushes out of the storage room.
“What's the matter, Cruella? it bothers you that I'm being nice to your friend?”
“Ha! You wish Stefunny” he gets up from the chair and comes closer to me until we face each other.
“Mmm... I have a feeling it does, and a great deal actually.”
“I don't give a ratass. you can do whatever you want. Just keep your damn self away from me.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so and step back a little bit”- I reply very uncomfortable because of the proximity.
“You have no idea how much I love a challenge and you just became one Cruella” he whispers in my ear and then walks out leaving me a bit confused and heated.
PREJUDICEIt's been a week since I disagreement with Graziani, I must say we haven't talked to each other except when strictly necessary, yesterday he moved into his new office, unfortunately, it is the closest to mine, we have yet to find an assistant for him because I can't continue sharing Alena, I expect that to be ready today. I'm really annoyed by the familiarity they have with each other and her giggle every time he tells one of his lame jokes.I reach the office to find a completely deserted floor, I look at my wristwatch and it reads 8:10 in the morning, perhaps there was some apocalyptic event that I didn't even know about? I walk to the kitchen area and I find Maggie, who is very distracted prep
A MAJOR MISTAKEMy office door slams shut, I suddenly look up to see Alena laughing so hard and grabbing her sides, curiosity takes over me, what has happened now? last week Graziani hired his new assistant, sin then my beloved company has turned into a circus.“Could you tell me what's going on?”“Stefano is about to hang himself from the lamp” he pauses “Reni” she says her name in a squeaky pitch “she's not getting anything right, but something about her doesn't seem to fit, it's like she's doing it on purpose. As if she's trying to be a failure.”“How can you be sure?”“For God's sake, Chris! No one can be such an idiot in life. Stefano requested her to order him a salad with no onions and a vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise, and she did the opposite.”“So, Graziani is having problems,” I laugh, “well, I'm
NOTHING HAPPENED“Christie, what are you doing there?”“Oh, my God Gloria, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”“I'm sorry my darling” she looks at me suspiciously “I was just curious about seeing you in front of the elevator so early this morning and in a bathrobe.”“It's... it's... I couldn't sleep anymore, yes, and... and... and... and I had a walk to clear my mind, but Aww! I guess I'll go back to bed” I say, exaggerating a yawn.“To bed? But it's after six in the morning, aren't you going to the office?”“No! Um... I mean... I'll go later, I have a terrible headache, I'd rather go to bed.”“Do you want me
GET OUT OF MY HEADOnce again, I turn over and pick up my cell phone to see the time 2:05 am, apparently, I won't be able to sleep. Maybe if I could relax I could sleep a few hours, I search in the app store for one of those famous relaxing apps, I download it quickly and put it to work, fluff the pillow and adjust the blanket. As the music plays, I make an effort to loosen my tense muscles, I try not to think about anything but instead let the soft melody take over my senses and lead me to a peaceful state of sleep.I have the feeling of walking down a very long and dimly lit hallway “hello, is there anyone here?” I ask, but I don't hear an answer. In the end, there is a very nice white door, I remain static for a moment, but my curiosity wins and I advance towards it. Once I'm in front it opens by itself, I can see a silhouette extending his hand and inviting me to enter, with no hesitation I take it, the door
LET’S TRYI finish getting ready to go to the office, no matter how hard I tried to figure out an excuse to stay at home, I couldn't find it. I must not be a coward, I have to go and face Stefano, I can't be avoiding him, I just have to stick to my decision and try not to fall into his nets again. I have one last glance at myself, briefly, I am tempted to recoil, but quickly I dismiss the thought and leave the room.“Good morning darling, do you want me to prepare the usual,” asked a cheerful Gloria.“Good morning Glorita, no. Actually, I am not really hungry, a toast with jam and a glass of juice is enough.” She quickly fixes everything I requested and places it in front of me.“So, why are you so crestfallen and pale?” I let out a big sigh “judging from that sigh, this situation has a name.”“I don't know exactly how, but I slept with my business associate”-she looks
SUN, BEACH AND STEFANO? “I know I should say ‘Christie, what you did is so wrong. You shouldn't have cancelled your appointments at last minute to spend a relaxing weekend in Hawaii with your best friend’ But I won't do it, I'm sorry, I suck at playing conscience,” Alena tells me while sipping her mimosa. “Don't worry Al, I won't hold anything against you.” “You'd better not because I put a lot of effort into this trip.” “I roll my eyes at her comment” “Wow! watch out for a brain swelling,” I roll my eyes at her comment. “Sometimes you are annoying Christie Swan, but you won't dampen my mood,” she says sticking her tongue out like a petulant little girl, she continues sipping her drink and flipping through her magazine. At this very moment we are at Idon'tknowhowmany thousand feet of altitude in a flight that will last approximately eleven hours, I just decided to start our weekend getaway early, I ran away
I CAN BE WHOEVER YOU WANT ME TO BE“Good morning sunshine! Birds are singing, the sun is shining, and we are in Hawaii baby!” I hear Alena's voice booming through my room followed by the sound of curtains being opened, the brightness goes straight to my eyes, I squeeze my eyelids tightly and pull up the blanket until I'm completely covered “come on my little vampire, we have a tight schedule and the time is running out, you must have breakfast at lightspeed because we have a yoga class in thirty minutes, then a long session at the spa, by the time this relaxing morning is over you won't even remember your name.”“Al, it's too early,” I snap in irritation.“Ah, ah, missy, we have an agreement,” she says as she abruptly pulls the sheets off me.“I don't remember making any agreement with you.”“You have implicitly done so by agreeing to all this, so chop cho
UNEXPECTED INVITATION“GOOD MORNING SUN...” Alena chirps out loud as she enters my room, but her words remain incomplete when she sees me coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.“Good morning my dear Alena! and shut your mouth so the flies don't get in,” I say when I see her gasping like a fish out of water.“What the hell are you doing?”“It's called patting your body dry after bathing, is what I'm doing.”“Mmm... there's something weird going on here. Come closer” I do as she says and she starts circling me.“Let's see... you woke up early on a non-working day with no need to fight you, your cheeks are flushed... mmm... you're grinning too much and... Nooo! No way!”“What is it, Alena?”“Who was it?”“Who was what? Honey, is everything all right? I think you're starting to lose it.”&l