New York Series: Office Affair

Chapter 1

Ouch! Did he know me that well or was I that predictable?

"Then I won't tell you," I shot back a little stubbornly.

"No, sweetie. You can forget it. You take your tight arse and swing it over here in the right outfit and I won't talk back. You'll get fat and ugly quickly enough once your body realises it's not 20 anymore."

"Rico. I don't know if that's such a good idea today." I tried to argue.

"I don't want to hear anything. The club opens in 50 minutes. I'll see you in 40 minutes. If you don't turn up, I'll lodge a complaint on Monday. Put on the little black dress. Come on! See you soon!" He hung up and left me speechless.
I looked at my sundae and the schmaltzy telenovela that was on the telly.
I probably had no other choice.
I had to smile a little. What had become of me? In the past, I wouldn't have hesitated. The reason I became an event planner was because I had never missed an event before. Rico was right, I shouldn't be sitting here on my own. I took off my face mask and lathered the ice cream. I had to hurry.

I quickly jumped in the shower and applied my make-up. As there was still a mask for my face today, I skipped my eyes and didn't apply anything else apart from mascara, a light base and red lips. I wrapped my brown-black hair in large curlers. I at least wanted my hair to shine if my face was going to be hidden.

I pulled the dress Rico had described out of the wardrobe. The sinfully expensive, fitted, short Versace jersey dress with a waterfall neckline and spaghetti straps with the Medusa logo. It was one of the most expensive items of clothing in my wardrobe. I had bought it with Rico on one of our shopping dates. I'd never worn it before because it was far too short for work. I looked at the dress. It was so beautiful. Somehow it screamed Francesca dress me. Rico was right, it had to be the dress for today.

I paired the dress with black leather over-the-knee boots and a white oversized blazer as a jacket. I had to choose gold jewellery to match the dress. I looked down at my hand at the silver engagement ring on my finger and bit my lip. For better or worse, it would have to stay at home today. Unfortunately, the ring didn't go well with the outfit.

My skin tone was slightly more tanned than the normal American. My grandad on my mum's side was from Spain and his genes had come through. My mum had also won the gene pool lottery and passed on the southern features such as hair and complexion. Funnily enough, I had inherited slight sunspots and ice-blue eyes from my American father. Anyone who looked at my face often only saw my eyes. It was a nice compliment to be told I had beautiful eyes, but sometimes I wished people would look a little deeper. There was more than just beauty and when you hear that compliment your whole life since you're a little girl, it eventually gets on your nerves. Well, today it wasn't about my eyes but about the opening. A glance at my watch told me that I should have left long ago. I had to drive my own car quickly and pick it up at the location tomorrow.

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I looked at my watch as I walked to the club. Shit, the opening was about to start. I took quick steps to the entrance. I promptly had to get past the crowd. I walked past the queue with my mobile phone in my hand because I had to text Rico and ask him where he was. I heard people behind me shouting that I shouldn't jump the queue, but I ignored the whining and sent the message when my shoulder bumped into someone.
I looked up briefly from my mobile phone and looked into the startled brown eyes of a man standing in the queue with his friends. The scent of his perfume immediately caught my nose. It smelled fresh, woody with a hint of bergamot and patchouli. He seemed just as surprised as I was about the collision. However, I was in a hurry and couldn't really register the face, so I just put my hand on his shoulder to stop myself falling over and mumbled a quick "Sorry." before walking straight on without looking back.

At the entrance I saw my favourite bouncer Hugo. Hugo was a bodybuilder by day and took over security at Rico's at night. We had known each other for a few years now and I smiled when I saw him.
"Hugo, nice to see you here. Do you know where I can find Rico?" I asked him with a smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a greeting. Hugo only mentioned the greeting with a quick hug. He hated it when I kissed him on the cheek to say hello and I liked to tease him a bit. I had grown up giving each other a little kiss on the cheek as a greeting. Just like the Italians or French did. So it was a purely friendly relationship between me and Hugo. Every now and then he kept the unpleasant men away from me when I was out at Rico's club, which I really appreciated.

Well, I hadn't been as much of a party girl for a long time, but when I went out partying, it was only in Rico's place. I was happy about the new Latino club in the night scene. As an American with Spanish roots, I thought it would be nice to have a place where the Latin way of life could be lived. I'd had less contact with my roots, partly because my father was completely American.
"Francesca, nice to see you. Rico is still in the back office. He's already waiting for you and had let me know. So you can come through."
"Thank you. Will I see you inside later or are you only on outdoor duty today?"
"I'll be inside later. I'll see you later."
Hugo winked at me and I stepped into the new club. I quickly grabbed one of the free black lace masks and covered my face before heading to Rico's office. I'm sure he was already annoyed that I wasn't on time and Rico was being petulant - well, I really didn't need that.