by Suzanne Hart
Naomi said that she had an office ready for me already and took me to it. I also told her to make sure that Cici and Nora were both looked after, that their lunch and entertainment was well taken care of.
“Nora Stevens, sir?” Naomi looked surprised.
“Yes, she’s watching my daughter for the day,” I said.
“But sir, she’s an employee, she’s in training. She’s in uniform; we can’t possibly serve her lunch in front of the other guests!” Naomi looked shocked and horrified.
I met her eyes sharply.
“You will all treat her as every other guest at the hotel, the way you treat my daughter. She doesn’t work here anymore,” I snapped. Naomi apologized and left the office immediately.
I sat down at the desk, staring at the computer screen in front of me. This was the longest stretch of time I had spent with Cici since she was born. With no help from Anne or the nanny, since Mom had given both of them time off — getting Cici ready for this trip had been a task.
I helped her choose the things she wanted to pack, helped her get dressed and brush her teeth, and then she sat with me on the flight. I’d spent hours with her already, and I felt exhausted. I had always been a loner; I liked to spend time by myself…but I quickly realized that being a loner was not an option if I also wanted to be a good parent to Cici.
I didn’t know my daughter. I didn’t know what clothes and toys she owned, or how to do her hair or how many times she was supposed to brush her teeth. I didn’t know what she liked to eat or what she was supposed to eat, and what I was to do if she wanted to go to the bathroom. Everything was new to me. She was six years old, and to me, it felt now like I had just become a father.
Nora, on the other hand, was a natural and now she hated me. I didn’t know what exactly I’d done, but I had ruined everything with her. I couldn’t stop thinking about the things she had said to me back there…that I was treating her like a puppet on strings, that I had found myself a punching bag. Even though I had been shocked by the way she spoke to me, I was also beginning to get angry with myself. Did I really do something to make her feel that way? She didn’t deserve that.
Nora was a good person, and she had always meant well, right from the start…had I used her?
I didn’t want to think about the rest…about the fact that I fantasized about her at night, or how she had tasted when she came in my mouth, and how her body was so delicate and soft, her breasts big and juicy. I wanted to leave my physical desire for her out of this. That was what had gotten me here in the first place.
In all these years of running a multi-billion-dollar, international company, I hadn’t slipped up once. I hadn’t slept with an employee or colleague once, and yet Nora, this fresh-faced trainee at a hotel, had made me lose my senses.
She deserved an apology. I knew that. She needed to know that I respected her and that I never intended on treating her poorly.
I picked up the phone on my side and dialed Naomi’s number.
“I want you to arrange a special dinner for me tonight, in the Crystal Room. It’ll be just my daughter, Nora Stevens, and myself. Please inform Ms. Stevens of the arrangement. Everything should be ready by eight,” I spoke quickly into the phone, before Naomi could hurl other questions at me.
When I looked at my watch, I realized that it was time for the meeting. I wasn’t prepared.
Chapter 29
Nora
All I knew about the Crystal Room was that it was uber fancy. I had peeked into it on my tour of the hotel earlier, but I never thought that I would actually dine there. When Naomi came up to tell me that Felix had organized a dinner for us there that night, I’d been shocked. It came out of the blue, and once again, Felix hadn’t given me a choice. He’d made a decision and expected me to follow through with it.
I wished I had the strength to refuse to go to this dinner with him and Cici, but I didn’t. I was curious and also excited, even though I tried to convince myself that there was no point in getting my hopes up. Felix had repeatedly thwarted those hopes since I first met him.
I got Cici ready for the dinner, in a pretty yellow frock. She selected the colorful clips she wanted in her hair, and I put them on for her. After that, I left her in their room, instructing her to wait for her father, and I went to my own assigned room to get ready for the night.
Not that I had much to prepare. There was nothing I had packed in my bags, or even owned for that matter, which would be fit to wear to a dinner like this. Neither did I have the time to go shopping for something appropriate. Instead, I had to make do with the only black cocktail dress I owned.
I did up my hair, curling it carefully on the bottom half. I styled it to rest on my shoulders. I spent close to an hour doing my makeup. I went with a smoky-eyed look and a dark plum lipstick. I hadn’t spent this much time on my makeup ever before, and I had very little practice. But I wanted to look nice; I wanted to look my best…for Felix. I was hoping that my words had struck a chord in him, that he regretted his actions now and he was planning on apologizing.
I stood back from the small mirror in the bathroom to give myself the once over. This would have to do. I knew it was no match to what other women might wear to a dinner like this, but it was all I could manage.
At five minutes to eight, I proceeded to the Crystal Room.
I was nervous, feeling anxious about what to expect behind that door. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Felix since the morning when he’d left Cici in my charge and disappeared to work. Had anything changed since then? Would I be having dinner with a different man tonight?
I wanted him to see me like this…all done up. I felt beautiful in that dress and my makeup as I walked to the door. A uniformed waiter was waiting for me, and he held the door open as I stepped in.
The Crystal Room was a small, private space, and regal. It was decadently decorated, with crystal chandeliers on the ceiling and candles lit everywhere. There was soft classical music playing in the background, and the lights were dimmed.
A small private table sat pretty by the French windows, and three places had been set. Cici and Felix were there already, sitting across from each other. Felix stood up when he saw me walk in, and I caught the way Cici’s eyes lit up too.
As I walked towards them, the butterflies in my stomach were intense. Felix looked even more handsome tonight. He was in a tuxedo, with a matching black bow tie. His dark hair was swept back as usual, he was freshly shaven, and his cologne filled my senses as I drew near.
“Hello, Nora,” he said softly and held a chair out for me.
“Nora! You look so pretty!” Cici exclaimed and I smiled at her, blushing.
Another waiter appeared with a bottle of wine, which he presented to Felix as he sat down. He tested the temperature and nodded his head. The wine was poured for us in glasses. Cici already had some sparkling water in a wine glass of her own.
I was seated beside Cici and when I looked at her, she was smiling widely at me.
“Your hair is so pretty!” she exclaimed, like she couldn’t take her eyes off me.
“So is yours, honey,” I commented and tapped her cute little nose before turning to look at Felix again.
“She’s right; you look beautiful tonight, Nora,” Felix said as he lifted up his wine glass. It was strange that, even though the last time we had seen each other had been a heated argument…now, it seemed forgotten. Felix had me under his spell again. I couldn’t even remember why I was so mad at him before.
“Daddy says that I can’t have wine,” Cici said, pouting her lips.
“He’s right; you can’t yet. I’m sure he’ll let you try some on your eighteenth birthday though,” I said.
“Eighteen! That is a long time. I’m only turning seven next year,” she said, huffing. I looked at Felix, who was smiling indulgently.
“Will you come to my birthday party? Anne bakes me a huge cake and invites all my friends from school. Daddy’s there for my birthday, too; he never misses it!�
� Cici continued in her usual high-pitched, excited voice.
“Cici, don’t put Nora on the spot, your birthday is several months away,” Felix interjected. I looked at him, holding his gaze, and lifted the glass of wine to my lips.
“I’ll be there, Cici. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I told her.
I had a good feeling about this night. I was right; there was a shift in Felix. My words had affected him…he was trying to make amends. And he was too handsome, too sexy for me to not give him a second chance.
Chapter 30
Felix
I couldn’t take my eyes off Nora, and neither could Cici. Nora had always come across as a simple small-town girl, and now she looked sexy in that black dress, with her long, smooth legs crossed under the table. She fluttered her thick, dark lashes, and I watched the way her sumptuous lips grazed the wine glass as she drank from it.
“I feel like I know nothing about you,” I found myself saying when there was a lull in the conversation between Nora and Cici. My daughter was taking up all of Nora’s attention.
She looked at me, with her clear blue eyes sparkling, and I thought I saw her cheeks flush.
“Well, there’s Minnesota, which I can go on about,” she said. Cici giggled.
“Yeah, I’ve heard all that. Or, rather, overheard,” I replied and Nora sipped some more of her wine.
“What else do you want to know?” she asked, and I breathed in deeply. I had no clue where to begin asking her questions…I felt like there was a whole world to be discovered with her.
“What’s your favorite color?” Cici interjected and Nora and I laughed.
“I like yellow,” she said, and Cici squealed.
“Just like me!”
Nora looked back at me and sighed, licking her lips lightly.
“I guess, the biggest thing to know about me is that I got bored in Minnesota. I helped my granddad run a local grocery store, till he passed away. I might have stayed there, looking after the store, if he was still alive. But once the house was empty, I felt like I needed to go out, to see the rest of the world. And here I am, in Hawaii,” she explained.
Nora was blushing and smiling as she spoke, and I was glad to see her in a better mood. Her outburst from that morning still haunted me, but now it seemed like she had gotten over it, forgiven me for whatever I’d done wrong, and I was relieved.
“And what about you? I know you’re a billionaire hotelier already,” she commented, just as two waiters started bringing in the appetizers to the table. I watched as Nora flicked open a napkin and helped Cici lay it on her lap. That wouldn’t have been something I would have thought of doing.
When the waiters left the room again, I looked into her eyes. Cici was struggling to cut the asparagus and bacon spears with her cutlery, so Nora helped her do it. I cleared my throat.
“I’ve had a pretty straightforward life, I suppose. I grew up in Florida. Mom raised me on her own; I never knew my dad. I studied hard, worked harder, and made some good investments in the stock market pretty early on in life. By the time I was twenty-five, I was part-owner of my first hotel,” I explained.
Nora looked impressed; she nodded her head. Cici was watching me wide-eyed as well, and I realized that she didn’t know those things about me either, whatever detail she could understand.
“And the rest is history…” Nora said, with a smile that went up all the way to her beautiful eyes. I realized that her smile warmed me, it made my stomach clench, and I drank some more of the wine to relax.
“When did you meet Mommy?” Cici asked, out of the blue. Nora stared at me with panic in her eyes; I could see she was afraid of what I would say…if I might hurt Cici again with a bad explanation.
I cleared my throat and looked at my daughter.
“When I was twenty-nine. We met at a party in New York; your mommy was the most beautiful woman there,” I said. It seemed to please Cici, and she smiled before she turned to Nora.
“I have lots of pictures of her. My mommy was beautiful,” she said. Nora smiled warmly at her and nodded.
“I bet, because you are beautiful,” she replied.
Nora looked back at me, and her eyes looked subdued. I could see that she was sympathizing with me, she felt sorry for my loss…just like everyone did who knew the story. I didn’t need sympathy. I needed help with raising Cici. I needed to be taught what to do to be a better parent.
“What do you think of San Francisco?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“It’s the first big city I’ve lived in…so it needs some getting used to, but I’m getting by. I think I like it there,” she replied, and Cici giggled excitedly.
“I want you to stay in San Francisco forever and ever,” Cici exclaimed, throwing her arms around Nora. Nora hugged her back and I gulped, finding that my throat had gone dry.
It was my fault that Cici had grown so attached to Nora. I shouldn’t have exposed her to someone who couldn’t be a permanent presence in her life. It was another bad parenting decision I had made. I cleared my throat.
“Should we look at the main course choices?” I asked. Cici nodded her head excitedly, and I could sense Nora’s eyes on me. I knew she had forgiven me now; she didn’t hate me anymore. I felt relieved.
We ordered the main course, which Nora helped Cici with, and then the desserts were ordered, and within an hour, Cici was beginning to nod off. There was constant chatter at the table. Nora was an easy person to talk to and she filled us in on stories about her childhood, told us about her roommate Katie, and entertained Cici with as many anecdotes as she could think of.
I wasn’t just discovering more about Nora, but I realized that I was getting to know my daughter too.
When Cici yawned for the third time, Nora looked at me.
“I should go put Cici to bed,” she said. I stood up, just as she did, and watched as she lifted Cici up in her slender arms.
“I won’t be longer than half an hour,” she told me as she left the room.
Chapter 31
Nora
When I returned to the Crystal Room, I saw that all the dishes had been cleared and now nothing remained on the table, except a new bottle of wine and a flickering candle in the center. Felix stood up again when I walked in and held a chair out for me.
“Cici was too excited to fall asleep quickly, it took me some time. Sorry,” I said, sitting down. Now, with Cici gone, I was excited to see what the rest of the night had in store for me. Felix had been the perfect gentleman, attentive and caring with no bursts of temper. He seemed much more relaxed than usual, and I wasn’t sure what had brought about this change in him. Had my words meant this much to him?
“You shouldn’t have to apologize for my daughter,” Felix said with a smile, as he poured some more wine into both our glasses. I knew I’d already had more than I usually drank, but it was freeing me up…making me less anxious, so I kept drinking.
We sat in silence, looking at each other for a few moments. I could feel Felix’s eyes washing over me, admiringly. I liked being watched by him. I was glad I had put in an effort into dressing up tonight. I wanted him to look at me the way I looked at him.
“I’m having a lovely time, Felix, thank you for inviting me,” I said. He was leaning in, closer to me now, and his eyes were fixed on my face. It was like he wanted to see every little movement I made. I flushed deeply under his strong gaze.
“I wanted to make it up to you, for all the horrid things I’ve done to you in the past few days,” he said. He took a sip from his glass, but his green eyes remained focused on me. I felt naked under his stare.
“You weren’t horrid to me…sorry, I might have overreacted this morning. I was just surprised to see you and Cici here,” I said in a low, quiet voice.
Felix nodded his head.
“It’s okay; I needed a reality check. I’ve been relying on you a lot these past couple of days, and uprooting you to Hawaii was a bad move. I should have at least asked you first,�
�� Felix continued, and I could feel a warmth spreading in my belly. This was a new, more thoughtful side to him that I had never seen before. It was the side of him I had seen behind his eyes, but that he fought so hard to keep hidden from the rest of the world.
“I’m glad I’m here now. Hawaii is beautiful. I wouldn’t have thought of visiting this place if it wasn’t for you,” I said.
Felix’s eyes scanned over me; he was studying every strand of hair on my head, every eyelash and crease. I stared back at him, amazed that a man like him had organized a private romantic dinner for me.
