There was no knock at my door Saturday night, and late Saturday night as I was laying in bed, I could have sworn I heard a woman’s giggle coming from his room. My stomach ached at the thought of Sebastian touching another woman, and I felt downright sick when I thought about that woman being Sophia. But I was being a hypocrite; of course he would be able to find another woman to fill his needs. I tossed and turned for what seemed like forever before I was finally able to drift off to sleep.
The next day I was going to do some sight-seeing and I couldn’t wait to take a ton of pictures and explore the city. I was looking forward to spending time by myself and having the day off because it had been a brutal week of work. I briefly thought about Sebastian while I finished getting ready, wondering what he had planned for the day but I was too excited to dwell on him and I welcomed the distraction of my sight-seeing adventures. I ordered room service and by the time I finished breakfast and getting ready it was 10:00. I checked my makeup one last time and grabbed my purse and was reaching for the door when I heard a tap at the adjoining door. I froze in my tracks as butterflies ravaged my belly. Should I just ignore him again? My head said yes but my heart made my feet turn around and walk over to the door.
He tapped again, a little louder this time.
“Elena, please open the door.”
I opened the door and was completely caught off guard by his looks; he was so damned attractive. He had a perfect tan and was wearing a light blue linen shirt and white linen pants and he looked like he had just stepped out of a page in GQ. I tried to look annoyed but I’m sure I failed because I was happy to see him. Even after his little speech about not being able to date me openly, and the fact that I thought I heard a woman in his room the night before, I was happy to see him standing at my door wanting to see me. Giddy even. But I couldn’t let him know that.
“Yes?”
“Good morning to you too, sunshine. May I come in?”
I stepped aside so that he could come into my room and he walked over to my couch and made himself comfortable. He clearly didn’t care that I was dressed and ready to leave, I mean just looking at me you could tell that I was on my way out.
He had one arm up on the couch and looked super comfortable as if he were in his own room. “I see that you’re on your way out. I want you to cancel any plans that you have today Elena.”
Was he kidding? I knew that he was arrogant but this was taking it a bit too far, my world did not revolve around him.
I put my hand on my hip and looked at him in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“It is not safe for you to go traipsing about São Paulo, especially when you have never been here, you could easily take a wrong turn and end up in a dangerous part of the city. I have made arrangements for us to do some sightseeing today and I have also fit in a couple of hours of complete R&R. You have been ignoring me for the past couple of days, I want to know why, and I want to spend time with you, just you and me.” He looked at me with a yearning in his eyes. “Please, will you cancel your plans?”
I looked at him with defiance in my eyes, my hand still on my hip.
“Why don’t you spend the day with the woman who was in your room last night?”
He looked thoroughly confused. “There was no woman in my room last night.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Really? I know that I heard a female giggle coming from your room late last night, so you're going to sit here and lie to my face?”
“It must have been my television. I have no reason to lie to you Elena, there was no one in my room last night. The only person I want in my room is you. So, will you please cancel your plans and spend the day with me?”
With the way he was looking at me I could have easily just melted right into the floor. I should have said no to him but he probably had a point about wandering into a dangerous part of the city, and the last thing I wanted to do was put myself in any kind of danger. Besides, as much as I did not want to admit it I was excited about the opportunity to spend the day with him.
“Okay, but only if Mark or Carol come with us.”
He furrowed his brow. “Elena, I want to be alone with you.”
“I know you do, but you basically told me that I am not good enough to be seen with in public, so we need to have someone else with us. I don’t want you to think that there is any possibility of anything happening between us.”
He took a deep breath and held his head in his hands as he looked at the floor and then up at me. “Elena, it is very complicated and because I have a high profile life I have to be very discreet about my private life. I can’t tell you all of the details now, but I will, I promise you, when the time is right. But I do want to be with you, please believe me. You’re going to have to trust me for a little while.”
My eyes searched his looking for any signs of dishonesty and I saw none, all I saw was genuine emotion. Trust him. That was not going to be easy but as I sat there looking at him, thinking about the past couple of weeks and how my feelings for him had grown, I decided to do it. I was going to trust him because I wasn’t willing to walk away from him.
I looked at him and gave him a half smile. “Okay.”
He smiled at me and I think I saw a look of relief on his face. So the handsome billionaire isn’t so sure of himself all the time after all.
“Great. I promise we are going to have an incredible day, Elena. I see you have your camera so must want to start with something scenic?”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
“Okay, there is a beautiful neighborhood called Jardim America that has a beautiful thoroughfare called Avenida Paulista we can stroll through and we can stop in at the Art Museum of São Paulo. After that we can walk through Estação da Luz, a gorgeous late 19th century train station that has been renovated and then stroll through a beautiful park called Praça da Luz, where bands play in a gazebo and the grounds are lush and beautiful with sculptures all around.
Then I thought we could grab lunch and then take a walk through Ibirapuera Park which is enormous, something like 400 acres, and I am positive you will find plenty of beautiful scenery to capture with your camera. After that we can head over to the Mercadão and really get a taste of local life and sample different delicious foods. For dinner, I thought that we could just come back to the room and order room service, if that is okay with you. Does this all sound good to you?”