by Aria Ford
“Did I sleep through our whole date?” she asked, horrified.
Instead of answering, Alex opened the door and slid out of the car, and she slid out after him. The streets were cobblestone and it was warmer and the air clung like the adhesive on an envelope.
“Where are we?” she asked.
He grinned and swung his arm out in a presentative gesture. “We’re in San Juan, one of the most beautiful places in Puerto Rico.”
The car pulled off and Alex steered her down the streets. “The car will come back for us later. I wanted to bring you somewhere magical.”
“You believe in magic?” she prompted, as they walked past a fountain gushing with water and decorated with stones.
“I believe in good fortune.” He squeezed her hand, and Bianca felt a wave of nervousness climb over her.
Is this a farewell date? It seemed a rather grand gesture, which had her wondering if this was the brush-off she’d been dreading.
“So, once when I visited Puerto Rico, I ate at this amazing restaurant. They made their own tortillas, the service was magnificent.”
She almost laughed. “You know all of the restaurants here make their own tortillas. You didn’t need to take me all the way to San Juan for that.”
He just smiled and led her around another corner to a dimly lit, very quaint street. Tucked away, almost as if in secret, was a slim black door with bold silver lettering that read “Fernandos”.
She turned to him. “This is so nice but it must cost a fortune. I’m embarrassingly simply compared to most women.”
“It’s not about money,” he insisted. “I wanted to show you one of my favorite places Bianca.”
Alex strode up to the door and knocked. A small girl dressed in a colorful skirt peppered with oranges and blues pulled the door open and smiled. Her blonde hair fell around her face in a professional but alluring way.
If the inside of the restaurant is as pretty as this girl, then this was worth the four-hour car ride, Bianca thought.
The girl greeted them and allowed them inside. They were seated at a small table so that their knees and elbows would touch as they moved around.
The corners of Alexander’s mouth began to jump a little, as he popped his napkin open to spread it across his lap. “Fernando’s specializes in close romantic encounters, so you won’t find a bunch of other people in here in the middle of your date. It’s very private and very cozy.”
He gazed around the restaurant, apparently pleased with his choice.
The server approached and Bianca nodded to him. “I’ll have the red wine, please.”
As Alex gave orders to the waiter, Bianca let her eyes wander around the restaurant. The walls were covered in beautiful, colorful murals, and the lamps that hung over each table gave of the softest glow. The place was absolutely beautiful, and Alex had been right, they had it nearly all to themselves.
The table linens were silk and he wooden floors shined, as if they had been freshly polished before Bianca and Alexander arrived. She directed a curious glance toward Alex, who was studying the wine menu.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s had them preparing this place since yesterday. She allowed a small smile on her lips, maybe this wasn’t the dreaded brush-off after all. Alexander took his eyes off of the menu and put on a serious mask.
“This is too much, isn’t it?” he asked her, searching her face as if to read her feelings.
“Well it’s definitely way fancier than I am used to, but I love it. I love everything about it,” Bianca nearly gushed.
The waiter slid their wine glasses in between them. She let the velvety red graze her lips as she focused on Alex. His shoulders were pinched together, and he seemed distracted. His eyes darted around, following the small hostess and then scrutinizing the waiter as he brought out an appetizer of chips and salsa.
“Alex, please calm down. I love everything. It is so nice that you did all of this just for me.”
He sighed. “Since I’ll be leaving on Thursday, I wanted to make it a spectacular last few days.”
Bianca swallowed before asking the question she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to. “So, after Thursday, will I ever see you again?” For the sake of keeping her hands busy, she scooted the base of the wine glass around.
Alex shifted in his seat and spoke slowly, as if the right words were just occurring to him. “Well, what would it mean to you if you did see me again? On a more permanent basis?”
Bianca wore a blank expression and replied, “Quite a bit. I’ve really enjoyed the time we’ve spent together.”.
Alexander smiled. “Good to know.”
The waiter came by and took their orders, and then the hostess stopped in to check up on them.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
“Yes, everything is wonderful. Thank you for everything, Dulce.”
She skittered off, and Bianca asked, “So what exactly is this ‘permanent basis’ you mentioned? Is it you flying in from New York every so often? Do you really believe in long distance?”
Hot plates were placed in front of them and Alexander began to cut into his steak. “Why don’t we enjoy our food while it’s hot and then we’ll talk?”
After a magnificent dinner, Alex had the car come back to drive Bianca home. They spent the first half of the drive in silence and Bianca wasn’t sure what to say.
“So, are we going to talk about this?” she finally asked.
Alex sighed. “Honestly Bianca, I don’t know. I just know that I want to see you, I want you to be a part of my life. What I don’t know is what that looks like right now.”
Bianca felt a lump forming in her throat but she was determined not to break down in front of him. The rest of the ride passed torturously slowly and when the car pulled up in front of Bianca’s building, she scrambled to get out before Alex could exit the car.
“Thank you for a wonderful evening,” she said, as she all but ran up the steps and away from Alex. When she was out of his line of sight, she finally allowed the tears to fall.
Chapter Four
Bianca sighed as she tightened her grip on her coffee cup, and pushed the door to Alex and Boots open. It had been raining all morning, and she woke up three hours before she needed to leave and couldn’t go back to sleep.
Part of her wanted Alex to show up and tell her that he’d been up all night just like her and he’d figured out what he wanted. Another part of her wanted him to be so busy that he didn’t have time for her and she could just go on about her life and forget him. She was probably headed for heartbreak anyway.
Ashley pulled out a drawer or red sales stickers from behind the counter and smiled at Bianca as she entered.
“So, are all of the pumps on sale?” Ashley asked.
Bianca set her purse down and mumbled, “Yeah, until Saturday.”
Ashley lingered behind the counter, leaving an entire row of pumps unattended. She rubbed a bright blue cloth along the honey-hued counters. “Is everything alright?”
Bianca’s eyes flickered to Ashley and she slammed her fingers on the copy button to print inventory sheets.
“Why do you ask?”
“You look sullen. Did everything with Alexander go alright?”
The door chimed and a woman wandered in and walked straight toward the flats. Bianca flashed her a smile and told Ashley, “Why wouldn’t it have?” She hadn’t wanted her employees knowing she was sleeping with the boss, she certainly didn’t want them to know he had tossed her aside when he was done with her.
“You know, did you get reamed out? Since we hired Dalia, things have been running smoothly and I think we should be fully staffed now..”
“Probably.” Bianca said, more curtly than she had intended. She stapled the inventory sheets.
Ashley ran the cloth along the spotless counter again and when Bianca continued to staple, she said, “Did you guys break up?”
Bianca’s face became a glowing red. “Excuse me?”
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Ashley cleared her throat and pulled her sweater tighter. “Well, it’s kind of apparent that your relationship isn’t just a business one.”
Bianca chewed on her lower lip and asked. “What gives you that impression?”
“I’ve seen him rubbing your shoulders while you were on the computer and it didn’t exactly look like sexual harassment to me,” Ashley said.
I’m the worst boss ever, Bianca thought, as she stapled another stack of inventory sheets. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“Yes, we have been seeing each other, but I don’t think it’s anything serious. At least not on his part.”
Ashley looked at her pityingly. “I’m sorry Bianca, that can’t be easy.”
“No, it isn’t,” she admitted. “But it’s my own fault, I let it happen.”
Ashley nodded, still sympathetic. “Well for what it’s worth, I think you’re an amazing boss and friend. If he doesn’t want to be with you, then he’s the one at fault.”
Bianca smiled and was about to reply when the bells chimed again and Alexander strode in, dressed in a plain black polo and dark jeans. He wore his own brand’s running shoes.
It took everything inside her not to run into the office and lock the door.
Alex smiled sweetly at her once their eyes connected and he asked, “Bianca, could you come around the counter, please?”
She shuffled around the front counter. Ashley’s eyes flickered from Bianca to Alex and back and forth, so much that they threatened to fall out of her head.
Alex smiled again and kneeled in front of her.
“What are you doing?” Bianca shrieked.
All of the browsing customers craned their heads over their shoulders to see what was happening.
Bianca began to feel a little light-headed.
“I have a proposal.”
Bianca nearly stuttered. “We just met, we’re in the middle of the store. This isn’t right.”
“I’m the boss, remember?” he said, punctuating it with a wink.
“Bianca Torres, will you move to New York with me to run my most successful store, and give this relationship a real chance?”
Ashley abandoned any attempt to look like she was working hard and shamelessly ogled the scene. Customers that were under the wrong impression, began to applaud.
Bianca’s knees quivered and she looked between the sea of customers and Alex’s question swam around in her brain.
Alex rose to his feet and squeezed both of her hands. “Maybe I shouldn’t have put you on the spot. See, this is why I want you to come with me, so I can properly get to know you. If I had known you a bit better, I would have known not to do this in front of a full store.”
Bianca managed to nod. “Can we talk about it later?”
“Of course, I’ll come over to your place.”
Bianca excused herself to her office and sat down heavily, her heart still hammering in her chest.
After a work day of avoiding Ashley’s questions and stares, Bianca and Alex were making the climb up to her apartment.
Once Bianca got the door open and Alexander closed it behind him, she took off her shoes and sat on the couch. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I thought you’d love it! I’ve always been told that women love that sort of thing.”
Bianca cast a foul glare in his direction. “Not all of us. How is anyone supposed to take me seriously? Ashley will never see me as her boss now.”
“That’s right because you’ll be in New York.”
“I cannot just uproot my whole life for a man.”
Alex sat on the other end on the couch and his voice was colored with frustration. “Are you serious? Is that what this is about? Is this about being a modern woman? What about us, why are you letting a principle like that get in the way of us being together?”
Bianca scoffed. “ You know what? Maybe you should move here, give up all of your ambitions and live in Puerto Rico.”
“Bianca, what are your ambitions?”
“To move up in and continue to work for Alex and Boots. Doing it your way is not fair to other employees, whether it’s your company or not.”
He scooted closer to her and risked putting an arm around her shoulders. “All of the qualities I seek in a woman, I also happen to seek in high level general managers. It’s okay to have fears about this.”
She stroked his cheek. “I’m afraid to move forward.”
“Everyone is right before they’re about to do something very big. I want you by my side, I want your constant counsel. You fill out a sun dress pretty well, too.”
Bianca rolled her eyes and pressed a kiss to his lips.
* * *
“Do you have these shoes?” A woman dangled the Alex & Boots catalog in front of Bianca and Bianca grinned and replied, “Yes, I have them in three colors.”
The woman smiled back and Bianca directed her toward the shoes. Once she left the woman to try on every color, she strolled back to the front counter. The counters stretched from one end of the lavish store to the other. She could have squeezed at least two of her old store into this building.
The most successful store owned by Alex & Boots was in Manhattan. In six months, Bianca’s life had undergone a drastic change. Her tiny apartment in Puerto Rico was packed up and shipped to Alex’s New York apartment only days after she agreed to move for him. There were no more broken doors and persistent drafts, instead there was designer clothes and vaulted ceilings.
Ashley had been unsurprised when Alexander and Bianca traveled to New York, she wished them both the best.
The clock struck noon and Bianca’s afternoon salesperson, Penelope, hustled in.
“Good afternoon, I will be heading out early today.”
“Alright then, enjoy your day Miss Torres!” Penelope said enthusiastically.
Bianca smirked as she shrugged her ash pea coat on and headed into the busy mess of New York streets.
She nodded at the hot dog vendor on the corner and pounded the pavement toward the subway. The overwhelming business and constant flow of New York had been one of Bianca’s biggest adjustments since arriving. It had taken weeks for her to read the subway map without all of the lines blurring together and confusing her. Alex usually traveled by car service, but Bianca preferred some normalcy. It was enough that she lived in a style of loft that she’d only previously seen on TV, and that her entire wardrobe had been swapped out in favor of big label names.
She smiled as she squeezed next to people on the subway. Bodies bumped next to hers and she enjoyed the rhythm of the train. It was one of her less expensive comforts.
Bianca made it off of the subway a few blocks later and walked two more blocks until she made it to her neighborhood. Alex’s building was one of immense size and presence. It’s stoic architecture and large, revolving glass doors still made Bianca feel like a little kid in comparison.
“Good afternoon, Miss Torres.”
She nodded hello at the doorman, Ralph, and made her way into the lobby. The elevator chimed and when it opened Alexander stood in the box, in a fine Italian suit.
She smirked, and swaggered into the elevator. She pressed the up button and turned a lustful stare in Alex’s direction. He chuckled, already nipping at her neck.
“Welcome home, Miss Torres.”
THE END
The Billionaire’s Getaway
Chapter 1
The smoke fumes curled around each other from the end of the vast meeting room table. Gabriel Geroux was perched at the head of the table and Charlotte, the head of his advertising team, sat to his left. On his right, the head of accounting tore through a stack of receipts and quarterly reports he had brought to the meeting.
Gabriel took a long drag off of his cigarette, and allowed the smoke to linger in his lungs. His hazel eyes considered Charlotte, who was dressed in a tight black pencil skirt and a cleavage-complimenting blouse that she had boldly paired with red pumps. She took a look aroun
d the room at the department heads in front of her. Her hair was half pinned up, and the rest of the hazelnut and sandy curls flowed around her shoulders.
He shrugged and dropped ashes from his cigarette onto Peter’s reports. “We can begin. Charlotte, what are your notes?”
Charlotte cleared her throat and crossed her long, olive brown legs. “Well, LoveConnect could stand to be doing better. I think we should really increase the advertising that we do on buses and on porn websites.”
Gabriel stifled a chuckled and remarked, “Yes, I suppose there’s a lot of lonely people on both.” His voice came out as a low rumble when he spoke. It bounced off of the walls and made some more of those long, tanned legs in the room clench their thighs together.
Peter offered, “While we may reach some people that way, the million we’re going to have to spend on advertising could be better used somewhere else. People on porn sites are usually there for the free porn, and someone that has to take the bus probably can’t afford to pay a matchmaking service.”
Helga from Human Resources said, “We could try advertising on those fourteen dollar magazines? You know, the ones they put in the high-class department stores? If we only want people who can pay top dollar, maybe start there?”
Gabriel nodded. “Maybe at every place in Los Angeles that sells an eight-dollar coffee as the lowest item?”
Everyone chirped their agreement and Gabriel smirked. “Excellent, I have a lunch date.” He stood up and wiped a few stray ashes off of his charcoal pinstripe suit. Charlotte cut him a look over her glasses and he nodded to her as everyone packed up their briefcases and laptops.
He strode out into the hallway and nodded at some of the people in the cubicles on either side of him. He walked to the elevator, and once he pressed the button, he sought for his phone in his pocket. He spared a glance at the text already in the center of his screen:
Can I still count on you to be there tonight?
He stepped on the elevator and absently nodded at an intern that was doing a superb job of balancing a tray of coffees in one hand and a bag of bagels and muffins in the other.