Page 49 of Strictly Business

“Are you nervous?” Wyatt asks me, nodding down to where I’m twisting the fingers from both of my hands together in front of me.

“A little bit,” I admit, although I would rather not show any fear in front of Ruth.

“Don’t be,” he says. “You know this stuff.”

“I know,” I say. “I’m not nervous about that. Like I know we have done the very best work we could have for the client, and I know what I need to say and all of that. I’m just always nervous when I have to speak in front of strangers in case I get all tongue tied and can’t get my words out.”

“Just pretend there’s only Wyatt and me in the room with you,” Ruth says. “You’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” I say, surprised that she’s the one to be helping me.

I know she thaws a bit in front of Wyatt because she obviously doesn’t want him to see her raging mean girl side, but still, that was a gesture that felt almost like someone being friendly. Maybe my asking her to have a drink last night finally made her thaw towards me. Maybe we can actually be friends now, or at least colleagues who don’t actively dislike each other.

“That’s good advice,” Wyatt says and Ruth beams. I resist the urge to roll my eyes yet again. Some things will never change “Isn’t there one about imagining the people you are talking to naked too?”

“Oh yeah. Imagining a room full of naked Italian men is going to do wonders for my concentration,” I say with a laugh.

Wyatt frowns at me and I check quickly that Ruth isn’t looking. She isn’t and I blow him a kiss. He smiles and shakes his head. We reach the offices and step inside. I once more appreciate the wonder that is air conditioning as I step out of the heat and into the cool air of the lobby.

This place is the exact opposite of our hotel. It is grand, but there is nothing cosy or homely about it. Everything is monochrome and everything looks like it has sharp edges somehow, like if I was to sit down, I feel like I would somehow end up with a cut leg. Even the woman behind the desk in the lobby matches that sharp looking aesthetic. She’s wearing a tight black skirt with a short white jumper (yes, a jumper in this heat) and she has black hair styled to within an inch of its life.

She says something in Italian and we all look at each other and then Wyatt steps forward.

“Sorry, do you speak English?” he asks.

“Of course,” the woman replies in English with a slight accent. She taps one black lacquered nail on the desk as she speaks. “How can I help you?”

“We’re from Smart Marketing Solutions. My name is Wyatt McAvoy. We have a meeting with Mr Bellisario,” he says.

“Ah yes, he is expecting you,” she says. She finally smiles and while it softens her face, she still looks like she is all hard edges. It’s a most bizarre look and I keep blinking trying to see how she is doing it. She gets up and walks around from behind her desk. As I knew she would be, she is wearing stilettos that would be high enough to give the average person vertigo. “Follow me please.”

She clacks off surprisingly quickly in her ankle breakers and the three of us follow her. She leads us through a maze of white walls and glass until we arrive at a door that she knocks on. A lone man sits in the room, and he looks up through the glass wall and beckons to the woman.

“Wyatt McAvoy and the marketing team from Smart Marketing Solutions are here,” she says.

“Ah good, send them on in,” the man says, standing up. The woman nods to us and moves aside, holding her arm out in gesture that means we should enter, and we go into the room. This room looks slightly less intimidating than the lobby.

The man who is greeting us is dressed in what, at first glance, appears to be casual clothes, but when you notice the name tags, you realize this man is wearing around twenty thousand dollars’ worth of clothes. He wears them well, like someone used to luxury. From a distance, I thought he was about thirty, but now that he’s closer, I can see where his tanned skin looks a little leathery and the feathery wrinkles around his eyes and I think he’s nearer fifty, although he’s in damned good shape.

CHAPTER36

Serena

The man introduces himself to Wyatt first and my suspicion is confirmed – this man is Roberto Bellisario, CEO of Bellisario’s and a fashion legend. He reaches me next and smiles and extends his hand.

“Roberto Bellisario,” he says.

“Hi Mr Bellisario. I’m Serena West,” I say.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he says. He winks at me. “And none of this Mr Bellisario stuff. Call me Roberto or Rob.”

I nod in agreement, already knowing that I won’t. Lastly, Ruth is greeted and then Mr Bellisario indicates that we should all sit down.

“If you guys want to get yourselves set up, go right ahead,” he says. “I think everything you will need is here, but if not, Dante in the office next door will help you. I’m going to go and chase down some refreshments and I’ll be back with a couple of others in around fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you,” all three of us say as he leaves.

Ruth is the first one to move. She busies herself setting up the laptop and I look over my notes in my notebook one more time.

---