by Cherry Kay
“Romantic, but a little contrived.” Ramon sighed.
“What you know about romance, fool?” Damion shouted at him and that started an argument between them which got me off the hook.
I moved away and bumped into Miss Poole.
“A very handsome young man you have there, Grace. Where is it you said you'd be spending Christmas Day?” she asked me.
“Oh, with his family.” I smiled. The party was almost over and no-one suspected anything so far.
“How big is his family?” Suzette asked.
“It's his Mom and Dad and one sister, that's all,” I said, imagining in my head Mikey's real family and all seven of his brothers and sisters.
“Well let's hope you all have a happy holiday.” Miss Poole left the party then, staggering slightly but at least she was convinced by my story.
Suzette was still lurking beside me and Alicia hadn't let go of Mikey.
“Mom, Dad, and sister?” Suzette said. “That all sounds really cozy. And what does Mikey do?”
“He's in marketing.”
“I see,” she said. “So, anyway, a few of us are heading over to Brown's for a nightcap. You and Mikey should join us.”
“Oh it's getting late. We both have early starts so we better call it a night.” I said, looking at my watch. The party was due to wind up in ten minutes.
Just then Alicia came back with Mikey. He looked happy and was smiling at me.
“So,” Alicia said, “Mikey just said you guys are coming over to Brown's with us.”
“He did? You did?” I said, staring at him. “I thought you'd be tired, and you know you have that early meeting tomorrow morning and I'm on the early shift myself – Red.”
“Oh don't be such a spoil sport, Grace,” Mikey beamed. “Let's keep the party going. I'm sure we'll be fine tomorrow.”
“No, Mikey, you know you're not a morning person.” My eyes were bulging out of my head but I couldn't get Mikey to read the signals. We needed to get out of there.
“Grace,” Alicia said. “I think if the boss is late he can get away with it.” She looked up at Mikey, impressed by the notion that Mikey was the boss.
“The boss?” I looked at him but he was too busy knocking back the remains of a scotch to notice.
“So,” Suzette edged her way towards Mikey with her back to me. “You're the boss of this marketing company?”
“What marketing company?” Alicia asked. “He ain't no boss of no marketing company, he the owner of a restaurant.”
Suzette swung straight back to me as I was trying to catch Mikey's eye, he was shrugging his shoulders.
“I thought you said marketing, Grace?”
“Of course I'm in marketing,” said Mikey. “It's all part and parcel of the job. You own a company then you're in charge of marketing, sales, food and things like that, am I right, Alicia?”
“Damn straight. So when you two gonna take us to Mikey's restaurant? Maybe we can go there instead of Brown's.”
“It's closed!” I blurted out.
“Closed!” both Suzette and Alicia said at the same time.
“Um...” I looked at Mikey.
“For refurbishment,” Mikey added. “Yes, that's what the meeting is about tomorrow. Got to get those slackers working hard to get the place finished. You know what the construction crew can be like?”
Suzette and Alicia were looking at each other. Damion and Ramon came over to us.
“So what gives dudes? We heading outta here or what?”
“You know what?” Mikey said. “I think Grace and I will call it a night after all. I think we might like to have our own night cap.”
“Ooo, but you so romantic,” Alicia said, not wanting to let go of Mikey. Suzette, on the other hand, did not look too impressed.
“Just one more thing, Grace – and” she cleared her throat. “Red.”
“Yes,” I said, pulling Mikey out of Alicia's clutches.
“Grace said she doesn't wear her engagement ring to work so I just wondered why you're not wearing tonight and, could either of you describe this ring?”
She looked from me to Mikey.
“Well,” I said, “it's kinda a ring with a, a stone that...” I looked at Mikey and all four of them were lined up in front of us, as quiet as stone. Suzette crossed her arms.
“Well,” Mikey said. “I can do better than describe it. I can show it to you.”
“You can?” I could feel beads of sweat collecting on my upper lip and I took a deep breath in.
“Sure. I noticed you left it by the side of the bed. Here.” He put his hand into the inner pocket of his slick and expensive suit. What was he doing? He would blow the whole thing. I knew there was no ring, I just didn't know what Mikey was playing at.
He pulled out a red, silk handkerchief and opened it into his open palm. There in the middle was a gold ring, slender and elegant with a small but quality, diamond stone. I looked up at Mikey and exhaled a quiet, staggered breath. My eyes were asking, 'Where the hell...?' and his eyes were saying, 'Trust me.' I decided to do just that.
While the others were all exclaiming things like:
“How much you pay for that thing, dude?”
“That thing real or what?”
“Grace, you so lucky, girl, he a romantic!”
And
“My, my, my. She got her a rich husband.”
Mikey picked up the ring and placed it on the third finger of my left hand. It was a perfect fit. My hand began to tremble and Mikey held it while he put the silk handkerchief into his pocket.
“Shall we?” Mikey gestured towards the door.
“We shall,” I told him and we left the four of them open mouthed while we made our way to the door and just kept on walking all the way to the emergency staircase where we both burst out laughing.
“We did it!” I let out a deep sigh. “But where did you get this ring? What a brilliant idea and it looks so real.”
“It is real,” Mikey said. “Mr. Iglesias said it was for you. It's an early Christmas present he said and he thought you might need it tonight. Turns out he was right, you did.”
I looked at the ring on my finger. It was beautiful. How could Mr. Iglesias have been so perceptive?
“I can't keep this,” I said, still admiring it and holding my hand up.
“Why not? Looks good on you.”
“Well, he was only trying to help. The suit, this ring. It's all got to go back.”
“I think he wants you to keep the ring, Grace. In fact I know he does. I mean, I'll return the suit, no problem, but the ring really is a present to you.”
“But we're not allowed to accept presents from guests. It's a strict rule. I could lose my job.”
“Who's gonna know? Besides it's your engagement ring and when you and I break off our engagement, I'm going to be good enough to let you keep it.”
“You are such a generous boyfriend. No wonder I agreed to marry you.” I looked at Mikey and smiled and for a second, just a second, there was a strange current that passed between us and made us serious for a while. I don't know about Mikey but what flashed through my head was spending a Christmas with him in our own apartment and drinking champagne by an open fire with a huge pine tree in the background.
“We should go,” Mikey said and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, the way he always did when we were walking together – a real, 'one of the boys' hug that I wished could be a little more than that. At least for that night anyway.
6
The next day on my early shift, I was sharing reception duty with Dora who said she wouldn't mind covering the desk while I slipped away for a few minutes. I had a large bag with Mikey's suit in it and the ring, wrapped in the red silk handkerchief, in the inside pocket. I made my way up to the fourth floor and to Mr. Iglesias's suite.
I tapped gently, looking from right to left to make sure I would not be spotted by any members of staff. Cleaning staff and maids were one thing but to be seen by management
meant a whole lot of explaining and I didn't know what I would do if I actually got caught.
“Come in.” His voice was gentle. I opened the door and entered the suite giving one last look over my shoulder, just to be sure.
Mr. Iglesias was wearing a navy blue dressing gown with a gold cord tied at the waist. His pajamas were gold and silky and looked very expensive. In fact everything about Mr... Iglesias said class, even down to the neat leather slippers on his feet.
He sat at the table drinking coffee. He had finished the rest of his breakfast, I made sure I timed my visit because I didn't want to disturb him.
“Good morning, Grace! How was the party?”
“Oh, it was just fine and I have you to thank for helping me pull it off.”
I walked over to his table and he gestured for me to take a seat opposite. The New York streets were already busy down below and views of the skyline, tall and imposing in shades of gray, were looming large outside Mr. Iglesias's window. I sat down and gingerly stretched out my hand, which held the items I needed to return.
“Mr. Iglesias that was such a generous gesture you made. Mikey's suit must have cost a fortune so here it is neatly folded. And as for the ring, well, it was so beautiful. Thank you for adding such a special touch to my night. It's wrapped in the silk handkerchief in the inside pocket. I'm sure you still have the receipts.”
“The receipts?”
“Yes, so you can return everything.”
“But my Princesa, why would I want to do that?”
“Because you were only helping me out, just for the party, right? I can't keep these.”
“But they were presents. The suit for your fiancé and the ring for you. Christmas presents, from me to you.”
“Mr. Iglesias, no. We can't accept this. It's too much. That ring, I mean, that ring is a real diamond. How could I possibly...”
“Grace. You insult me deeply.” He put down his cup and held a hand to his chest. I felt like a traitor and I wished to God I'd never started this lie.
“I don't wish to insult you,” I said. “I mean, apart from anything else, I'm not even allowed to accept presents from the guests.”
“Yes you have told me several times and each time I feel it is a big lastima.”
“Not a shame, Mr. Iglesias, those are the rules.” I held out the bag again and he just looked at it.
“Grace, I thought by now you would see me as more than a guest. I thought, perhaps, we were friends at the very least.”
“Yes, we are friends, but...”
“Some people like to make a show of how much they appreciate their friends from time to time. You are a very good person, Grace, I could see that from the day I met you. You have time for me, you stop to talk to me and you are the only one in this hotel who truly seems to care about my well-being. I see that as friendship and, true, we only see each other once a year, but your company means a lot to me.”
“And yours does to me, I really mean that Mr. Iglesias, but I still feel your gesture is too generous, I could never show mine like that. I can't buy you expensive presents in return.”
“But, I bought the suit to help you convince the people here. If you saw Mikey before he arrived, you wouldn't have stood a chance.” He started laughing and I could just imagine Mikey coming straight off the building site, covered in dust and dirt with a sweaty face and not having remembered to change. I laughed too.
“You know, Grace, I have a lot of money so I can afford to spend even three times what I did. Believe me. But I was moderate. I only did enough to help a friend. As for the ring, I know hotel policy but to hell with that. This is a gift from one friend to another and had nothing to do with the hotel. If you accept it, you accept it because you are my friend and not because you did a good job of greeting me at the reception desk. Agreed?”
“But, Mr. Iglesias...”
“Agreed,” his voice was a little louder, but still friendly.
“Agreed,” I said in a little voice. It was the first present I'd received in, I don't know how many years, from anyone. Not even Mikey remembered my birthday and he knew I wasn't into Christmas presents. The last thing I remember receiving was a necklace from my Dad. I was thirteen and he said it was my Mom's and to look after it.
I got up and kissed Mr. Iglesias on the cheek.
“Thank you, Mr. Iglesias. I will look after this and treasure it because it came from my very good friend.”
He smiled warmly at me and nodded. I left the room with watery eyes.
I rushed along the corridor and straight into Miss Poole.
“Careful, Grace. I could have been a guest. What have you got there?”
“Just something of mine.”
“I hope you have not been accepting gifts from our guests. You know the rules.” She looked over the top of her glasses at me.
“Yes,” I nodded. “I know the rules.”
I hurried away, thinking to myself, 'Rules sometimes get broken.'
7
I went over to Mikey’s apartment Saturday afternoon. I had the suit with me. I figured he may as well have it, you never know when he might need a smart suit one day. Frank and Stewie were out, and Mikey answered the door in just a towel.
“I'm sorry, I caught you at a bad time,” I said, wondering if I should back away. It wasn't too far to go back to my apartment.
“Don't be silly, come on in. I was just shaving.”
“Oh go ahead, I won't stay long.” I was still holding the bag and Mikey beckoned me to follow him to the bathroom.
It smelled nice in there. A manly but perfumed fragrance and still very warm from the shower he must just have had. I took off my thick jacket and leaned against radiator while Mikey filled the sink with water and smeared shaving cream onto his face. He shook his razor into water and started running it down his chin. I could see his reflection in the mirror and I could see the muscle definition in his arms and back.
His shoulders were wide and I suppose the manual work had helped him become so muscular. I never knew him to work out at a gym or anything.
“So, what you up to today, Grace? You wanna hang out?”
“I could do that. I'm on the late shift tonight so I don't have to go in until eight so, yeah we can hang out.” I pulled at the neck of my thick sweater. I was becoming warmer by the second. I saw Mikey's smile in the mirror and it sent something through my stomach that was similar to the feeling of when I first saw him in that suit. The suit. It was in the bag at my feet now.
“Oh, Mikey, I nearly forgot. Mr. Iglesias said you could keep the suit.”
“Why do I need a suit?” His head was tilted up and he was shaving from his neck up towards his chin.
“I don't know. Church?”
He pulled a face at me and caught the skin near his throat with the razor.
“Sorry,” I said. “I'm distracting you. I'll wait in your room.”
He came through to his room after a little while. Surprisingly, it was reasonably neat and there were no weird smells around. There was music playing low from his system on the floor by the window and I had taken off my boots and sat up on his bed, flicking through his magazines, the way I always did.
As Mikey always did, he came bounding in and jumped onto the bed next to me and sat very close. But this time, as he was in just a towel, I began squirming and trying to stop my breathing from seeming loud and exaggerated. I didn't know what was going on with me.
“You interested in cars?” he asked me, looking at the page I'd opened the magazine to.
“Er, not really, just looking at the pictures.”
He leapt over me and his towel got loose.
“I better put some clothes on. Turn away.” His voice was all casual.
I turned to my left but didn't close my eyes. The mirror on the left wall reflected Mikey's body as he stood bending over the chest of drawers on the right side of the room. He opened a drawer, let the towel drop and pulled on a pair of gray pants. They looked designer but I dou
bted that they were. I did a double take when I saw his butt in the reflection. It occurred to me that Mikey did look good in jeans and with his naked body in the reflection in the mirror, I could see that the evidence was backing up the facts.
I swallowed hard as Mikey went to the wardrobe in the corner and found a pair of dark jeans. He put them on and turned to me as he fastened them up.
“Okay, I'm decent now.”
He took out a shirt and slowly did up the buttons as I looked from beneath a bowed head and my eyelashes as his smooth chest got hidden away button by button.