Double-life Well Lived

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Clara checked her lipstick in the tiny compact one last time before shoving the mirror to the bottom of her black handbag and shaking her head. Tonight, her grandfather was hosting a dinner party at The Penthouse, a very exclusive restaurant on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in Manhattan, a hotel owned by her grandfather.  While her grandfather was officially retired from running Draxton, he still was internationally tied to many side projects that he had started when running the company and was still very actively involved in cultivating the friendships and business relationships he had made over the years. Sometimes, he would have parties at his home, and she would act as hostess with him but often, he would outsource the party planning and she could attend just as a guest. Being a guest was not her favourite role to play as she preferred to be busy, behind the scenes or directing what goes where. However, her education and training had included a significant amount of learning that social niceties of having more money than ninety percent of the world required a good deal of chitchat and pandering.

People in her grandfather’s world could be odd, if not downright strange. Sometimes money not being an object to someone made them feel invincible, above-the-law or worse, immoral. Her grandfather prized ethics and morality above all, trusted very little people and kept his inner circle very protected. She recalled on one occasion, a certain very well powerful and rich man had made the mistake of bringing a guest to one of grandfather’s parties; the guest was notoriously known for taking young women internationally and rumours were that they were girls not women and they weren’t going willingly. Her grandfather had not only ensured that the uninvited guest never so much as got near him, but he was also taken from the party, and the guest who had brought him to the party was shunned by her grandfather and never invited again. A few years later that uninvited guest died by suicide in a jail cell or at least that was Bellona would have everyone believe.  

Either way, the guest list tonight would likely include some strange characters and some friendly faces and a strategic, yet eclectic mix put together by her grandfather. Her grandfather would joke it was like having all the Avengers and Bond villains in the same room at the same time with many guests who played both roles. Clara couldn’t point fingers as she too felt she was a little bit of both. Some billionaires wanted to build rockets, go to Mars, and colonize another planet. She wanted invisible cars, x-ray glasses and biometric security systems so she could kill every pedophile on the plant and never get caught.

Clara smiled at the driver who opened her door for her and reached his hand to her. She took his hand graciously and swung her legs into the street. Her security team was already outside the door standing tall as she made her way to the hotel lobby. She felt attractive as she walked gracefully in her four-inch heels, her deep blue knee length dress exquisitely tailored to every contour of her petite frame, her chest displaying just enough cleavage to be attractive but not so much her grandfather would scowl.  Her dress shimmered as the chandelier in the lobby reflected off the tiny silver threads woven through the bodice and her metallic shoes glimmered as the flash of a camera went off. She paid no heed knowing her grandfather had made arrangements that only a select few members of the press would be allowed in the lobby as his guests arrived. Tonight, her job was to make him proud, be supportive and to reassure anyone who still had doubts three years after she had taken over the company that she was perfect in her role.

The elevator doors opened with a swoosh, and she stepped in, flanked by Ben and Todd, and moved forward as the doors closed behind her. As they zipped up the many floors in only a few moments, she took some steadying breaths. Elevators were never easy for her, but she got it done as Bellona had trained her to do. The doors opened and a party atmosphere welcomed her into the room as she stepped out.

Instantly she looked around the room for her grandfather and found him standing with a glass of whiskey in his hand talking to a gentleman he called Rocketman behind his back. Billionaires and their need to build rockets was becoming cliché but this man had launched several and by the way he was excitedly waving his hands in the air, as if launching them, she would hazard a guess that he was discussing his most recent launch. She made a beeline for her grandfather and touched his sleeve gently.

“Clara!” He pulled her into a tight hug, the affection in his eyes apparent as he gushed over her. “You look stunning my darling.”

She patted his chest and leaned back. “You look pretty ravishing yourself for an old guy.” She winked playfully at him. His hair had only started greying in the last few years and while he was not a large man, he portrayed the athletic physique of someone who took very good care of himself. “Tell me grandfather, did you have time to get in your workout today or did it take all day to get this dolled up?” She teased him with a mocking smile.

“It is not too late to take you out of the will,” he tapped her nose with his finger and laughed. He excused himself from the man at his side. “Excuse us would you, I’d like to buy my granddaughter a drink. It seems her disposition needs sweetening.”

They laughed as she tucked her hand into his elbow, and they made their way to the bar. As they walked, she scanned the room and locked eyes with a pair of very dark brown ones across the room. She quickly dropped her gaze. “Elian Ruiz is here?” She casually asked her grandfather.

“You know him?” her grandfather asked in surprise.

“Yes, Merry-Beth and I had lunch at his new place just yesterday. He was quite attentive to our little party of two.” She didn’t mention the flowers

“That’s lovely! He has a restaurant in my favorite casino in Vegas and we’ve become acquainted. I like his hard work ethic and his zero tolerance for ignorance. I appreciate people who are morally aware of their responsibilities, and he is one of those. Did you know he runs a not-for-profit culinary school here in New York with the goal of getting gang members off the streets and into the kitchen?” He ordered her a glass of merlot and another whiskey for himself from the bartender.

“I didn’t know that. Philanthropist and restaurant mogul? How quaint.” it sounded snide, even to her as the words came out of her mouth and she instantly regretted it when her grandfather’s eyes narrowed on her. “I’m sorry grandfather, that was incredibly rude of me.  You have called him a friend and I respect that. I did have a rather late-night last night and then early morning today. Perhaps I’m in need of this drink more than I thought.”

He grandfather nodded at her thoughtfully. “Are you getting enough rest? Running the company isn’t too much for you?”

She smiled and placed her hand on his forearm reassuringly. “I’m doing quite well grandfather, I promise. I was reading a new spy novel last night and couldn’t put it down. It’s my own fault.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I promise to be on my best behaviour.”

Several times throughout the evening, her eyes connected with Elian’s but somehow throughout the initial stages of the party, their paths did not intersect. However, when dinner was announced, she was surprised to see that he had been seated at their table, opposite her grandfather. If her grandfather had him at his table, he must have truly made a mark.

“Elian,” Edward smiled warmly, “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to chat before now. I had too many people in the way, and I knew you were seated with me so I figured we could chat once we were seated.”

Elian grasped Edward Draxton’s hand and pumped it just once before releasing it. “Thank you for the invite.” He nodded at Clara. “Ms. Draxton, I will be the first to admit, I did not link you and your sister with my friend Edward.” Clara looked exquisite tonight with her jet-black hair piled loosely on her head in a series of ringlets. Her grey eyes were framed with smoky make-up and thick dark lashes that made them wider and deeper in color than he remembered. The dress she wore hugged every curve of her body in impeccable style and he couldn’t help but notice for the second day in a row, her chest and ass were perfectly sized to accentuate that tiny waist. Her calves were tight and taut below the hemline of her skirt, and he wondered whether she practiced the same martial arts her grandfather did, given how tight her body looked.

“Ah, I can only take credit for this one.” Edward laughed before Clara could speak. “Clara and Merry-Beth share a mother but not a father. Merry-Beth is a sweet young lady, but she is not mine to care for. No, I only have Clara.”

“And Dad,” Clara corrected as she took her seat and reached for her wine glass. She grinned at her grandfather’s scowl feeling a bit impish. “My father, as you probably know is Eric Drake, the bassist for the rock group Fatal Flaws. My mom was teenage groupie and thought he was her claim to fame. She got a decent payout, granddad got me, and my father got …”

“An STD most likely,” cut in her grandfather with a shake of his head, his comment causing the table to laugh. “I studied hard and worked hard my whole life and I had one son, like my father before me and my son didn’t want to study. He wanted to play guitar and seduce young girls.”

“He’s getting married again,” Clara grinned and leaned back as a bowl of soup was placed in front of her. “She’s only twenty-three.” Her grandfather rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t invited, were you?”

Her grandfather picked up his spoon and looked at Elian and the other guests at the table that included a music industry tycoon and his wife and an oil baron and his girlfriend of forty years. “This topic of conversation will give me indigestion before I eat. Tell me Harry, any ecological disasters that could lighten the mood?”

As Clara considered the guests at the table it dawned on her that her grandfather had always been a very strategic man and Elian sitting at the table was no coincidence. He had planned it and had wanted her to meet this man. Everyone else was coupled at the table except her and Elian and her grandfather. He had made sure that Elian was seated next to her. She had no time for romance in her life and she would have to talk to him about that later but for tonight, while the wine ran through her blood, she would enjoy the moment.

As her grandfather engaged in discussion with oil baron Harry, she smiled softly at Elian. “Tell me Elian, do you send all guests of your restaurant flowers or just the ones with sisters who are supermodels?”

“Until yesterday, I’ve never sent any woman other than my mother and sister flowers.” He answered back without hesitation. “I’ve never had a woman make me feel compelled to do so before. You inspired me.” As her spoon hung over the bowl of broth in front of her, he chuckled lowly, aware that this was not the answer she had been expecting, “tell me, Clara, do you always call people and then hang up on them?”

She groaned and dropped her spoon in the bowl. “Not my finest moment,” she admitted with a shrug. “My admin assistant had just finished pushing me to call you right after she told me that I was intimidating and only minutes before I had a complex call with my CFO. In the future if someone ever sends me flowers again, I will be much more poised and prepared when saying thank you.”

“Ah Clara,” he was enjoying how open she was with him, very much how she was at her lunch yesterday with her sister. “I enjoy how candid you are. You are honest and I find that very refreshing. As for intimidating, I have been accused of that myself, so I understand how that can leave someone rattled.” His eyes held hers for a moment. “I sent you flowers today because I knew in the moment, I met you yesterday Clara that I liked you. I would very much like to get to know you better. Do you think we can get together another time, not when I’m working and not with all of these people around?”

“Jesus, you don’t go slow, do you?” She gulped her wine quickly draining the glass. She had gone from deciding to just humor her grandfather and talk to the man beside her to feeling flushed, tingly in places she had long forgotten existed, and with her stomach twisted in s****l excitement as his dark eyes bored into hers, not breaking their gaze.

“Clara, I’m a man that goes after what I want, when I want it. Life is much too short to play games and waste time on impossibilities. Either you feel the connection, or you don’t, and I believe, from the way your keep biting your lip and your cheeks have gotten so beautifully rosy, that you do. So, what will it be Clara? Will you come on a date with me?” His voice was seductive and gravely as he reached under the table and picked up her hand that was clenching her skirt on her lap, twining his fingers through hers.

She was surely losing her mind but there was something captivating and seductive about the way he spoke to her and before she could stop herself, she replied. “Definitely.”