When Sheldon Blu started in the hotel business his vision was to have opulent, enormous hotels in big cities and boutique hotels in small towns all over the world. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to compete with them one day because I would probably lose. Anyway, I stood in front of Sophia and loudly cleared my throat. I gave Sebastian a cold glance and then my gaze shifted to Sophia who was sitting practically glued to Sebastian.
“Are you ready to get started?” My voice was firm and I wanted her to know that I was not going to be intimidated by her or her threats.
Sebastian seemed surprised at the tone of my voice but I didn’t care because he didn’t know what she’d said to me the night before. Sophia narrowed her eyes at me and then turned to Sebastian with a bright smile.
“I told Elena we should get started right away this morning so I better go help her.”
She said no such thing but I didn’t want to argue over such a small point. I didn’t want Sebastian to think I was petty so I let her have that little dig but I wasn’t going to let that be a habit.
Sophia and I brainstormed all morning and I was pleasantly surprised to find that she knew what she was talking about. I couldn’t stand her as a person but I couldn’t help but respect her as a businesswoman because she was so smart. I think that she appreciated that I had ideas to share also and I hoped that she recognized that I wasn’t just a pretty face. We worked really well together and by lunchtime I was ready for a break.
“I think we’ve got a good start, don’t you?” I smiled at her fully expecting to have a normal conversation but my smile was met with a sneer.
“We’ve barely scratched the surface.” With that she got up and walked out of the room.
I sat there thoroughly confused and disappointed. Once I saw how well we worked together I was relieved because I didn’t want to have tension with this woman all week and I just knew that we were going to get along, but it looked like I would have to deal with her shitty personality.
Carol and Mark left to go have lunch and Sebastian and I were left alone. I could feel his eyes on me but I didn’t want to give him so much as the time of day with the way he had been ignoring me, so I got up and started to walk out of the room. Sebastian grabbed my arm as I walked by him and stopped me in my tracks.
“Elena, look at me.”
I didn’t want to but I slowly raised my eyes to his and my breath caught in my throat. He was so beautiful and I was reminded of that the closer he was to me. His piercing dark eyes studied mine and I could feel butterflies gently fluttering in my belly. I tried not to let him affect me but I was powerless under his touch.
“I want you to know that I am not ignoring you, I just can’t give you more attention than the others because they will start to talk and I can’t have that.”
I let the words sink in and then I got pissed. “Why not? Are you ashamed of me, or something? You openly dated Sophia, didn’t you? You say that you want me and we will be together, but no one can know? How do you think that makes me feel?”
I could see that he felt bad as he raked his fingers through his thick waves and looked at me with a bit of regret. “No, I am not ashamed of you, I don’t want you to think that. Elena, things are complicated and I can’t go into detail just yet so you’re going to have to trust me. I do want to be with you but we have to just wait a while before anyone can know.”
“Why?”
“I can’t say but I promise you there is a legitimate reason. We just have to wait for a bit.”
“How long?”
Just then Mark came back into the room with his lunch and plopped down in front of his computer to work through lunch. Sebastian instantly became distant as he put his work hat back on and asked to me check something in none of our files. I found what he was looking for and then left the room to go grab lunch.
So, I had to wait to be able to date him? Did he think that I was going to date him secretly, like someone who wasn’t good enough to be seen with in public? Fool around behind closed doors? No way, not gonna happen. I ate lunch by myself and was kicking myself for allowing the kiss to happen and allowing myself to fall for him. I decided that anything that might have started with Sebastian Blu was over because if he couldn’t date me openly, then he couldn’t date me at all.
Chapter Ten – São Paulo Part 4
Thursday flew by and I avoided any personal contact with Sebastian, just kept things on a professional level. Sophia and I had slipped into a comfortable working thing and she backed off with her snide comments which made working with her much more pleasant. We weren’t anywhere near being friends but we had achieved a level of respect when it came to work.
When I returned to my room Thursday evening there were two full racks of beautiful designer clothes waiting for me. I was in complete awe of the gorgeous dresses, suits, pants, blouses and shoes, and I felt like I had won the lottery. Even though I was pissed and hurt that he only wanted to be with me in the dark, I wasn’t above accepting the shoes and clothes. Besides, once he saw me in the gorgeous clothes he would want me even more and it would kill him that he couldn’t have me. He knocked on the adjoining door Thursday night but I ignored him and I smiled to myself because, I’m not gonna lie, it felt good to have him pursuing me. Even though he was probably just looking to fool around in the dark, it felt good to know that such a rich and powerful man was interested in me. But my smile fell when the reality set in that I wasn’t good enough to be seen with in public. The knock came again. Go away Sebastian.
On Friday I kept myself very busy with Sophia and did not give Sebastian a chance to be able to speak to me without anyone else around. Friday night I had just slipped into bed when I heard a knock at the adjoining door, and I looked up at the ceiling in the darkness and waited for it to stop. Go away Seabastian. If he couldn’t be with me openly then he couldn’t have me at all.
Saturday was a workday for us and Sunday was our day off so I was really looking forward to having some time to myself. We entertained clients for dinner on Friday and Saturday night and on Saturday night Sebastian and Sophia stayed after to have drinks with the clients. I tried not to let it bother me that he was spending that extra time with her, but it did because I knew how much Sophia wanted to get back together with Sebastian, she was super obvious about it.