Victoria’s Secret

It’s early morning. Victoria is busy starting her day. For work and for her personal stuff. She needs to eat her breakfast, shower and revise documents. That’s her morning routine. She wakes up at half past five to start. She goes straight to the shower to freshen up herself and to wake her spirit up. She then sip her cup of coffee, black with no sugar. With her long black hair, she tied it in a messy bun and went straight to the kitchen. She is leaving with her parents. She’s the only daughter of a wealthy family who runs a Winery. Her life is just perfect. Rich, beautiful and smart woman. Men are mesmerized with her beauty. “Do you want something to eat?” Their helper asks. “No, thanks.” She answers happily. She goes back to her coffee. Start to read some of the documents presented by her secretary yesterday. While she reads, she tries to finish her coffee too. Suddenly, her Mom appeared. “Good morning, Victoria.” greets her Mom. “Oh, good morning, Mom!” She lay down her cup. She stands up to give her Mom a kiss. “How’s your sleep?” Her Mom, Lucia, scratched her head. “Not that good. I cannot sleep because of my head.” She answered. “Mom, i think you have to go to your Doctor to check what is wrong.” She suggested. “Aah! No, I am fine. I think too much I guess.” She sat beside her and sip her cup of coffee that the helper served. Lucia is a loving mother. She dedicated her life to her family and most especially to Victoria. She’s like a sister at the same time as a friend and Mom to her. No one but her knows Victoria very well. They were in the middle of conversation when Don Arturo emerged. Before he can even sit, Victoria stands up to greet him. “Good morning, Dad.” She said while she gave a kiss on his cheek. “Good morning.” He coldly replied. Victoria felt disappointed but she brushed it out of her sleeve. That’s how her father treats her. Very cold, strict and perfectionist. All her life she tried to win his favor and to make him proud of what she can do. But it’s still not enough for him. “Good morning!” Lucia greeted him too. She stood up to get the newspaper for him. That’s his routine in the morning. When he wakes up, he reads the newspaper while he drinks his coffee. But even when they are on the same table, it seems like he is not there. He gently opened the newspaper to read. Victoria drinks her coffee as fast as she could so she can avoid her father. In three gulps, she finished. “Mom, Dad, I will prepare for work,” she said, and carried her documents with her. If she is around her father, she seems like being choked. She cannot move nor can speak freely. It’s like he always sees everything she does and makes negative comments on them. She rather avoided him than making an argument. She wears her brown trousers paired with a black blouse and brown suit jacket and a pair of her 3inches brown stilettos. Her hair is dropped down and she wears makeup. She’s more comfortable with those than on dresses when she goes to the office. She drives her Tesla car that her mom gave when she was 18 years old. Her secretary greeted her when she entered the building. "Good morning, Vicky," greeted Lara. They are first name basis if they are together but in front of others Lara calls her Ma'am. "Good morning, Lara," she replied. Lara gave her the papers she requested while she was on her way to the office. "And also you have a meeting with Mr. Delmar early this afternoon. I guess I already told you beforehand. And also, your father set a meeting to Mr. Cedrick Porter," she continued. Victoria stopped. "With who?" Her eyebrows curled. "Mr. Cedrick Porter. Do you know him?" She continued to do her things on the computer. Of course she remembers him. He is the son of the friend of her father who she dislikes. Aside from not knowing how to smile, he is a silent guy who always looks at her very suspiciously. "Thank you, Lara. You may go." Hearing of Cedrick Porter's name made her morning bad. She doesn't really like him and she doesn't even know why. She just doesn't like him. On the other hand, Don Arturo and Lucia are still at the dining table talking. Lucia raised her voice while talking to her husband. "Why on earth do you have to do that?!" Her voice is high. "You cannot do that to our daughter Arturo. She cannot do that!" she continued. "We don't have a choice. If we don't do it then our family, our business and reputation will be ruined. You like that?" he answered. "We can find another way to save the company. Just don't do that to Victoria," she calmly told him. "What other maybe?" he replied. "I.. I don't know. Think of it, Arturo," she lowered her voice. She felt sorry for Victoria. Don Arturo just told her that he planned to marry their daughter to his friend's son who is also a businessman, not Just a businessman but a very influential person. "I am certain of what I want to do and whether she likes it or not, she will do what I say! And you cannot do anything about it!" he firmly said. Lucia let a deep sigh. Yes, she knows that she cannot do anything about it anymore. If he said YES it will be YES and no is no. Don Arturo's phone rings so he picks it up. It’s the father of Cedrick. “Hello, Claudio,” he gladly answered the phone. “I just want to confirm what we talked about the other time.” “Oh, of course it’s final. My daughter will meet your son today. I already arranged it.” “Good! Good! Then if they like each other we can talk about business, right?” He is becoming a businessman again. “Of course! I make sure that our kids will be together and for us to be partners too.” Don Arturo ended the call. Lucia let a deep sigh upon hearing the conversation of the two. She cannot believe that her husband sold his daughter just to save his company. “I cannot believe you!” she stood up on her seat and stomped her feet and walked away from him. Cedrick prepared himself very well for the meeting with Victoria. Even before, he already likes her but he doesn’t have the courage to court her. He is not like the other rich people who have all the guts and courage to show their affection or liking to the girl they want. He is very reserved and he is not a sociable guy. Work is his world. His father arranged this meeting for him. He doesn’t know why but he doesn’t want to question too because this is already the opportunity for him to get to know Victoria. He doesn’t even know if she will come or not. It’s been half past seven. His heart is a bit pounding. He is nervous. His hands sweat while he is patiently waiting for Victoria. He planned to be there earlier than her so he wouldn't feel awkward when she appeared in front of him. He checked his watch. It’s been ten minutes past the time they're supposed to meet. He takes a sip of his water. There is a big what if in his head. What if she won’t come? He decided to wait more. His head tells him that she might be in a traffic jam and that is why she is late. Or she might be so busy that she didn’t see the time. Twenty minutes past. He let a deep sigh. Okay, I will not wait any longer. In his mind. But he waited more until it became thirty minutes. That’s the time he decided to go. He told the waiter that he will be going. He drove home feeling down. He waited for this day but it ended with nothing. Before he went home, he decided to have a drink or two in a bar. He ordered a shot of martini and another one after the first. He is questioning himself. Why and what on earth is his problem when it comes to girls? He is already 35 years old. He wants to have his own family too but why he cannot have it. He is a good looking man, rich, educated and on top of that he has a top notch family background. He stopped on his thoughts when his phone rang. He reached it in his pocket and looked at who was calling. He nearly dropped his phone when he saw Vicky on his phone screen. He doesn’t know how she got his number and she doesn’t know too that he got her number. He clears his throat before answering. “Yes, hello?” “Hello, Mr. Porter. This is Victoria,” she said in a low voice. “Hello Victoria,” he answered coldly. “I want to apologise for not coming earlier. I am so sorry. I had an emergency in the office,” she explained. “No problem for me.” he is cold toward her. “Can i make it up to you? Maybe tomorrow lunch? Or dinner? If it’s fine and you are available?” He thinks before he answers. He tries to fight on saying yes just like that but…. “Dinner will be fine?” he blurted. But too late when he realizes. “Great! Then it’s fixed. See you tomorrow.” She turned it off. After the call ended, a smile bloomed in Cedrick’s face. He felt happy even though he felt disappointed a while ago. On Victoria’s side. She is frowning after the call. She had to do it because her father knew that she didn’t go for the meeting with Cedrick. He scolded her for not listening to him and for turning down Cedrick. And now, she is preparing herself for his father when she is home. To be continued..