THE FIRST GAZE

"Woo hoo!!! Girl! You are on fire! Yay! That's crazy. Baby, you are on fire!!!"

I was at the beach of my mansion, gliding across the waves on my jet ski. Yes, you heard me right. I live on one of the islands that Daddy owns. This island was my gift when I was born. When I turned fifteen, I asked my dad to begin construction so I could live on this beautiful island when I became an adult. The island was all set when I was twenty-two years old. I have been living here ever since, which makes it roughly three years.

"Emily! We wanna hang out in the cheap pubs of Mexico City and drink those disgusting mojitos!"

My beloved, w h i t e-t r a s h cousin Miranda was the one talking. She was a cashier in NYC, USA. Her parents were not doing as well as my dad and did not accept my father's charity. Yet, Miranda acts like she is from the royal family and looks down on everything associated with poverty or anything ethnic. I always tolerate her, even though she is more than I can stand most of the time, since she is my blood. But she is definitely not my favorite kind of person.

"I am kinda tired, girl. Also, I need to get ready for bed."

"C'mon girl! It's only seven PM! What are you? A toddler?"

Getting ready for bed around seven PM might sound a bit strange, but it was my anti-aging habit. I needed to remove my sunscreen, shower, apply my skincare and haircare routine, drink my collagen booster herbal tea, brush my teeth, and stay quiet for an hour to be ready for bed. I prefer to wake up around three AM.

"You know, Miranda, how strict I am with my self-care and health. Besides, I will be working tomorrow."

"I never understand why you bother working, girl! Your dad can buy you everything that money can purchase. You don't even work with your father, and that never makes sense."

"Don't start over again, Miranda. I want to build a life of my own. I need to prove to myself that I am not just my daddy's girl. I am not Emily Arquette, the daughter of Timothy Arquette. I need to prove to myself that I can be just Emily and still stand on my own feet in life, no matter what..."

"Pfffttt! Bullshit!" she said.

"Anywho, chicka. Emily on, Emily off! See you in the morning."

In the morning, I woke up and directly slid into the ocean from the sea slide that I have on the balcony of my bedroom. My favorite morning routine was swimming until the sunrise. When the first rays of the sun started kissing my skin, I got out of the ocean and showered. After my shower, I had my breakfast and a whole batch of coffee while reading the news on stock markets. I got ready for work and rode to the office. We were on the verge of signing a new project and convincing Bernardo my CFO, was more difficult than to take the cartels of Mexico at ease.

Once I have entered my skyscraper, that placed in the square of Mexico City, my assistant held me my matcha tea. Matcha tea is my booster before I start to work. Helps me to concentrate better and have a brighter mind. Sipping my tea, listening the briefings of the day's schedule and traffic from my assistant and walking to the lift would be the part of my daily morning routine. Once I entered my office, there he was: Bernardo. I was quite sure that he was there to convince me to give up on the project but it was highly promissing.

"So you are saying that if we agree on that project, we will increase our customer base, but that would take a while, or?" he said immediately.

Obviously he was referring to my very last email. To be honest, I truly did appreciate him making his point without any time wasting.

"No, Bernardo... I am suggesting that if we agree on the project, we will reap the benefits in the long run. I can sense that, it will work very well and seems like we are on the edge of a huge leap all of a sudden. It will definitely look like a spring."

"Really, you smart ass? What are we going to do until then? Eat rock and drink mud?" he said like he would lose a fortune and become homeless. He was a full time drama queen and part time CFO...

"I would not comment on your diet plan; however, I would not recommend such a thing like that, you glorious mind. We would be signing other projects in the meantime, as this one tracks on the background till the harvesting day. Do you want to grow or what? This project is going to be global and international. Why do you insist on not getting the point? We have approximately twelve employees in each department, and three people do one person's job together. If we agree on the project and sign the contract with that company, there will be enough jobs for each employee. So you will not be paying in vain. Hope you understand me!"

"You sound right in theory, but-"

"No! Na-ah! Don't you want to work or what, Bernardo? You gotta move your ass. Life is not all about siesta and sangria," I said while packing my things to go.

That was only way of me getting him out of my sight, making him think like I am about to go. This bluff was working everytime.

"Ok, puta!"

"Heard ya! Better put 10 more pesos in the jar!" He had to put 10 pesos in the jar every time he uses bad words.

After kindly getting rid off him, I had blast at work as usual. As the sunset hues, filling my office, I recognized that how much I was starving. Headed to daddy's diner for my dinner. Had a walk by the beach, as the stars were becoming visible more and more as the Moon rises... It was finally time to be home so I rode to my mansion.

Miranda was asleep when I finally got home. She had to shape up someday. The way she lives would not be promissing. "She definitely putting her life on a bet of roulette" I thought to myself.

Got dressed to ride my horse and walked to the horse barn. There was nothing better than riding a horse, by the beach under the starry navy blue sky...

When I returned from riding, I saw him in the yard... The guy with the unique aura, big body, huge shoulders, smooth skin, silky, shiny, curly dark hair, and magical hazel eyes... My dad was introducing him to me as my new employee. The new bodyguard...

I could not help whispering his name after I heard it for the very first time...

Eduardo...