Fashioned for Love

by Anna Hartman

  For a split second he thought he should just leave before she noticed him but in the corner of his eye he saw Alice barging towards her like fighter jet on a mission. He got to get to her before Alice did.

  In the end both Alice and Brockley reached Rosalind and Abigail at the same time.

  “Rosalind” Brockley said and as the surprised girl turned her head to face him Alice came from the other direction

  Screeching “are you happy now you bitch” lifting her hand to slap the younger woman whom she had now directed all her anger towards. Brockley grabbed her hand before it hit Rosalind’s cheek.

  “W-w-w-what?” Rosalind looked puzzled.

  “What’s going on? Who are these people?” Abigail asked

  “This is Brockley Graham, and this is Alice… Graham” Rosalind added as an afterthought

  “And this is the rich whore who stole my business and my husband” Alice said

  “What?” Rosalind still looked puzzled.

  “Did you know that Brockley is going to divorce me and I’m going to lose my job and everything I have worked so hard for?” Now Alice was sobbing.

  “No I didn’t know that. All I know is that I had a dinner scheduled with Brockley tonight and it got cancelled and now I’m here having a drink with my friend and both of you turn up, you screeching like banshee and Brockley looking like a drowned rat. I haven’t got a faintest clue what is going on and whatever it is please be assured it has absolutely nothing to do with me.”

  Finally Brockley spoke

  “why don’t we all go and sit down and have a conversation about this”

  “We need to leave in a few minutes” Rosalind said

  “It won’t take long” He lead the ladies into the booth that Alice had just leapt from and ordered a round of drinks.

  “Alice, why don’t you tell Rosalind what you were supposed to tell her a long time ago”

  Alice sulked like a little girl as it started to dawn on her that all this was her own doing.

  “Alice?”

  “I didn’t sleep with Brockley that night at the Plaza” she mumbled

  “Sorry I couldn’t hear you?” Brockley continued

  “I didn’t sleep with Brockley that night at the Plaza” she repeated. “I was jealous and worried about my future in the company so I set the scene to look like it when it became clear you two had just had sex before you came to the ball and Brockley had fallen for you”

  Rosalind blushed, how could she know it?

  “Yes it was obvious, you two walked in absolutely glowing, I wanted to spend the night with Brockley for old times sake but he didn’t, he told me that night he was falling in love with you”

  Rosalind turned to look at Brockley who held her gaze and nodded

  “In love?”

  “Yes, I have been meaning to tell this to you for a long time but not in front of my ex-wife and “ he looked at Abigail

  “Abigail”

  “and Abigail” Brockley finished his sentence

  “I – I think I’m in love with you too?” Rosalind said.

  Abigail rolled her eyes “think? You haven’t stopped talking about your feelings for him since last year”

  Rosalind blushed even more furiously her face now matching Alice’s dress.

  “I know I am” she said quietly

  “Good, so maybe we can finally have a date without anybody interfering, unless of course you have other commitments”

  “Nick and I are just friends”

  Brockley smiled, he was very glad to hear this.

  “Champagne waiter , can we please have a bottle of champagne” Abigail shouted

  “Four glasses”

  They drank the bottle of champagne, Rosalind and Brockley arranged to go on a date just the two of them the next night and Alice apologised profusely.

  As the girls left to meet Nick Rosalind was on cloud nine, skipping and jumping down the road to the subway station, not noticing the rain .

  As they walked into the crowded bar Nick’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he first laid eyes on Abigail. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and when she opened her mouth to greet him the plummy vowels and sexy voice was nearly too much.

  Yes he had feelings for the sweet and lovely Rosalind but maybe she was right in saying that they were like long lost siblings. This girl was something else.

  “Nick, this is my friend Abby. I was wondering if you could look after her tomorrow night as I am busy”

  “Gladly” he said and pulled a laughing Abby to the dance floor and kept her dancing for most of the night.

  As they returned to Abigail’s hotel room at 5 am they were exhausted and exhilarated.

  CHAPTER 14

  Rosalind spent the next day preparing for her date with Brockley very carefully. She shaved her legs, had a mani-pedi at the little salon next to her apartment and spent a long time figuring out what to wear, She wore her hair down, applied make up that enhanced her looks without looking heavy and wore a navy dress with a flirty skater skirt.

  Brockley picked her up at 7:30 on the dot, wearing jeans and a shirt, looking a bit nervous. Rosalind had never seen him look nervous before, in fact it was an emotion she didn’t believe he was capable of.

  They walked to the bar at the Gansevoort hotel which was only a short distance away and as they sat at the rooftop looking at the lights of Manhattan slowly beginning to twinkle in front of their eyes, Rosalind felt happier and more content she had done for months, maybe years.

  She had thought about what she wanted and decided that London was her home, she wanted to be closer to her family and Brockley but she also wanted to pursue a career in fashion. Try as she might the hotel world wasn’t for her. She enjoyed it like you could enjoy any number of careers without them being your passion but her heart was not in it. She wanted to create beautiful clothes for women to wear and enjoy. She was going to wait until the end of this New York project before handing in her notice, tonight she wanted to just enjoy Brockley and finally their first date.

  After drinks they had dinner and finally ended up in a little jazz club, cosying up in a small corner table, sitting very close to each other and listening to the exhilarating music. They hadn’t kissed yet that night, Brockley had been the perfect gentleman.

  Afterwards they walked back to Rosalind’s apartment, and Brockley gently kissed her on the cheek. He said he wanted to take it slowly this time around and not rush into anything.

  They hadn’t spoken about work, nor had they mentioned the events of the night before. Rosalind wanted more than a kiss goodnight but in a way was pleased for the romantic evening, they both knew how passionate their lovemaking was and maybe this would just build on that passion, so when they finally did it again it would be mindblowing.

  As Brockley took a cab back to the Plaza where he was staying he felt like the luckiest man in the world. He had conquered the business world and his empire was growing every day, he had the love of the woman of his dreams and even the situation with the ex-wife would be soon sorted.

  Rosalind made herself a cup of tea, now that she finally had some proper English tea courtesy of Abigail, she took her dress off and changed into her dressing gown. She curled up on the little window seat with her tea and looked outside the lights of Manhattan.

  What a whirlwind her life has been recently, almost exactly two years ago she had been sitting in her small apartment not far from here and received the call from her mother that her father had died. She had quickly packed up, called her school that she needed to take some time off and would probably postpone her final year which was about to start and returned to the UK two days later. The immense sadness of the loss of her beloved father, the funeral, the financial woes, worrying about her mother, wondering how she was ever going to pay for her school, meeting Brockley with the instant attraction but her head telling her to steer clear. Converting Langley house into hotel, getting the job at BG hotels on the back of that, her life in Londo
n with Abigail a sudden transfer to New York, Nick, Alice, Brockley, last night's showdown at the Four Seasons and tonights romance at Gansevoort.

  No wonder she felt confused. As it was only 9pm back in the UK she decided to call her mother.

  “Darling is everything ok?” Her mother answered with concern in her voice

  “Yes, why?

  “Because it’s the middle of the night there”

  “Oh, yes I just got in from a dinner and realised it’s not too late there and I missed you”

  “I miss you too sweetheart, when are you coming back?”

  “Probably in a few weeks. Charlie gets here tomorrow and will spend the week working with me and Nick to make sure everything is as it should and then we’ll just probably have a few loose ends to tie and then I’m coming back. But”

  “I knew there was a but”

  “Yes, spending time here again and hanging out with my old friends has made me realise that I want to work in fashion. I’ve enjoyed working at BG hotels and it’s been a great experience but my heart is not in it. I want to be a fashion designer. So I’m going to come back to New York, finish school and then start my own brand. Hopefully I can work part time at BGH to support myself, I haven’t spoken to Alice or Brockley about it yet”

  “Ok, if that’s what you want, I can support you financially too”

  “No mum, I think one thing I’ve learned since dad died is that I want to rely on myself and it’s important that I pay my own way”

  Lady Langley fell silent. She couldn’t believe this was the same spoiled princess of a daughter that had left for New York five years ago with ambitious plans to make it big in the fashion world relying fully on her parents to pick up the bill without questioning it. As much as she missed her husband, the wonderful good man he’d been, she also realised that in a way his death had brought a lot of positive thing. Both her and Rosalind and learned to be self-reliant, make their own money and own decisions and find their own two feet to stand on. She couldn’t be prouder.

  “Rosalind, you’ll be a success I just know it. I really look forward to having you home in a couple of weeks, even if it means that you’ll be heading back to the States very soon. I love you”

  “Love you too mum, good night”

  She didn’t want to tell her about her and Brockley yet, it was so early and whether this would become something more than a passionate fling was to be seen. She wanted to, she really wanted to be with Brockley but after all that had happened she wasn’t ready to trust him or the relationship quite yet. She would also have to wait what would happen with Alice, would she contest the divorce or just agree to anything Brockley’s lawyers suggested.

  She finished her tea and went to bed, to her surprise she was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow and slept soundly until the buzzer of the intercom woke her up at 9:30am.

  She climbed out of bed, picked up her dressing gown en route and went to the hallway

  “Hello”

  A very drunken cacophony of voices answered back.

  “Rosssaaaaliind, let us in, we have breakfast”

  It was Abigail and possibly a crowd of others

  She sighed and buzzed them in.

  She could hear lots of giggling and clunky steps like a herd of elephants on the stairs and eventually Abigail's ginger curls appeared, she was still in her sexy going out outfit from the night before and right behind her was equally drunken Nick.

  “We had to come and check whether you are sleeping your way to the top” Abigail said and burst out laughing.

  “No. I’m not sleeping my way to the top, where’s that breakfast you mentioned? Shall I put some coffee on? You two look like you need it”

  “Great idea” Nick said and slapped Rosalind’s bottom. Abigail lifted up two paper bags she was carrying and dangled them in the air.

  “See Breakfast!”

  She walked to the tiny kitchenette and made a full pot of coffee, laid out some plates, serviettes, spoons, a jug a of hot milk and three cups. She took the orange juice out of the fridge and filled three glasses. And carried the tray through to the open plan lounge.

  Abigail was sitting on Nick’s lap on the sofa and the two were kissing like their life depended on it

  “You two, get a room”

  Blushing Abigail turned around and Nick looked a bit sheepish

  “Sorry” They said in unison like two naughty toddlers

  “That’s ok, so bring me the food, I’m starving and you two could really do with some carbs and coffee”

  Abigail brought the bags to the table and started loading their content on it,

  Fresh bagels with salmon and cream cheese, pancakes with a tiny container of maple syrup, crispy bacon, English muffins, chocolate croissants, yogurt with berries and granola. And finally as the piece de resistance a whole rotisserie chicken and a giant brie

  “Oh my goodness, are we expecting many more people?”

  “No we didn’t know what Brockley would like so we got a bit of everything”

  “Well Brockley is not here, but anyway, let’s eat”

  As they sat down to eat, her drunken friends giggling and stuffing their faces with everything and occasionally stealing a kiss when they thought Rosalind wasn’t looking, the doorbell rang again.

  This time it was the doorbell of the flat not the buzzer downstairs, so Rosalind assumed it was one of her neighbours complaining about the noise on a Sunday morning.

  She swung the door open.

  “Brockley”

  He stood there looking freshly showered and impossibly handsome in his slacks and shirt.

  “Morning Rosalind, the downstairs door was left open and I was at the gym nearby and thought I’d bring you some breakfast”

  Then he heard the noise from the lounge.

  “Eh, sounds like I was late for the party?”

  “No you are just the second, or actually third person that wanted to bring me breakfast, you are welcome to join us if you don’t mind hanging out with two incredibly drunk people. We have enough food to feed an army... for about a week”

  Brockley smiled

  “Yeah, I can deal with drunks, here’s what I brought”

  He had a bottle of champagne, freshly squeezed orange juice and freshly baked, still warm, flaky buttery croissants from the French deli downstairs, with tiny pots of jam and the Sunday papers.

  They walked together to the lounge and Nick went quiet, oh shit he had not thought this through. Brockley was his boss and here he was sitting in his girlfriend’s flat completely shitfaced at 10am Sunday morning. Abigail noticed his concern and squeezed his leg gently to show support.

  “Morning Nick, Good Morning Abigail. Good night?”

  “Yes, wonderful, New York is such a great city Mr Graham” Abigail responded sounding surprisingly sober. Another of her little tricks she’d learned during her mega expensive education. How to seem sober when you were a drink short of passing out.

  “It sure is”

  Rosalind picked up another cup and some champagne flutes from the kitchen and they sat down for breakfast

  CHAPTER 15

  If Brockley had expected a romantic breakfast followed by a lazy Sunday morning in bed alone with Rosalind, he hid his disappointment well and they ended up having a fun morning with the very drunken Nick and Abigail providing riotous entertainment with their tales of the night before.

  They finally finished breakfast at 12:30, at that point Nick had passed out on the sofa and Abigail had snuggled in Rosalind's bed.

  “Let’s go out, I want to be alone with you”

  “Ok, let me just get ready”

  Rosalind had a shower and got dressed into a skirt and a summer top, slipped on her dusty pink sandals that looked great on her tanned legs, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and grabbed her bag. Natural makeup with just a tiny bit of BB cream, blusher, mascara and lipgloss.

  “You look fantastic” Brockley said and kissed her on the cheek
. Suddenly Rosalind felt really shy, despite the fact they had slept together twice, known each other for two years and worked together closely for the past 18 months she felt like this was a first date.

  “Thanks”

  She wrote a note to Abigail and Nick asking them to make themselves at home, telling them where they could find towels and asking them to lock the door when they left.

  It was a beautiful summer’s day, not too hot like it often was in Manhattan, but there was a cool breeze that kept it fresh and lovely. They walked up to the Highline and talked about everything and nothing, holding hands and finally when they stopped by the Standard hotel, Brockley pulled her to him and kissed her.

  As she came out for air and lifted their head she realised that the urban legend was true, people did have sex on the windows of the hotel in full view of the people walking below. There was a muscular black guy taking a petite blonde from behind, they were sideways so you could really see what was going on. To her surprise Rosalind felt turned on, she had never cared much about pornography but being there with Brockley and seeing these people having sex made her want him inside her immediately.

  “Should we get a room?” She said huskily not daring to even look at him.

  Although he looked surprised he responded without blinking “Yes, let’s go”

  They walked into the reception and booked themselves in.

  If the receptionist knew what they were there for he didn’t show it and didn’t even raise an eyebrow that they didn’t have any luggage.

  They got a room on the 8th floor overlooking the Highline.

  As they walked in they had barely closed the door behind them when the desire just overtook them and they could no longer stay apart, they kissed their tongues twirling each other, Rosalind grabbed Brockley’s lower lip between her lips and sucked it, he grunted with pleasure, lifted her up against the wall and pulled up her skirt and with one hand undid his own belt and zip and, pulled Rosalind’s knickers to one side and just entered her, she gasped. There had been no foreplay , she had been so ready and so horny for him and boy did he feel good inside her, big, rock hard and demanding.