Valentina

I wake up to the sun shining into the room and I take a moment to enjoy the view one more time. I don't know how many guest rooms are in this condo but this one is particularly beautiful. It's hard to think a cold man like Cass lives in such beauty. No doubt, he isn's the slightest bit aware. I'm sure someone else designed the interior.

I take a shower, get dressed and do one final check of the room in case I forgot to pack something the night before. I put my socks on in my room so there isn't anymore talk of my feet with my boss. I quickly dry my hair because early November in Chicago is no joke, it's freezing.

I'm in jeans and a tank with a hoodie over top. I don't think I've ever been this casually dressed around Cass and it feels weird but I'm not going to dress in work clothes on a Saturday.

I take my duffel and head to the main living area. I plan to leave the keys with the housekeeper and leave but when I arrive in the kitchen area I find a beautiful woman sitting there being rude to the chef.

"Good morning Miss Alexa," Ana, the chef, says with a bright grin that tells me she's happy for the disruption. 

"Good morning Ana," I return with a cheery smile. This woman has taken the absolute best care of me this week with amazing breakfasts.

The woman on the stool turns to me and glares at me assessingly. I take the opportunity to do the same. She has beautifully blown out brown hair with caramel highlights. Her body is a pilates masterpiece and her nails are painted a predetory dark red. I feel like her spirit animal would be a tiger.

She wears tight black leather pants and a cream blouse that I recognize from the boutique I was in this week. Annabelle was right, knowledge is power and had she not dragged me to the stores I might not understand the opponent standing in front of me.

This woman is rich and there's a good chance she's well connected. She most likely is someone important for her to be able to get into this condo.

I'm tempted to just hand over the keys to Ana and head out but I'm also intrigued. More importantly, I don't like the look on Ana's face that clearly says she wants to be saved.

I take a step towards her and offer my hand for her to shake and say, "I'm Alexa."

She shakes my hand firmly, confirming my pilates theory. "Valentina," she says in response.

"Is there anything I can help with?" I ask, trying to take her attention away from Ana.

She looks at me with contempt and says, "I'm sure Ana's third attempt at my espresso will be just fine."

I look to Ana who's looking down at the counter in frustration. She's an Italian chef, she makes amazing espresso, Valentina is just toying with her.

"I make Cass's espresso all the time, he loves it. I can make your espresso," I offer. I say Cass's name because I know the familiarity will annoy her but also because that means she can't refuse the final product.

"Fine. Give it a try. Can't be worse then the first two," she says looking at Ana and I imagine laser beams coming out of her eyes with the intensity. 

I hold in a smile and start to work on the espresso. I know mine will be worse then Ana's but I make sure to put in the minimal effort just to make sure. I go slowly and clumsily, loving the annoyance growing in Valentina. You can see it in her posture, it's like she wants to get up and make it herself at this point. I catch Ana's eye a give her a nod to leave and she scurries off at the speed of light.

I place the coffee in front of her and say for emphasis, "Just like Cass likes it."

It doesn't take a genius to know she's here for him. She hates me and Ana because we're in his space and she's dressed to seduce. With the price of her clothing I highly doubt she's here for the security guards.

I watch her take a sip in satisfaction. Her grimace is everything.

"So what brings you here?" I ask as if I live here.

"I'm here to speak to Cass," she says, trying to shut me down but she's doesn't know I'm not that easily shooed.

"He's at the office, he won't be back until really late. Have you tried there?" I ask. I have no clue if he's there. There's a chance he is, but he could also be here in his study. I figure if he walks out I won't really care that I was caught in a lie by a woman I already don't like.

"He usually works from home on Saturdays especially when he was at a gala the previous night," she says, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

I shrug and say, "You can wait but I doubt he'll be back home anytime soon. I can pass on a message for him to call if you don't want to wait."

She rolls her eyes and says, "I can just call him, I am his girlfriend after all."

I can tell she's watching me for a jealous reaction but I remain calm. I'm his assistant so I know without a doubt that he doesn't have a girlfriend. He's told me as much but I'd know even if he didn't. His schedule is grueling and there are no personal evenings slotted in there.

I laugh lightly and say, "Keep dreaming. If you're going to sit here all day, please at least be nice to the staff. Have fun waiting."

I walk off in the direction of the living room and sit on the big comfy couch that I'm sure Cass hasn't sat in a single time. This couch isn't meant for getting work done, it's for sinking into for a nap or a good book, the latter of which is what I'm going to do. The staff don't deserve to be treated poorly, so I plann to stay until she leaves.

I pull up the book I've been reading called Thinking in Systems and pick up where I left off. At the receptionist's desk at work, there is a shelf of books available to borrow and I've been working through them one at a time. I don't know who gets to pick what goes there but each book has been impactful.

I have to give it to Valentina, she has patience. We both remain in the common area in our little stand off of sorts foor two hours before she finally gives up. She looks at the watch on her dainty wrist and says, "I can't wait anymore, I have a lunch meeting."

"Oh that's too bad, I was about to make grilled cheese sandwiches for us. I guess more for me!" I say in mock friendliness.

She stands and puts so much emphasis on her eye rolling that her head moves too. She looks at me with annoyance one last time and says, "I hope we never cross paths again."

She turns and stalks towards the elevator. When she's finally inside I flop back onto the couch in relief. It doesn't matter how comfy this couch is, nothing can cancel out that tense of an atmosphere.

Ana comes out almost immediately, like she was waiting around the corner and says to me, "You are an angel, you didn't have to do that. I'm going to make you the best grilled cheese because I know that may have been a joke but I know you love them."

I laughtand join her in the kitchen. A few moments later Cass saunters out from the hallway coming from his study.

"You were here the whole time!" I say shocked.

"Of course, you know I prefer working from home on Saturdays. Thanks for the save. I got a lot of work done and I didn't have to face the devil," he says with a smirk.

"So you mean I just wasted two hours of my free time when you could have kicked her out in two minutes?" I say annoyed.

"Ah, if only it were that simple. I can't kick her out," he says sitting a couple of seats down from me.

I look at him confused and ask rhetorically, "Do you not own this condo?"

"It's complicated. Her family is friends with mine. There is a lot of pressure for us to get married," he explains like it's normal.

"Then just marry her," I say simply.

He chokes on the espresso Ana just placed in front of him and looks at me like I'm crazy.

"What?" I say with a shrug, "You have no free time so you would never see her. Once she gets what she wants, she'll probably spend no time here. She seems like she probably just wants the title, you know? You could probably even write up a contract that covers how much time she can spend around you so you could limit it. Control it."

He looks at me with interest and says, "You're unexpected, you know that?"

I just shrug. There isn't really a good response to that. That could be a compliment or an insult.

Ana places a grilled cheese in front of me and I dig in. Cass takes his much healthier lunch back to his study.