Chapter 1
It was a chilly spring morning, but it was always hustling and bustling on the corners of the city as people were on their way to work, this always caused the peak hour traffic that Zach hated today. His face was hard and taut with anger and regret, he spent all his vacation days in his hometown of Rome Italy, with his long-time girlfriend of two years, when she decided to break up with him and when all this time he was going to propose to her on the day of their anniversary.
“Dammit, how could Sarah do this to me?” Zach was scolding himself in the cool confines of his sports car; he then let his mind take him back to the break-up of his relationship and loosing the only girl that he thought he loved.
“Zach, there is something I have to say to you?” Sarah had said to him at one of his parents’ restaurants in Italy, they where having lunch and he had a surprise for her when dessert came, he held her hand and then smiled at her
“Well, I also have something to say but after dessert” he said to her and she smiled, her charming smile of agreement but she couldn’t hold in the fact of something eating at her so she said “I, think we should break up!” he did hear her when she said that break up word and he said “I love you….” Then realization inked in when her words came that they should break up, he didn’t want to argue with her in front of his parents and staff, and she got up and left him sitting there in thought and alone. Sarah was his college sweetheart and that they met in their last years of studies, she was studying to be a interior director, and he was studying to be architect, she was beautiful and she took his breath away when ever she looked at him with those huge green eyes and that hair of gold reddish locks on her head blowing in the wind, she was tall enough to be a model, and she could lure any man into thinking that she was the one for them, and that was exactly what she did too him making him believe that it was love at first sight. The sound of a car hooting at him from behind brought him back to reality and he drove off to his business that he owned in the busiest part of the city of New York.
Crystal was squashed between people as she boarded the train to get to work, for she was definitely late and her boss will get a fit when he finds out that she overslept, life was tough because she had to juggle a dead end job with low pay and night school classes in a job that she wants to do and a career that she will love to have. As the train stopped at the ninth street station she had to follow the moving crowd of people to exit the station and onto the busy streets of New York City, she then looked at her watch and saw that she was extremely late, it was nine thirty and she was supposed to start an hour ago. When she reached Da Lucia Architect oral’s office building, she greeted the security and went straight to her workstation on the fifth floor, but before she could sit down Mr. Ares her boss came up to her “your late again, Miss Turner, what do you have to say for yourself?” Mr. Ares was a tall skinny man with thick rimmed glasses, “I know, sir and I’m sorry it is just that my classes went until one o’clock this morning” Crystal said to him and he then looked at her with a look of triumph in his eyes, and she thought what was that look for, is he going to give her a warning or what. “Well, Miss Turner this is the umpteenth time that you are late, and it gives me with great pleasure to take you to our owner’s office to get your final pay and you will be gone...” “But sir, I...” “No buts, don’t sit down follow me.” And with that he turned and walked out the office door to the escalators and waited for her to come and join him, she felt as all eyes was on her, and they where. She then straightened up and walked with confidence out of the office and to the lifts. Crystal always wanted to know how the president of the company looked like and she was nervous, for she was losing her day job it was the only income she had coming in for her, and she didn’t know what to do next.
Zach was standing and staring out the window when a knock on his door, made him shout out for that person to enter, for who could it be that would disturb is thoughts on how to win Sarah back, as the door opened a slight bit, his secretary Marinda put her head around the door and announced that one of his business managers, was here to see to him after waving his hand for her to leave, he then turned around to look out of the window again of his office that he has called home. “Good day Mr. Da Lucia, I have come to talk to you about the disobedience of one of my employees working under me and I have brought that particular person with me!” Mr. Ares was saying to him, and he didn’t pay much attention to him for his mind was not on business but on his personal life, “Miss Turner you may come in?” Mr. Ares called outside the door for Crystal to enter.
Zach turned around, from where he stood, in walked the most beautiful girl, she was of medium height and her eyes was golden brown in color and her hair was tied back into a bun and was of a light brown in color and in his office light it shone gold, as she walked her hips swayed in motion to the steps that she took. She filled this room with her presence and he felt something stir inside of him, he had to sit down before his legs gave out on him. He then gestured for them to sit down, but his eyes never left her face, and then he saw the tiredness in her eyes, and the sleepless nights that she might’ve spent showing around those mesmerizing eyes of hers, her lips were rosy red, and he wondered how it will feel to kiss them. He had to get his head back to business before he begins fantasizing. “So, what can I do for you, Pablo Ares!” he asked his employee who was sitting opposite him and that gorgeous creature was on the other end as to where he sat. “well, sir this young lady her has been coming in late every day for the past two months and she keeps on coming up with a lame excuse that she has night classes that it ends too late.” Pablo said to Zach, and looked at Crystal whose head was bowed, and then he smiled to himself. When Crystal walked into the Massive office of her manager’s boss, she thought that he would be an old chubby man with silver hair and an authorative look. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine him to be a tall godly like person, with dark blue eyes and evening black hair, he looked to be in his late twenties early thirties and he had that aura of authoritive around him and knew how to use it, she was grateful when he offered her to sit down, for her legs was giving way to her and she was having the feeling of butterflies flying around the pit of her stomach. His office was large, with a book shelf on one side, and a door that might lead to the bathroom and a large oak desk in the center of the room, filled with sheets of paper and a small bar on the far-left corner of the office. Crystal shot her head up when she heard Zach talk to her “excuse me sir…” she had to ask again as she didn’t hear what he had said. “I said, is this true what Mr. Ares is telling me, that you are late, and I want to know the reason why to these accusations!” Zach asked her, “Yes, it is true that I am late everyday, and I come up with those excuses is because it is the truth and I was brought up to always tell the truth and that is what I was telling.” Zach was staring at her as she answered him with such oomph that he believed her and the way she looked at him, he couldn’t deny the fact that she was telling the truth, he could see the hurt and pain in her eyes that he wanted to kiss it away. “Do you have proof of these studies…miss...?” “Turner, I mean Crystal Turner and yes I do have my paperwork as proof...” she replied to him and then he smiled and nodded at her and turned towards Pablo, “so why do you want to release her of her duties Pablo.” He asked him, and Pablo looked at his boss and his usual composed posture and tone was unable to become steady as he spoke “well, she is always late, and she is lying she has no proof what so ever! And I can’t have an employee to be late in my department if you start at eight you start at eight and leave at four o’clock in the afternoons sir,” Zach then nodded and said in his most commandative voice that made Crystal sit right up in her seat. “Crystal you may leave and get back to your desk and I will call for you, if I need to ask you anymore questions.” With that said Crystal stood up and walked out of the office. Zach watched as she left his office and felt as if he lost something and it was leaving a hole in the center of his heart.
