A daily affirmation seemed to do the trick to motivate Maria’s lazy ass to get out of bed. Though she’d choose the bed a million times, the harsh reality was she had to work hard to make living.
Maria never had the privilege of having everything handed to her and the fact that some people had things easy made her bitter at times.
Her family were depending on her to support them and for that reason, she had to ignore the soft bed and get to work. She also wanted the finer things in life. Mansions, luxury, travel, and many more. She had her mind set on working twice hard cause she knew it wasn’t going to fall in her laps, even if it meant taking orders from Reid.
Just the thought of him ruined her morning.
She was on her way to meet the team at the new building to sort out some details before the renovation began. And as much as she would love to sleep for an hour more, she couldn’t because the success of her business expansion was the key to the luxury life she dreamt of.
At 7:25 am, the city of Athens was buzzing with activity as it had never gone to sleep. Unlike at home where most townsfolks were still in bed.
Maria shut the door behind her and tossed the key card into her bag before heading to the elevator. In less than five seconds the elevator opened.
Speak of the devil and he appears.
Maria groaned and murmured, “Not again.” Then plastered a fake smile on her face as she stepped into the elevator.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, pinky. Looking sharp, love the new purse,” He commented as he assessed her outfit head to toe.
Maria frowned, wondering how he knew it was new. Her eyes fell to the bag on my forearm and saw that the tag was boldly on display.
She had gotten carried away admiring the new Chanel bag excited to make use of it that she forgot to cut the tag. It felt like the right time to call on her ancestors to help her out of this embarrassing situation as she thought of what he might think of her.
She hoped he didn’t think she was renting it or something.
Maria yanked the tag off and looked back at him.
“Well it’s wonderful to see you’re always full of words even in the mornings,” She curtly said and moved to stand on the farthest side of the enclosed space.
“You’d be surprised. I can be quite irritated especially in the mornings when I haven’t had my coffee.” He had smug smile on his face.
“I beg to differ, you’re always irritated.” Maria snorted and he chuckled.
“Off to the Levi building?” She glanced at him.
“The Levi what?”
“The building that will be renovated into our restaurant,” He said and an unexplainable feeling washed over her.
Maria’s brain was working just fine minutes ago and at the word “Our” it fizzled out.
Maria shuddered. She had never felt so out of control in her entire life just by a word said.
The possessiveness deeply within her almost had her gritting out, “It is mine!” with a ferocious glare that would have a Rottweiler turn into a wimp but she just looked away and stuttered, “Yes, I’m meeting with the architect to sort out last-minute details before the renovation starts tomorrow and welcome my team.”
If he picked up on the hostile tone, he didn’t make it obvious as he just nodded with a small smile on his lips.
Maria glanced at the elevator floor buttons that indicated they just arrived at the ground floor. She let out a relieved sigh, happy to get out of this confined space.
The elevator didn’t stop though. Her pulse quickened causing her to panic. “Why didn’t it stop?” She assumed he had pressed the ground floor once she got in but he did not.
The doors finally opened and she quickly realized they were at the underground parking lot she had never been to since she had no business there. The first thing that came to her mind was he was probably heading to the building too or passing and wanted to give me a ride.
Maria was about to decline but didn’t want to jump to conclusions. He was walking in front of so she followed until he stopped abruptly and she walked into him. She moved back thankful it wasn’t her face that hit him cause it would have been a horror to destroy his suit with foundation.
He turned and pointed at the wall that displayed her apartment number “520.” She narrowed her eyes at him with a snarl before finally taking note of the magnificent beauty parked a few feet away. One could describe it as a white stallion that she had envied all her life.
Maria thoughts were fumbled as she turned back to Reid who was holding out a key. He pressed the button and the car beeped loudly as it opened.
“Was this his car?” She thought, inspecting the car to figure out the brand. It didn’t take long to find as the Mercedes Benz logo was proudly at the front as well the back.
“Uh…”
“It’s yours. Do you like it?” Reid spoke standing right beside her as he lifted her hand and placed the car key in her palm.
“What? Why are you giving me this? A car?” Her eyes widened.
“Why not? We’re partners,” He said like it was not a big deal.
“It’s not my birthday you know,” She uttered, compelled to add that even if it was her birthday a car was an extravagant gift.
They were practically enemies. Frenemies was a better word to describe their relationship but gifting a car was out of the question. He had already given her a luxurious apartment that he refused to collect rent for and now a Mercedes Benz car.
A girl wouldn’t complain to be gifted things like this but this case was different. They were at each other’s throats half the time they spent together and now……
“Okay enough with trying to diffuse the situation. I can practically see the wheels turning in your head,” He cut off her erratic thoughts.
“It’s a work car, nothing more. You’d be very busy making errands so I thought of getting you a car to make things easier.”
His story was logical but she
wasn’t buying it “Hmm and the payment?” She raised her eyebrows and scanned him skeptically.
“I already paid half, you can balance it off in six months,” He explained.
It was plausible enough for her. Maria looked back at the car and let it sink in that she was now a proud car owner. She’d always wanted a car but wasn’t exactly familiar with brands and models. All she knew was the car was a white Mercedes-Benz that had an exterior and interior that fit her taste.
A squeal erupted from her as she jumped to get into the car and check it out. How embarrassing she appeared in front of Reid was the last thing to worry about as she basked in the joy of finally having a car.
She got out to thank Reid for helping her get the car which was thoughtful of him. He just shrugged and murmured, “Enjoy.” Before getting into the backseat a black Bentley nearby.
Maria woke up every day to the vicious cycle of eating, working, and sleeping like every average person in the world. Hardly did the interaction she had with people make her day any different whether it was an interesting or dull conversation.
Things seemed to be changing drastically since she landed in Athens and a strange feeling that more changes were in order, crept at the back of her mind.
Receiving a love text after many years of being single could not even compare to the excitement of finally having a dream car.
Maria fished out her phone from her bag to call the one person that knew just how much she wanted a car as far back as when their business was launched.
It was something Maria should have gotten once the restaurant business kicked off since she’d wanted it far back in college. Unfortunately, Maria couldn’t cause she had to put family first. Her parents and siblings needed the car more. An SUV was the best option which nearly broke her bank account and the dream of getting a car seemed far-fetched.
A picture of Maria and Athina on her wedding day was on display as the facetime call was placed through. It took a while before she picked then her morning face came on.
She looked ready to grumble and chop Maria’s head off as she screamed. “I got a car, I got a freaking car!” Her excitement was over the roof and bound to infect Athina.
Athina had a whirlwind of facial expressions. From “Why is this bitch calling this early,” to “What! Did I hear her clearly,” then “Is she for real? A car?”
“Oh, my days! Are you serious?” She squealed pretty loud Maria almost dropped her phone. Her voice was no match for hers as she kept screaming excitedly. She would put opera singers to shame once she came for their positions.
“I can’t believe it either.”
“How? When? Show me!”
Gone was the sleepyhead who was now seated upright in bed with her eyes almost bulging out of their socket.
Maria switched the phone camera so she could see the car properly.
“Holy shit! You got a car!”
“I know right? And girl, you would not believe who got it for me.”
Athina brought her hand up indicating for her to pause. “Wait a minute, was it Reid that got it for you?’
Maria nodded, “Mhhm, I thought it was an April fool’s joke or something.”
“Why would Reid get you a car? That is so out of his character. Maybe I should go check outside if a car was delivered to me too.” She looked just as confused as Maria was when she first took notice of the car.
Athina was out of bed in flash looking for her slippers.
“Get back in bed love, Reid’s not giving out cars like Santa. Yes, he got the car for me but I’ll be paying him back. It’s an official work car.”
“A work car? Girl, that is a Mercedes Benz g wagon. That is not the brand Reid gets for his employees,” She huffed.
“Technically, I’m not his employee. I’m his business partner and probably got me something fit for me.”
“Hmm true. Ignore Reid, on the bright side you got a car!” She squealed again jumping up and down.
“I know! I’ve got to take a pic and send it home. That should cool them off and make them assured that things are going well.”
“I’m so happy for you, we have got to celebrate. I’m picking you up this night, wear something sexy,” She ordered and ended the call before Maria could protest.
Maria had spent fairly a good amount of time gushing over her car before getting in to drive. It felt surreal cause the last thing she expected this morning was to get a car and actually be driving it.
She drove to the nearest café and went in with only her purse and phone in hand with the car key on her finger smiling like a maniac.
Thankfully the café didn’t have those bells at the top of the door that made noise when someone came in or left. There wasn’t a line also so she just walked to the counter to order.
“Hi good morning, what would you like to order?” The cute boy behind the counter spoke chirpily.
“Good morning, I’d like an iced Americano.”
Maria’s phone buzzed in her hand and she looked at the screen to see a call from Reid with a poop emoji. She picked up the call.
“I set up an appointment for you to meet with the chef I mentioned today. Check your email, my secretary sent the details,” He said and hung up.
And to think she thought he had become a decent person by getting her a car. Maria wasn’t even surprised by his rude behavior as she searched for change in her purse.
She felt eyes on her and she peered up to met the eyes of the boy.
“What would you like with that?” He asked pointing below the glass shelf that had many displays of cakes and pastries.
There were so many watering snacks to pick from that it made Maria indecisive.
“I’d recommend the chocolate cookie,” He pointed to the one in front of her. “It’s a personal favorite of mine.”
The cookie was in two layers with toppings on top and cream on top. It looked absolutely delicious and her mouth watered.
The boy handed her one on a plate and said, “We allow new customers to try our snacks before buying one.”
It was a very generous offer that Maria wasn’t about to pass off so she smiled gratefully. She took a bite of it and it melted in her mouth. It tasted undeniably good that it became a quick favorite.
At the third bite, she ordered for three more and was about to pay when something felt off. Maria dropped the plate on the counter.
Things happened fast that she was barely able to gasp for air as the hairs on her body stood. Goosebumps over her skin as well as a few rashes.
What freaked Maria out the most was the ugly shade of red that marred her skin.
She was about to scream when her throat felt clogged.
“Are you alright?” A faint voice asked but the pain in Maria’s throat made her drop the purse and phone in her hand as she clutched her throat.
The pain wasn’t even the problem as breathing seemed too difficult. Maria was losing grasp of consciousness as a few people surrounded her clamoring but she could barely hear anything.
Faces that came close were a blur and before her brain could even process what was wrong or take control of the situation, it all went dark.
Voices faded, her body became numb, her head was cluttered, and the world seemed to end.