BLUE ICE (ICE SERIES)

by Carolina Soto

  ‘I know, from a really reliable source, that he loves your legs.’ The tone in her voice was like nails against a blackboard.

  Oh God, this shit again! ‘He doesn’t like any part of me, and it’s disgusting to have a leg fetish C.’ I couldn’t forget about his stupid name for me “Long Legs”. And who had he talked about my legs? He saw them for 5 seconds one time. This must be Chelle’s bullshit!

  ‘It’s hot, and you know it! Even my panties know it! He’s one of the hottest men alive, so even you, stupid nun, would like to wrap your legs around his hips.’

  ‘Oh God! Michelle stop watching that cheap porn, you are a grown up now, buy more professional stuff!’

  ‘Shut up bitch!’

  I needed to finish this conversation before Michelle suspected about the lunch. ‘I gotta go.’

  ‘Moment to pray the rosary NUN!’

  ‘Moment to tell Marc his little, sweet girlfriend is into cheap porn.’

  ‘Oh, that was a lame try for you K! The only reason I am sure you are not a nun is because there’s no way they would accept a mean bitch that speaks like a sailor, like you!’

  ‘Back off slut! I have to work, go back to your low budget porn, sorry movie!’

  ‘Bye babe!’

  I had avoided the bullet; if Michelle learned I was having lunch with that jerk she would have gotten ideas. But she also gave me some good information.

  Chapter 5

  The next day I knew my stomach would be killing me, it was tied in a knot. After my little talk with Chelle I knew what to wear. I put on a pair of wide-legged black pants that covered every inch of my legs, the most masculine white shirt I owned, black pumps and put my hair in a ponytail. I even grabbed my black portfolio, it was a fashion statement but also a man repellent. Kevin said he felt less masculine every time he saw it. I would have gone for flats but these pants only looked good with black high heels. I wanted to look professional and I love fashion. I would rather to be killed than wear the wrong shoes.

  Everything seemed normal at the agency, but it became late quickly and I hadn’t had any news from Blue Eyes. At some point near 3 o’clock I was hungry and nervous at the same time, not a good combo for my mood.

  ‘Ms. Bianchi.’ Sweet Mrs. Cherry entered to my room so I stopped typing.

  ‘Yes, Mrs. Cherry.’

  ‘Mr. Berkeley’s assistant called.’ He backed off? He is standing me up? Am I disappointed? Am I happy? ‘His meeting took a little longer, so a driver will be picking you up here at 5:00 pm.’

  ‘Oh, God, no, Mrs. Cherry, I can take a cab, I don’t need a driver.’ Why on earth would I need a driver? This was insane.

  ‘I knew you were going to say that, but he really insisted. Poor guy, he said his boss would fire him if you didn’t follow his orders.’ Mrs. Cherry was mortified of what would happen if I said no.

  ‘You must be kidding me! I don’t have to follow this guy’s orders. Oh, I really don’t want to go to this!’ I pushed my chair back and looked to the ceiling, asking God for patience or a big natural catastrophe to avoid this.

  With a little smile, Mrs. Cherry lowered her voice. ‘I saw a picture on Jenny’s files. He’s really handsome, so you will have a good time. And probably I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Jenny is kind of mean to all of us, so seeing her in a jealous tantrum all day because you are having lunch with him, has been really funny.’

  Who would have said it! Mrs. Cherry, yes, sweet piece of pie, old great lady Mrs. Cherry had it on her! I liked her even more after that! I smiled at her with a conspiring smile. ‘Then tomorrow I will brag about what a great evening I am sure I won’t have in front of her; just to make her temper worthy!’

  We both laughed and after she left my office I had a delicious Twix chocolate; I was devouring it when I received a text from John.

  BABY GIRL I COULDN’T SEE YOU IN THE OFFICE AND I HAVE ALREADY LEFT TO A MEETING WITH A CLIENT. I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU I AM STILL SORRY ABOUT ALL THIS, AND IF HE BOTHERS YOU EVEN A LITTLE I WANT YOU TO CALL ME TO PUT THAT JERK IN HIS PLACE.

  Sweet little John, my poor boss was suffering with this as much as I was, but he was too much of a gentleman to say the right words. He would kick Dylan’s ass for me, and that was really sweet! At 4:30 I went against my better judgment and arranged my makeup. Even when I wanted to be as cold as I could, looking like a mess was out of what my mom had taught me; and I loved her too much to give her a bad face daughter. 5 o’clock sharp Mrs. Cherry announced that the driver was here. No other than Big Guy.

  With his smooth vibe, he nodded, greeting me. ‘Ms. Bianchi, it’s great to see you again.’

  ‘Hello Joe, it’s nice seeing you, even when that means I have to deal with that asshole you have as a boss.’

  He laughed a little and opened the back door of a black SUV. I was completely out of place, really uncomfortable in a stranger’s car, going to a mysterious destination to meet a jerk that I hated.

  ‘Joe, do you have some music? I’m kind of bored back here.’

  He nodded and turned on the radio while I checked Twitter. After a couple of minutes we arrived; mystery location my ass, we were in the most predictable place in New York, The Plaza. Thank God! I could take a cab at any point and go back home, I could leave right now. Good try princess, get inside!

  I walked straight to the hostess. ‘Hey, I think someone is waiting for me.’

  ‘Are you Ms. Bianchi?’ She didn’t even check her list.

  ‘That’s me; please tell me he stood me up.’

  ‘Sorry ma’am, Mr. Berkeley is waiting for you.’

  I got directed to our table, Blue Eyes already there. He stood up as soon as he saw me. Oh God! Why can’t he be as ugly as every other mortal! He looked stunning in his grey, three piece suit. God knows I am a sucker for three piece suits; white shirt, black tie, grey handkerchief; and a painfully hot smile on his face.

  ‘Katherine, looking gorgeous as always.’

  I was almost sitting when he took me in a fast awkward hug, his hand on the small of my back. Apparently, weird physical interactions don’t end at introductions.

  ‘Hey Dylan.’ He smiled, but had a weird look in his eyes when I said his name. He also smelled incredible, I didn’t know what it was, but I was buying it! ‘So, here I am, let’s do this.’

  He had his hand under his chin and his elbow on the table. ‘I like that eager attitude, I hope it’s not your way of saying you want to get rid of me that quickly.’

  ‘One lunch, now it’s something between lunch and dinner, I agreed to that and you are having that.’

  ‘Yeah, I am having that. How has your week been so far?’

  Really? He put me in such a fucking pain for small talk. What were you expecting girl?

  ‘Fine. We are working on a new campaign, well you know about it, the one you refused to participate in.’ He didn’t know it but I had a plan; tonight I would take as much information about him as I could and we would use it on the campaign. This would be a job assignment.

  ‘Yes, but you can tell me more about it if you want.’ He moved in a little closer, appearing to be interested in our campaign.

  ‘Well, I can tell you that one of our girls, the one that was really eager to come today. Do you remember that? She researched everything about you, so we’re making the profile that way.’

  ‘Oh God, should I be worried?’

  ‘No, now you have a new fan.’ I doubted a little, but went on. ‘She’s completely and hopelessly in love with you.’ I know, that was mean, I shouldn’t have been exposing Jenny like that, but she’s a bitch and she would take it. I noticed something about that last phrase bothered him. ‘What’s up, did I say something wrong?’

  ‘No Katherine, I just thought you were talking about yourself on that new fan thing. And I know I shouldn’t worry, there’s nothing that interesting about me online, I’ve been really careful.’

  Fuck! Don’t put yourself in the spotlight again princess! Karma is a bitch!
Just when I was comfortable talking about something funny he threw that ball. Of course he wasn’t sad, he was just annoyed because I wasn’t drooling. ‘I haven’t read it, but I’ll let you know if I find something.’

  He put his other arm on the table and rested his face on his hands. ‘Enough about me, I want to know about you.’

  ‘Ok, shoot.’

  ‘Why didn’t you go to Harvard when you got accepted?’

  What the hell!? ‘Whoa! No small talk, just get straight to it, right? ‘How on Earth do you know I was accepted to Harvard and that I declined?’

  ‘I know a lot of things.’

  He was getting on my nerves, but I was curious. ‘Stop being an asshole if you want an answer.’

  He lowered his hands and avoided my eyes for the first time. ‘I had you investigated.’

  That’s not the plan baby, remind, cool, nice Katherine is not a challenge, pleeeaassseee!!!

  ‘What the fuck, Berkeley? Why did you have me investigated?’

  ‘I always investigate my acquisitions.’

  ‘I am not a fucking acquisition! I am not even something interesting for you! Why can’t you be normal and ask if you want to know things!’

  ‘Watch your language. I did it because I could, now answer.’ He was mad, apparently he hated me cursing.

  This was going nowhere, stop being a fucking challenge Kate! ‘I wasn’t ready to leave my parents’ house. ‘

  ‘So, that explains Columbia.’

  ‘Yes, so you also know about Columbia. I don’t even know what am I doing here, you already know everything about me.’ I stared at him defiantly, he was even worse than what I had thought.

  ‘I know some details but I don’t know the story behind them’

  ‘Why would you want to know the stories? You’ve already gone all stalker and investigated me.’

  ‘I wasn’t stalking you, I was curious.’

  I changed my strategy to calm myself. ‘Where did you study?’

  ‘Harvard.’

  ‘How old are you?’

  ‘28’

  That one took me off guard. I could have met him in college! This is weird!

  He took advantage of my silence. ‘Why advertising?’

  ‘I love creating campaigns.’ I smiled sarcastically. ‘Why billionaire business man?’

  ‘I inherited. Why are you so close to your parents? It is really normal to leave home to go to college.’

  ‘I adore them, they are amazing parents and people. I wanted to stretch that as much as possible. How are your parents?’

  ‘Dead.’

  Stupid, selfish Katherine! If you had paid attention to the “inherited” part you would have suspected it. His voice was the coolest I had heard since I met him; not sad, not melancholic, just plain cold. His blue eyes stabbed me silently.

  ‘I am so sorry Dylan, I didn’t know.’ For the first time since I had met him I felt guilty about my bad attitude.

  ‘You really don’t know anything about me right? My parents’ death was big news, everyone knows about it. Don’t worry; I just don’t talk about it.’

  A waiter came to our table, just in time to save me. It had been a long time, for his first appearance. Soon I learned why, he wasn’t asking for our order, he was already carrying plates full of food to our table. Who the fuck does this man think he is?! I can order my own damn food. I had a really small range of food. I had always entered a restaurant, chose something and asked for exactly the same thing every time I visited that place. I had the same tastes as truck driver so burgers, pizzas and meat were my usual choice. There was no way this man could know what I wanted for lunch.

  ‘So I don’t have a say on what I eat?’ My voice sounded harsh, I was mad and he had noticed.

  ‘I thought you might like this, so I ordered for us.’

  ‘You always do what you want, don’t you, you pretentious bastard?’

  ‘Watch your fucking mouth Katherine.’ Again, he was pairing my bad attitude. Anger scurried through his eyes.

  ‘My calling you pretentious doesn’t bother you, but the cursing part does? You are a nut case!’ I pointed at him menacingly with my finger. ‘Let’s make this clear, because you still have 45 minutes before I run through that door and never see you again. I am a big girl, I can choose by myself, drive by myself and speak for myself, so don’t try to do things for me again if you want me to keep my word of staying.’

  My face was on fire with rage, I didn’t even know what made me so angry, but I hated that man more than anything in the world. I really didn’t like a lot of people to begin with so getting a first place spot was a big achievement. The worst part? His face was stone cold, just a little smirk in his eyes. I know eyes don’t smile (I don’t care what Tyra Banks says about it!), but his were at that moment. I was expecting rage, anger, but not indifference.

  ‘I get it, you are tough. It was my turn to ask you.’

  Was he dismissing me? I hated him, every part of him. Okay maybe I hated everything but his eyes…and his mouth…and his hair, but that was it. ‘We are not taking turns; this is not a speed date jerk.’

  ‘So you think this is a date?’ Now he was smiling shamelessly. You must be fucking kidding me! My jaw simply hit the table, I couldn’t believe his nerve. ‘I am sorry Katherine, I don’t date, so this can’t be one.’ Again he took advantage of my brain’s pause.

  ‘I never thought this was a date, this is just a fucking pain in the ass obligation.’

  He lost his cool with my language. ‘Watch your fucking mouth!’

  ‘Or what?’ My patience was not that good.

  ‘I can shut it up in many interesting ways.’

  I melted in my seat with those words. Those lips were amazing and I was staring at them. Cool off baby, you need your head straight! I forced my brain to work again and punctuated coldly. ‘In your fucking dreams, ask me that stupid thing you want to know.’

  ‘What about the man you live with? Are you involved with him in some way?’

  ‘How dare you? This is none of your business, I can live with my best friend if I want to.’

  ‘So, he’s just your best friend. Good.’

  I knew it was my turn, but I was really tired, so I went where I would have never wanted to go. This had to finish and, if it was quick, I could get home in time to watch that new episode of Criminal Minds. ‘You don’t date, what do you do?’

  ‘Let’s just say that there are lots of woman to not date.’

  ‘So you just hang around with them.’

  ‘No, I hate to encourage fake expectations, that’s why I don’t date. They think I want to marry them if I take them out. I just fuck them.’ For someone who hated me cursing, he had no problem establishing that. Just an asshole as I had thought. I had told you, these guys wanted just one of two things, if he didn’t date, there was only one other option.

  ‘Such a gentleman.’ I was calm again, I love when I confirm something, and him being an ass was a confirmation of what I had thought about him since the beginning. ‘Your turn loverboy.’

  ‘What’s that “I don’t drink” bullshit?’

  I thought about it for a second. I had created many answers for that question, but against my better judgment I went for the honest answer. ‘I guess I don’t like things I can’t control. And alcohol can make me lose control of myself. I know I may sound like a control freak but I can’t afford to lose control in any situation.’

  He analyzed my answer while I looked into those amazing eyes. They were truly breathtaking. ‘That’s why you avoid men, because you can’t control them.’

  He wasn’t asking, he was establishing what he thought was a fact. I felt as if I would have to pay for therapy at the end of the dinner because it was really weird that he could get to that conclusion without even knowing me. He was right, not that I would accept it. ‘You would make a good shrink Berkeley. My turn, how do you know John?’

  ‘I met him at some charity function.’ He was smirki
ng again in that sexy way. ‘Do you like me?’

  I laughed, thinking it was a stupid joke. I was giving him a hard time, he was doing the same. ‘You think I am going to say yes.’ I smiled at him.

  ‘No… I think you are going to shout yes.’ He grabbed my hand and came to my ear to whisper. “You are coming home with me tonight, right?’

  His blue eyes were shining. He had a little smirk on his face, and the deepest voice ever. For the first time since puberty I lost it. Not a single muscle in my body was relaxed, I could feel rage on my face and I just saw black. I had to stop myself from punching him in the face. We were in the fanciest, nicest, everyone-knows-my-mom kind of place, I couldn’t. I didn’t know why I was so angry, but I guessed it was because he couldn’t avoid the chase and it was getting me tired.

  ‘Don’t you ever reach me again you fucking narcissistic son of a bitch.’

  With that, I grabbed my purse and ran out the door. On my way out I noticed Berkeley was interrupted by the hostess and I took that to my advantage. Outside the Plaza Big Guy was waiting on the street. He was surprised by seeing me after such a short time. ‘Ms. Bianchi is everything ok? Do you want me to take you home?’ He knew. He knew his asshole boss had messed it up.

  ‘Joe, it was nice to meet you.’

  Saying that, I climbed into a cab. When I was sure no one was following us I told the driver my address and ignored my phone while it rang continuously. I knew this was a mistake, a big mistake, but being a girl as I am, I always fell for the same. I thought maybe since he was noticing I was not his usual willing girl, he would treat me like a person.

  ‘What’s up Katie, how was the lunch from hell?’ Kevin was already home, getting ready to pick up one of his booty calls when I arrived.

  I threw myself over the couch. ‘I didn’t break his nose because I was at The Plaza.’

  ‘Good girl! Thank God it was The Plaza, any other place and I would be paying your bail. Did he spank you?’

  ‘Even The Plaza couldn’t have saved him if he had done that.’

  ‘Spill, what happened?’

  ‘He was a pain in the ass. He ordered food for me without asking.’