by Suzanne Hart
I’m new in town, new to the job and a new piece of ass for Felix Stone to destroy
I moved to San Francisco from Minnesota to start a new life.
Getting mixed up in Felix Stone’s world was never my intention.
He’s my boss. He’s filthy rich with a heart of stone.
I’m just a small-town girl trying to learn the ropes.
I know he’s against the rules, he needs to keep his hands off me.
But once he touches me, I can never forget that feeling of my panties soaking wet.
I’m addicted to his body, I’m desperate for one more touch.
I’m an idiot because I keep going back for more.
Felix shuts everyone out. He shuts his daughter out too, and she’s just a six-year-old kid.
Why would I be any different?
I know he wants nothing more from me, than to ravish my shuddering body.
By the end of this cat and mouse game, I’m going to be left standing with my panties at my ankles and my heart in my hands.
Nora
I woke up too early, feeling that bubbling sense of excitement in my belly. I wasn’t supposed to report at the hotel for another few hours, but I couldn’t contain the energy that was bursting in my veins. I still couldn’t believe I got the job.
Sliding out of bed, I showered and changed into the uniform the hotel issued me. My roommate and best friend, Katie, was still asleep in her room, so I walked around our apartment, making myself a coffee first, then a bowl of cereal. I was too enthusiastic to calm down, to sit down and just breathe.
As a child, growing up in a small rural town in Minnesota, I had never been to a big city like San Francisco. The only life I had known was going to school in the snow, helping my grandfather at his grocery store, and going fishing on the weekends. Our town had no more than four hundred people when I was growing up, and my prospects were low.
The only future I had to look forward to was taking over Granddad’s store when I grew up and hopefully marrying a nice man to build a family with. Even though that was the life I was supposed to lead, though it was my destiny, just like it had been my mother’s destiny too…it wasn’t enough for me.
I used to stare longingly at the shows on TV, I read books and magazines about the big-city life and wondered how different my world would be if I could just get out of this godforsaken town. But I couldn’t leave Granddad, not when he was getting old and had nobody to look after him. My parents had both died in a car accident when I was twelve, and I had no other family except Granddad.
So, even though I had big dreams and I longed to leave, I knew I never would as long as Granddad was still alive.
And then one day, he wasn’t. I found him in the back storage room of the store on the floor. He had a heart attack while I was in the front, attending to customers who kept me busy. I was distraught; I felt broken…everyone I had ever loved and known was now gone. I was completely alone.
For months I tried to keep up the store, follow Granddad’s routine and make sure that I did a good job…so that he’d be proud of me. Then one morning, while I was sitting behind the counter, reading the morning newspaper, I saw a photograph of San Francisco in an advertisement. What was I waiting for? Why was I still living here now, amidst the ghosts of my parents and Granddad? There was nothing left for me here, other than a hollow cave in my chest and an itch for a better life.
I took the savings I’d collected over the years and the money that Granddad left me. I locked up the store, locked up our house, and took the first bus out of the town to Saint Paul. I had never been on a plane before; everything was new to me. Within a few hours, I was in San Francisco and I had never felt more alive.
It was through sheer luck that I found this apartment, that I found Katie as a roommate and now I had been living in San Francisco for five months, and I finally had a job. Which was good, since I was quickly running out of money.
According to Katie, Stone Hotel, a five-star luxury hotel, was one of the premier locations in San Francisco. When I looked it up, I found that there were several Stone Hotels around the country, including Hawaii and Los Angeles. I was too afraid to go in for the interview; I had no experience in hospitality. I had no experience in any kind of job!
I was a twenty-three-year-old girl with no experience of the real world. Somehow, I got the job. It was a part-time trainee position with the floor staff's team. It wasn’t anything huge, but it was something. Apparently, the HR lady who interviewed me liked my small-town midwestern charm. Katie said she was sure I got the job because I had a trustworthy face. Whatever it was, I now had a source of income. I had an actual job in an actual big city.
So, on the morning of my first day, I had butterflies in my stomach as I waited for the clock to strike eight. I was going to walk to the hotel, I was going to be on time, and I was going to make sure that the nice lady who had given me the job would not regret taking a chance on me.
Katie woke up just minutes before I was going to leave the apartment. Her shift at the cafe didn’t start till ten.
“Look at you! In that fancy skirt.” Katie came over to give me a tight hug. We had only known each other for five months, but we had grown close. I never had a friend like Katie before. In my town of four hundred people, there were only four other girls in my age-group and they were all more interested in boys and hooking a husband than making friends with other girls.
“Wish me luck, Katie!” I exclaimed, rushing for the door now.
“You’re going to have a great day,” she said and blew me a kiss.
I ran down the stairs, bursting through the front door of the apartment building. If anyone saw me, they would have seen the silly wide smile that adorned my face. There was a skip in my step as I walked in the direction of Stone Hotel.
I knew that if my parents and Granddad had been alive, they would have been shocked by what they saw and then they would have been proud.
Felix
I’d been suffering from insomnia for close to four years now, pretty much since the day that my wife died. Natalie and I had a whirlwind relationship. We met, I asked her to marry me within two months, and soon after, our daughter was born. Cici, our daughter, was less than two years old when Natalie was diagnosed with cancer. She didn’t have to suffer long, that was the only relief. The three of us, Natalie, Cici and I had a few months together and then she was gone. Leaving me to raise our daughter by myself.
That was four years ago, and since then, I had slept very little. Surviving mostly on espressos and gallons of whiskey, and business deals to keep the adrenaline pumping in my veins.
It wasn’t that I was completely alone in raising Cici; I had lots of help. We had a housekeeper, two part-time helpers, and a full-time nanny to look after Cici’s every need, but she was nearly six years old now, and she couldn’t remember her mother. I was afraid that I wasn’t doing the job of a parent right. I wasn’t sure if Cici knew what it meant to have a happy, homely family life.
I traveled a lot, kept myself busy; the more money I made, the hungrier I got for more. I spent very little time at home, seeing Cici a couple of times in a month. I was anxious that she didn’t know me anymore, she didn’t know what having a father around meant, but I couldn’t bring myself to be there. If I spent time in the house, it reminded me of Natalie and what our life would have looked like if she was still around. When I looked at Cici, I saw her mother’s face.
Staying away, traveling, kept me distracted.
This morning, I woke up in my own bed in our home in San Francisco. I’d returned from Istanbul the night before, after an eight-day trip. I was in talks with developers in Turkey to help me with our business expansion. A hotel in Istanbul would be just the key I needed to unlock Asia. A hotel in Dubai after that, and another one in Hong Kong, was my next four-year plan.
I had another meeting in New York and I would have avoided stopping by San Francisco if I could help it, but I needed to conduct a meeting with the team here first. So, I
was finally home…even though this didn’t feel like home anymore.
I got out of bed still feeling drowsy because I hadn’t slept much in the night. I took a shower and changed into a suit and tie for the meeting, making my way to the dining room for an early breakfast. When I entered, I saw Cici sitting there at the breakfast bar, with a bowl of uneaten cereal in front of her and a piece of toast in her hand that she’d been munching on.
Her eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Daddy?” she said, in a surprised voice. She wasn’t expecting to see me; she didn’t know that I was back. It was a big house and I’d returned very late at night.
“Hey there, baby girl, you’re up early!” I tried to sound cheerful as I walked towards her.
“Daddy! I’m so happy to see you!” she squealed, jumping off her chair to rush into my arms.
I lifted her up, looking into her small, angelic face. I loved her more than she would ever understand, even though it ached me to see her. It was a strange feeling, one I couldn’t explain, even to myself.
“Off to school?” I asked and Cici shook her head and pouted her lips.
“Daddy, you’re so silly! It’s Saturday!” she replied as I put her back down on her chair again.
“Of course it is!” I exclaimed, smiling at her, just as our housekeeper, Anne, came rushing into the room.
“Good morning, Mr. Stone! Thank God you’re here!” Anne seemed anxious.
“What’s the problem, Anne?” I asked her, sitting down across from Cici, who was giggling as she ate.
“Mr. Stone, sir, it’s just that Cici’s nanny…she’s fallen very sick and she hasn’t come in today.” Anne stood beside me with her hands clasped together. I looked at Cici, who had a hopeful look in her eyes, and then I turned to Anne again.
“What are you saying?” I asked her and Anne looked around the room sheepishly.
“Sir, it’s my morning off. I usually go visit my father at the nursing home on Saturday mornings, but if I go there won’t be anyone to look after Cici,” Anne continued. I gulped and looked over at my daughter again with a smile.
“What about the part-timers?” I asked.
“Daddy, can’t I go with you to work?” Cici interjected, and I continued staring at Anne for answers. I didn’t want to look at Cici and disappoint her with rejection.
“Sir…they don’t come in till late afternoon, but I could call them now if…” Anne replied.
“Daddy? Will you take me with you?” Cici asked again, and this time, I had no other choice but to look at her.
“I have an important meeting at the office, honey.” I tried to be as gentle with her as possible.
“I promise I’ll be good, Daddy, please! Please!” Cici was pouting her lips, and I could see her eyes watering already. I looked at Anne again, who seemed uncomfortable standing there.
“Of course, you can spend the morning with me,” I said and Cici jumped off her chair and came running to me again. She threw her little arms around my neck and covered the side of my face with kisses.
“Yay! I’m so excited! What should I wear?” Cici went running out of the dining room and Anne went after her.
I remained sitting at the table, with a pot of coffee in front of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent an entire morning with Cici. What was I supposed to do with her?
Nora
I was following Jackson, the man I had been assigned to, around the hotel. In other words, I was trying to keep up with him as he raced around the premises trying to give me a detailed tour of the hotel. I’d only spent an hour with him, jotting down everything he was saying in a notepad, and already I could sense that he wasn’t too impressed with me.
I didn’t blame him. He was the assistant manager of the hotel, with several years of experience in the hospitality industry, and he worked at one of the premier hotels in the country. And now he had been assigned to train a twenty-three-year-old, fresh-faced country girl from Minnesota who had never stepped foot inside a place like this before. He was bound to be annoyed.
I tried my best to absorb everything he was saying and hoped that he would see in me what that kind HR lady had identified. I wanted him to know that I was hardworking and a fast learner. I was determined to know this hotel inside and out within a month or less. I wanted to impress Jackson.
“Yes, sir, of course, I understand,” were the kind of words I was using to address him as I followed him, up and down the stairs, chasing after him in and out of the elevator and trying to catch every word he was saying. I caught him rolling his eyes at me a few times, shaking his head at the decision of the HR Department. Now, I was beginning to worry that he would talk to the hiring team at the end of the day and ask them to let me go.
“What can I do today?” I asked him at the end of the tour. I wanted him to know that I was eager to learn and determined to prove myself. Jackson stood in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest, looking me up and down.
“Talk to reception and shadow the housekeeping staff today. I want you to learn as much as you can today from them. If you’re going to work here, you will need to pick up every detail of every department,” Jackson ordered. Bobbing my head up and down with agreement, I hurried over to the reception desk to ask if there was any housekeeping staff in the rooms who I could rush to.
“Room 401, Room 401,” I repeated in my head after I spoke to the girl at the reception desk. I ran to get the elevators, trying to work out which floor that room would be on. My best guess was that it was on the fourth floor.
The elevator doors pinged open and I stepped aside to allow the people to get off. I remembered to paste a wide smile on my face every time someone caught my eye. I’d seen Jackson doing it; he was polite and courteous with everyone whose path he happened to cross on the hotel premises.
The elevator was empty now and I stepped in. When I turned, I saw a man in a suit with a little girl by his side, walking across the marble floor towards the elevator.
“We’re coming!” the little girl squealed, running away from the man. I caught the man’s eye. He was older than me, perhaps in his early thirties, and he was in a suit that looked like a million dollars. He was a handsome man, in great shape, taking long strides with his muscular legs towards the elevator.
The little girl had slipped in and she looked up at me with a wide smile.
“Hello,” I said to her, just as the elevator doors slid close. The man hadn’t made it in time; I had already pressed the button for the fourth floor and the elevator started zooming up.
“Uh oh, Daddy’s left behind,” the girl said and I could feel myself beginning to panic. I’d messed up. I should have held the door for him. Jackson would slaughter me if he found out that I hadn’t thought fast enough.
“Don’t worry, we’ll go right back down to your daddy again, okay?” I said to the girl, who didn’t look worried at all. She nodded her head and stared at the lights on the board as they lit up one by one.
We arrived on the fourth floor and after the doors had opened and shut, I pressed the button for the lobby again. I was nervous, but I tried to keep smiling for the little girl’s sake.
The doors opened again and I sighed with relief, but when we looked out, the man in the suit had disappeared.
“Where is he?” I spoke to myself, peeping out from around the doors. He was nowhere in sight.
“Do you know where he could be?” I asked the girl and she shook her head. “Do you know where you were going?” She shook her head again.
I grabbed her hand and gently tugged her out of the elevator.
“We should go find your daddy, he’s probably really worried right now,” I said and the girl followed my lead.
“No, he’s not worried. He’s never worried about me,” I heard the girl say. When I turned to look at her, I noticed a hint of sadness in her eyes. That was a strange thing for a little girl to say, but now wasn’t the time to stop and think about it.
I rushed to t
he reception desk with the girl in tow, hoping that we could find her father soon. Jackson had given me a task to do and not only was I late for it, now I was responsible for a child who I had separated from her parent.
This was not the exciting start to my first day that I’d been hoping for.
Felix
I’d lost Cici, but I wasn’t worried. When she slipped into the elevator and the doors closed on her, I’d already noticed that there was a member of staff inside. I knew she’d be taken care of, probably dropped off to reception and eventually brought back to me. Right now, what I needed to do was get to the meeting.
I’d waited for the elevator next to the one Cici had gotten into and I took it up to the top floor of the hotel where the conference rooms were located. My secretary had been waiting there for me and she rattled off my schedule for the day and other bits of information as I walked straight to the conference room.
The three people inside, my core team, all stood up when I entered and the meeting commenced.
I thought very little of Cici in that hour while I was in the conference room. I was secretly glad that she’d found her way to a member of staff at that opportune moment, because I wouldn’t have had the time or the patience to keep her occupied during the meeting.
I took the time to fill the team in on the news of my meetings in Istanbul and, all in all, it was a successful meeting. I was all set for my trip to New York that night.
When the meeting ended, I called for Joan, my secretary, who came running into the room.
“Where is Cici?” I asked her matter-of-factly.
“Excuse me, Mr. Stone?” Joan looked confused.
“Cecilia, my daughter. Where is she?” I clarified, and Joan looked around the room in further confusion like she had no idea what I was talking about.