A Night In Manhattan

Kalani Monroe's Pov

Just like every morning in Manhattan, today was no different. It was a Saturday and the hotness coming from the environment was enough to get some cooking done–maybe I was exaggerating a little, but I hoped I'd been able to pass a message across. It wasn't something of a shock since the city had always been known to be one of the busiest and densely populated cities of New York city's borough. In this city, there'd been no difference between the weekends and the weekdays with car owners and transit buses rushing around the city and angry pedestrians trudging down the sidewalk. Well wasn't every city like that? I supposed Manhattan just had to be a little extra in everything.

What I noticed about today however was that the traffic was so much worse than it would be on a weekday. Has Saturdays become the new Monday? I had been at a standstill for the past thirty minutes. I was on my way to a doctor's appointment because I had been showing signs and symptoms of flu for the past week and there was a possibility that I was infected. There was a possibility that I was going to need to take the whole week off and be away from work. The doctor was for sure going to talk about the type of environment I'd exposed myself to. I didn't know if food was a major contribution, but it was just a matter of time before I'd know what was up. Dear Lord, whatever happens, please do not let them say I should quit eating ice-cream. It would kill me completely. Ice-cream was something I always ate when I was sad, and fuck me if I had to quit eating it because of some health challenges that obviously, I was going to bounce back from.

My muscles ached, and my throat was sore as fuck. It pointed at something, but I didn't know what it was. You know when you were down with a particular sickness, and you were trying so hard to hide it from everyone, your boss included? Yeah, that was the situation I found myself in. It was a good thing that I was finally going to the hospital which meant that my boss, Artem, would give me some days off.

I was one of the best but not really recognized real estate agents Manhattan had to offer, I worked for one of Manhattan's biggest housing and real estate agencies, I worked with the Artem Gutler agency of Manhattan. I was formerly based in Los Angeles before moving to New York but a lot of clients didn't seem to like me. They would either come for a first appointment and then never return or would ask that they be linked with another agent. It kept on happening until I made up my mind to leave the Kabir Lenon agency in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. A lot of agents had made a lot of money from the group because the housing cost in Los Angeles was insanely higher than other parts of the country–the reason was a no-brainer, though. You got to see the celebrities, the nice views and all–honestly, that shit just didn't get me excited. I seemed to be the one on the sidelines as I rarely got any clients, they would go through my profile and just ask for another agent. I decided to leave the agency, maybe Los Angeles wasn't just cut out for me. Although, it did hurt. Putting so much work into something you loved so much, and not really getting any results. It really did hurt.

After months of looking for real estate jobs online and nearby, the cost of living in the apartment became too expensive since I wasn't working and had just been depending on what was in my bank account until I was able to get a stable job, I decided to leave Los Angeles and California in its entirety because heaven knew that I needed a fresh start. Manhattan was just the right city to move to, I had gotten a job after just one month of moving to New York, I had been getting a lot of clients and a lot of people had been impressed with my work. Some landlords had even assigned me to be their realtors and that had given them a good price in the market.

"Miss Monroe, from the afore-mentioned symptoms, and from what I can see, it is most likely the flu. Can you tell me what you've exposed yourself to? You have to be completely honest with me." The bald doctor asked me as I sat on the recliner, half of my attention focused on his bald head while the other half racking my brain and thinking of a suitable answer that best fit the question I was asked.

"I gotta be honest with you?" I asked, my brows creasing. God, I could be so playful sometimes–even in matters like this that needed my hundred percent seriousness.

"Yes. A hundred percent." He smiled when he got the joke.

"Man, I've been sleeping naked and opening my window for a while now." I said, closing my eyes at how cheesy that must sound. God help me.

I opened my eyes, and saw that he smiled. Well, not too bad afterall.

"That is not the answer I was expecting."He chuckled." Did you by any chance go on a trip to any country and expose yourself to anything? "

None that I could remember as of recent.

"I don't think so." I said, biting my lower lip, and staring at him as though I could read his mind.

"What about your diet?" He asked.

"Does that have anything to do with the flu?" I asked. It had crossed my mind, but I didn't think that by any chance, the food I'd eaten would lead to me contracting the flu. Medicine was not my field, but those two words were so unrelated.

"Not so much, but it could be." He told me, smacking his lips together.

"Do you eat a lot of cold food?" He quizzed.

Mental drum roll. It was the moment of truth.

"It's not so much. Besides, after such stressful days at work, ice cream makes up for it. " I shrugged. as though it was no biggie. It really wasn't, was it?

"How old are you? " He asked me, ignoring the fact that I just said I usually ate ice-cream.

"I turned twenty-five in June. " I replied.

"Tell you what Miss Monroe, I think you're damn too young to have some types of illnesses . Your immune system is pretty strong and that's why it's been taking all of the thrash you eat. My advice is that you don't misuse the gift you were freely given."

"I'll try to drastically reduce my consumption of junks. Although, during some days, my schedule could be so stressful and it's just what is available that I'd eat. I always have ice-cream, " I lied. God help me, I lied. It was literally my health we were speaking of here, and not the doctor's health.

"Don't get me wrong but they actually help in cooling and regulating the body temperature when necessary but it's not healthy when it becomes a habit. " He informed me, and my eyes couldn't help, but return to his bald head. It wasn't funny, but it was so satisfying to look at. Judging from the way he looked, I was guessing he was in his mid-sixties.

"You should learn to take a lot of soup and hot stuff, it also goes a long way but it also shouldn't be eaten too much because it has its adverse effects. " He explained while I just kept on nodding.

"When was the last time you had the flu? " He asked.

"About a year ago when I was out with some friends on a winter break. " I was still a newbie in Manhattan at that time.

"I guess there was too much human contact. I mean, it was a trip? He asked. He was definitely hell bent on fishing the words I went on a trip out of my mouth.

"Yes, but doctor, that was a year ago. A lot could have happened after that time."

"I'll refer you to the pharmacist. " He said sharply, typing out some shit I had no idea what it was on his computer. My drugs. My fucking drugs! Goodness me, how I hated to swallow those things.

"You can go to him now. I've prescribed your drugs." He told me.

I got up from the recliner, and picked up my bag.

"Goodbye." I said to him before exiting his office.

I proceeded to go downstairs where the pharmacy was.

I got to the counter, and found two people apart from the pharmacist which meant I had to wait in the line–it could have been worse than that.

I randomly scrolled through social media until it got to my turn.

"Hello, and good afternoon." I greeted to not seem rude. It wouldn't make any sense to just walk there, and start demanding for my drugs. Do not get me wrong, it was something I was capable of doing, but this was a hospital. People who were ill came here, and so, they needed a fair amount of tranquility.

"Hello," The pharmacist, who I presumed to be in his late thirties, said. "Your name? Please."

I like the fact that he was straight to the point.

Once he found my name, and my prescription, he walked to get the drugs. He sauntered towards the counter to where I was.

He explained the doses to me and all I did was nod.

"You'd have to make sure to complete the drugs and not miss a single day, if you do, the symptoms could come back and it could get really worse. These drugs are strong and tend to have serious effects on the body if they're not used properly. " He said.

"Here it is and make sure to come back for a test once it has been completed. " He said, handing the drugs to me.

"Thanks." I said to him before walking out of the hospital. Apparently, I was to take the drugs for seven days before coming back for another test. God help me to remember.

The sun rays that hit my skin once I got out was a subtle reminder of the fact that this was Manhattan. Thank goodness I applied sunscreen before coming–in fact, I always used sunscreen because I would have had a list of skin problems with the rate at which the sun had been shining for the past weeks. The nature of my job required walking under the sun sometimes. It was a necessity for me to protect myself.

It wasn't too long after I got into my car that I received a phone call from an unknown number. I hit accept, and pressed the phone to my ear as I opted to stick my key into the keyhole.

"Who am I speaking with please?" I asked.

Whoever was calling me just had to wait, I was very sure it was from work but it said an unknown number. Maybe it was just a colleague from work calling to ask how I was doing. It wasn't like they actually cared, most of them had been jealous of me because of my success at the agency within just a short period and I hardly even kept any friends at the office. I had joined the company the previous year and I couldn't even boast or say that I had at least one friend. It pained a lot of people that I had been with the company for such a short amount of time and I could pretty much boast about what I had achieved anywhere in Manhattan when real estate agents were talking. Sadly, I never achieved one-tenth of that in Los Angeles.

"Hello, I'm Lucy Bartels, Secretary for Mr. Derek Payton from Dayton. I'd like to have an in-depth discussion with you once you're chanced.

First of all, it was a Saturday, and I wasn't working. My profile on the company's website said so. I didn't know why people could be so blind as to not see that.

"Today is Saturday." I responded in case she wasn't aware.

"Yes, I'm aware. I'm sorry if this is not convenient for you, but it is urgent, please." She said, waiting patiently for a response from me.

She added please. I just had to create time to hear whatever it was she had to say.

"I'm taking the whole of next week off from work due to some personal issues, but I'd let you know when I'd be chanced to speak with you." I told her.

"That would be nice. " She said from the other side of the line.

...

I was later informed that Dayton, one of the world's leading tech companies, would be getting a new branch in New York. Manhattan precisely was a likely city they were considering because it had tourist attractions and I was most likely going to be the agent that the company was going to be working with. If what I heard was true then that was going to add a fat bonus to my bank account and also boost my career since the CEO and founder himself was a whooping English billionaire, I didn't know so much about him but eighty-five percent of the New York population as well as The United States, used devices from the company even though the average class considered it to be a bit too pricey.

Third Person Pov

Dayton tech was a tech company–one could tell from its name, known worldwide and there was this mentality that devices that came from the company were for the rich, their products were quite expensive like some people said. Others said that it wasn't worth the money and they would rather get something cheaper and worth the money. An online survey was conducted to know what the majority of the public felt about Dayton tech.

About sixty percent of the public said it was excellent, twenty-five said it was good, while the rest had one thing or another to complain about which was very much normal. Every product, no matter how good, always had someone or something to complain about. It was just business. The reviews could never be a hundred percent no matter how good the devices were.

Dayton tech headquarters was located in Bath, England. A lot of branches were situated all around the world. A branch was located in New York already, in its capital city of Albany but stakeholders suggested that another branch be situated in an entirely different region of New York, hence the reason why Lucy Barrels contacted Kalani Monroe.

"When is my next appointment before the agent from Artem Gutler?" Derek asked, his eyes drilling into Aliya, his personal assistant's soul.

"Sir you currently do not have an appointment until Artem Gutler."

"Have I been referred to anyone?" He asked.

"Um, yes sir actually. I did my research and stumbled on this really good real estate agency in New York and they were rated about four and a half stars out of five so I think it's really good. I also consulted some of their past clients and they testified about the agency being very good. Aliya responded. "In fact, Lucy has spoken with one of the best from the agency, and the deal is in fact sealed, but I'm hoping to shed more light.

"What is the name of the agency? I would also like to do my research. I could suspend tonight's work." Derek asked.

" Artem Gutler agency, somewhere in downtown Manhattan." She responded.

"And may I know who my agent is? The way Derek was looking, it seemed as though someone had pissed the hell out of him. It wasn't new since he was rarely ever seen with a smile. One would have to work too hard to see those lips curve. The man was all work.

"She joined the agency about a year ago and had turned it from being good to even better." Aliya said, hoping those words would impress Derek, but no, it didn't. It felt as though she added fuel to the fire.

"Aliya this isn't new to you, you and I both know that most of those ratings are as good as shit. This is America, not England, you can't be too certain about anything. I've been referred to many groups here in Manhattan but I don't think their agencies here are good enough. If it gets worse then I think I'll have to find myself a private agent that doesn't work for any agency." He had this terrible habit of condemning things that weren't from England or things he generally wasn't used to. It wasn't tribalism. The man just needed to feel satisfied.

"Sir, I actually have evidence that the agency is very good, they started almost ten years ago," Aliya replied. Putting up with her boss's attitude for the past four years wasn't easy but since her paycheck had more zeros than a usual personal assistant, she had to put up with it. If she reacted, she'd get fired, and wouldn't earn so much any longer.

"How far are we from New York?" Derek asked.

"Umm, it's about ten hours fifty-five minutes so approximately eleven hours. We still have a long trip ahead." Aliya replied.

"That's a long flight, I need rest." He said, walking into his personal space on the plane. He took his jacket, and shoes off before stretching out his legs, and sleeping. In his sleep, he looked so peaceful, and if the man wasn't popular, one would mistake him for a kind gentleman.

...

After a long flight, they landed in New York, ready for an adventure.

"Mr Payton, the ride from the airport to the hotel is about fifty minutes and we've already taken care of the paparazzi issue, they are not likely to be there today and if they are then there's security." Aliya was trying to catch up with her boss, on the aircraft stairs. He was taking three steps at a time making it hard for her small figure to catch up with his large one. She was clearly out of breath.

"And how good is the hotel?" He asked using his fingers to run through his hazel-colored hair, he hadn't had a clean shave in almost a week because of work.

"It's rated five stars, sir and it's located around downtown in the city."

"I don't like to believe those ratings." He was walking towards his Maybach already parked in the airport with his driver standing next to it.

"I think it's really good." Aliya found it hard to breathe, she had been running and trying to catch up with her boss who's one step was almost two and a half of hers which made it very much impossible to catch up with him. Her hair had already been messed up.

"It doesn't seem too bad after all." He said as he looked around the luxury hotel driveway.

He had only been to New York once, when the company was opening a branch in the capital city of the state about two years ago and he didn't even spend up to a week there so he hardly knew anything about the state.

"What agent did you say I was meeting with again?"

" The agent you will be working with is Kalani Monroe. " Aliya responded, panting.

With that, Derek turned around and got into the hotel. Aliya clearly did not know what to do. She still followed his lead, anyway. It wasn't as though she was going to follow him to his room. It would be so absurd, and awkward.

It was late, and darkness had engulfed the surrounding, 9:00pm specifically, but Derek wasn't asleep, no. He'd kept Aliya up. They were on the lounge chair of the hotel by the pool.

"I hope it doesn't turn out to be another disappointment," he said, his British accent making it sound so sexy.

"Mr. Payton, it really would be useless to worry since I did an in-depth research. It isn't just anyone. Miss Monroe is good." Aliya nodded, sighing. It definitely was time for her to retire to her room, but she wasn't going anywhere until Derek told her to leave. She hoped it would be very soon.

Two hours later, Derek gave his secretary permission to go to bed. Aliya was so thankful because she needed to get some sleep. It was going to be a challenging week. Her fingers were sore as well after spending so much time typing.

Derek walked into his room, and the name that was in his head was Kalani Monroe. He'd thought about how she looked for as long as Aliya had told him about her. The name peeked his interest, and so he decided to look up his supposed real estate agent on social media, she definitely had to have social media since it was a requirement for most agents. He took his laptop and entered her name on social media. The suggestions were that many, so he went with the first one that appeared. Her profile picture didn't give too much detail about her. The total number of pictures on her profile amounted to three, and from the quality, Derek could tell that none of them was recent. He still couldn't help it. He clicked on it.

Those pictures were uploaded four years ago, and so much would have changed about her. Maybe she wasn't the social type. He was quick to notice her lush curves, and her shoulder length blonde hair–it was what stood out for him.

In one of the pictures, she was in a flower shop smiling. In the next one, she was at the beach, one of her hands on her waist while the other placed firmly on her hat. The last post was a picture of her toes.

Maybe a tiny part of him was looking forward to meeting her.

Derek spent his entire night on the internet and on social media. He wasn't really a media person but being so popular, rich, and also owning one of the world's largest tech companies, it was mandatory for him to have social media accounts. He hardly visited his profiles–he had a team specially for that, but he thought he might as well scroll some more since he'd already visited the apps.

After scrolling for a while, he found himself going back to Kalani's profile. He hated to do this when he hadn't even met her, but Derek couldn't help it. It wasn't this easy to catch his attention, but fuck if Kalani's pictures were doing it so easily. If she was truly the agent assigned to him then he was going to find it too hard to concentrate on anything she was saying. He wasn't one who really cared about women and their feelings. Getting into relationships wasn't just his thing, and he was never afraid to let them know.

It was so crazy that all he had to do was look at Kalani's pictures to get those thoughts rummaging through his head. Kalani fucking Monroe was a challenge.

Many women had thrown themselves at him because of his money and his good looks. Some women would even try to get pregnant for him so they could make something off his fortune but he had always been wise. He had worked hard since day one and wasn't going to allow any woman to wreck him because of sex. It was something he could get anywhere. He had all it took

In the past, American tech companies were always leading, but about six years ago when Dayton launched, it took over the tech industry. It was an insanely large name worldwide, and desperate women would do anything to have their names tied to Derek Payton.

...

It was a Sunday evening and Kalani came out of her cozy apartment to take some fresh air. It had been a while since she came to the beach at the back of her apartment. The sun was out, and it was so fucking hot.

She took her sunscreen, some food, her phone and laptop to reply to her emails, and a piece of cloth to lay on the floor. She had spent her whole one week break watching Netflix. Social media popped up in her head, and she remembered that she hadn't posted on those apps in ages. All she ever did was scroll through, and once she got tired, she'd go off for a long, long time. She was contemplating on posting today since it had been four years since any social media app had smelled her picture. She knew she was going to be having tons of notifications by the time she opened the apps.

Kalani set a ten seconds timer on her phone, and posed for as many pictures as she could. Once she got home, she planned on posting them. She took multiple selfies as well, making silly faces in some of them.

She was going to be returning to work the following day which was Monday, and would be insanely busy for the rest of the week and she knew she would not be having time to check her emails so she decided to chill out at the beach and check them.

"Holy fucking shit." The emails were so many, and it had just been a week. How in the hell did someone get so many of those in such a short period of time?

Turning off her phone, Kalani inhaled, and exhaled, preparing herself for what was to come.

Damn, there were a lot of messages. A lot of people needed a mortgage and some needed her to be their realtor for their houses but she was booked for the week. She had an appointment with Derek Payton and it wasn't a house, it was an official building and office buildings were always massive, so she knew the type of work she was in for during the week. She wasn't even mentally prepared.

Her eyes kept scanning as her hands kept scrolling until her eyes landed on an email from someone familiar.

"Jesus Christ. How many times will this lady email me?"

Derek Payton's secretary had emailed her so many fucking times within the course of seven days. She could remember telling her on the phone that she was taking the week off last Saturday.

She must have called her official number so many times. Too bad that number was switched off. That had been the case for about a week now.

She'd been catching up on her shows.

It was a normal thing for her during the weekends. She would binge-watch Netflix on Fridays and Saturdays and then her friends would come over on Sunday, or they would talk about anything and everything for hours. Then she would call her mother, and her mother would rant to her.

Very Typical of Kalani.

After responding to the email from Dayton tech, she packed her half eaten food, and all she brought along with her and went back into her apartment since it was getting too hot outside.

She turned on the phone she used for work, and went to her recent calls before dialing Lucy Bartels' number

It didn't even take a second for her to pick the call. It felt as though Kalani's call was one she'd been expecting for ages.

"Hello, Miss Monroe. I'm glad you finally picked," Lucy said with a sigh of relief. It seemed like she had been meaning to get something off her chest for days.

"Hello." Kalani said, running her hands through her hair.

"I hope there's no problem." She tried to seem concerned

"I've been getting a lot of calls and emails from my boss, he's said for me to arrange a nice restaurant where you guys could meet up on Tuesday as your official meeting would be on Thursday but he wants to know the type of group he's working with," Lucy said.

"His words, not mine." She chuckled.

Lani didn't find it funny, the lady was just laughing for stupid reasons and for reasons best known to her.

"I'm sorry but we do not arrange for unofficial meetings as such in Artem Gutler. If your boss needs to know me, he could search my profile on the group's website, everything he needs to know is stated there. " She stated.

"Alright then. I will get back to you later..."

She did not even finish the call before Kalani cut it. She had heard all the necessary things she had to hear. It was enough for one day.

She threw her phone on the couch before storming into the kitchen to make dinner. She had to turn the Air conditioner on because she was hot. The sun had set, but she was sweating.

A while later she got an email from an unknown user, she later got to know that it was from Derek Payton, he had personally emailed her himself stating that they met on Tuesday before the real job began.

"Goodness me, now the boss himself is emailing me. This is insane." In as much as she acted like she wasn't all that pleased at the news, her body betrayed her as butterflies formed in her belly.

She was able to exchange a couple of messages and she finally agreed to his unofficial outing. She picked the place though. If the deal was successful then she was going to be having a lot of zeros added to her account.

Once she was done making dinner, she edited her pictures, and posted them.

"Hola Mama," Kalani said, her mum calling again. The usual thing had happened with her best friend Anna-Leigh in the morning. Anna-leigh had to come over screaming at Lani to pick up her phone because Kalani's mother had called so many times.

"Hola Mama,"

{Translation: Hello Mum}

"Hola Lani, te he echado de menos." Her mother responded.

{ Hello Lani, I've missed you}

"Hola, pero ya hable contigo en. " Lani said to her angrily. Her mum was used to always calling her. Maybe she thought that since she was her daughter she should be speaking to her on a daily basis .

{Hey mum, but I already spoke to you}

"Lo sé, cariño, pero eso no es suficiente." Her mum sulked.

{I know how, but that's not enough}

"Mamá. Por favor, vaya directo al grano. No tengo tiempo" Lani said angrily, the anger in her tone became more obvious.

{Mum, please just go straight to the point, I do not have time}

"Lani quiero pasar más tiempo contigo"

{Lani I want to spend more time with you}

"Crei que tenias novio"

{I thought you had a boyfriend}

"Que rompimos al" she sobbed

{We broke up}

"Ohh okay so now you remember that you gave birth to me, huh? I would warn you about stupid men and you would still date them then come and report to me." She was quick to snap. Since her mother's divorce from her father, it had been from one man to another, and then when they broke up or something went wrong, she would call and start crying and expect Lani to abandon her work because of her. Sometimes she acted like a child.

"Almudena baby don't say that. " Her mum sulked. It was iconic how both of them would switch from Spanish to English within seconds.

"You know I love you regardless, I was just saying I needed to spend more time with you, I know you've been busy, but it would not be bad to come over to the states sometime soon," Nadine said.

"Mum, first of all, I've told you I do not like it when you always speak Spanish to me every time, yes, you're my mum and you're Puerto Rican, but dad is American. I know I have Puerto Rican heritage, but I don't really like to speak it. Second of all, you can't come ma'am. I've got a lot going on at work right now, new contracts and stuff, and having you over would just be more trouble and lastly, go fix your boy problems. I'm tired of hearing different names. It's Damien today, it's Arias tomorrow. Mum please I'm busy, I'll call you when I'm less busy." Lani said, She was damn too eager to end the call.

"Ok baby, but I still have a lot to talk to you about and I don't want you complaining so I'll talk to you later bye."

"Bye mum, love you." She cut the call and gave a heavy sigh of relief. She later sent a text to Anna-Leigh.

Lani:So my mum's called back again, usual boy drama

Anna-Leigh :😂😂What was wrong with this one this time, did he forget to give her some vitamin D

Annie could be such a bitch sometimes.

Lani:Shut up, you're not different from her😑

Anna-Leigh :At least my ass kept my nigga home😂😂😕

What's up babe, we've not talked real talk inna while

They had both been busy with work, Lani was busy being a real estate agent while Annie owned a boutique, well not so over the top but at least she could pay the bills.

Lani:Nothing, just the usuals, work, and stuff........ And ohh I forgot to tell you Dayton is setting up another structure here in Manhattan and i was assigned to be the company's agent😁😎😜... The damn secretary and personal assistant would not leave me be for the whole week, they kept ringing

Anna-Leigh :Ouuuuuu😳😳😳😳, Baby I'm prouda u😌

Lani:Why shouldn't you😝

Anna -Leigh:Omg I'm so proud ☺️😘❤️... I gotta go now I have work to do.... Byeee😍. FYI, I saw the picture you posted today, and trust me when I tell you that I celebrated when I saw it. I thought you were done with social media. 😉

Kalani Monroe's Pov

"You fucking asshole! you're gonna kill yourself before you even have an accident and you're gonna kill all the innocent people you're commuting, fool," I yelled at an uber driver that was switching lanes like someone who had lost his senses. The excuse of a driver wasn't even obeying the road signs. I was shocked at how he'd passed his driving test, gotten a license, and been allowed to work for Uber. If it were me, I'd have yelled for him to stop the car a long time ago and would have ordered for another ride.

"How the fuck did the man even get away with breaking the traffic rules." I later found out that he was arrested for breaking traffic rules, and regulations.

"Shit shit," I shouted, bringing out my phone and turning it on to check the time. There was no way in hell I was going to make it in time. The thing about me was that I was never late to appointments, but Manhattan traffic just had to choose today of all days to fuck me over.

Why did it have to do me like this when I had something important for today. It could have happened on any other day. Why today? I felt like crying, but I didn't cry. Big girls never cried.

I was supposed to meet up with Derek Payton by 9:00am, but it was already 9:30am. My God, I was getting anxious and I didn't like it when anxiety got the best of me because I couldn't focus. Once I was able to get a grip on myself. I continued driving.

"He better be used to late appointments. " I shrugged as I changed lanes and drove into a street. It was time to get started.

I'd never been to the restaurant, but I'd heard so many good things about it, so I suggested we meet there. It was suitable for a billionaire like him, and once in a while, I liked to get a taste of luxury since I wasn't rich, but from time to time, I could afford these things. I actually didn't know the directions. Google Map was what aided me.

The name of the restaurant was quite unusual though it sounded like it was going to be expensive, it sounded Italian, to be honest, that was the last thing I cared about. "BUON CIBO" which means good food in Italian.

I actually assumed that there was going to be paparazzi out there so I didn't dress too flashy, except I wanted the entertainment news to read .BILLIONAIRE , DEREK PAYTON WAS SEEN WITH A BLONDE IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK.

I was a natural blonde and for the twenty-five years of my life, I had maintained being a blonde. Sometimes I would keep my look official during workdays and other times I would look like a badass while other times I would just look like typical Kalani–you know, the sweatpants, and hoodie with rough bun kinda vibe.

I was wearing a Grey sweater that was a little bit baggy, black jeans and black Chelsea boots. It wasn't official and that was what I was comfortable in. A slight touch of makeup was applied. I just went about with my normal skincare routine, put on some foundation, concealer, blush, and mascare. That was literally all. If anyone saw me, he'd or she would think I was the lead female in an action movie. It was just so cool to me.

...

BUON CIBO was all the words to describe classy, and pricey. It wasn't cut out for everyone. It had this vintage vibe going on with it coupled along with glass walls, and some things I could describe verbally, and mentally. The average person would break the bank if he or she visited here for seven days straight. Getting a bottle of water here was literally luxury. Talk more about getting a full meal. I was looking forward to having a taste.

A lot of people complained. Some said that they could go to a less expensive place and get better food. A lot of people had bad comments about the restaurant hence the three point five out of five star rating.

Derek parked his Maybach at an unnoticeable corner of the parking lot but everybody would have been quick to notice that the car was a fucking Maybach.

In his opinion, he wasn't wearing anything classy and he had his reasons. He was trying to avoid the paparazzi. He just wore a simple tee-shirt with black jeans and low biker boots that fit perfectly on him.

Anything he wore fit him perfectly.

He tried to dress lowkey to avoid hungry and desperate media houses taking pictures of him but passers-by did not fail to react, although he was able to hide his identity. He had the jaws of ladies and young women dropping.

They could not help but adore his six feet, seven inches figure and his hazel-colored hair that looked like he had run his hands through it multiple times. His square jawline couldn't also be excluded from his desirable features.

It was some minutes after nine when he arrived at the restaurant and had already waited over forty minutes for the supposed person that should have been there already. He called his assistant to find out if it was the right person she had spoken with.

He was getting pissed, people didn't usually waste his time rather it was the other way round. In his opinion, Kalani was acting like she was doing him a favor when it was the other way round.

"Where in the hell could this lady be?" He muttered staring at his expensive Patek watch on his wrist, already losing the little ounce of patience that was left in him. He could snap in no time.

The appointment was scheduled for nine and it was already nine forty-two already and the lady wasn't yet around.

He had ordered two bottles of water and had already downed them. He didn't want to find himself drinking in the daytime at a restaurant and in a city he knew little or nothing about.

He was about to order a third bottle of water when he saw a woman that was a little above five feet, curvy, blonde hair, and very attractive walk into the restaurant with a laptop bag and a handbag, each occupying one hand. She had to be his agent, she looked like what he saw on the media but even hotter in person.

Her curves on their own were a killer, she was short but she had the body to complement her height and she was so fucking pretty. Her style was simple and she still looked good, she didn't need to put in any effort to look good but he wasn't going to believe that she hadn't enhanced her body surgically, her mad curves evident of that.

He tried to take his mind away from thinking about her body, she was fucking late to the appointment and he was angry about it. He was as angry and at the same time couldn't stop looking at her body, he hadn't even noticed that she was already seated on one of the empty chairs by his table.

"Hello, I'm agent Kalani Monroe," She said as she opened the zip of her laptop bag that was already placed on the table.

There was barely anybody in the restaurant, just the waiter, the both of them, and a couple sitting by the other end of the restaurant.

"Are you always late to appointments?" He wasn't going to give room for any formalities and he needed to know why she was late? He had chosen to come to New York himself and he didn't even go with security to the restaurant, his personal assistant was back at their hotel working. He didn't take his time to come to the restaurant only to be taken for a joke.

He had a very terrible approach to people whenever he was very angry and he wouldn't even hold back what was in his mind.

Lani could see the anger in his eyes but it was definitely not her fault, she tried to make it early but the traffic just seemed to fuck everything up.

He could be mad for all she cared, she didn't have any control over traffic.

"Excuse me," she asked, pretending not to hear what he said.

Because he was some rich-ass billionaire didn't mean he could treat her like that on their first encounter, fuck him. He could shove his dumb contract up his

ass for all she cared. She didn't mean that though.

"I asked a question because I didn't come here to be taken for a joke" The anger in his eyes became more evident, he could break a table in no time.

"How is that supposed to be my fault?" She snapped back angrily. She wasn't going to take insults, she was late but at least he should have given her a chance to explain. He simply just exploded on her arrival.

"As you know I'm a very busy person and I don't appreciate when I'm not taken seriously"

"Tell me about it," she remarked sarcastically, raising her two eyebrows.

A simple I'm sorry could have fixed everything but that just didn't seem to happen when there were two proud people in a place.

If he was going to be an oik about it then she was ready to also be a bitch about it.

"Is that how your agency treats their clients, then if so I wonder who still goes there. You know, I could make the agency crumble within the blink of an eye" He remarked smiling. The waiter had been standing behind the counter observing the both of them, he didn't want to interrupt because there was a possibility that they were both going to insult him and drag him into the situation. He hadn't figured out that it was Derek yet.

"There's nothing you can do" Lani wasn't quite sure about her statement, she knew he could do anything and everything to make sure the agency crumbled but there was no way he was going to hurt her pride.

"If you think so" He smirked wickedly.

"If you're such an amazing agent then why haven't I heard about you anywhere. Don't tell me that all this pride is just for show"

Lani had already had enough, she wasn't sure she could take any of it any longer. She was going to end up doing something stupid and something she regretted.

" Tell you what, I'm done. Go find yourself a good agent that's going to take all your bullshit and stupid rantings because I'm as good as done here" She picked up her bags and got up to leave.

"Your bad. Your company is going to spend a lifetime searching" she yelled as she approached the door causing the couple that were at the other end to shift their gaze to her.

Derek was astonished and at the same time didn't give a flying fuck.

...

Lani was as angry as a raging beast when she arrived home. Derek had totally ruined her day, if he thought everybody was going to lick his feet because he had so much money the he definitely had to be wrong.

The look of frustration and anger surged on her face. She knew her boss was going to be mad, He would snap on the spot. What had happened could even trigger a job loss as the agency always took it's clients first no matter what went down. He was definitely not going to listen to her and hear her side of the story, she already knew her boss too well.

She had always tried to avoid such encounters with clients and it wasn't even an official appointment and if Artem found out it was going to increase the chances of her getting fired.

Fuck Derek, an unofficial appointment could make her loose her job.

She had worked so hard for every single thing, to give her a shot at the top but everything would end up ruined because of a silly appointment.

She had serious anger issues,if she was locked in a neat apartment and she was angry after her phase the apartment wouldn't be close to being recognizable.

She had the problem since she was little, sometimes people even said she had bipolar disorder.

She knew Anna-Leigh was going to call soon to ask how the appointment went but she wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone so she switched off her phone.

Her problematic mom too might have wanted to call. She wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone.

Annie was the only person she told about it. She didn't tell Danica, Camari and Gia, her other girlfriends. They would have gone bonkers on her. It wasn't like she wasn't going to tell them eventually but Anna-Leigh was the only one likely to keep her mouth shut, not like they weren't all blabbermouths though.

She wasn't prepared to lose her job, Artem wouldn't even take it lightly with her,that would have been one of the company 's biggest clients.

She found it hard to think and could not even think straight because Artem wasn't going to listen to the shit she had to say. It was not her fault, if he hadn't been so rude nothing would have happened. She didn't regret anything she did. maybe she regretted it a tiny bit because she was going to lose her job but damn.

She walked to the fridge to get herself a drink.

She needed it badly.

...

Maybe he had been wrong about the whole thing, there might have been a reason but from their first encounter he could tell that she was as proud as he was.

Derek sat on the bed, his hair was roughled with water trickling down his head.

He was downing a bottle of 1942 tequila. Alcohol was going to solve the problem for the moment.

He was going to make sure she lost her job and even if she did not get fired, he was going to make life hard for her.

Nobody had gotten on his nerves in a long time.

Even after his crazy thoughts he could not stop thinking about how pretty she was.

He was already getting a bit high. He sprawled across the bed and didn't even know when he slept off.