by Kendra Riley
“You’re coming back here tonight, are you not?” Anna asked Aniya as soon as she came back in.
“I promised the babysitter I’d be home by seven,” Aniya replied, dreading the worst.
“Well, you have to be back here by seven. The event may end past ten in the evening.”
Aniya’s heart sank. Anna had said it, a quiet demand for her presence. Career over family, Anna had told her, and she knew Anna had effectively relegated her motherly duties to nannies and butlers. Anna had three children who displayed no affection whatsoever for her. A pat on the head, or a pat on the shoulder. It had been disappointing to look at, and Aniya had once sworn to herself she wouldn’t end up as that kind of parent.
“I said I-“ Aniya began.
“This is important,” Anna said, her head cocking sideways, staring into Aniya’s soul.
Aniya closed her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You have two and a half hours to go home and change, and make the necessary arrangements,” Anna told her off-handedly. “Dress nice.”
Dress nice. It wasn’t like she didn’t dress nice. She dressed fine. She just didn’t have those designer labels that Anna used, and she wasn’t crazy about buying a lot of new clothes for every season. She didn’t have the budget for that, she knew. She was saving up for her daughter’s education, her personal insurance, for rent, and maybe, to transfer into a new apartment soon.
The one bedroom, twenty-five square meter apartment was going to get cramped soon enough. She didn’t want to wait for that to happen. Her daughter’s comfort was key. Sighing, she prayed that the babysitter would be kind enough to extend. That would be another 4-5 hours at least. She found herself rushing home, to talk to the sitter, and to grab some quality time with Isabella before she left for work once more. It was a Friday night, and she would have wanted a cuddle and a movie with her little girl, watching it until they both fell asleep. That was her ideal Friday night.
Aniya breathed a sigh of relief half an hour later, as the babysitter (a college student), agreed to extend her hours. Isabella was a good kid, after all. She gave herself an hour to play with Isabella as the babysitter grabbed her study materials from her nearby dormitory. As soon as the sitter came back, Aniya quickly jumped into the shower, and then she hastily put on makeup, a slinky and beaded black dress and black flats. Her heels were safely cradled inside her large tote bag. She kissed Isabella goodbye, and then walked back for the art gallery.
“Ah, you’re just in time,” Anna told her. Anna was already dressed to the nines, wearing an emerald green dress and sky-high stilettos. “Are those your shoes for the night? You’re an art gallery manager, not a waitress for god’s sake.”
She held her bag up. “Heels in here,” she said.
“Fix your lipstick,” Anna told her. “Guests will be arriving soon.”
Aniya dutifully went to a powder room, and she grabbed some cheek and lip tint from her bag. She carefully applied this, wondering if this was the path for her in the end. An existentialist question on an important evening.
Guests began arriving thirty-minutes later, with Aniya and Anna greeting them at the entrance. Press had also begun to filter into the room, eagerly waiting for the opening of the exhibit. As soon as Angelo Perez arrived, guests and media crowded him for an interview, some to be close to brooding, good-looking artist. The room was filled with well-dressed socialites and critics, and the occasional off-beat artist, around a hundred people all in all. Anna walked up to someone who came in the room. She wore a silver dress with a string of pearls on her graceful neck. Aniya couldn’t tell how old the woman was. Anna approached her, and then kissed the fine looking woman on both cheeks.
“Marissa,” Anna began. “Glad you could make it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Marissa del Prado said in a soft, yet firm voice. Was that even possible, Aniya thought. It was a soft tone, but the way she said it, Marissa was a woman to be reckoned with. Her eyes were an icy blue, and matched Dante’s, except hers was colder- way colder.
Marissa eyed her for a moment, and she gave a gracious smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She was that kind of person, Aniya thought. Like mother, like son, huh? She found herself looking for Dante. That supposed stranger turned out to be the owner, well, one of the owners.
Aniya realized he had been playing around with her, almost like he was testing her. Thank god she kept her cool, and thank god she didn’t call security, yet. She would have been out of a job by this time. Anna and Marissa went on talking, walking around the exhibit, and Aniya found herself standing there alone by the entrance.
“We meet again,” a familiar voice said.
She didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. She knew it was Dante Santoro. It was difficult to forget his deep and calm voice, almost quiet, but he was too articulate to ignore, even if it was in Spanish.
“You’re not from here,” he remarked.
“I’m not,” she said, wanting to excuse herself. She had a feeling that a talk with him would not go well. Again. And not with so many prying eyes and ear around them. She wanted to keep her job, and it felt like he was here to mess it all up. She found out that she felt flustered by his presence. She cleared her throat and smiled at him, the only way she knew how to confront her own nervousness.
“You are-?” he began.
“I think you already know who I am.”
“I didn’t quite get your last name,” he said.
“You don’t have to,” she replied. “It’s not important,” she hastily added.
“Where are you from?”
“It’s irrelevant,” she said in Spanish.
“How’d you learn how to speak Spanish well?” he asked her, looking at her intently.
It made her feel uncomfortable. “It’s not-”
“Relevant?” he interrupted her. “I get it. It’s not. And I’m not making small talk. I might as well meet staff I haven’t met.”
“You didn’t tell me you were my boss.”
“Technically, I’m not your boss,” Dante told her. “I’m just a part of the company you work for.”
“You did say I was staff.”
He smiled. “Staff I don’t know of. I make it a habit to know the people I may or may not work with. Well, I’ll see you around.”
Aniya nodded and excused herself from his way. She watched as he walked towards a group of people, and she saw how charming he had become. Did the man have double standards? Wherein he picked whom he wanted to be nice to? The women who surrounded him threw themselves at him. Who wouldn’t? she thought. The man was as attractive as those print ad models she saw everywhere. His slight stubble made him look mysterious and dangerous. She wondered what it was like to date someone like him…
She shook her head. There was no room for that in her life. A single mother could date, but she certainly didn’t have the time, or the energy to date someone now. She hadn’t had a date since she walked out of that restaurant, three years ago. Had it been that long? She had only bothered to think about it now.
Shaking her head slightly, she went back to work, glancing once in a while at Dante Santoro. Men like him were bad news. Perhaps it was because he dressed well, and he was charming enough- that it reminded her of Jose.
The event ended at nine-thirty in the evening, much to her relief. People were half-drunk, or they had gone home. The exhibit was a success. Essentially, it was a family affair now, and she excused herself from the room to head to her office, across the private exhibit, at the second floor. She would be leaving shortly, Anna had agreed.
Aniya had only begun to text her babysitter, when she heard the shuffling of feet. She walked out of her small office to check on it. She was surprised to see a man, his back turned on her, rummaging through the pantry.
“Can I help you-“ she stopped, realizing it was Dante Santoro. He stood straight and gave a small smile. It almost reminded her of the cold smile that his mother had.
> “Hello again. Yes, I was looking for some wine. This pantry should have it, right?”
“Miss Anna has some in her private fridge, if you’d let her know.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind,” he said to her.
“If you won’t need anything else-“
“Come here for a while,” he told her. “I need a good conversation.”
He needed what?
Hesitantly, she approached him. “I’m not sure if this is--”
“Professional?” he interrupted her.
She nodded.
“It won’t take long,” he told her. “You ran out of bruschetta.”
“I didn’t know people were going to be that hungry. There’s other stuff.”
“Which I’m allergic to,” he told her. “Your shrimp cocktails looked divine, but I don’t want my face to blow up.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”
“That’s the reason why they made you manager, because even in events like these, you’re required to pore through every detail, even food allergies.”
“So you’re saying I didn’t do a good job? Is that what you’re saying?”
“You did a good job, just not a thorough one,” he said. “An event as small as this, you could check on people’s allergies.”
“I’m an events manager for an art gallery,” she told him, “I’m not a caterer.” She was beginning to feel annoyed once more.
He shrugged. “Well, no good wine selections here.”
“I told you it was in Miss Anna’s office-”
“You’re so uptight, you know that?” he commented off-handedly, making her pause.
What? Uptight? She was making an honest living here, and he was just some spoiled businessman, lucky to be the son of Marissa del Prado Santoro. How dare he criticize the way she was? She wasn’t going to stand for it. She was about to say something, when he interrupted her once more.
“What?” she frowned at him.
“I said you’re too beautiful to be uptight.”
She felt that weird feeling. Being complimented on her looks wasn’t something she was used to. She found herself shaking her head. “I think you’ve had one too many to drink.”
“I haven’t gone past three glasses. Those people downstairs, they’ve had many to drink, including my mom and my aunt.”
“Shall I get the wine from Anna’s office for you?”
He looked at her intently. “I can get it myself. Tell me, are you dating anyone?”
She was taken aback by the query. “I think that’s none of your business.”
“Is that a yes or a no?” he pressed on.
“Why does it matter to you?”
“I’d like to take you out on a date.”
A date? Was he for real? People like him did not take office workers out on dates. He was on a different spectrum of the elite, was he not? She realized she didn’t know anything about him. “I know nothing about you.”
“Isn’t that what dates are for?” he told her.
“You’re drunk,” she said, quickly.
“I know when I’m drunk. It means I can’t perform well,” he said nonchalantly.
Perform. Right. Aniya sighed and took a step backward.
“Tell me you don’t enjoy this conversation.”
“I’m not sure if I--”
“Yes or no.”
She closed her eyes. “It’s weird, but it’s okay.”
“You can be honest with me you know. I’m a rather blunt person to begin with,” he told her.
I don’t owe you honesty, actually, she thought, but she said nothing. She looked at him for a moment, and she saw the clarity in his eyes, and she realized that he never looked away when he spoke about her. “I’m not really interested in--”
“The conversation, or do you find me boring?”
“It’s not that. Don’t twist my words.”
“Apologies. What I meant to say is, you’re not into me.”
“I just met you,” she said, feeling flustered. “How can I be into you?”
“Attraction is a quick thing,” he told her, placing his hand down on the counter, close to her resting hand.
She didn’t pull her hand away. He was trying to seduce her, wasn’t he? She wasn’t stupid, and she knew when a man wanted certain things that only a woman could fulfill. She looked at his eyes, and she saw how blue they were, despite the lighting above them.
“They’ll be looking for you, you know.”
“You’re leaving?” he said, “so soon?”
“I have a family waiting for me.”
“This is a rather quick conversation, is it not?” he told her. He wasn’t smiling. He was still looking at her. That uncomfortable feeling that he was peering into her soul, or her cleavage. He didn’t, actually. He was looking at her eyes, and she found herself almost challenging him, looking at his once more.
Was it possible to drown into those blue pools? Attraction was a quick thing, he was right. Aniya couldn’t help but feel her heart beat faster. “It’s a conversation that’s gone on long enough,” she finally said. “I- I have to go.”
“Are you always so awkward with compliments?” he asked her.
“I’m not--,” she stopped. “Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to do here.”
“Isn’t it obvious? Or have you been single for so long that you’ve forgotten what it feels like to have someone attracted to you?”
He was attracted to her? Was he for damn real? No one ever got attracted to her, well, not since she had gotten pregnant, or maybe it was because she stopped entertaining the men who struck up conversations with her in post-pregnancy. Yet, here he was, an unlikely man, who was saying things that would make any woman blush, that would get any woman stripping down to nothing, just for him.
“I’m not interested in dating,” she said with a breath. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
She felt his hand on hers, his warm palm, radiating something that bordered beyond ordinary friendship. This was what had happened before, this was another man who could just walk away with his emotions intact. She wouldn’t let that happen again, ever… she looked back at his face, and she saw the hint of a smile. Just a hint, enough to make her knees wobble a little. Her knees actually buckled. What in the hell-
“Not interested?” he whispered to her, moving in closer to her body.
She could feel the heat emanating from his suit, she could feel his body heat. Aniya took a deep breath. “I really must go…” and her voice trailed off, as he bent in closer to her. His lips tasted like wine, and lust, and she found herself kissing him back.
Chapter4
They didn’t stop kissing, not until she realized she needed to breathe. She pulled away. “What are we doing? Oh my god.”
“You don’t like it?” he murmured. “We can stop if you don’t.”
She said nothing, and she found herself kissing him again, and her footing shifted, as did his. He was pinning her against the wall this time, his hardness pressing against her hip. She felt that unfamiliar, yet all too consuming feeling, that need for intimacy, that need for a man’s touch, his touch.
Don’t stop, don’t stop, she suddenly begged in her mind. This was so good, it felt so right, but he was her boss. He was the son of her boss. “Mr. Santoro,” she whispered, her lips just millimeters from his. “I don’t think this is right.”
“The place isn’t right for detailed actions, but it is right for some quick ones,” he said to her, with a look in his eye she found hard to resist. Dante was really good with seduction, was he not? She felt his hand on her waist, and he pulled her closer toward him. Aniya gasped a little, surprised at the suddenness of it all.
He traced the outline of her jaw before kissing her once more, and Aniya couldn’t deny herself of the growing attraction to him any longer. Her face grew warmer by the second. His tongue mated with hers eagerly. Resistance all but disappeared, and her breathing grew heavy as their kissing grew hot
ter and hotter.
She felt his hand rise up her leg, slipping under her knee length dress. His fingers then slipped underneath her panties, and he toyed at the edges of it, and she gasped quietly. She held her breath the moment she felt his touch against her heat.
“You’re wet,” he murmured to her, as she closed her eyes. “You want me, don’t you?”
She said nothing, but she grit her teeth, not wanting to admit outright that she was as horny as could be. She hadn’t felt this in so long, it needed to be quick. Get this over with, get this horny-ness over with, she thought.
And then she felt that abrupt stop, and her eyes flew open. He pulled away from her, and he took a quick breath, and stepped back. He gave her a quick smile. “That took longer than I thought it would.”
“What?” What? That was it? He had stopped when she had been so eager, when she had been… she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling like an idiot. Feeling like a complete fool. She didn’t move from her spot by the wall, she stared at him, confused if she should run or stay still until he’d leave.
“I meant, we certainly can’t do it here, can we? It was just a taste. At least we both know what it’s like for us.”
“No,” she stopped, hating the feeling that she had been duped. So someone just wanted to feel her, huh?
“Best I get back,” he said calmly. “I’ll see you in a few?”
She couldn’t say anything. She watched as he left her alone in the pantry, her heart racing and then deflating a mere second after he exited the room. Aniya found herself cursing him to hell.
***
He had seen her exit the exhibit area, and he had a feeling she was about to leave. He didn’t mind much at first, but he had decided later on to rummage through the gallery’s pantry, not quite liking the champagne that had been picked for tonight. Perhaps, there was some semi-dry wine somewhere that suited his taste buds. His aunt had told him she had a few stashed away somewhere across the private exhibit, at the second floor.