The CEO's Manny Contract

CHAPTER TWO

"It’ll be just until I get back” Sniff-sniff “I hope you don’t mind, Lesley; no one else was free, and I just can’t leave her hanging”

“Of course I don’t mind. Have a safe trip, Claire, and I’m sorry again for your loss” Alexander Lesley Rossi ended the call and fell back into bed, his forearm over his eyes. Claire was a good friend of his, hence the reason she called him by his much hated middle name. It was an inside joke between the both of them, and he always pretended to be pissed at her for it. But he didn’t have the heart to correct her today of all days.

They had first met at Nanny Poppins the elite childcare agency he used to work at until he quit and took over the family restaurant five years ago, after his mom and younger brother passed away in a car accident. The news of her father’s death was as big a shock to him as it was to her. He could imagine what she’s going through right now. Even though he didn’t grow up with a father, he lost his mom when he was about her age, too, leaving him all alone in the world.

Checking the clock on his nightstand, he saw that he still had almost two hours to prep. He called Vito, the manager of his restaurant, to inform him that he won’t be coming in today and to go on with the daily activities without him, which won’t be much of a problem. He trusted Vito with everything, and really, what’s a few days away from the restaurant anyway?

The name of his restaurant was "Rossi's" named after his grandfather, Mr Ivan Rossi. Rossi's was a restaurant that made you think of home. Warmth and comfort were the two words that came to mind whenever someone entered the restaurant for the first time, followed by the mouthwatering aromas emanating from the kitchens. It wasn't exactly fancy, but it's pristine and has a welcoming atmosphere that just makes you want to sit back and enjoy the delicious food and wine.

Ivan and Julia Rossi, Xander's grandparents, opened the restaurant almost sixty years ago with very little and expanded it as the years went by.

Xander's mother, Gloria Rossi, took over the restaurant when they passed away, and she loved it with an intensity that Xander and his little brother didn't understand. She even called the restaurant her "husband" sometimes when she was feeling playful, which was often.

He shook thoughts of his pasts and his losses from his head and got out of bed. Or at least he tried to, but his great dane, Phantom refused to get off him. The huge white dog wasn't asleep. He was just lazy and refused to get up no matter how much Xander pushed. But he knew what would get him off...

"Wanna go for a walk, boy?" The word walk got Phantoms ears to perk up. He got up, shot out of bed like a rocket to go retrieve his leash.

Meanwhile, Xander stood up, put on his running shorts and trainers. Phantom came back with his leash in his mouth, which he handed over the Xander. They got ready and went for their 5-mile morning run.

About an hour later, he was sitting in the huge, immaculate lobby of Vivacious HQ a few minutes early, waiting for 8 o’clock to go meet Evangeline Daniels.

Wow, the Evangeline Daniels. He had heard about her, even seen her in a couple of magazines here and there even though he’s never bought a product of hers. A beautiful woman if he’s ever seen one, that’s for sure! He didn’t know how to feel about babysitting her kids, though. He didn't even know she had kids. They never came up whenever he saw her pictures online. He hoped to hell they weren't little spoilt rich kids. He hasn’t done this in years and never thought he’d be doing it again. The things he’d do for Claire, he thought with a sigh.

Just then, she walked in with her little girls in tow. Dressed in a skirt suit, Sophie Daniels wasn’t supposed to look as sexy as she did, but it appeared to accentuate all her curvy features. Everyone seemed to like her and adore the little girls because most people either greeted her or even stopped to exchange a few friendly words.

As if she sensed him looking at her from across the wide lobby, she turned to look directly at him, pinning him with her dark chocolate gaze. For a couple of seconds, their stares held, and it was broken by one of her daughter tugging at her hand, saying something he couldn’t make out. Evangeline Daniels then walked off with the little girls hot on her expensive red bottom heels. He saw her stop at the receptionist’s table and speak briefly to the young man behind the desk. Hopefully telling the young man to expect him at 8. He checked his watch and saw that he had only six minutes to go.

Striding into her private elevator, which goes to the top floor of Vivacious HQ, Sophie was still wondering about the handsome green-eyed stranger in the lobby. She didn’t recognize him, which is odd for her because although the Vivacious HQ was a huge twenty-four-story building, she was sure she could recognize most employees. She definitely wouldn't forget a face that was so damn fine. Maybe he was one of the newer employees or a visitor.

The telltale ‘ding’ of the elevator upon reaching the top floor banished all thoughts of the hottie and she walked out of the elevator to the private top floor of her building which contained a classy reception area complete with a huge desk on one side and comfy chrome chairs and tables for waiting guests on the other side. The top floor also housed her private boardroom and her large office.

She looked down at the twins, who were still recovering from the fast elevator ride. Watching them wobble around was entertaining.

Safeena, her PA, walked up to them with a “Good morning” and an air kiss for Sophie, a fist bump for Kathy and a warm hug for Kelly. Safeena was a woman of average height with adorable hazel eyes, a long straight nose and eyebrows to die for! They were thick, dark and perfectly arched. Sophie guessed her hair was dark, but only because her eyebrows and lashes were jet black and she had Arabian ancestry. Although Safeena has been working for her for over 6 years, Sophie has never seen a strand of her hair because she always kept it hidden under her hijab, which really was of no problem to Sophie because Safeena was indispensable; hijab or no. She was as tough as Sophie was soft and although Sophie could hold her own against the best of them, the trait of cold-blooded efficiency that Safeena wore like a second skin only arose in Sophie during times of necessity. Sophie thrived at making fast and accurate decisions and investments, and that has been her saving grace on multiple occasions; it was also a major contributing factor to the growth of her empire. All in all, she was always grateful to have Safeena in her corner. Today, she was dressed in hazel colored slacks that matched her eyes with a white button-down shirt tucked into it and a black blazer over that. She completed the look with kitten heels, a hazel hijab and gold jewellery. Sophie had always admired how she made anything she wore look effortlessly chic.

With practiced Efficiency, Safeena proceeded to rattle out Sophie’s schedule for the day “Okay, you have a final meeting with the app developers in ten minutes, a meeting with minor stakeholders at 10:30, a brunch interview with Arcana Magazine at 11:30, a tasting with Martha at 1 to decide the menu for the dinner party in honor of Diana Martell and an appearance on the Clarence Eastman show at 3.”

“That’s actually less than I thought for today,” Sophie observed “Safeena, could you take my place with Martha at 1?” she asked. Eyeing the girls conspiratorially, she added “I have a hot dog date with all the toppings and then some!” she said excitedly. “What’d ya say, sweeties? wanna grab those hot dogs with this old lady later?”

The girls had been excited to go to Central Park today with Vera, who had promised to get them each a hot dog with every available topping. Yet another reason she was such a disappointment.

“Yes!” Kelly jumped twice

“Mom, you’re literally the best!” Kathy said.

“You better remember that when you’re a teenager hating my guts” Sophie replied under her breath.

Safeena caught what Sophie said and chuckled as she excused herself to get some work done.

On her way to her office, Sophie stopped to chat with her receptionist for a minute.

“Good morning, Ms. Daniels! Divine suit." She said in admiration. Then she turned her smile towards the girls. "Hi Kelly, hey Kathy"

"Morning, Daisy." Sophie replied with a smile while the twins waved. Sophie told her to send Lesley right in when she makes her way to the floor, which should be any minute now.

Stepping into her office, she saw Kelly had already made herself comfortable behind Sophie’s huge chrome desk, spinning gleefully on her Xten swivel chair. Sophie had a corner office with two walls made entirely of glass overlooking Central Park, a beautiful view in any season. Her office was huge with ultramodern –but comfortable- furniture, blue marble floors, and a colour scheme of mainly white and blue. She also had a lounging yphipith plush sofas and a coffee table and a bar. She had a special corner made up just for the twins with their own little desk and chair, a bookshelf filled with their favorite picture books on animals and comic books, toys and so much more to keep them entertained when they find themselves at their mom's office “Okay miss executive, out of the boss’s chair” Sophie said with no heat.

Kelly put her elbows on the armrests and steepled her little fingers in front of her face “Technically Miss Daniels, I’m in the boss’s chair, meaning I’m boss” She smiled smugly.

“Well, Miss Boss lady, have fun getting those hot dogs on your own” Sophie sing-songed.

That had Kelly bolting out of the chair like her seat was on fire, causing them both to laugh till they doubled over. Kathy, who was setting up a puzzle in the corner, totally missed the joke.

Straightening up at the knock on her door, Sophie wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye and smoothed out the nonexistent creases down her front

Daisy, her receptionist poked her head in, and Sophie noticed a rosy hue to her cheeks “Umm… Lesley is here to see you, ma’am” she said hesitantly.

Sophie wondered why Daisy didn’t just announce it over the intercom “Great. Send her in”

She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself and just said, ”Okay, ma’am” her head disappeared as she shut the door.

A few seconds later, the door opened again and in stepped Mr. Lobby Hottie