High Heels in New York Page 10

  Once inside her cubicle, Melissa opened the last drawer in her desk and drops her belongings inside. She turns on the desk top computer and decides that after listening to Happy Feet at the front desk, what she really needs is a second cup of coffee from the break room before going Postal on a fellow coworker. Usually, she could snag fifteen minutes of alone time, drinking her cup of Joe at her desk, before the craziness of the day began. Once again, no such luck.

  Lisa Greene and Ashley Thomas were chit-chatting by the coffee machine which was quite odd because no one ever talked to Ashley and whenever someone did speak to Lisa is was to tell her to shut up. Either way, Melissa didn’t like either of them. And now she would have to be at an approachable distance just to get to the caffeine.

  Lisa was an annoying twenty-something kiss-ass who got her How-To column after she began dating the co-owners’ son. Ashley on the other hand, was the resident nerdy copywriter and well, she was just plain annoying.

  Walking over to the coffee machine, Melissa hoped they were too engrossed in their conversation to notice her. Melissa looked at Ashley’s outfit and almost gagged. She was wearing brown knee high leather boots, burgundy tights, a Mumu looking dressed that shagged at the bottom with a cropped maroon jean jacket. It was only seventy-five degrees outside.

  “Hi, Melissa,” Ashley said all perky, her round glasses too big for her face. “Did you hear? There’s a very important person coming in today and Regina is going to choose someone to do a story on them. We have a bet as to who it’s going to be.”

  Lisa chimed in, “I’m telling you its Lady Gaga.”

  “Why would it be her? She’s so passé,” Ashley said.

  Lisa screamed, “Blasphemy!” Being a little monster herself she would probably slice Ashley to pieces for saying that. Maybe she should stick around after all, Melissa thought.

  “Mel, who do you think it is?” Ashley asked, turning to face Melissa.

  Should she tell them that she really didn’t care? Would it be rude if she turned around and walked away without saying anything? She wasn’t in the mood to pretend they were friends so, she poured herself a cup of coffee and then turned around and went to her desk without uttering a hello.

  When it was time to attend the daily production meeting, Melissa wasn’t too eager to join in with the rest of her group and listen to Regina, the editor in chief, tell everyone- meaning the low end of the totem pole, the lowly ones that begged for stories like dogs begged for scraps- what their individual goals were for the week. Since the important articles of the magazine were already completed and the important writers didn’t need babysitting, she was able to focus on daily and weekly articles, A.K.A, they write the crap that fills up the empty spaces. And, Melissa knew that she would get stuck with the rewrites. Why? Because she always got stuck with the rewrites, while people like Lisa were given a How-to-column. How Lisa was allowed to write so much as an email was inconceivable. The chic couldn’t even tell the difference between a verb and an adjective. So, with the hopes Regina would forget she was there, Melissa sat furthest away from her, slouching in her chair.

  “Lisa,” Regina began, her red round glasses barely hanging on her nose, “I need a quick and fun article on upcoming fashion trends. Ashley, I need you to create a Poll on which celebrities looked the best during the Oscars.”

  “Which celebrities?” Ashley asked.

  “I don’t care. Just do it.” She instructed, “And Carmine, you can do the rewrites.”

  What? Did the universe finally give Melissa a break? Was she finally going to get a story to write? Melissa sat up straight in her chair, ready to hear what her goal was.

  “Melissa…” Regina finally said and then looked directly at her, making her feel very self-conscious. “You’re going to be doing a two page piece on a very important person. She’s asked for you personally so please, don’t mess this up.”

  OMG! It was true. For once, gossip around the office wasn’t just hearsay. Was it Donna Karen? Or was it the Louboutin genius himself? Melissa was so damn giddy that could scream and she actually almost did when she saw the person she had to interview.

  “Everyone please welcome a very important person in the fashion world. I expect you all to welcome her with open arms,” Regina said, looking at the conference room door and extending a hand. “I introduce you to no other than…Valerie Clark.”

  10

  After the remaining flicker of hope Melissa held so dear inside her heart burned out, she stood outside Regina’s office, pacing back and forth and trying to pick the right way to tell her that she couldn’t do the article on Valerie. How could she? The bitch stole her man and her best friend. She wasn’t about to sit down with her and act like nothing happened for the sake of an article or her career.

  “What?” Melissa screamed out to Ashley who’s standing off to the side staring at her.

  “You’re so lucky,” Ashley said, her eyes widening with admiration.

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?” Melissa yelled. “Trust me I’m not lucky. This is not luck. This is hell,” she said, slamming the back of her head against the wall.

  Ashley’s eyes widened. No one had ever seen Melissa rant like this. She was usually the calm and quiet one. But could you blame her? She hadn’t even had the time to mourn the death of her almost-marriage and here she was, about to interview the lover of her ex-fiancé.

  Having no other choice but to decline this rare and paramount opportunity which she was most sure she would never see again in her lifetime, she grabbed the metal door handle. As she was about to push it open, she heard Regina’s voice.

  “It was such a pleasure to meet you,” Regina opened the door slowly. “Let me get Melissa for you so you two can get better acquainted.”

  Frantic, Melissa high tailed it to her desk, grabbed her things and snuck out of there. Claire the receptionist stood up from behind her desk holding more messages in her hand as Melissa ran past her.

  “Sorry. Emergency. Gotta go!” Melissa shouted. She pushed the button to the elevator a bazillion times before it finally opened. Once inside, she dug inside her handbag for her cellphone. “What the fuck is this?” In her hand is not her very expensive and very new iphone. Oh, no. Instead, she’s holding a ragged and old flip phone. “Yuck!” She holds it away from her with two fingers. The guy from the park must’ve swapped phones. Unreal. You think he’d try something more subtle if he really wanted to see her again, she thought.

  Once outside, she dialed her cellphone number from the ragged flip phone and held it away from her face. Claude picked up on the first ring. “I want my cell phone back,” Melissa screamed.

  “I was hoping you’d call.”

  “If you think you’re getting a date you’re sadly mistaken,” she said, quickly walking around the corner. The last thing she wanted was someone she worked with to see her and ask her to come back inside.

  “Hey, it was an honest mistake. It could’ve happened to anyone.”

  She knew better than to believe him. Living in New York made you more suspicious of men like him. And to think that she had liked him. It was only for a minute, but the fact that she even considered liking him was a big deal for her. But she wasn’t about to start trusting him after what he had done. “I highly doubt that.”

  “Would you believe me if I told you that I was distracted by your beauty?” This guy seriously needed to learn new pick-up lines.

  “No.”

  “Well then, I guess we should meet up so I can give you back your phone.”

  Knowing that she had to go back to work and that this stranger had her cell phone did not sit well with her. So, she decided on the easier thing to do. “Fine. Meet in front of The Tick-Tock Diner in thirty minutes.”

  “You got it,” he said and hung up.

  Melissa reluctantly went to meet Claude. When she got to the diner, she was out of breath from having to walk the ten blocks to get there. He was waiting for her, waving her cell phone in the air
above his head and flashing his pearly white smile. There was no devil dog to be found.

  “Hi,” he said, grinning.

  She grabbed the cell phone from his hand. “You’re lucky I didn’t call the cops and had you arrested for theft.”

  He stood up, pulling a chair out for her. “Stealing means taking something that is not yours with the intention of not ever giving it back. That was not my intention.”

  “Well, if your intention was to get a date with me rest assured that this is not a date,” She tells him, still standing. He was trying really hard. She had to give that to him but she wasn’t going to fall for it. After what she’d been through with Jonathan she wasn’t ready to trust anyone.

  “All I wanted was an opportunity to show you what a great guy I am so that you’ll want to go out on a date with me. So you see, calling the authorities would have only wasted their time.”

  “Well then you’ve wasted your time,” Melissa said, showing him her him her hand. “I’m engaged.”

  He looks at her hand. A confused look overcomes him.

  “What?” Melissa said, looking at her hand and realizing that there was no ring. She had taken it off and never put it back on. “I was engaged,” she whispered, finally sitting down.

  Claude walked back to his chair. His facial expression was hard to read. “I would say that I was sorry but then you wouldn’t be here with me. Is that bad?”

  She didn’t know what to say. She just met the guy and he was already coming on a little too strong. An uncomfortable feeling came over her and she got up to leave. “Look, I’m flattered, but I really have to go back to work.”

  “But you’re already here? Listen, how about you let me buy you an early lunch and we can call it even. After all, my dog did bust up your knee pretty bad,” he said.

  Since her morning had already been completely wrecked and she never did get the chance to eat her cupcake, why not spend a few minutes procrastinating? “Fine. But it’s not a date.”

  “Great!” He called the waiter over and they placed their orders. “I love this place. Have you been here before?”

  “Yeah, a lot actually. During college,” she said, snapping the napkin open and placing it on her lap.

  “Oh really? Where’d you go? You look like a state girl.”

  “Rutgers.”

  “What you’d study?”

  “Look, I get that you’re trying to do this thing where I say something about me and then you say something about you. Then we find out we have something in common and then someone comes up with the great idea about meeting up again but we don’t have to do that. Seriously. We can just sit here. Quietly,” she whispered.

  “I know. But,” he looked around the restaurant, “if we sit here not saying anything then people are really going to think we’re together.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Look over there,” he said motioning to a couple in the corner booth. “Now, you see how they won’t even look at each other when they talk?

  “Yeah.”

  “Married.” He said, “Now look over to the couple sitting by the front window. You see how the girl is twirling her hair with her hand and giggling like teenager?”

  “So?”

  “They’re on a date.”

  “You can’t tell just by looking at people whatever they are dating, married or anything.” Melissa dismisses his claims and orders a cup of coffee.

  “Yes you can. It’s called body language,” he said, taking a sip of his soda, “take you for example, you haven’t stopped touching your right hand, where your ring used to be. That tells me you’re thinking about your ex.”

  “I am not,” Melissa said defensively.

  “And you haven’t looked me in the eye, not once, which means I make you nervous.” He grinned.

  “You don’t make me nervous,” she said, looking at him in the eyes and trying real hard not to look away.

  “Okay you can stop now. You’re scaring me.” he said, playfully covering his face with his hand.

  Unexpectedly, she laughed.

  “She laughs!” He said mockingly.

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “So what are you like a body language expert?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Oh, so you’re not going to tell me what you do?” She asked, wondering what indeed he did for a living.

  “I steal cell phones from devastatingly beautiful women and then take them out to lunch,” he said.

  Melissa grabbed the salt shaker off the table and threw it at him. It was an unexpected move that even startled her. But ironically, she felt as ease with him. It was nice to talk to someone who hadn’t been privy to all the bad things going on in her life. And she was glad that at this very moment she could pretend that her life was perfect, the way it used to be.

  They spend the next hour talking about random things and not once did she think about Jonathan or her job or the fact that she was broke. When a crowd of people entering the diner startled her, she realized she had stayed longer than she had planned. “I really have to go,” she said, looking at her watch.

  “Oh. Okay,” he said, gloomily. Then he took his wallet out of his back pocket and paid for the check with cash.

  “Thanks for lunch,” Melissa said, standing up and walking out of the restaurant.

  “Thanks for the lovely company Miss Melissa De La Rosa,” he said smiling and following closely behind her. Once outside, he hailed a cab for her. Within seconds, a yellow taxi cab stopped at the curb. Although she was flattered, she didn’t have the money to take a cab and was embarrassed to tell him. “You didn’t have to. I can walk back to work from here. It’s not that far,” she said, heading off in the direction of her job.

  “A gentleman always pays,” he said, handing the cab driver cash and telling him to take her wherever she needed to go.

  Mellissa had to admit that if she had been available to date, she may very well have given him a chance. But she wasn’t. Not with all the drama in her life.

  “Okay. Well,” she said, stepping inside the cab, “See you around.”

  “I hope so,” he said.

  #

  Melissa listened to Regina babble on about how she needed to get to Valerie’s house fast and failing miserably at explaining to her why she couldn’t interview that heffa. She realized that she really had no choice in the matter but to quit her job. At the very moment she said those two words she felt powerful, almost like a superhero.

  “You’re quitting?” Regina asked, laughing at her. “Melissa, this is the fashion industry, not a popularity contest. If I had quit all the times I had to interact with someone I didn’t like I wouldn’t have this damn magazine.” She pulled out a cigarette and lights up. “So get over it.”

  “But.” Melissa interjected.

  She grabbed a pen from her desk and jotted down something on a piece of yellow post-it. “Here’s Valerie’s address. She’s expecting you in an hour.” She said, handing Melissa the paper. “If you do a great job, like I expect you will, I may give you that fashion column you’ve been asking for.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes. But not because I like you. I like your work. And you’ve managed to make Lisa’s writing more entertaining. That says a lot.” She waved a hand, dismissing her. “Now go.”

  Melissa didn’t know what to do. Her own column would be a dream come true. But, in order to get it she had to be in the same room with none other than the bitch who stole her man.

  She wondered, what would Marilyn Monroe do?

  Finding herself in front of her all-time favorite place in the world, Melissa couldn’t help but walk inside Bloomingdales. She was supposed to be on her way to see Valerie but figured that five minutes wouldn’t hurt. After all, she wasn’t in a rush to see Valerie.

  Once inside Bloomingdales, Melissa knew exactly what her first stop was going to be, the Alice & Olivia section. She’d been dying to get her hands on this elegant fur coat that would loo
k awesome with her favorite winter boots. So, she took the escalator to the second floor and was pleasantly surprised to see it was tea day at the Joe Malone fragrance counter.

  “Hi Mel!” Rosario yelled out to her from behind the Joe Malone counter, waving her hand enthusiastically.

  Melissa waved and walked over, “Hi Rosario.”

  Melissa met Rosario six months ago when she came in with the goal of doing some damage on her credit cards and in turn Rosario earned a big fat commission check.

  Rosario, walked over to her, as her super curly brown hair bounced off her shoulders. “They let you out early?”

  “Something like that,” Melissa said, sitting down on a plush white chair and taking in the wonderful aroma of grapefruit and Assam that lingered in the air. At $300 a bottle, their perfume was, in her opinion, worth every single penny. Especially because you could mix and match scents to create your own signature fragrance.

  Rosario served Melissa a cup of mint tea in a beautiful and dainty tea cup. “How’ve you been?”

  “I’ve been better,” Melissa said. “I’ve had such a bad day. I needed to come here and release my stress.”

  “The day isn’t over yet,” Rosario assured her.

  “Don’t remind me,” Melissa said, taking a sip.

  “I’ve been holding something for you,” Rosario said, walking behind the counter and pulling out for a divine black and white box. “It’s a limited edition.”

  “Really?” Melissa asked, smiling ear to ear. She slowly took off the silver bow that was wrapped around the box and then opened the box. Low and behold there were six collectors size bottles of eau de parfum. You can’t imagine her excitement. “Oh my goodness! This is divine!” Melissa screamed. “I’ll take it.”

  “Great because at this price it’s a steal.”

  “Thanks,” Melissa said, digging in her bag for her credit cards and catching a glance at the time. “Damn, I have to go.”

  “So soon?”

  “Unfortunately,” Melissa was sure Rosario’s commission check wasn’t looking to nice with the measly $195 she just spent. But it looked like she wouldn’t be putting in too much time in her Nirvana quest today. “Maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow. I have to do that thing called work,” she groaned.