Chapter 18: Pride.
"Beautiful." Becca says as I pose beside Zachary.
Sabrina is watching us from the couch, she is taking videos of Zachary.
"I need a little more chemistry. Valarie, you're looking a little stiff there." Becca tells me and I lean on Zachary. She clicks the camera rapidly, taking pictures.
"Good job guys. Next and final location is Paris. I can't wait for you guys to see what we've set up for you over there. It's going to be a fun shoot and I'm going to enjoy every bit of it." Becca says with a smile on her face.
"Finally, that's over. Valarie, you have a meeting at nine...with the president." Sarah tells me and I stare at her.
"I thought everything on my itinerary was canceled for this Pepsi thing." I ask her.
"Yeah, it was. But this meeting wasn't on your schedule. It's impromptu and you are going." She tells me.
"Am I going too?" Zachary asks and Sarah shakes her head.
"Nope. The president requested to see just Valarie." She tells him before she walks away.
Sabrina walks to where Zachary and I are standing and she kisses him.
"You promised me a date, don't be late Mr. Henderson." She says before she walks away.
I turn on my heel and I walk to the couch Sabrina was sitting on. I grab my bag and I turn around seeing Zachary beside me.
"What?" I ask him and he shakes his head.
"Nothing." He tells me. I walk past him and I go outside. Sarah hailed a cab for me, it's waiting for me beside the sidewalk. I get in and relax in the backseat.
Within minutes, I am back at the house. I quickly change into the outfit that Sarah picked out for me and I call her.
"I'm ready." I inform her.
"There's a white car parked out front, the president sent it himself." She tells me.
"Okay, see you when I get back." I tell her before I hang up.
Walking outside the house, I see a white car waiting for me. I get in the car and I greet the driver. He starts the car and tries to make small talk. I indulge him. He tells me about how the president hasn't had a woman over at his house ever since his wife's death two years ago. The pressure that I was already feeling intensifies after I heard that.
We arrive at a white mansion minutes later, a middle aged man in a suit is standing by the porch steps with bodyguards by each side. The car comes to a halt and I take a deep breath.
Getting out of the car, I watch my step making sure I don't fall. I walk up the porch steps and I stand in front of the middle aged man. He just smiles at me without saying a word.
"Hey, I'm Valarie. I'm here to see the president." I tell him.
"He told me you would be coming. I'm going to show you around the house until he gets here." The man tells me.
"Okay, and you are?" I ask, probing for his name.
"Let's keep my name a secret for now."Â He tells me and I smile.
"Mr. Mysterious, I like it. Let's start the mansion tour, shall we?" I ask him and he sends me a small smile.
"Yeah." He says, turning around and I trail behind him.
He walks into the house and his bodyguards wait for me to follow him. They walk behind me and for the first time I actually feel safe. I don't have security, so I'm not used to being guarded. But I could get used to this.
The middle aged man walks to a door and unlocks it. The bodyguards wait outside as him and I enter the room. It's an art gallery. He shows me paintings and my mouth falls open in awe. The artist is really good.
"These are beautiful." I tell him.
"Glad you're impressed by them, Miss Stone." He tells me.
"It's Valarie." I correct him.
"My apologies, Valarie." He says and I nod.
"It's fine." I say, shrugging.
I walk over to a large painting. It covers the whole wall. It's an oil painting of a boat experiencing turbulent waves at sea. It is so eye-catching.
Intriguing even.
"That's the artist's finest work. It would have sold for forty million dollars, but he turned it down. Says his works aren't bought with money, but rather he gives his works to who he finds worthy." He tells me and I stare at him confused.
"Who would turn down forty million dollars? I mean, I grew up with money but that's a lot of money." I say, still studying the painting.
"Money isn't everything, Valarie." He says, walking closer to me.
"Certainly, but he's wasting his talent if he can't make money from it." I tell him.
"And what's your talent?" He asks me and I freeze.
"Making money. It's genetic." I inform him and he lets out a hearty laugh as he stands beside me.
I observe his facial features as he laughs. He is handsome. His defined jawline could literally cut me in the face and I would say thank you. The mixture of white and gray in his hair makes him even more appealing to the eyes.
"Indeed. Stone Construction is proof of that." He says, staring at me.
"So, what about you, what do you do around here?" I ask him.
"I run this place." He tells me before the door to the gallery opens.
"Mr. President, your personal adviser is in your office and she requests a meeting with you. She says it's urgent." One of the bodyguards says and I stare at the man in front of me in shock.
Mr. President?
"I'm so sorry this meeting was so short. I'll make it up to you. Duty calls." He tells me, kissing my cheek before he exits the room with his bodyguard.
I just met the president of Rome.
He was so chill.
I expected him to be more formal and stuck up. But he was down to earth and hot as hell.
Did you see the way he looked at me?
He is so dreamy.
One of the bodyguards tells me that there's a car waiting outside to take me home. I walk out of the house and I get into the car. It's a short drive to the house and I thank God for that.
I am exhausted.
As I walk into the house, the lights come on and I see Zachary with a bottle of rum in his hand.
"How was he?" He asks me and I stare at him, getting furious.
"What are you even talking about now?" I ask him, taking my shoes off.
"I know you had sex with Max." He says and I let out a laugh.
"Who the fuck is Max?" I ask him.
"The fucking President of Rome." He retorts.
So, that's his name.
"Even if I had sex with him, it wouldn't be wrong because I'm not the one engaged to you." I tell him, walking to my bedroom.
"But you were the one I was fucking yesterday. Balls deep." Zachary says, blocking me.
"Get out of my face." I tell him.
"What?" Sabrina says and I snap my head to where she's standing. Her tear stained cheeks are the first thing I notice when I look at her.
"Go back to the room, B." Zachary tells her, but she stands there and folds her arms.
"You guys...you guys slept together?" She asks and my heart breaks.
Seeing the look on her face makes me feel so disgusted with myself. How could I do this? I am well acquainted with the pain that betrayal brings, yet I did this thing with Zachary without question.
What does this say about me?
I pride myself with the thought that I'm a good person, but "good people" don't do the things I've done.
"I am sorry." I tell her, with tears sitting in my eyes, threatening to spill.
"You're not sorry." Sabrina yells at me. "You knew exactly what you were doing." She continues.
"Babe, can we talk outside?" Zachary asks Sabrina and she nods.
Feeling like shit, I walk to my room with a dark cloud hanging over my head.
How could I hurt someone else this way?
I wasn't thinking and I hate myself for it.