Right Girl for the Job

"You're late." Sandra said as Javiera practically ran in through the front door. "I know, I know. I'm sorry!" Javiera said, walking over to the backroom and rolling up her sleeves. "It's okay. It's been dead." Sandra said, noticing how tired and frustrated Javiera looked as she washed her hands. She watched her for a second, noting how she was muttering angrily beneath her breath, a habit she had when something was really bothering her. "Are you okay?" She said, walking over to the fridge in the back and pulling over two waters. Javiera sighed. "I'm am so not okay, it's not even funny." Javiera said, picking up a towel and drying off. "I swear I have the worst luck." "What happened?" Sandra said, walking over to her. Javiera slipped on a green apron, tying it behind her back before reaching out for the water bottle. "Notice anything different about me this morning?" Javiera asked. Sandra looked her over, studying her carefully but after a few minutes she shrugged. "I give up." She said, taking a sip of water. Javiera sighed and moved into the prepping room, looking at the list of orders for the day. "I'm not wearing my bike helmet." Javiera said. "Two Funerals? I hate doing funerals." "Oh yeah. Did you ride the bus? That would explain why you're late." Sandra said, picking up an empty bucket and prepping it. "Yeah. I rode the bus. I hate the bus." Javiera said. "So why did you ride?" Sandra asked. Javiera turned to look at Sandra, trying to control her temper. Javiera had always struggled with her temper but she had over the years developed different techniques to help her control it. "Last night some Jerks in a giant black SUV hit me." Javiera said stiffly, crossing her arms over her chest. Sandra's eyes widened. "What? Are you serious?" She asked. Javiera nodded. "Dead serious." She replied. "Well, are you okay?" Sandra asked. "Sore but okay." Javiera said, turning back to a bucket she was filling with water. "Holy s**t. That's intense. And your bike?" Sandra asked. Javiera moaned. "Totaled." Javiera said, turning off the faucet. "Wow. That sucks." Sandra said. "Well what about the jerks? Did they at least offer to pay for it?" "Oh yeah. Don't remind me about that asshole!" Javiera said. "What? What happened?" Sandra asked. "This guy- gets out of the back seat of the SUV, dressed sharp as a tack in some ridiculously expensive Italian suit. You can tell he has money, has a driver and some other guy riding in the front seat, plus a ridiculously glamorous looking woman in the back, and he starts asking me if I'm okay." Javiera said, drying off her hands and moving the bucket. "And?" Sandra asked, still not understanding why he was an asshole. "He asks me a bunch of questions, apologizes and offers to write me a check." Javiera said. "A check? Who is this guy?" Sandra asked. "Yeah, I know." Javiera continued, moving into the front room of the shop and pulling carnations out of a freezer. "So, did he write you a check?" Sandra asked. Javiera put the carnations down on the counter and turned to look at Sandra. "Yeah, see for yourself." Javiera said, moving towards her backpack on the floor and pulling out the folded check. Sandra watched an exasperated Javiera and wondered what could be so bad to work her up this way. "Woah!" Sandra said as she read the check. "You've gotta be kidding me." "I know. He acts like mr. nice guy, responsible member of society and then writes me a check for $10 grand. Jerk." Javiera muttered, getting back to work. Sandra stared at the check for a few minutes, unbelieving. Someone had actually handed a girl he didn't know a check for $10 grand... made out to cash? "This is a terrible joke." Sandra said. "It's so rude." "I know!" Javiera said again, beginning to mutter beneath her breath. "Did you get his license plate or anything like that?" Sandra asked. "I don't think it would do any good and no, I didn't. "Javiera said. Sandra sighed, looking back down at the check. "Have you tried cashing it?" Sandra asked. "Please- they'd laugh me out of the bank, or worse, arrest me for fraud." Javiera replied. "The nerve of some people...wait." Sandra said, finally reading the name on top of the check. "What?" Javiera asked, without looking up. "I know this name. Peroni... Peroni..." Sandra said, moving quickly to the book by the front desk. "What?" Javiera asked, this time turning and looking in her direction. Sandra reappeared a few minutes later. "Look. Matteo Peroni. His secretary called this morning, placed a very large order." Sandra said, holding the book out to Javiera. Javiera stared at her for a moment before taking it. She was right. The name on the order was Matteo Peroni and he had called just this morning for a large order for... "This afternoon? How are we supposed to have this ready by this afternoon?" Javiera asked. "It's fine, I'll help you." Sandra said. "This is perfect." "Why?" Javiera asked, raising her eyebrow. "Because, when you deliver the flowers, and after you collect payment of course, you can hand him his check and tell him exactly what you think." Sandra said decidedly. Javiera stared at the order for a second and then back at Sandra. "You know what? You're right!" Javiera said. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. Get me sound flowers... I have 15 arrangements to make." Sandra laughed and clapped her hands together as she rushed to the freezers. Sandra had known Javiera for six years now. She'd come into her flower shop asking for a job pretty much fresh out of high school. Javiera was a strange girl, with no particular ambitions other than to survive and stay out of trouble. She wasn't too interested in going to school but she loved riding her bike and reading. She'd often wondered where she came from or what her family was like but all she would tell her was that she was on her own. It was a pity that a girl as beautiful as her would hide herself away the way she did. Javiera went home right after work, never went out, turned down any guy who asked her out and was in general, a very private person. Still, it was only natural that men were attracted to her- with her long, ash blonde hair and cobalt eyes, she was startlingly pretty. "Javi- if you like you can take the truck." Sandra said as she worked the flowers. "No, thank you. I couldn't. Besides, I'll just get another bike next week." Javiera said. Sandra had suggested this before but Javiera was a very proud woman. "Then maybe you'll let me advance your pay so you can get it today instead of later." Sandra said but she already knew the answer. "no, thanks! I'll be fine. A few days on the bus won't hurt me." Javiera said. Sandra sighed. "Well, maybe when you see that jerk today, you'll get him to actually pay for your bike." Sandra said angrily. Javiera chuckled- it was a humorless sound. "You know what? I wouldn't want his money now anyway." Javiera said. "jerk." Sandra tried not to laugh as Javiera went back to her muttering. ---- Matteo Peroni sat in his office, his mind on a woman... but this time it wasn't his wife. He knew the girl from last night... what was her name? Anyway, he knew she would not be happy when she saw the check. In fact, he was sure she would think it was a prank but he needed to see her again. He replayed the scene from the night before over and over- her reflexes were spectacular and she was pretty fearless. He chuckled remembering how she'd yelled at him and his men. Of course, he could be wrong about her, she could just be some regular girl but there was no way to no that for sure until he met her again. He'd spent months, MONTHS, combing through his men, watching, studying, even testing them but none had quite come up to snuff. They didn't know about stealth, or diplomacy. They were all the same, trained to be discreet but move with brute strength. Besides, most everyone knew them and that was a nuisance. Luckily, things had been pretty peaceful over the last year and so, he had stopped his search, thinking maybe he didn't need a new Sergio. But after what he saw last night, he was suddenly aware that he needed a good person. It occurred to him that the girl might not come looking for him this morning. He realized she might just angrily tear up the check and walk away and so he considered going to see her at the flower shop she worked at. It could come off as creepy but who was he kidding? He was a Don- most of the things he did were going to seem creepy to someone. Still, if he wanted to see her in action, he would need to get her into the circuit so then the best and most obvious solution came to mind. He would place an order to be delivered to his house this afternoon and he would speak to her then. In the meantime, he'd ordered a full background check- he needed to know everything about that girl... Java... Jima... whatever her name was. A knock at the door suddenly brought Matteo back from his thoughts. "Hello?" A soft voice at the door said as Viviana came in. Matteo smiled, noticing that she was holding their beautiful son in her arms. "What are you doing here?" He said with a smile, getting up immediately and taking the baby from her. "Careful..." she said, helping him. "Hello." He whispered, looking at Viviana and leaning in for a light kiss. "Davide misses his daddy." Viviana said. Davide- Matteo had suggested it. There wasn't a single person involved in last year's events who didn't feel guilty about the death of David Harris. He was a good man, one of the few truly good men out there who did more for his community in his life than anyone could hope to. It was a shame, a waste and a pity that he died the way he did. When sometime had passed, they'd decided to use Davide in his honor- a name that they were both very please with. "I'll never get tired of looking at him." Matteo said. Viviana smiled. "Sure, you're not the one who wakes up at 5 every morning to feed him." She teased. "We were on our way home from a visit to the pediatrician." "Who drove you?" He asked. "Alfonsino." Viviana said. "Well, I'll take you home." Matteo said. Viviana raised a brow. "It's a bit late for lunch." She said, noting it was almost 3. "I'm taking the afternoon off." He said. Viviana smiled. "That's a nice surprise." She said, kissing him on the cheek. "I am always full of nice surprises."