Beep! Beep!
I honked at the car in front of me for the second time. I have been on its tail for the past two intersections and every time the light turned green, the driver would just take its sweet time to hit the gas. I was already late for work and it's not the best time to be late.
It was summer in Manhattan and although Fashion Week was a few months away, we were finalizing the designs that would be included in our line up. It was not easy and work has been gruelling the past few months.
Maude is one of the top fashion houses that join the prestigious show and I had the most important role in the company. As the artistic director, I needed to check on everything, from the designs, production...everything! We had team leads for each of them but I did not want to disappoint Bella. She had given me everything I have now. It's only right to give everything I can for Maude.
Finally, traffic lightened up as I drove towards the block where our office building was. I turned right into the underground parking, making my way to my reserved slot. The name Melissa Maude was written in bold letters above it.
After making sure my car was locked, I made my way to the private elevator that led to the top floor of the building. Bella was expected to arrive today. As always, I was always excited to see her but I couldn't help but feel anxious.
Ding!
The elevator stopped on my floor and I took a deep breath before stepping out. My heels made a rhythmic sound as I made my way to my office.
"Good morning Mel, here's your coffee and schedule for today," Helen, my secretary greeted me by the door to my office.
"Oh, and she's already waiting for you inside," she added.
"Thank you, Helen. Let me know when my 10 o'clock arrives."
I had a meeting with a representative of a big company from Los Angeles today. It was a big account that I needed to bring in. Bella would be proud for sure.
As I opened the door, I was engulfed in a warm hug. "Melissa, darling! How are you? How I missed you! Now, let me look at you," and with that, Bella stepped back to give me her usual inspection, eyeing me from top to bottom.
Still holding my coffee and schedule on my right and my bag on my left, I lifted my arms midway giving her space to do her thing.
"Have you been skipping lunch again? You know better than to do that! Look at you! You've lost weight again-."
Well, you can't really blame me with Fashion Week coming up but I keep this thought to myself. I was happy being busy.
"It's good to see you too, Bella," I quickly cut her off or else she would spend a good hour on proper diet. She always acted like we don't talk and see each other often. She flies in from Paris every 3 months and we FaceTime every weekend.
"How was your flight? You should have dropped by the house first to freshen up and had breakfast with us." I kissed her on the cheeks and proceeded to dump my things on my desk.
"I figured I could save time and start working on things right away. I've already checked on the designs and everything seems great." She indeed had designs and a bunch of papers on the coffee table by the couch. A half empty cup of coffee and a piece of what was left of a bagel was also on it.
I sat on the sofa next to her and proceeded to talk more about the upcoming show. I did have a problem with the production line and needed to ask if it was okay with her if I outsourced some of it. As the artistic director, I have everything in my power to make such changes but I always made a point run major changes through Bella too. Some of our designs where stolen a few years back when the then artistic director over-delegated things. I definitely don't want that happening on my watch so I was extra careful.
Our meeting was interrupted by a soft knock that was followed by the sound of the door opening. Helen peeked from behind first before allowing herself in.
Seeing we were still in the middle of something, "I'm sorry to disturb you Miss Bella, Mel. But your 10 o'clock is already here. They are already setup in the conference room."
"Thank you Helen, I'll be right there. Just give me a few minutes to grab my things." With that I quickly got up from the couch were Bella and I have been talking for the past hour.
As if on cue, Bella stands from the sofa, "I'll be out of your way then. I'll be checking on the design team today and maybe perhaps I can pick-up Alyssa from school." The last part was more of a question than a statement, not that the she needed to, really. She was family and she can see Alyssa anytime she wanted to.
"Oh, you know how much she misses you. I'm sure she'll be very excited to see you. Today's the last day of school and it ends at 11:30. She likes pizza these days. Enjoy!" I said as I head out the door with my things.
When I got out of my office, I found Helen on her desk typing away on her computer. "Helen, do you mind taking notes for the meeting today?"
"Sure, Mel," she replied as she snatches her laptop from her desk. She goes around her desk walking quickly ahead of me and opened the double doors to the conference room. This is one of the things why I like keeping Helen around. She's always ready and never says no to me. She was once Bella's secretary and as the artistic director title was passed on to me, she came along with it. My life is easier with her around.
"Good Morning, Miss Maude." A young man stood up from one of the ten chairs that lined the oval conference table. He was clearly the secretary of the other man who quickly followed suit.
"My name is Mark Stevens and this is Mr. John Styles of Black Industries."
YOU ARE READING
Second Chance at Love
Romance"No, don't come near me! You lost the right the moment you opened your legs to another man." I have never seen the look he had on his face right now - full of anger, disappointment and disgust. It was the last thing I would have expected from him...
