I thought he was joking. I prayed he was joking but oh how the world hates me. He woke me up this morning telling me to get ready and dress business casual and that's when it sank in. I mean, sure I wanted a distraction but not this. As much as I was trying to bridge the gigantic space spending more than 10 hours with him wasn't one of my strategic moves. It was all to much at once. I got into the shower and took my precious time lathering my body with the overly priced bathing lotion, then proceeded to wash my hair. I got out and went to the closet. He had said business casual and I was never one for the fancy dresses although I did enjoy a good Hermes bag here and some Louboutin heels there. I wanted to make a statement. As Alejandro's wife I believed there was some level of sophistication I had to maintain and besides I wanted to tease him a little, who knows, maybe I could get a reaction out of him. I dried myself up and went to pick out my underwear. After much deliberation I decided on the matching red lace bra and panties. Alejandro had always had a thing for red. I went through the several racks of clothes, when did he even buy all this stuff. All I could see were expensive brands like Sherri Hill, Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein and all the like. God, I would never be able to find something amongst all this beautiful clothes.

Women, right?

But then I looked up and saw something that caught my eye. A firebrick red dress with a plunging V neckline and thin straps. I pulled the hanger of the rack and held the silky material against my body in front of the floor to ceiling mirror. This was it. I quickly put it on and then rushed to find a pair of shoes. I found the cutest pair of beige red bottoms and put them on. I did light make-up, just a little mascara and blush, with a nude lipstick. I was about to rush out when I spotted a beyond gorgeous beige Michael Kors purse. Who said matching was out of style. I quickly grabbed it and stuffed things in then hurried downstairs.

(Outfit)

I walked into the kitchen and to find Alejandro munching away on a piece of French toast. Gertie looked at me and dropped the spatula noisily into the frying pan. Alejandro looked at Gertie then followed her eyes to find what made her so startled. His eyes found mine and then started to drop. I could feel them go over my neck, my breasts, the seemed to linger there for quite a while, then continued their journey down.

"Is this okay?",I asked him

"Oh ma'am, you look absolutely breathtaking. Doesn't she Sir?", Gertie chimed in

He looked me over once more and then held my gaze, "Yes. Yes she does", he answered. We stared at each other for quite some time but obviously Gertie wasn't comfortable with the tension as she hurriedly ushered me to the table for breakfast. She piled my plate with bacon, eggs, sausage, French toast and little slices of fruit. Alejandro stared at me throughout and it made me rather very uneasy. When I was finished, I pushed my plate forward and looked at him.

"Are you ready?", he asked

"Yes"

"Let's go"

We walked out and got into the car and Paco drove off.

"Buongiorno Signora, Signore" (Good morning madam, sir), Paco greeted

"Good morning Paco", I replied, Alejandro merely nodded. The drive was silent, with Alejandro furiously typing away on his phone and me looking out the window at the glistening skyscrapers. Not long after we stopped in front of a larger than life skyscraper.

Damn!

I looked all the way to the top, which resulted in me craning my neck at an almost 90° angle. There was a giant cursive Delmanti at the very top of the building. I had to admit, Alejandro had really done well for himself.

"It's not gonna get any smaller if you keep staring", his annoyed voice said. He started walking in while I followed him. As soon as we walked in, all I could hear was a series of 'Good morning Signore Delmanti', 'Hello Mr Delmanti' and not a single greeting towards me. It's like they were all ignoring me, but, I couldn't really blame them though. I mean with the hunk of a man in front of me, who wouldn't?. He led me to what seemed to be a private elevator. He pressed the button which had AD in gold lettering. We stayed in silence, well, except for the crappy elevator music. When the doors opened, I was greeted with a short hallway which had floor to ceiling windows on both sides. What a view!. The hallway opened up to a large space with a desk and chair at the right side. I expected to see an assistant but the seat was vacant. He looked at the empty chair and frowned. He walked towards the double doors which were opposite the hallway entering and pushed them open. I admired his office as I walked in. It had everything, from the glass table, to the closet, a giant painting of himself, everything. My train of thought was cut off when I heard him slightly yelling at the person on the other line

"Naomi where the hell is Marisa?", he ground out

"U-um", Naomi I presume, stuttered out, "She's on maternity leave Sir"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "And why wasn't I informed?"

"I thought you knew Sir", she squeaked

"Oh, you thought I knew"

"W-Wait Sir I'm s-sorry I d-didn't mean-"

"Well next time instead of thinking, why don't you do your fucking job?", he bellowed

"Yes Sir", she replied. He pressed the end button and started rambling to himself

"Oh God, what am I gonna do"

I could see the absence of his assistant bothered him. He paced all over the office, went to his desk and ruffled some papers, grabbed his hair in frustration and then repeated the cycle all over again. I couldn't bear to see him like this, he was so distraught. So I did something I never expected to.

"I can fill in for her", I offered

He stopped in the middle of his seventh cycle and turned to look at me, "What?"

"I can fill in for her", I repeated

"No, you don't anything about this"

"I'm a fast learner, I can get the hang of it"

"No. I'm gonna find someone else"

"Oh come on Alejandro, you know there's barely enough time to find a suitable replacement and judging by the look on your face, time is not something you have now", I waited for his answer

"Ok", he said and grabbed my arm, "C'mon, let me show you what to do", he pulled me out of his office and toward the empty desk we passed earlier. "Ok, you sit here, answer my calls but make sure they're forwarded to me, return any messages that I left, get me coffee, look over spreadsheets and all the like"

"Ok", I answered

He started walking back to his office when he stopped and turned, "Don't mess up"

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist to keep my anger in check, "Yes Sir", I said with a sneer.

He rolled his eyes and proceeded into his office.

I squared my shoulders and got to work.

************************

My assistant was on maternity leave and no member of my staff felt the need to inform me. It seems like a really petty reason for my anger but Marisa handled all my business affairs. But I had to admit, even though Marisa was damn good at her job, she paled in comparison to Diana.

My God, the woman was a force to be reckoned with. She had changed the game in a matter of hours and had successfully charmed all my investors into dropping in more money. She answered all my calls and charmed all the people on the other line too and some male callers even had the audacity to flirt with her. It irked me to no end and I often found myself listening in on the calls to make sure the conversation was purely platonic.

Creepy?, I know.

I checked my watch to see it was 7:36. She had been going at it for roughly 11 hours and I was pretty sure if I walked out I would find her typing away. I decided to call it a day. I grabbed my suit jacket and left the office.

Lo and behold, she was typing on her computer, everyone!.

"Diana", she didn't hear me, "Diana", I called more loudly this time, and still, no response. I took in a deep breath and yelled, "Diana!". She screamed, got off the chair and grabbed the priceless Ming Dynasty vase and held it up for protection. She looked so funny, eyes gazing around wildly, hand clutching a centuries old vase, hair sticking out at rather awkward angles. I tried to keep it in but couldn't. I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard my eyes teared up. She dropped the vase and looked at me, trying to figure out what was making me laugh so much. I was still laughing so damn hard, so I pointed at her while I clutched my knees and laughed even harder. She looked herself up and down, then she got the message. I expected her to be mad at me for making fun of her but surprisingly enough, she joined me. We kept on laughing till we were almost out of breath. Then we stopped and stared at each. She had that dazzling smile on her face as her eyes twinkled with mirth. Those were the eyes I fell in love with and they were the same ones that betrayed me.

I cleared my throat, "Let's go home,it's late"

She seemed to notice the change in my mood as she quickly gathered her things and switched off the computer. She gave me side glances as we walked towards the elevator but I couldn't look at her, no matter how much I wanted to. I couldn't let myself fall, not again. After what she did, I was merely a shell of the man I used to be. It took me years to get back to my old self or at least a sliver of my old self. I wasn't going to go down that road again. Diana Prichard destroyed me and I couldn't let it happen again.

****************