The Lady On Top

Let The Games Begin

                The week seemed to be in fast forward and soon Emilia found herself at the exclusive mall looking for a dress to wear to the dinner date that she had with Maximillian that evening. 

“Well this looks good,” Jean asked as she held up a very risque looking red dress. It had thigh-high slits on both sides. The back dipped so low that it looked like the whole butt would stick out if the person decided to sit down.

“I am going to dinner, Jean,” she shook her head and placed back the black dress that she was looking at before turning to her friend with hands on her hips, “not the strip club!”

Jean shrugged, “I still think you should have this in your wardrobe somewhere. You might never know.” She ran her hands on the material. “Are you sure about this date with Max? He is a well-known player and I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

Emilia smiled at her friend. “I am sure. Nothing to worry about.”

“As long as you know what you are doing,” Jean sighed. 

“Oh, I do know,” Emilia walked past her and to another section of the nearly empty shop. “I do know that this is the only date that I will ever go with him. I do know that I am not looking for a relationship.”

“Y-,” Jean started but was stopped by Emilia’s raised finger. 

“And even if I was looking for a relationship, I do know that he is not the type of man that I see myself with.”

Jean frowned, “Then why did you agree to go on a date with him?”

Emilia picked up a pink lace bodycon dress and pressed it on her front. “I like this one.” She moved to the mirror and looked herself over. “Yep, I will take this one.” She mentioned to the attendant who was close to take the dress, shaking her head as Jean also placed the red one on the order. “To answer your question, I think I am curious.”

Jean laughed, “Emilia Roberto is curious!”

Emilia blushed a bit. She shushed Jean and proceeded to look around to see if anyone recognized the name. To her despair a few women turned to her, their eyes widening. It always amazed her as to how she had become a celebrity symbol when she couldn’t act or sing to save her life. Her job saw her in t-shirts and jeans, getting dirty, breaking nails, and having a few scratches here and there but people held her in a position that she was not comfortable with.

Yes, sure she was one of the youngest billionaires, and yes she was a woman but no, she did not do it for the fame. Her job was not because she wanted fame. She worked hard at what she loved, she never gave up and she had great people like Jean to support her along the way. That did not merit a celebrity status, did it? 

Emilia groaned and shook her head, “you just had to say my name out loud, didn’t you?”

Jean gasped as she looked around, already there was a woman who was approaching her, her face pasted with a huge smile.

“Emilia Roberto?” she stopped in front of them and extended her hand. “My name is Marjorie, Marjorie Stamford.”

Emilia pasted a smile and shook the lady’s hand. “Hello. Nice to meet you, Marjorie.”

“Oh my, what a beautiful woman you are in real life! Those magazines don’t do you any justice!” Marjorie gushed. The magazines did not really have any new pictures of her. 

Emilia gave her another smile. “This is my friend, Jean.”

Marjorie turned her grey eyes to Jean, with a smile she reached her hand out, “hello. It is always great to be surrounded by young women who are out there doing it for themselves!” Marjorie laughed at herself. 

Emilia and Jean exchanged glances and gave Marjorie their real smiles. Most of the time when people approached Emilia, they tended to ignore any other person who was with her. Marjorie was an exception, showing that she even knew that Jean was successful in her own way. Marjorie Stamford was a beautiful woman, probably in the same age bracket as Gladys. She had a homely figure, expressive grey eyes, and a smile to overshine any younger women. 

“You have to forgive me,” she said as she fanned herself. “I have admired you for so long! You have been a great example for women. You both have been,” Marjorie turned her gaze to Jean. “I know you because both my son and husband are in the financial sector. It is refreshing to see a woman dominate a so-called man’s world!”

Emilia and Jean laughed and nodded, both agreeing with her.

“Oh look at me!” Marjorie placed a hand on her cheek as if embarrassed. “I am here rumbling when you two would be doing something better than listening to this old woman.”

“Oh no!” Emilia replied with a shake of her head. “It’s ok. Really.”

Marjorie smiled, “you are just too sweet. Here,” she fumbled with her handbag and reached for her card. “This is where I work.” She pointed to the name on the card. It seemed to be a pastry shop. “More of a hobby really,” she rolled her eyes at herself. “It would be an honor if you both could drop by sometime. You can then taste my world-famous cheesecake!”

Emilia read the card and nodded, placing it in the back of her jean trouser. “We will definitely stop by. Have a great day, Marjorie!”

“Oh, my day has already been made great! Wait until I tell those ladies who I spoke to today during our luncheon later on! They will never believe me!” With a wave, she turned and walked out of the shop, as if not wanting to be late to where she was going, probably the luncheon, though she might have a while to wait as it was still morning. 

Jean and Emilia turned to each other and laughed. “Well, that was refreshing!” Jean said as they walked to the till. 

“I know, right!” Emilia replied as she reached for her purse and removed her card before handing it to the cashier. “I had thought she was one of those superficially fake people. I hate those.”

Jean nodded, “she was indeed a breath of fresh air. Stamford? Where did I hear that name?” Jean asked herself as she collected their bag and started out. “It sounds so familiar.”

“She did say that her husband and son work in the financial sector,” Emilia replied as she pushed her shades down to cover her eyes. “Time for a coffee before we go?”

“Definitely!” Jean replied as she led the way to their favorite coffee shop.

It was way past noon by the time that Emilia made her way back to her house. She quickly ran to her room to deposit her purchases before walking barefooted to her office. Firing up her computer, she quickly checked her emails, hoping for an email from Shaw, and was a bit disappointed when there were none.

Reaching for the phone, she quickly dialed the ranch number, the phone being picked up almost immediately.

“That was fast, even for you Teddy!”

There was a chuckle from the other end, “I had actually just finished talking to my sister when it started ringing again. I thought she forgot to tell me something.”

“How is Simone doing?”

“She is great. She thanks you for the electric wheelchair you bought for her. It has made her life so much easier.” Theodora replied.

Simone was Theodora’s only surviving relative. A few years ago she was involved in a skiing accident that left her paralyzed. Throughout the years that Theodora has been working for her, Emilia got to know the woman who bravely took a tumble to save a seven-year-old from instant death. In her effort to make Theodora worry less for her sister, Emilia had made it her mission to help wherever she could, because she knew the pain of being all alone in the world and she wanted to spare Theodora that pain for as long as she could. 

“That’s great. I just called to get updates. I won’t be coming through for the next few weeks.”

“Worry not. Everything is great. Midnight is now behaving much better than when he was first brought by. I think he has an eye on one of the females. Alec and Timothy have completed the fence maintenance. We have another hand to help train the circuit riders. There seem to be a few more as compared to last year.”

“Who is handling the newbie?”

“Jacobs and I,” Theodora replied. “I had to step in. They were teasing the poor girl too much!”

Emilia raised an eyebrow, “a girl? Jacobs agreed to this?”

Theodora laughed, “he had no choice! She is the best amongst them all. Was a junior jumper until the father ran off with his mistress and the mom had no way of funding for her lessons, the horse and all it took to be a showjumper, poor thing.”

Emilia shook her head. “I won’t even ask. Well, I have to go. Anything, please don’t hesitate to reach me.”

“Have a great weekend, Mia.”

The phone was disconnected and for a few minutes, Emilia sat there with her eyes closed. The house was so quiet. This is one of the reasons why she loved the ranch. There was so much happening, so many interactions with the animals that kept her busy. Standing up, she stretched before she walked to the kitchen. After a quick search in her fridge, she settled for a chicken stir fry and a Netflix movie to pass the time before she was to get ready for her date.

            7:50 PM. That was the time currently as Emilia applied her Tender Rose lip gloss. Standing back she checked herself over before nodding at her reflection. She was slipping her feet into her nude Louboutin sandals when she heard her phone ringing. Letting the machine answer it she collected her clutch bag and walked out, just in time to hear the phone dropping.

A quick glance at her watch told her that she still had enough time to listen to the call. Maximilian will knock on her door when he arrives anyway if he knew where she lived.

Walking to the machine, she pressed the red button and wished that she had deleted the message instead. 

“E, babe. It’s David! Been a long time. I-uhn- can we talk? I have been missing you like crazy, baby, and I want you back. Call me at any time on this number.” David continued to leave his number and a lot more I miss yous as he hung up. 

Emilia stared at the machine until the knock on her front door made her jump. How in hell was he able to get her number. Quickly clicking to delete the message, she collected her keys and walked towards the door.

Standing there was Maximillian, in a crisp black tuxedo and a smirk on his face. “Told you I knew where you lived.”

Emilia raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure it wasn’t the restaurant owner who told you?”

Maximilian raised an eyebrow.

Emilia laughed, “I had texted him to give you my address in case you asked, and you did. So technically I told you where I lived.”

Maximilian laughed, “Touche. You look beautiful.” he complimented her.

“Thank you,” Emilia replied, looking straight at him. There was no hint of blush or being flustered by the comment.

Maximilian shook his head, “most women would have blushed, but you look me straight in the eye as if we are talking about the weather.”

“I am not most women,” Emilia replied as she stepped down, before turning to him. “Are you going to offer me your arm?” She arched an eyebrow at him.

Maximilian hid his smile, “of course. Bossy.”

“No,” Emilia shook her head. “I know what I want and I hate wasting time.”

“And what do you want?” Maximilian asked as they finally made it to the car. It was a black Mercedes Coupe. “I thought you might not want to be too flashy.”

Emilia smiled, “this is great. Yes, not a fan of flashy. To answer your question: I want genuine.” She got into the car and waited for him to cross to the passenger side.

“And how would you know if someone is being genuine?” Maximilian looked at her before he started the car. 

“I would know.”

The drive to the exclusive restaurant was filled with conversation, each wanting to know the other better. After ordering, they continued with their conversation, although Emilia’s mind kept going back to the call she got from David. Her number was not listed. In order for a person to get the number, she had to give it to them personally or get it from a person to who she had given the number to. The latter is an offense because all those who were given the number had signed an NDA not to give out that number.

“Emilia?”

Emilia looked up at Maximilian from the opposite side of the table. “Yes?”

Maximilian frowned. This is the first woman who does not seem to be giving him her full attention. It irked on his ego and he could not wait to be done with the dare so he could get his money and rub it in her face at the same time. Maximilian had spent a few seconds looking at her, observing the slight frown on her face. Something must have happened to make her lose focus on him. He needed to get her focus back so he could play her well, bed her, and get his money from his friends. 

“You seem preoccupied. Everything ok?”

Emilia waved away her worry and smiled, “nothing that I cannot handle. Sorry about that. Now I am all ears.”

Maximilian sat back and studied her, “why is it that a woman as beautiful as you are is not married yet?”

“Men find me,” Emilia paused as if looking for the right word, “daunting. They see the titles given to me by individuals who do not have anything better to do than investigate other people’s lives before they see me.”

Maximilian laughed, “You really do not like to be in the news.”

“I am not doing anything that is worth me being in the news,” Emilia shrugged. “I work with dirt. I work with animals, surely there are more people newsworthy than I am.”

“True,” Maximilian agreed. “But none of them are Emilia Roberto, the self-made billionaire. You must agree there is a charm to that.”

Emilia shook her head, “if there is I fail to see it.”

Just as Maximilian was about to reply a woman with so much perfume walked past Emilia, making her eyes water and a sneeze to escape before she could stop herself.

“Max?” Her shrilling voice gritted on Emilia’s nerves. “I thought that was you! How are you, darling?” She completely ignored Emilia after a once over with her blue eyes.

Maximilian looked up and forced a smile. He had no idea the name of the woman. He did remember bedding her a few times but that was it. Standing so that he did not look rude, he gave the woman a hug. “Hi. How are you?” 

“I have been well since you last ditched me in Paris,” the woman tried to pout with her silicon filled lips. “But better to be ditched in Paris right?” She placed her hand on his chest, moving in and rubbing herself on him.

Emilia reached for her glass of champagne, enjoying the look of discomfort that Maximilian had written all over his face. 

Maximilian placed his hands on the lady’s arms and held them there, a tight smile on his face, “Sorry about that. Something came up.”

“Oh well,” the woman shrugged. “I will be staying here for a few days. Why don’t you come and visit me, for old time’s sake?”

“Of course.” Maximilian watched her leave before taking his seat once again. “Sorry about that.”

Emilia held the glass of champagne to her lips, hiding the smile from him. When she was sure she was not going to burst out laughing she placed it down and nodded. “Not to worry. Things like those happen?”

“Has it ever happened to you?” Maximilian raised an eyebrow at her.

“Nope,” Emilia smiled. “But then again I am an elusive billionaire, remember.”

Maximilian could not help but laugh and shake his head. 

“Quick question though. What is her name?” Emilia asked, a slight chuckle escaping her as she tried to stop herself from laughing. 

“That obvious huh?” Maximilian sighed and ran a hand over his hair. “I have no idea. It was a long time ago.”

Emilia laughed, her voice light. “If you say so. I have really enjoyed this evening. Thank you.”

Maximilian gazed deep into her eyes, “enough to warrant a second date?”

Emilia bit her lip and tilted her head to the side, studying him through her lashes. “I will think about it.”

“That is good enough for me.” Maximilian stood up and helped her out of her chair, escorting her out. 

                           “Thank you once again for a great night. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it the way that I did,” Emilia said as she stood by her door. Maximilian was being a gentleman and had escorted her to her door once they arrived back at her place.

“It was my pleasure.”

“Good night,” Emilia said as she opened her door and disappeared inside, not even inviting him for a nightcap.

Maximilian walked back to his car, reached out for his phone, and dialed Phillip’s number. “The game has started,” he said as he looked at the closed door.

“Really?” Phillip asked.

“I am by her door right now. We had gone out on a date.”

“s**t! So your month starts today, dude.”

“It’s going to be a piece of cake,” Maximilian smirked as he hung up and pulled away from Emilia’s driveway.