Chapter Two

I walked into the restaurant quickly saying hello to all the workers present.

"Hi Ari!"

That was Nolan, my colleague and only friend around here.

"Hey Nolan, cómo estás?" I said, giving him a fist bump. I'm Spanish and so is Nolan.

"Estoy bien. Are you okay?" He asked, staring closely at the dark circles around my eyes.

"I'm alright, just couldn't sleep last night." I shrugged.

"Now that's serious." He said worriedly.

"I'm fine Nolan." I rolled my eyes with a smile. Nolan is such a caring person and is really good looking as well. With a 6'2 height, thick curly brown hair and hickory brown eyes that are so entrancing, he usually turned heads wherever he went.

"Bebita, you don't ever lose your sleep, what's wrong?" He stated.

Ugh, he knew me too well.

"Nothing, really." I said dismissively. I did not want to think nor talk about it. It was just

"Alright, just take it easy okay?"

"I will Nolan, Gracias." I gave a quick peck on the cheek before heading into the changing room to get out of my clothes and put on my uniform.

"Hey Ariana!"

Now that was another colleague of mine Lucy, I wouldn't call her a friend necessarily but we were well acquainted.

"Hey Lucy."

We made small talk as I changed my outfit and headed out into the restaurant. She froze the moment she sighted Nolan at one end of the large hall speaking to the manager. She obviously had strong feelings for him but silly

Nolan was completely oblivious.

"You should go say hi..." I urged her on but she shook her head vigorously.

"I'll just go see what's happening in the kitchen." She stumbled over her words and scurried off to the kitchen as I bit back a laugh.

****

The morning turned out uneventful. But strangely enough, a delivery came in for me in the middle of afternoon shift.

"Miss.Ariana Delaney?" The restaurant's message boy called out to me.

"Yes please?"

"This came in for you."

I took hold of the bouquet of roses cautiously, wondering why anyone would send me such when it wasn't my birthday.

I stared at the flowers for a while until Lucy came in and squealed, startling me.

"Oh Ari, someone sent you flowers! That's so sweet!" She exclaimed dramatically, just as Nolan walked in.

"Someone sent you flowers?" He repeated.

I simply nodded.

"Who are they from?" He asked.

"I don't know..." I said still trying to place a face to it. I hadn't gone on any dates nor was I talking to anyone recently so I wasn't expecting such a gesture.

"Look, there's a card." Lucy pointed out.

How did I not notice that before?

I picked up the card which seemed to be of high quality, it was even customized.

"For a princess..." I read out. Then I stared at the initials encrusted in fine gold font.

"D.K?" I read out again. This whole thing was shrouded in mystery and in as much as I was supposed to be scared and probably peeing my pants, I was curious.

I turned away from the curious eyes of Lucy and Nolan and kept the flowers aside and went on with my shift.

When I got home, I took the flowers and kept them in a vase I got as a gift from Nolan last Christmas.

****

Late into the night, the shrill sound of my ringtone brought me out of my sleep with a strange caller ID displayed on my phone's screen. I yawned as I groggily picked it up. I was trying to catch up on the sleep I had lost the previous night and someone was trying to ruin that.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Ariana." A deep, dare I say, sultry baritone said and I unconsciously sat up.

"Uhmm who's speaking?" I asked in perplexity, staring at the strange number once again.

"At about 10am tomorrow a vehicle will come for you at your workplace, you'll get in and be driven to the airport for a flight to Los Angeles, and by the time you arrive you'll be escorted down to my office. Prepare accordingly." The stranger said monotonously over the phone in a somewhat condescending manner.

"Excuse me? Who are you? And why do you think you can order me around?!" I yelled angrily, muttering unmentionable things in Spanish and wondering why someone would decide to prank call me at such time.

"Do you want your father in jail for failing to pay his debt?" His tone hardly shifted, it was almost as if I did not just yell at him.

"No... not at all..." My voice quivered.

"Good. Now, do as you've been told and there'll be no issues." He sounded an underlying threat that made me shiver.

"Yes..." I whispered and swallowed as he hung up.

What have I gotten myself into? I asked myself this question and stayed up for several minutes before the arms of sleep drew me in again.

****

I was jumpy all through the next day. Nolan, as usual, noticed.

"Bebita, what's the issue? You've been jumpy all morning." He asked concerned brushing a few strands of hair behind my ear.

"I'm fine, Nolan. I have somewhere to be, can you please cover for me? I'll make it up to you." I pleaded but he shushed me.

"Ari it's fine, I'll do just that but when are you going to come back?"

I bit on my lower lip because I was unsure about my return.

"Tomorrow, hopefully." I said finally.

"Alright then." He said and I smiled at him , he smiled back.

Just then, I sighted the black Cadillac Escalade with tinted glasses just as my father's creditor had described. It was parked outside and the exteriors looked so sleek and magnificent.

I quickly exited the restaurant, escaping the prying eyes of the manager. Sabrina was a handful of trouble for us employees but the sweetest person to the customers.

I walked across the ever busy New York streets heading straight for the vehicle. I walked around it and knocked on the driver's window.

"Hello, are you-?" I was asking when he cut me off.

"Miss Ariana Delaney, ma'am?" He asked almost curtly.

"Yes..."

I almost rolled my eyes at how different people kept mentioning my name on a professional note during the last few days. It was like I was going through a job interview.

"Please get in ma'am, your flight is in an hour." He said as he stepped out and pulled the back door open. I got in without another word.

I prayed I was not being kidnapped and did well to call my dad immediately the ride started but it went straight to voicemail so I simply dropped a message hoping he was alright. I had been calling to ask about his health from the hospital but I hadn't spoken to him personally ever since the last conversation we had.

"Hey dad, I just wanted to check in on you, I hope you're good. Dad, I'm currently on my way to Los Angeles and I don't know when I'll be back, I just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way to see him. Uhmm take care, I love you." I dropped my phone afterwards and just stared out the window until we arrived at the airport.

Immediately I got out, I was ushered in by the driver and before I knew it I was checked in and on a first class seat heading to Los Angeles for the first time in my life.

About six hours later, I got off the flight, looking around cluelessly until I got to the entrance where I saw my name inscribed in fine print on a beautiful and shiny rose gold A1 paper size.

I walked to the man dressed in a black suit just like the driver from New York.

"Please get in ma'am, the boss is waiting for you." He said even before I could say a word. It seemed like these dudes were wired differently. They all acted like robots.

He pulled the door open for me and I got in silently.

The drive took about thirty minutes and before I knew it, I was in front of a massive building.

I was awed at the exteriors of the skyscraper but my dears, the interiors took my breath away.

The way the California sun shone through the glass walls gave the room some sort of elegance. The busyness of the massive lobby had me wondering just how busy it would be in the departments.

I was led by the driver to what I correctly assumed was a private elevator as I saw that we passed by the crowded ones.

The ride went on for a while. From the looks of things, we were headed for a very high floor.

Finally, the elevator came to a stop with a ding. My mouth was agape as soon as I stepped out, I was amazed. I don't know what heaven looks like but the interiors of this massive office sure felt like it.

The black and gold theme was the most prominent in the room with every single thing in the room having a touch of either. The furniture was sleek and looked especially new. This office looked too comfortable to be a workplace.

My eyes searched the room until they landed on the most beautiful pair of grey eyes I had ever seen.

"Hello, Ariana."

He said those words in the same tone just as he did the previous night.

At that point I knew this was not going to be an easy ride.