I walk up the street until I get to the big old stone building. The iconic V sits above the door, and I feel my stomach flutter with nerves.
My first day of work.
This is it.
I’m wearing my sensible yet stylish clothes, black business pants, a camel turtleneck with black pumps… all Valentino of course. My blonde hair is in a low ponytail and my makeup is natural. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so nervous. What if I can’t do this?
You can. Shut up.
I drop my shoulders, stand up straight, and power walk inside.
“Hello, my name is Olivia Reynolds. I’m starting today,” I say to the kind-looking woman on reception.
“Of course, hello. Please come through.” She stands and shakes my hand with a warm smile. “My name is Maria.”
“Hello.” Oh, she seems nice.
“Welcome aboard. You are going to love it here. Just go up to level three and ask for Fernando.”
“Okay, thank you.”
I get into the elevator and smile, Fernando sounds so… Italian.
I swear to God, this entire thing is like a dream. The Abba lyrics run through my mind.
There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright… Fernando.
The elevator doors open, and I power walk out into another lobby. It’s quiet and a young man is walking through. “Can I help you?”
I clutch my bag tight. “My name is Olivia Reynolds. I’m starting today.”
“Oh, you’ll need to see Fernando.” He looks around. “I’ll go find him.” He smiles and shakes my hand. “I’m Jason. I’m on internship here in marketing.”
“Nice to meet you.” I smile. Jason is a lot younger than me, and he’s American, although he could be Canadian. I’m not quite sure of the accent. He’s cute, and he has light brown curly hair with big brown eyes. He looks like a kid straight out of High School Musical.
I watch him disappear down the corridor.
My nerves bubble in my stomach.
“Olivia,” I hear someone call.
I turn and see a man rushing toward me. “Nice to meet you. I’m Fernando, I’m the Human Resources manager.” He shakes my hand. “We’re so happy that you’re here. I hope your hotel is okay.”
His English is good. I can easily understand what he’s saying. I smile in relief. Phew, that could have been tricky.
Fernando’s short, a little overweight, bald, and about fifty years old, but he seems nice and welcoming.
“Yes, I’m excited to be starting.” I smile nervously.
“Come through, follow me, and I’ll show you around. You’re in design.”
I follow him as he takes me down the long corridor and opens a double door that reveals a large warehouse style room. Huge tables stand in the middle, and a few people are scattered around at desks and computers.
“Everyone, this is Olivia Reynolds,” he calls. “She’s from Australia and is taking over from Seraphina. Make it your mission to come and introduce yourself to her today.”
“Hello!” they all call as they look me up and down.
I clutch my bag as I feel their eyes on me. Jeez.
He takes me down a flight of stairs. “Design and materials are on the level down but it’s easier to take the stairs between these two floors.”
“Ah, okay.” We get to the bottom and my eyes widen. Holy shit, this is every design graduate’s dream. The same big tables that are upstairs are in the middle, but there is also huge timber shelving with rolls and rolls of fabric. Mannequins are everywhere with dresses and samples pinned onto them. Feathers and sequins and buttons and… . my eyes can’t take it all in as I look over the magic of this room.
Leather-rolls and rolls of leather in every color of the rainbow. Holy shit!
“Seraphina.” He looks around. “Where is she?”
She comes into view, and her face lights up. “Hello, Olivia,” she says in a heavy accent as she shakes my hand. I feel myself wither under her gaze. Seraphina is gorgeous, with long dark hair that’s styled to perfection. She has a beautiful, curvy figure, and perfect bone structure. She’s the epitome of Italian beauty. She’s wearing a tight leather skirt that hangs just below the knee and a silk deep red blouse with sky high stilettos. She looks like she’s going to a wedding or something, all stylish and glamorous.
Ugh, why did I wear this? I feel the blood drain from my face. I look like her daggy mother.
“Seraphina is transferring to our Rome offices so that she can be with her fiancé,” Fernando says as he picks up her hand and shows me her huge rock.
She fakes embarrassment. “Oh, Fernando. Behave.” She laughs. “You’re such a showoff.”
“Ah.” I smile awkwardly. “Nice.”
Her fiancé lives in Rome?
No, don’t be stupid. Why does everything about Rome have to be about him?
He’s not the only man in Rome, you know, Olivia, you fucking idiot.
“Great,” I push out. “Exciting.”
“You will work with Seraphina for the week. She will show you around and give you a feel for the position, and then next week you will begin training with one of our trainers for a week. In two weeks, you will take over the role,” Fernando explains.
“Okay.”
“Come this way.” Seraphina smiles. “I’ll show you your new office.”
“Great.” I smile as I follow her, but I don’t feel great. I feel majorly unaccomplished. She’s gorgeous, stylish, and she’s moving to start a life with her fiancé, while I can’t even get the courage to put myself on a dating app.
I really need to pull myself out of this dating funk. It’s getting ridiculous.
She opens the door of the office and my eyes widen.
The room has huge burgundy velvet couches in it, a black desk, and a black, leather office chair. There are huge, framed images of models on the runway in exotic clothing on the walls.
“Bella, huh?” She smiles, sensing my admiration.
“Yes, beautiful.” My eyes scan the room.
There’s a brief knock on the door before a man pops his head around it. “Hello. You must be Olivia?” he says.
“Yes.” I smile awkwardly because he is the most gorgeous man I’ve seen in a very long time. He’s beautiful actually. There’s a golden hue to his thick hair, and he has big brown eyes. He’s well-built and a little older. I would say completely and utterly gay, too, damn it. Why do gay men get the cream of the crop?
He walks into the office and shakes my hand. “I wanted to introduce myself to you. My name is Giorgio.”
“Hello.” I shake his hand. He’s wearing a navy-blue suit and a pink shirt. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, and I can see a scattering of his dark chest hair. Well, that’s a little bit sexy for the office. Very Valentino, I remind myself.
Seraphina’s face falls in surprise. “Giorgio,” she says. “Nice to see you.”
“All ready for the move?” he asks her.
“Yes, very much looking forward to it.”
Giorgio’s eyes come to me. “So, you’re Olivia Reynolds?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.” He smiles as he looks me up and down as if doing an internal assessment., and I feel myself blush under his gaze.
“We must have coffee next week, Olivia. I would love to get to know you.”
“Sure.” I smile. “That would be great.”
A frown crosses Seraphina’s face as she looks between us.
“Okay, got to run.” He smiles. “Happy settling in, Olivia. Good luck with the move, Seraphina.” He disappears out of the door.
Seraphina watches him, and then turns her attention back to me. “Have you ever met him before?” she asks.
“No.”
“Huh.” She shakes her head and drops into her chair at her desk.
“What?” I ask.
“Do you know who he is?”
“Who, Giorgio?” I frown. “No idea.”
“He’s the CEO. He’s never been in my office before in his life. I’m surprised he even knew my name.”
“Really? That’s weird?”
“Very.” Seraphina shrugs. “Oh, well, great for you, I guess. Where were we?” she asks.
I shrug. “Me feeling completely overwhelmed?”
Why in the hell would the CEO of Valentino want to have coffee with me? I feel my nerves flutter just at the prospect. What would we talk about?
She laughs. “You’ll be fine and will hold a very important role in the company. Don’t be nervous, get excited. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
I inhale deeply as the challenge begins to light my fire.
“The Valentino designers are a nightmare to work with,” she says. My face falls. “But I’ll be working with you from Rome, so we’ll help each other deal with them.”
I smile, grateful for her honestly. “That sounds great.”
She pulls up a chair. “Now, let’s get to work.” She thinks for a moment. “There’s so much to learn, I don’t even know where to start.”
“The beginning?”
“Yes.” She smiles. “Let’s start there.”