The Lady On Top

Meet Me At The Club

            “So how was the date? Was he a gentleman? Did he do or say something to offend you? Are you going to see him again?!”

Emilia shook her head as she listened to her friend’s questions. “It would have been great if you had started with a simple greeting Jean. He was the perfect gentleman. We had dinner, had a great conversation and then he dropped me at my house. He did not even come in for a nightcap.”

Jean scoffed, “He didn’t come in or you didn’t invite him in?”

“If it was someone else they would have hinted on that, but he walked away without even showing interest in coming in.”

“What is that noise?” Jean asked.

“Treadmill. I am feeling lazy to jog outside today so I am doing so indoors, on the treadmill you bought for me when you thought I was too fat!”

Jean gasped, “I never! I bought it for security! Who goes out for a jog at 4 AM? You might never know who is lurking around.”

Emilia laughed as she got off the treadmill and reached for her water bottle, “I am joking.”

“You have got a lot of jokes these days,” Jean mumbled. “What are you up to today?”

Emilia checked her watch as she wiped the sweat with a white towel by the bench, “well, I have a brunch date with a few ladies from the orphanage, then I think we will be meeting later.”

“We will?”

Emilia laughed, “Claire is coming back today from her modeling job.”

Claire Saborano was a mutual friend of Jean and Emilia. Being a model, Claire was rarely around for long before she had to jet off to yet another runway show or photo shoot. Her attitude is what attracted Emilia to her. Coming from the Philippines, Claire did not let anything stand in her way of achieving her goals. She worked hard to get signed to one of the top modeling agencies in the country, something Emilia knew about too well. 

“Oh goodness, I had completely forgotten!” Jean exclaimed. “Great, then I will see you then.” After a few more minutes of conversation, they hung up.

Emilia walked into her room to get ready for her brunch date with the women from an orphanage that she had founded a while back, though not a lot of people knew about it, just like any other aspect of her private life. Every month, she took the women who took care of the kids out either for lunch or breakfast or whatever just so that she could show her appreciation of them. During these monthly dates, they spent time discussing the progress of the orphanage and what needed to be done. The orphanage catered to a wide range of kids. From those who were abandoned in hospitals, by their gate to those who are dropped off by a struggling parent. 

Emilia made sure that the orphanage was self-financing by creating jobs for those parents who did not want to give up their kids but were struggling financially. Through that, the income that the parents received, they paid 5% of it back into the orphanage so it could aid in the running costs. Even though at first it was difficult for some parents to adopt the model, once they understood they were more than happy to do so. Most of those parents, even though they were now financially stable and had taken their children back home, they still paid 5% to the orphanage.

Emilia had also created an ongoing school fund for the orphanage to help those who were of school-going ages to go to school, get their needs met instead of waiting for them to be adopted. 

For those that wanted to adopt, Emilia made sure thorough background checks were done with the help of Shaw. She wanted to make sure that each child once they leave the orphanage, they do not suffer or get abused, something that stemmed from her own abuse she suffered in the hands of her stepfather after her mother died.

“I am off, Emilia,” Donna announced as she watched her boss enter the kitchen, already dressed in her dark denim and a white t-shirt. She had her hair in a messy bun and her shades in her hands.

“Thank you, Donna,” Emilia smiled at the older woman. “So I won’t be seeing you for the next two weeks?”

Donna nodded, “yes, but worry not. My friend will be here to clean.”

“Thank you,” Emilia nodded as she reached for her wallet. “This,” she handed Donna a few notes, “this is for the bride. Tell her I wish her all the best and to get whatever she wants.”

Donna’s eyes bulged, “this is too much, ma’am!”

Emilia frowned at her, “And what did I tell you about calling me ma’am? And it’s not, really. I want to give it to her. My dad always told me to share abundantly so you can get back abundantly.”

“What are you doing, papa?” Emilia frowned as she saw her dad pack the food in containers.

“Packing food to give to those who need it tonight.”

“But why?” Emilia asked as she pulled herself up and sat on the table her father was working from.

Her dad placed the spoon down and walked to her. Placing his warm hands on her cheeks he said, “there was so much food that remained today. We do not throw away just because no one will pay for it. Instead, we give it to those who cannot afford it rather than waste it. So, we give abundantly so that we can receive abundantly.”

Emilia frowned, “but what will you receive if they are not going to pay you?”

“Their blessings, little munchie.”

Donna smiled and hugged the notes to her chest, “May the good Lord bless you, Emilia. Thank you.”

Emilia waved her off. “I am about to head out, I can drop you off.”

Donna nodded and collected her things, following her boss out of the house.

The brunch went well, the women were super excited about a fundraiser that they had discussed with Emilia. She had given them a go-ahead, telling them that even though she owned the place, but they were free to do what they could in raising awareness, any activity that would make them known-provided they kept her name off the records.

After brunch, Emilia decided to have her hair and nails done before she went back home to get ready for the evening out with her friends.

As she placed her keys by the table in the foyer, she noticed the blinking on her table phone, indicating she had a voice mail. She clicked on it as she started to remove her shoes.

“E, baby. Why aren’t you calling me back? I missed you, baby! Call me, we need to talk.” 

David’s voice boomed over the phone. Emilia frowned then shook her head. Reaching for her mobile she quickly dialed Shaw’s number.

“Ma’am?”

Emilia shook her head but said nothing on the title, “I need you to check something for me. Find out where David Emerst is and how he was able to get my phone number.”

“On it,” Shaw replied.

“Thank you. And what do we have from the other project I gave you?”

“We are getting close. I will have something ready for you by Monday, that is for sure.”

“Great, have a good day. Great Teddy for me.” She hung up then deleted the message on the landline. A quick glance at her watch told her that she had about two hours before she needed to start getting ready for her evening out with her friends. 

After grabbing a drink from her fridge she made her way to her office. The perks of being the owner is that you never get time to just relax. She went through all the emails that she received, answering to some ignoring others, and before she knew it time to get ready had arrived. Because she knew her friends, there was definitely going to be a club after dinner so she had to dress the part. Choosing an off the shoulder purple mini dress and silver high heels, she quickly worked on her makeup, going for her signature look of neutral colors and pale pink lipstick. She was just collecting her stuff when a call connected to her mobile.

“I am outside,” Jean announced when Emilia answered.

“Ok, one minute.” Emilia disconnected the call before collecting her silver clutch bag and walked out of the room and house and into the car that Jean was in. “Seriously, Jean. A limo?”

“Don’t look at me! Kai decided he wanted to spoil his wife and so he got a limo for the night,” Jean shrugged as she rolled her brown eyes.

Emilia laughed. Kai Nilsen did things like that. Just like his wife, he was also spontaneous. He could fly Jean out to Paris, France just for dinner! 

“Looking good, girlfriend,” Jean said as she looked at Emilia’s hair.

“You think?” Emilia frowned as she ran her at the cascading waves by her shoulder. “I had it trimmed today and a bit of color.”

“Yes,” Jean smiled. “Besides, you always have good hair. I am wondering about the reason behind the new change,” she winked at her friend before bursting into laughter at the horror on Emilia’s face. “Oh goodness, that look!”

“You're insinuating something so far from my head, of course, I will be horrified!” Emilia shook her head. “And you had better not feed anything crazy ideas into Claire’s head!”

“I would never!” Jean replied as they pulled up to a stop and waited for Claire to hop in. 

“Ladies!” Claire went in and threw her arms around the closest person who happened to be Jean. She placed a quick kiss on her cheek before reaching for Emilia and doing the same. “How I have missed you! How have you been?”

Jean and Emilia broke into laughter. Claire was overly affectionate, she was a charmer, a looker and intelligent-don’t let the modeling fool you. Even though she was cautious compared to Jean, she also tended to do things at the spur of a moment.

“We missed you too, Claire,” Emilia replied. “How was the fashion show?”

And that opened the conversation throughout the car ride and dinner, the three friends catching up on life and plans and goals.  As Emilia predicted, they ended up at another exclusive club to end the night. 

“So as I was about to get up, my bikini string got caught on his wristwatch. I swear the whole thing seemed to be happening in slow motion, one minute I was in a two-piece and the next I was trapped in the largest towel I have ever seen!”

Both Emilia and Jean were in tears as they laughed at the incident Claire was telling them about. They were sitting in the VIP section watching as the people danced as they sipped on their alcohol. 

“I swear it was the craziest 1 minute I have had so far on a shoot. And the way that man disappeared after accusing the model of cheating on him! If it wasn’t for the whole crew being there I would have said I dreamed it all!”

“Claire, you are killing me!” Jean whizzed as she tried to catch her breath.

Emilia smiled and shook her head. 

“What has you in stitches?” a male voice asked from behind Emilia and the three women turned to it.

“Philip, hi!” Jean greeted him as she wiped the tears of laughter away. 

Philip gave her a nod and looked at the other women. “Ms. Roberto, we meet again.”

Emilia included her head in greeting.

Philip then turned to Claire, “aah, Claire Saborano. An honor to meet the woman who is a fantasy for many men.”

Even though that statement would have angered anyone else, Claire was used to it and just gave him a small smile before turning away and continue chatting with Jean.

“So, Ms. Roberto,” Philip started.

“Emilia please,” Emilia supplied.

“Of course,” Philip smiled. “I heard you went on a dinner date with my boy Max.”

Emilia tilted her head to the side and looked up at him, “he told you that?”

“Haven’t seen him yet. Heard it from a friend who happened to be at the same restaurant.”

Emilia nodded, “and why would this friend of your think you needed to know what Max and I were doing?”

Philip had the audacity of looking a bit uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a sheepish grin, “You are very hard questions. Forget I brought it up. Hey Jean, make sure you stop at our table before you go. James would love to see you.”

Jean rolled her eyes, “not if I can help it,” she answered him and raised her glass to him. Ever since the day that James had said those words about Emilia, Jean had started to distance herself from him. Yes, she had known he was a snobbish, entitled man, but she did not know he could be so rude as well. The thought of what he might be saying about her made her resentment for him increase.

Emilia watched Philip walk away from them, her eyes narrowing at him. Something was up with Philip and she wanted to find out what. 

“Em, are you even listening to me?” Jean waved her hands in front of her friend’s face trying to get her attention.

Emilia blinked and turned to Jean, “what was that?”

Jean rolled her eyes and poked at Claire, “she is hooked. The moment Phil mentioned Max and she is lost to the world!”

Emilia shook her head, “it’s not that. There is something that is bugging me about what Phil asked, that’s all.”

“Babe,” Claire reached out and took her hand in hers. “Don’t do that. Don’t always look for problems when there aren’t any. If you like this Max guy, then just enjoy yourself.”

“It’s not-” Emilia started only to be stopped by Jean.

“You know how he is from the beginning so it’s not as if you are going into whatever this is with your eyes closed. All I want you to do is have fun. And s*x. Have a whole lot of s*x because you might never know when else you will get some after this blows over.” Jean sipped on her drink and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Oh yes!” Claire chimed in. “That is very important. Be as adventurous and daring as possible when doing it too!”

Emilia groaned and shook her head. “I am going to the dance floor and you two s*x addicts are coming with me!”

The three women got to their feet and made their way to the dance floor where for the next few minutes they let their hair loose. Remembering their old dance routines the women held the attention of most of the men in the room. Being confident in themselves, they did not spare a glance at any of them, instead, they had the time of their lives.

The flashlights and the beat had the whole floor of dancers jumping to the fast tune. Suddenly, hands went around Emilia’s waist, pulling her flush into a hard chest. She was about to elbow the person before he leaned in and whisper shouted into her ear.

“We should stop meeting like this!”

Emilia turned and leaned back to look at Maximilian in the eyes, “now I am definitely sure that you are stalking me.”

Maximillian shook his head and laughed. “On the contrary. I am here with my brothers. We are celebrating a birthday.” Maximilian pointed over his shoulder to two men who definitely looked like him, but seemed a bit older.

Emilia followed his finger and nodded, “who is the birthday boy?”

Maximilian leaned forward, “would I get a kiss if I said it was me?”

Emilia placed her hands on his chest and pushed him a bit, “not a chance.” She was suddenly pushed by someone and in order not to fall she moved deeper into Maximilian’s arms. “Sorry, some i***t pushed me!”

“I don’t mind,” Maximilian replied as he steadied her, but did not remove his arms around her. He started swinging them to the beat of the music, even though they were moving way too slow for the tune. “So, do you come here often?”

Emilia could not stop the laugh that bubbled from her lips, “that is the cheesiest line I have ever heard!”

Maximilian laughed and shook his head, “that’s the first thing that jumped into my head.”

Emilia shook her head and stapled her fingers behind his neck. “I am sure you can do much much better.”

“I will try before the night is over to knock you down with one,” Maximilian replied. 

Emilia looked at him, tilting her head to the side as if trying to decipher him. He was a charmer, that was for sure. He was confident in himself as well. What the heck, she will give him this night and see where it would lead-but one thing is for sure, it will not be her or his bed.

Time seemed to pass them by. They had danced together for a while before he led her to his side of the room where he introduced her to his two brothers, Emmanuel and Richard the birthday boy. She had whispered to Claire that she was going to be right back-that was about an hour and a half or so ago. 

Talking to Maximillian was easy. He readily gave her answers to her questions, shared information about different topics, and generally engaged her in conversation other than work, something that she was glad for. She was also grateful for the way he had introduced her to his brothers, just a simple ‘This is Emilia.’ Nothing more, nothing less. 

“Am I not hogging you from your brothers?” Emilia asked as she looked at the other men who were also busy chatting with Philip and James who had joined them a while back.

Maximilian looked up and shook his head, “nope. Richard is probably talking finance and Emmanuel is probably counting the calories in his drink.”

Emilia laughed, “nonetheless. You came here with them, just like I came here with my friends. I have to go back to my table.” She said as she stood up. “See you guys around. Once again, happy birthday, Richard.” She made to pass Maximilian but his hand on her elbow stopped her.

His warm hand then gently and slowly traveled down until he was holding her hand, “can I call you?”

Emilia gave him a small nod, “you do that.” She said as she walked away, after getting a gentle squeeze of her hand from Maximilian.

Maximilian watched her as she walked away knowing that there were so many questions that he was going to be answering. “One at a time, please,” he said without looking at them. 

“She seems like a nice lady,” Richard observed. He did not say anything else. That was Richard. He was not a talker. Actually, both of his brothers were not big on words. They had a way of getting their messages across with the least amount of words.

With that one statement, Maximilian knew his brother was telling him not to hurt her and that she was not like the other women that he had dated before. 

Turning his gaze to Richard, he nodded. 

“So, when is date number 3?” Philip asked as he looked at his friend. 

Maximilian laughed, “date number 2. This wasn’t a date. We were just talking, we each came separately. I am working on it.”

James took a sip of his drink before circling the amber liquid around his glass. He looked at Maximilian through his thick eyelashes. “Is it still on?”

“Of course,” Maximilian replied as he reached for his drink and downed it on one go. He turned and watched as Emilia reunited with her friends. They laughed and after finishing their drinks, they left. He watched them until they disappeared into the crowd. He then turned and found his two friends watching him with speculation in their eyes. “I am not losing to you two idiots. It’s very much on!”