Melanie

I looked down at my watch. I had spent almost an hour and a half in the lingerie shop and now I was on a mission to find the perfect dress. I took the trolley from Canal to the Port of New Orleans enjoying the fresh air. To say it was February, it was seventy-five degrees. Only in the South can you wear boots one week and sandals the next.

I finally made it down to the Riverwalk where all the high end designers were in hopes that I could do one stop shopping. The black card was burning a hole in my pocket and I was running out of time. In the lingerie shop I had bought everything myself and the spa was already paid for so it was time to use it. I went from shop to shop until I saw this stunning black empire waist sexy gown in the window. I just couldn't help myself so I walked in the store.

"Welcome to Tiffany Marks Designs, how may I help you?" A middle aged woman asked in a French accent.

"I wanted to know if you had that black dress in the front window in a size eight."

"I believe we do. Come let me show you to a dressing room. Would you like something to drink?"

"No I'm fine."

"My name is Noémi and I will be right back," she said smiling.

"I'm Melanie," I said as we shook hands.

Noémi looked to be in her mid forties. She had red hair that was pinned up in curls and very petite. She was wearing a long black skirt with a matching black jacket with very high heels that insinuated her legs. Definitely something I would wear.

I walked in the dressing room as three mirrors bounced off my reflection. I really looked at myself in the mirror inspecting the results of the spa visit. The facial had done wonders as I didn't look so tired and stressed out. My hair flowed down my shoulders as big bouncy curls wiggled in the back. I could stand to lose a few pounds but hopefully the dress would fit.

I wasn't a bad looking woman. I wasn't a perfect size two or blonde with blue eyes, but I was intelligent. I did have smoky green eyes with hazel starburst that I had inherited from my mother's side as it was very unusual to see a brown skinned woman with those color eyes. My hair was normally worn in a low ponytail or bun as I always tried to look professional even on my days off. I never knew when my phone could go off thanks to Mr. Hernandez. I tried working out whenever I got a chance and to eat healthy when possible. I considered myself to have a nice shape at times especially having very long legs.

I played girls basketball at Howard on a scholarship. I took it to get away from New Orleans. I had promised myself I was getting away from the South, but low and behold I was back. I graduated from Howard, summa cum laude in finance. I had taken a job at the New York Stock Exchange as an assistant broker for two years until my mother died and my dad needed me to come home.

Shortly after I moved back to New Orleans, my dad had a stroke and now he was in an assistant living home. I would normally visit him twice a week or whenever my asshole boss would let me leave before six.

"Here you go," Noémi said handing me the dress.

"Thanks."

"Let me see you when you have it on," she said closing the door.

I put the dress in front of me and looked back in the mirror. I saw the price tag and almost had a heart attack.

"Twenty-five hundred dollars!" I said not realizing I had said it out loud. The dress was gorgeous but damn, it was only silk. I had already committed to trying it on so I did.

Once the side was zipped I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked like someone else. The v neck cut front and plunging back gave a whole new meaning to sexy. I was absolutely in love with the dress. The long split on the side showed my long leg and I was so happy my stomach was flat. The dress defined my curves and lifted my breasts. I brushed out the wrinkles and just stared in awe.

There was a knock on the door. "Did it fit?"

I walked out and watched as Noémi eyes lit up.

"Wow! You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress," Noémi said along with two other ladies.

"This dress was made for you."

"You think so," I said as I felt my face blush.

"Whoever you are wearing that for is going to flip over you."

"No he is going to flip at this price tag."

"He will be to blinded by you to even notice the receipt. We have the perfect accessories to go with the dress."

Noémi walked to the front of the store then to the back bringing out some black silk red bottom shoes and crystal jewelry. I put everything on and was impressed. The only thing I was missing was makeup.

"You look stunning," an older woman said walking pass me.

"Thank you." I looked in the mirror one last time to see myself looking like a million bucks. My stomach started to turn at the thought of how much this would cost. I walked back inside the dressing room, put the dress back on the hanger and stared at it. I really wanted it, but it cost way too much.

I heard my phone beeped so I grabbed my purse and found it. I looked down to see seven missed calls and two voice messages from Marc.

What part of being off he doesn't understand?

The phone started ringing again.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"I know. What do you want?" I said rolling my eyes.

There was a long pause. I wasn't sure if he was still on the phone.

"I hope you bought a decent dress. I can't have my date looking like a hoochie."

"Hoochie? You have never known me to dress inappropriately, so why would I start now."

"I'm just checking. Why don't you go to the Riverwalk and find a dress?"

"I'm there now."

"My friend Tiffany Marks owns a boutique there. You should be able to find something in there."

"Thanks for the advice. Now if you would..."

"Have you had lunch yet? I'm starving."

"No."

"You should meet me at Cafe Tremé on Magazine Street."

"You don't have to do that. I can get a sandwich at the cafe down the street," I said hoping he would get the message.

"Nonsense. It's only a couple of blocks from the Riverwalk. I'll be there in twenty minutes. I'm sending Alfred to pick you up."

He hung up while I looked down at my phone. He had done it again, barged into my day with his arrogance.

I looked down at the dress and accessories. I once felt bad about the cost but now, I was so pissed that I grabbed everything and took it to the counter.

"I would like to purchase everything."

Noémi eyes widen as she started to ring up my purchase. She wrapped everything up and my total came out to over thirty-seven hundred dollars. I swallowed hard as I passed her the card.

"Could you tell Ms. Marks that Mr. Marc Hernandez said hello," I said to Noémi.

"Mr. Hernandez that owns MCH Investments here in New Orleans?"

"Yes the one and only."

"I will."

I signed the slip.

"Would you like these things delivered to your office or home?"

"Actually I will take them with me."

"Not a problem, Ms. Guillory."

"How did you know my last name?"

"It pulled up on the card."

"Oh," I said a little surprised, my name was really on it. I looked down at the card and sure enough my name was etched in the plastic.

I was going to wait for Alfred in the front of the Riverwalk. A young blonde came out and helped me with my purchases but before I could leave the store, Alfred was walking in.

"Alfred how did you know where I was?"

"Mr. Hernandez has alerts on his credit card so he knew exactly where you were."

"You are kidding me right?"

"Nope. He knows a lot of things that we peons are not aware of," he said winking.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing," he said picking up his ringing phone.

"Yes sir will be there in a few minutes. Yes sir," he said hanging up.

"That was Mr. Hernandez saying he's only a few minutes away from the restaurant," Alfred said taking the items from the salesperson.

Alfred Smith was Marc's personal driver. He had been his driver for over six years and he was at Marc's beck and call too. Alfred was a tall good looking black man with a short fade. He was always polite and Marc worked him as hard as he did me. The only time Alfred had a break was when Marc had business trips.

"Wait a minute Alfred. If you are here helping me how is Mr. Hernandez meeting us at the restaurant?"

"He's walking."

I burst into laugher. The Marc Hernandez is walking, this had to be a joke.

"He never walks more than to the front door of MCH Investments to the car. Why would he be walking when you take him everywhere? You're lying. Tell the truth."

"I am."

"Alfred!"

"I swear if you mention it, I will never tell you anything else. I could lose my damn job."

"Or you could get a black eye now talk!"

"Fine I dropped him off at the office this morning and he had me follow you since the spa. He actually did walk to the restaurant because I was already here."

"Wait! Follow me for what?"

"I don't know. I swear. He made the appointment at the spa and I sat there and waited until you finished and then I followed you here."

"Wait that means you followed me to the..."

"Yes."

"Did you tell him?"

"No, but if you would have used that credit card it would have alerted him where you were."

Thank God I didn't use it.

"He must be there because now he is calling me."

I pressed ignore on my phone and turned it off as we headed to the car. I put the phone in my purse and leaned back on the black smooth leather seat. I knew he would be livid when I got there but a girl needed a little peace.

We pulled up to the little cafe and Alfred helped me out. I looked around to see the who's who of New Orleans sitting around making deals and having intimate conversations. I was glad I had decided to wear a short dark green dress with matching high heel sandals.

"I'm here to see Mr. Hernandez," I told the hostess.

"No problem, he just made it," the hostess said walking me to the table. When he saw me approach he stood up and held out my chair.

"Thank you."

"Why didn't you answer the phone when I tried to call you a few minutes ago?"

"Oh, my phone died." Sue me I lied.

"Remind me to get you one of those instant chargers," he said taking a drink of his water.

"Did you find an appropriate dress for tonight?"

"Yes, you should know since you tracked me down."

"Anyway, I will pick you up from your house tonight just to make sure. I don't like surprises."

Did he just brush me off? Why did I agree to do this?

"I took the liberty of ordering already. Since someone had the day off today, I had to manage my own schedule."

"You told me to take the day?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know you would actually take me up on the offer. It's been busy. No one to screen my calls, Renee running around like a chicken with her head cut off, she's useless. She made copies, stapled them, and brought them to me."

"Okay what's wrong with that?"

"Each side was blank. She copied the blank sides. I started to fire her but I didn't want to hear crying or whining. Then on top of that, my coffee was almost white. She put almost a whole bottle of milk in a thirty-two ounce Circle K Big Gulp cup. Had it sitting on my desk when I got in this morning. Who in the hell drinks coffee out of a white plastic Circle K Big Gulp cup? You are going to have to train her or I'm firing her on Monday. I swear you keep my life in order."

"I will take that as a compliment," I said giggling.

"Now you know why I depend on you so much."

I started to blush. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought. My dad depended on my mother while he handled business. She took care of me, the house and other deeds to keep my dad successful and balanced.

"I'm sorry if I take advantage of you, it's just that..."

"What?"

"It's not important."

I hated when people start saying something and don't finish the statement.

"You can't just start a statement and not finish."

"It's really not important."

I rolled my eyes.

"Is that a black girl thing you do? I notice you do it a lot lately."

"Could you please not talk?" I said not realizing he heard me.

"Is there a problem with my speech?"

"Mr. Hernandez can we just eat so I can leave."

"Do you not like me Ms. Guillory?"

I took a deep breath. I couldn't tell him how I felt because I really did need my job. I had bills to pay and most of all I had to pay for my dad's care.

"You're fine."

"You're not the first woman to tell me that," he said winking.

Urgh!!!! This man actually thought he was all that. Actually he was but I wasn't going to say it, and especially not out loud.

The waiter brought out our food. He had ordered me a strawberry salad with a berry vinaigrette dressing.

"You eat them all the time when we work late so I figured it would be something you would order."

"Thank you. It looks really good," I said eyeballing his meatball sub and shoestring fries. His food looked so good from where I was sitting that I quickly turned away.

He must have seen me eyeing his food as he asked if I wanted any.

"Salad is good."

"Suit yourself."

We ate in peace for a few minutes. This wasn't the first time we had eaten lunch or dinner together but somehow this felt different. We weren't talking about a client or him bouncing ideas off of me but just a lunch.

"So what are my responsibilities for tonight?"

He wiped off his mouth, cleared his throat and took a sip of water.

"Well, you will be on my arm and I just need you to stand there. You can laugh if something is funny but that's all that you need to do."

"So basically, I'm arm candy."

"Yep."

"So if someone ask me a question, I'm suppose to stand there laugh, brush my hair back and take a sip of my drink."

"I will deflect the questions."

Asshole.

"Well Mr. Hernandez..."

"Call me Marc. Maybe you should start calling me that outside the office."

"Fine, Marc. As you know I'm not the type to play dumb, because I am not for one and secondly I can banter and debate with the best."

"I am aware, but a lot of these people will be clients or future clients and I can't afford for you to say anything wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"See you are getting an attitude. Neck popping...I swear if I wasn't in lo..."

"I am not popping my neck. I'm focusing my attention on you! Can't you not tell the difference?"

"Now you're pouting like a child. I can't afford for you to do that tonight."

"You know what? Maybe you need to find someone else to play this role. Maybe Kimmy in accounting, or Layla in purchasing can play this audacious role," I said about to grab my purse to leave.

"They are not as beautiful as you are," he said looking up at me. His eyes showed sincerity, a trait I didn't even know he had.

Did he just say I was beautiful? Damn him to hell! That's not what he said last night. I was his last resort. I've seen the women he's been out with and they were all perfect tens. Was he just saying this for me not to cause a scene or mess up his plans for this evening?

"Sometimes my manners can be less than desirable. I apologize. Somehow sometimes I get...let's just say I'm use to women going with the flow. You challenge me and make me crazy sometimes."

"You do know that's a two way street," I said slowly easing back in my chair putting my purse back on the empty chair.

"I will be honest. Kimmy or Layla are not the right fit for tonight or any other night. I wanted you to play my girlfriend because you are gorgeous and you know me better than anyone else," he said sitting back in his chair and playing with the stem of his wine glass.

I was taken back at his words but it still felt forced. I had always wanted to be an actress so maybe this was my opportunity to play one.

"Ok I will make you a deal," I said putting my napkin back in my lap.

"Are you a lawyer or an assistant Ms. Guillory?"

"Well first off you need to start calling me Melanie and secondly you should want a confident woman on your side. There is nothing more desirable than to have an attractive, intelligent woman on the arm to make another woman jealous."

"So you think your way will work better?"

"I guarantee it."

"And if it doesn't?"

"I promise it will work."

"It better," he said finishing off his wine.

We sat there and discussed the plan for tonight. Maybe this idea wasn't so bad after all. We finished our lunch and he headed back to the office while Alfred was assigned on taking me home.

After talking to Marc I realized that he didn't want to get his ex back but needed to show her that he could move on without her. I had worked for him to long to know something was up. Call me crazy but somehow Marc Hernandez had something else up his sleeve and tonight I was going to find out exactly what it was.