“Do you have your tickets?” a voiced yelled from the bed between slurps of hibiscus tea and tapioca pearls.
“Tickets?” Abby called from the bathroom as she finished the last touches of her make-up and stared at her slimming face.
This last few weeks had been a wreck of her normal adequate diet of pizza and whatever deliciousness that she could order; she had missed a few meals and it was showing. Hopping on the scale she wanted to see how much stress she had been under with her new position. The digital lines blinked three times and read 195.
“Damn! This job is killing me,” Abby huffed as she made her way back into her room and went into her closet for her suitcase.
“Yeah, your tickets for the flight in three hours,” Jessy sighed as she flipped through a fashion magazine and circled her current wish list.
Jessy was a senior accountant at Aurora and a few years older than Abigail. The two had hit it off almost as soon as they met; and Jessy felt that she could have an office friend that wasn’t going to stab her in the back for a promotion, or for a man.
“Well no, I’m flying with Mr. Boulgetti in his private plane.”
Abby came out of the closet with her suitcase and a bunch of blouses and slacks. She tossed the suitcase on the floor and folded the blouses and stuffed them at the bottom and layered slacks in the middle. A pair of flat, ballerina slippers in black and a blush pair of Valentino flats were the only shoes that she chose to bring. The underwear were simple, comfortable and cotton, and she brought two extra pairs, just in case. Bras were just plain, full coverage and nude colored, no surprise or wardrobe malfunctions.
“Flying in his private jet? Holy moly, what I wouldn’t give to be in your shoes. So what’s it like working for one of New York’s most eligible bachelors?” Jessy smirked and slyly peered over the edge of the bed to inspect the contents of Abby’s suitcase. There wasn’t anything remotely sexy in the contents and Jessy sighed and returned to her magazine.
“Humm… Well Boulgetti is very driven, I can say that at least. I’ve been working so hard on the IPO paperwork and contract with the investors that I’ve lost 15 pounds in three weeks!” Abby huffed.
“Blah, blah, blah. I mean what’s he like as a man? What’s his interests? Is he dating anyone?”
Abby blinked and turned to find a pleasant perfume for the plane ride. Nothing too overbearing, nothing too faint.
“Well no he isn’t dating. I don’t think that he wants to be in a relationship. He likes sushi and is totally protective of his mother and sister.”
The magazine lay forgotten as Jessy stared openly at Abby as if she had grown another head. She hadn’t really expected Abigail to know anything other that what was printed in the tabloids just like all the other employees at the company. Mr. Boulgetti was known to not have any real relationships. No woman had the pleasure of being photographed on his arm, except his mother or sister. He was a very private man, and the fact that Abby knew this little bit about him spoke wonders.
“How do you know that he likes sushi and doesn’t want to be in a relationship?” questioned Jessy slowly so not to rouse suspicion.
“Oh we ate sushi like almost every night for a week working on the paperwork of the release,” Abby laughed as she settled on a soft lily-of-the-valley scent that always made her think of fields in the north of England.
“Plus everyone knows that he is only photographed with his mom and sister. I think that one of the reasons that I got the job was probably because he thought that I wouldn’t be trying to bed him,” Abby darkly chuckled.
It wasn’t really that funny, but it made sense that he would pick someone that would be the exact opposite of Nicole. If she had pissed him off enough to make him board a plane and take a red-eye flight home, rather than take her to bed, then it was safe to say he did not what to be trapped in a relationship.
“Pfft. He could just be a mama’s boy, and the old woman doesn’t approve of any girl that he brings home,” mumbled Jess as she jabbed at the last of the tapioca pearls at the bottom of her cup.
“No, she called and left a message while he was in a meeting last week asking him to bring a date to one of her dinners next week.”
Suspicion rose again in Jessy and she turned back to her friend, who was currently wrapping a sweater around her waist and checking her purse for one final time before departure. Abby was the only female Jessy knew who could pack for a business trip an hour before leaving for a flight. The woman had mad skills in the minimalist department.
“Who do you think he’s going to take?”
Abby paused after she saw a text from her boss that read, “The car will be around to pick you up in fifteen minutes.”
“I don’t know probably a friend, but I’ve got to hurry. I was going to call a cab, but he’s sending a car to get me.”
The eyebrows on Jessy’s face disappeared under her bangs, “He’s sending a car?”
“Hmhmm.” Abby quickly ran around the apartment cutting off switches and unplugging cords.
Jessy lazily got off the bed and smoothed the covers back into place. She knew that Abby would check the bed before she left and she didn’t want her to take the time to fix the blanket, not when a car might be waiting on her below.
The two girls met at the door and Abby walked Jessy down the stairs to the lobby of the apartment and out to the door. It was bright and a bit chilly, so both girls made their goodbyes quick. Just as Jessy turned to walk down the street a black, luxury sedan pulled up to curb and a driver jumped out.
“Wow, it’s even got tinted windows. Riding in style my friend,” Jessy teased as the driver put Abby’s bag in the trunk, but both girls froze when they saw too other designer bags nestled in the truck.
“Whose bags are those?” Abby asked bewildered as she turned to the driver. “Richards? Did Mr. Boulgetti want me to bring his bags to the plane?”
The older man turned to Abby and smiled a let a small chuckle escape, “No miss, Mr. Boulgetti is in the car waiting.”
A pink blush crept across Abigail’s face as she turned from a knowing smirk plastered across Jessy’s visage.
“Don’t even say anything.”
“What? What are you talking about; I didn’t say a word,” Jessy laughed. “Call me when you get settled in, love.”
Jessy hugged Abby one last time and whispered in her ear, “And I want all the juicy details.”
Abby turned horrified that Richards had heard her friend and scurried to the car door that Richards quickly opened for her. She tumbled into the car just trying to escape from any more teasing and turned to face the object of her discomfort.
“I’m surprised that you were ready and waiting outside,” a dark, rich chuckle erupted at the sight of her flushed face.
Nikolaus wasn’t quite sure why he had decided to come pick Abby up, but he assumed that he just wanted to be nice on her first trip with him. She had been very helpful the last few weeks, and he felt that after this deal was done he would suggest that she take a day off to relax. Now that he was looking at her bright face, he noticed that she had a small, dark circles under her eyes and she seemed like she had loss a bit of weight. Nik frowned.
“I was planning on calling a taxi,” Abby breathed as she adjusted in her seat and fastened her seat belt. “I had no idea that you would come pick me up; I thought that I would need to get there early in case I had to go through some type of security.”
Nik smiled at that. If anything, Abby was predictable when it came to preparation and safety. “We are going to the private airport so no need for crazy security lines. Traffic on the other hand will probably be our biggest worry.”
Soft, golden brown curls cascaded around gentle shoulders and Nikolaus found himself wanting to touch one of her curls to see how soft they were. It was quite an odd feeling for him because normally he wouldn’t have noticed such a thing on a woman. Women were in general something that he didn’t look at with a detailed eye. If they were attractive and willing he did what he did and moved on. No face ever remained for more than a month or two when he found the time to take interest. He didn’t cuddle and he didn’t pet, but watching the sun reflect off of Abby’s curls made him pause.
“I’ve never been on a private plane before; is it very much different?”
Soft notes found themselves floating into Nikolaus’ ear and he paused and straightened his leaning body and looked at the forgotten file on his lap.
“Not much of a difference, except they are generally considered more comfortable,” he paused. “Do you have your passport?”
“Passport? Yes, I didn’t think that we would need it, but I brought it just the same.”
“Well we do need them. I’m afraid that the meeting has been moved to Zurich.”
“Zurich?” exclaimed Abby as she turned to face Nikolaus with surprise and a touch of delight. They were heading to Europe!
Nikolaus turned to the shining, misty eyes that grinned back at him and he felt a lump form in his throat. He had taken assistants on trips with him before, but never had he received this reaction. The past assistants had always seemed to want to include themselves in non-business trips even if he didn’t need them there. And for the actual business trips once they were on the plane, they always had a calculating gleam in their eye as if they saw themselves always traveling in his jet, spending his money, using his name. But Abby looked excited like a kid on Christmas morning. He had called HR to see if the had been any issue with the proposed compensation package when he hired her. He was surprised that HR reported that they had only sent a letter to Abigail and she had not requested any increase from the initial offer.
Nikolaus wasn’t sure if he should take it that she didn’t care how much she made, or if she had another reason for working for him. He had purposefully worded the offer letter to state her pay was subject to an one year trial, and would increase after her year long probation. But she had hit the ground running three weeks ago and seemed genuinely happy with her situation.
“I’ve never been to Europe before; my passport has never been stamped.”
Abigail fished her passport out of her bag and opened it to a fresh page and cracked a gentle, almost reverent smile. She closed the little book and returned it to her bag and pulled out her laptop and opened a file that needed to be reviewed.
Nikolaus stared and for the first time felt slighted. He didn’t know what he had expected from her, but he believed that he was a cynic and thought that she would prove him right in believing that there was an ulterior motive to her gleeful exclamation. She was working again and not really paying any attention to him. A part of him had thought maybe she would try to chat him up a bit now that they were in a more intimate situation, but she did nothing of the kind.
A pessimistic heart was what he had, Nik thought as he turned back to his own work, but found that he was distracted by thoughts of Abby’s first time in Europe. There were a lot of things that she might like to do: shopping, eating, shows. Maybe he would take a day or two after the meetings this week and show her around.
“We could take a few days after the meetings to have a bit of a break since we have been working so hard, maybe you could do a little sightseeing?”
Nikolaus looked to Abby to judge her reaction to his comment.
“Milan has some nice shopping places and excellent restaurants.”
“Oh, a fews days off? That would be so nice. I’ve always wanted to visit Lake Como and Venice. The museums and artwork will be amazing,” Abby gushed as she paused typing and threw a radiant smile Nik’s way.
She had said "I" not "we" and had not assumed that Nikolaus would be joining her. Nik smiled back and turned his eyes away from the happy girl feeling like a cad for trying to find ill intent in a heart that just wasn’t after anything he could offer.