EpisodeFour
1131 Words
Nothing Personal
Within minutes, Alexander already had a small plate of aperitifs taken from the well-stocked buffet table and a glass of white wine while the dark-haired widow had a few broiled shrimps and fried chicken nuggets on hers. They settled on one of the dining room tables that was a good distance away from the other luncheon diners of the yacht.
“So, what’s this supposedly important thing that you have to tell me, Linda?” The elderly billionaire inquired with slightly raised eyebrows, taking a bite from a hefty slice of Chorizo de Balboa as he continued, “Does it have something to do with your plan that you mentioned to me over the phone a few days ago? That you plan to invest in my company ?”
The retired but still stunning actress waved at a passing waiter so she can have a drink from one of the several glasses of red wine on his tray before replying, “Well that depends, Alex dear. After all, you already have a new financier who you deemed worthy enough to have a private lunch alone with you in your suite,” Linda replied with a petulant pout while she sensually peered at him from the top of her wine glass.
Alexander laughed with a hollow sound, his supposed amusement not reaching his almond-shaped eyes. The finely aged executive was not unaware of his deceased best friend’s latest spouse’s efforts to get him under the sheets. Even when his best friend was still alive, this cutting and self-absorbed woman had already blatantly flirted with him, even when she was clearly dating his childhood pal, Ricardo. And he’s no fool to fall for such questionable maneuvers from a suspected venomous vixen such as she.
However, Alex was not averse to use himself as bait in order to hook this coquettish widow to invest her inherited massive sums in his corporation, especially since he plans to expand his present enterprise to include blimps and planes for future tour packages and sightseeing offers.
“Yes, she does plan to invest, as well,” agreed Alexander then quickly added a sudden afterthought, “Same as you, based on your last call to me. Don’t worry, you two aren’t the only ones that I’ve approached regarding investing in Trinity tours, and both of you won’t be the last ones, either.”
“Alex dear,” Linda purred seductively as she leaned towards her next intended husband and started to play with one of his single-diamond decorated platinum cuff links. “Forgive my frankness, but I don’t see why you have to get involved with ‘another woman’ to attain your financial goals. Or any of your life goals, for that matter…” stated Linda as she purposely ended her last statement with a meaningful pause.
Alexander’s bushy right eyebrow rose to an impressive height at the two heavily-stressed words that his lunch companion uttered. Instantly, his protective side was triggered by the phrase which presented Hailey as his mistress while this assuming and very entitled dame was hinting that she should be his wife. True, this unsympathetic admirer of his has played this same game in the past. However, this the most blatant display of possessiveness that Alex has experienced so far from her.
He would take a moment to answer since he was first looking for the most appropriate words to use to properly phrase his reply…
“Linda, I sincerely thank you for your concern but I believe that I have enough experience and successes to be able to reach my overall objectives in life, whether it be business or a personal endeavour,” Alex explained with a wide grin, as he gingerly pulled back his sinewed arm away from Linda hoping she wouldn’t notice.
However, to his chagrin, she did!
“I’m only trying to help, Alexander,” the aging Spanish lady remarked soothingly while trying to grasp at the blue-eyed entrepreneur’s wrist once more without being too obvious, yet failing nonetheless. “After all, no man is an island, you know.”
The 45-year old Trinity Tours owner chuckled, “But I’m not alone, Linda. I have three adult children who love me dearly. As a matter of fact, my youngest is here with me in this tour, as you are well aware…”
The Spanish diva’s thoughts: Don’t remind me of your bitchy blond kid, Alex… UGH!
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Speaking of the “blond kid”…
“Honestly, my two siblings and I are currently looking for someone to take my mom’s place, my father included,” admitted Katya as she took a serving of Gazpacho and motioned one waiter to add a bit of wine to it. “But we have not found anyone who is compatible, sincere and qualified enough for that role yet. And the fact that my dad has not shown any interest in the opposite s*x for quite some time has made our search all the more difficult.”
The blond business protege paused as she took a sip of her cool, refreshing drink, sat back then meaningfully grinned and raised her half-filled glass cup in Hailey’s direction, “Until today, that is…”
It took the astonished redhead a while to grasp what her blond companion was trying to say. However, Hailey immediately mentioned the first concern that she had the moment she realized that her interest with Alex was more than just business.
“But aren’t you guys bothered by our massive age gap?” Hailey worriedly inquired as she dipped a crispy croqueta in the mayo and mustard dressing which was in a tiny bowl beside the said dish. “Look, you’re about the same age as me which means I could easily pass as his own daughter. Won’t people judge him as a pedophile or something if we do end up together?”
Katya almost chokes on her drink at what she heard. However, after a moment of continuous coughing and gagging, her wide smile soon returned in full force after a long and very deep breath.
“My dad was never one to care about what people think about him, and neither do we,” clarified the 23-year-old top heavy lass while calmly refilling her glass. “And if the same applies to you, then I believe that you two will go smashingly well together.”
Hailey’s thoughts: Well yeah, but it looks like that Spanish dragon lady has her sights set on Alex as well. And if she wins, then he might not get a chance to see his youngest get married and have kids. Sigh, look likes I’ll be going after a guy for more reasons than just ‘cause I like him. Not that I’m complaining, though…
- Writer
