by Katie Dowe
*******
“How about putting our name to some affordable clothing line? Clothes and accessories that say for instance the group going to college can afford? Or that woman working in the office can be able to pick up an outfit that fits in her budget?” Lorenzo’s tone was mild as she sat at his section at the head of the table in the conference room. He had been doing some market research and had just realized how appallingly expensive their clothes and perfumes were. He had always taken it for granted and his huge walk in closet only had a sprinkling of other lines but was mainly dominated with Romano’s. Even the soft leather shoes he was wearing and the elegant dark blue suit he had worn to the office this morning. “Other labels have done it and are doing very well and I think we should think of doing something like that as well.”
His father who sat at the other end looked at him in approval. “I think my son is right. We have conquered the upper echelon of society, so now I think there is room for the part of society that is not able to afford our lines usually.”
“We are going to need to put it out there,” Annemarie of the PR team said with excitement. “We can start with the faded denims which are so popular now and we can start an advertising campaign going on. We could use the fresh faced model:” she circled her finger as she tried to remember the girl’s name. “Logan Childs.”
“I was thinking of using regular college kids instead of top names,” Lorenzo told her.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Bernardo said with a pleased smile. “Get on it at once,” he said looking around the large room. “We could have it going for December.”
He waited until the room had cleared and only he and his son remained. Bernardo Romano was the senior version of his son with a distinguished patch of white at the sides of his thick dark hair. “You are doing me proud boy,” he said gruffly.
“Don’t you think it is time you stopped referring to me that way?” Lorenzo said a little impatiently as he got to his feet and went to pour coffee for both of them.
“You are right,” he took the steaming cup from his son and gave him a smile. “You were made for this.”
“Was I?”
“I am proud of you.” He sipped the delicious coffee appreciatively. “Adele tells me you are not interested in Angelica?”
“Dad, I am perfectly capable of choosing my own wife when the time comes.”
“How soon?”
“When I am ready.”
“Don’t wait too long,” there was a slight warning in the tone of voice that told Lorenzo that his father already had someone in mind!
Chapter 4
Monique read through the book reports swiftly and sometimes with incredulity. She had given them the assignment to complete over the summer and it was obvious that little effort had been put into it. She looked up at the slight disturbance and realized that Veronica Rivers, the most popular and beautiful girl in school was looking at something on her phone and had several girls around her. “Ms. Rivers, would you come up here please and bring the phone?” She had learnt that these children who came from rich families had little or no interest in learning and had the belief that their parents’ money will bail them out of any situation.
The girl hesitated but flinging back her long blonde hair she got to her feet and made her way up to her desk with the phone in her hand. “I would like to see what was so interesting that had you sharing it with the entire class.” The fourteen-year-old girl looked at her sullenly and then showed her. Monique’s heart slammed into her chest as she stared into the intense dark eyes of the man who had made such an impact on the short space of time she had been with him.
“What’s so interesting that you cannot leave it until you get home?” she asked her mildly forcing herself to be casual.
“They are like introducing a cheaper line of clothing that people–” she hesitated a little bit and Monique had a feeling that she was going to say people like her. “Ordinary people can afford their line.”
“And this is more interesting than reading up some more on Charles Dickens?”
“Totally,” she said with a guileless grin. “Lorenzo Romano is totally hot and has a really rad body so it’s hard not to look at him.”
Monique wanted to agree with her. “Leave the phone on my desk and go back to what you were doing.” She looked at the phone in her hand and then at the woman sitting behind the desk for a moment before shrugging carelessly she put the phone down and went back to her seat. “Please be seated and spend the time doing some reading. I am reading these book reports on ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and I am wondering if any of you actually read the book.”
“It’s totally boring,” a fresh-faced brunette complained.
“You need to read it anyway.” She waited until the place was quiet before she thought about the photo she had seen. She had started looking for him everywhere and had discovered that he was very visible! She had seen the entertainment report about them putting out a more affordable line and had seen him being interviewed by several well-known faces. She suspected that there was no way she was going to get over him just yet!
******
“I met someone,” Marcus said casually as he speared his tender roast beef. He had stopped by for their usual Sunday evening dinner which she had been preparing for them since they had moved out of their aunt’s dreary home.
Monique looked up at him in surprise. He had been very evasive and unavailable since she had been back and she was happy for that because she was afraid he would pry into what was bothering her. “When?”
“Since you were away,” he looked at her and down at his meal.
“And you have not told me about her?”
“She is white,” he pushed the fork around his plate and avoided her eyes.
“So?” she asked him quietly.
“I wanted to be with a sister,” he reminded her.
“Are you in love with her?”
He pushed his plate away and reached for the glass of Merlot. “She is from a rich family. Only girl with two brothers and expectations are high. I am a regular Joe and not able to keep her into the style she is accustomed to.”
“How rich?”
Marcus looked at her strangely and continued. “Her family owns a string of restaurants in several states.”
“Do you love her?”
“I do,” he sighed heavily. “She is telling me that she is in love with me and there is something else.”
“I can hardly believe it.”
“She is pregnant.”
Monique stared at her brother in shock. He had always told her to make sure she was looking out for herself and be responsible! “What are you going to do?”
“She is warm and loving and when we are together she is the one reaching out for me. I have gotten accustomed to all that from her and now I don’t know what to do. I have not met her parents or her brothers and I am scared as hell. I want to be there for her and my kind, but what can I offer her?”
“You,” his sister said quietly. “You took care of me when you had to have been hurting yourself. She is lucky to have someone like you and you are going to make a terrific father,” she reached across and took one of his hands. “I am going to be an aunt. Bring her over, honey.”
He lifted her slim hand in his and kissed the back of it resting his cheek against it. “Thanks, sis. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, honey.” She blinked back the tears and curled her hand inside his, feeling the incredible bond that they always shared!
*****
Lorenzo sipped his wine contemplatively as he watched the tennis match going on outside. He had come to the club a little earlier to have dinner determined to get rid of the thoughts crowding him in. It was almost the end of September and the weather had cooled drastically giving the place a nice breezy feel outside. He had seen Mark Seville earlier with Bradley Wellington. He had attended Mark’s wedding a year and a half ago and was a fan of the songs he wrote. Such powerful wor
ds and lyrics and they had become even more so since he had tied the knot. It was a standing joke with the men of the club. They came from moneyed backgrounds and yet almost all of them had married ‘beneath them’. He sipped his Chardonnay broodingly as he thought about the expectations his parents had for him. Decades of belonging to money can certainly change a person’s way of thinking! His great grandfather had been poor before he started the business but no one remembers that. His mother had told him that marrying someone of less social class would be putting too much pressure on the marriage to work. “It’ like being unequally yoked cara,” she had said softly. “You know I am not biased in that way but I am being realistic.”
His mind had been on Monique constantly for the past month and he had made several attempts to call her. He had left his number when he left her room that night but she had not called him. By now, she should know who he really is! What could he say to her? “Hey I know I did not reveal who I am really, but can we pick up where we left off?” and then he would have to say to her: “I cannot promise you anything because you are not the type my parents are looking for.” He could not do that to her!
“Do you always make a habit of drinking alone?” a familiar deep voice sounded behind him. A smile came unbidden to his lips as he recognized who it was.
“I do my best thinking that way,” he got to his feet and clasped his friend’s hand warmly. “What the hell are you doing here, man?”
Alberto Sutherland was a mixed race: his mother was Italian and his father an American. They had gone to the same schools together but Alberto had gone back to Italy a few years ago to study and live. When he had been there a month ago he had planned on going to see him but his plans had changed.
“I have come home. Mother is not doing well and you know Dad,” the tall slimly built black haired man sat in the chair opposite Lorenzo in his own precise manner. “And besides, I am single again.”
Alberto had agonized over his sexuality ever since he had been in high school and Lorenzo had been the one to talk him out of ending his life one afternoon in college when his father had told him to get his act together or he was going to disinherit him. The man had finally calmed down enough to partly accept him. “Sorry to hear.”
“Ah yes.” Alberto signaled for a waiter. “Dad is giving me the: ‘I told you so’ look.”
“I know that look.” Lorenzo gazed at his friend critically noticing the drawn look on his face. He had never judged him for who he was and had told him that as long as he knew he did not swing that way then they were okay. “What now?”
“I am going corporate,” he gave a humorless smile as he sipped his wine. “I will be running the PR side of the company.”
“Is that something you want to do?” Lorenzo asked him quietly. Alberto had studied creative designs in college and had said he was going to go into show business.
“You are slated to take over the business from your dad. Is that something you want to do?” he countered.
“Not right now.” Lorenzo said with a wry smile. “But I have been dancing around the topic for a number of years and it has finally caught up to me.”
“Same here.” Alberto sipped his wine delicately. “You are one of the biggest clothing brand names in the world and with your looks you’re actually tailor-made for the part. I noticed that Romano’s is going retail now.”
“Part of the revolution and revamping process.” Lorenzo told him. He had found that he actually liked what he was doing and was very good at it. “All the other brands are doing it, so it is time for us to join them.”
“I think so too.” Alberto looked at him for a moment envying his confidence and his looks. He had always been average at best. “You were in Italy and never thought to visit?”
“I was otherwise occupied,” Lorenzo told him lightly.
“Who is she?”
“Not anyone you would know.”
“Lorenzo going local?”
“She was in Italy on holiday and we kind of hooked up.”
“Just like that,” Alberto sighed dramatically. “I envy the way you can walk in and out of a relationship without being affected by the leaving.”
“Not this time.” Lorenzo told him quietly.
*****
He called her. It was the Saturday after he had spoken to Alberto and he had thought long and hard about it. He had been very busy before and he still was but he needed to see her. She had told him she lived in an apartment building in midtown which meant that they were several miles apart. He dialed the number quickly before he could change his mind. “Hello?” her voice was soft and melodious and he was just noticing that.
“I rather thought you would have given me a call by now,” his voice was deliberately light and teasing.
“Who is this?”
“Stop playing games Monique you know very well who it is.”
“I am afraid I don’t know and I am not into playing games.”
“It’s Lorenzo Romano.”
“So now you have decided to reveal your last name?” her voice was scathing. “What do you want Lorenzo?”
“I want to see you,”
“Why don’t we cut through the crap? You mean you want us to have sex?”
“I actually want to see you.” He bit off. “I know I should have called but I have been busy.”
“I have seen how busy you have been. You are always in the papers. Look Lorenzo, I am aware that you were just slumming and I get that, but I am not stupid enough to be with you again knowing who you really are.”
“I did not want you to be into me because of who I am,” he told her a little impatiently.
“So how do you know I am not going to be into you because of who you are?” she taunted.
“Because you have already showed me that you are not that type of person. Look, there are things that I am not prepared to explain right now. I have a lot of responsibilities and I kept running from them but I cannot anymore.” He paused a little bit. “There are certain expectations that I am supposed to fulfil.”
“I wish you all the best in those,” she told him quietly before hanging up on him.
Lorenzo heard the dial tone in his ear and slowly removed the phone from his ear with a grim smile. He had expected nothing less form her and he felt grudging admiration for her spunk. He thought about calling her again but thought better of it. He needed to give her time to cool off a little bit. He got to his feet and padded to the kitchen to get something to drink. His suite at the family manor was totally private and he had redesigned it that way. There were four bedrooms, a large sitting room, two bathrooms, a kitchen and an office. A balcony overlooked the east side of the garden and he would often take his meal or a drink and sit out there to look at the view or to think. Even the maids knew well enough to leave him alone when he was around. If he did not feel like going down to the main dining room to have his meals he would take something right here in his suite. He had often thought of himself as the poor little rich boy. He was surrounded by so many things yet he was often lonely. He had used the opportunity to surround himself by beautiful women but now he was getting tired of it. He had cut down his social life by more than a fraction and had not dated anyone since he had been back from Italy. He took his wine out to the balcony and sat there staring at the setting sun, his expression thoughtful.
*****
She was too white! Monique knew better than to even think something like that but it was the first thing that came to mind the minute she met her brother’s girlfriend. She had natural blonde hair that flowed almost to her waist and her skin was as pale as the light of the moon. She had beautiful cornflower eyes and she clung to Marcus’ hand as if it was a lifeline, and for a moment Monique felt the jealousy tearing through her! She had been asking her brother to take her to her place but he had been making excuses until now. Monique had been furious at Lorenzo for calling her and making all the old feelings resurface and she had been doing her best to blot him out of her mind with li
ttle success.
“Monique, this is April Montgomery. April, this is my sister Monique.” Marcus made the introductions as soon as he came inside the house. Usually, he would come over and give her a bear hug, but this time it was different. Their linked hands remained that way and Monique was forced to hold her hand out for the girl to take. “Nice to finally meet you,” she said stiltedly.
“I have heard so much about you,” April told her shyly.
“Come in please,” Monique glanced at her brother before turning to lead the way into the kitchen. She had prepared roast beef with baby carrots and mashed potatoes and it was already on the table. “I hope you are not against roast beef.”