So, this is my new story, and it will be like Letters, updates between my "real" story.
This one is set in today, as in right now. The setting is in New York, somewhere I only dream of going. So if you are familiar with the area, I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can. Some things are different from Tortall life, (like Cloud being a cat and Numair having a sister) but it's because I have more fun with it that way. That's what this story is going to be: a WHOLE lot of fun! I see no real end for it, so the more reviews, the more chapters!
Miri looked across the room and smiled at someone.
"Who are you flirting with?" I asked, pulling my attention from the bubbles in my Diet Coke.
"Do you not see him?" She nodded across the room and smiled at the person again. I sighed when I saw him. He wasn't that cute.
"Miri, please. Wait for someone else. He looks like he crawled out of the gutter."
"Daine!" she yelled, offended. "Just for that I'm going to talk to him." She got up from our little table in the back of the room. After few minutes of watching her mindless flirting I got disgusted and looked towards the bar.
The usual bunch of drunks and slime balls you see at any bar where there, but towards the end there was someone else. He was looking my way, but not possibly at me. I turned around, but there was only the wall. I turned back. He was smiling at me.
He pushed himself off his bar stool and came over to my table.
"Are you waiting on someone?" His voice was warm and soft and he was very, very tall.
"Um, no. I mean, my friend's here, she's talking with someone. She won't be back soon." I stopped myself before I started to really ramble, and nodded to the empty chair. He took the offered seat and extended his hand.
"Numair Salmalìn." I took it. It was so…perfect.
"I'm Daine Sarrasri."
"Nice to meet you, Daine." He surveyed the room. "Do you come here often?"
"Oh, no. I'm with my friend Miri over there. What about you?"
He shrugged. "I don't come here often, either. I'm here tonight to get a…break." He caught the waitress' eye and beckoned her over.
"A cosmopolitan, if you will. And one for the lady, as well." I didn't get a chance to mention I don't really drink, much less ever had a martini.
The waitress brought them, and Numair nodded for me to try mine. It was a little strong, but good. Then he started asking questions. Not weird, stalker questions, but easy ones. Like about my cat and my drink, and what I liked to eat.
"What do you do for a living?" By now I had had two more of those yummy cosmos, and was feeling a bit…out of character.
He shrugged. "Office stuff. You?"
I took another sip and shook my head. "I don't have one. Well, not yet. I'm too busy lazing around to get off my butt and find one."
He smiled and looked over his shoulder. "Seems your friend left you." He was right: I saw Miri leave thirty minutes ago, but was having too good of a time to mention anything.
"Oh. Oh well."
"Do you have a ride home?"
"Um...I have twenty dollars for a cab."
He smiled and I melted. "Well that's no fun. Would you like to come home with me instead?"
"Um, sure." He raised his eyebrows. "Sure. I would love to."
"All right then." He went to pay the tab and I took my time putting on my jacket. He came over and took my arm, then led me outside.
The flashing of his head lights made me jump. He lead me to a black car and helped me in. I put on my seatbelt and took a deep whiff of the wonderful new-car smell. It was a Mercedes.
"You have a really nice car," I said stupidly, and he chuckled.
"Thanks."
I stayed quiet the rest of the ride, to keep from further embarrassing myself. We drove into the nice side of town, passing all the new office buildings and stores. I had been this far only a couple of times, when Miri would take me to eat somewhere. But having no car of my own, I didn't go this way often.
Numair drove into a parking deck, and a security guard let us pass through. He drove up to the top story and parked in one of the spots labeled Reserved. He came to my side by the time I had my door open, and helped me out.
The main lobby was beautiful. Everything was gold and there was a bakery and a coffee shop, too. The lady at the desk waved to Numair and he waved back. We went to the end of the hall of elevators and came to one unmarked. With a swipe of a small card on his keyring, a metal box in the wall popped open and reveled an up button. Numair pressed it an the doors opened.
My tipsy self was amazed at the lobby getting farther and farther away, and I barely caught Numair's tiny smile.
"What?" I asked, suddenly offended. He shook his head, trying to hide his grin. Then he did something I didn't expect.
He kissed me.
So I kissed him back, and it felt very good. By the time the elevator doors opened we were almost to a full make-out stage. He pulled away gently and led me out of the elevator by the hand. By now I was so star-struck I would follow him anywhere.
Another swipe of the small card unlocked the big oak doors to the only room on the floor. He let me in ahead of him, and I froze.
It looked like something out of a magazine. To my left was a nicely sized living room with a wrap-around leather couch and a big matching two person chair. On the wall was the biggest, flattest, shiniest plasma TV I had ever seen.
On the right was a oak dining table with big glass doors that opened up to a pool and small garden, which overlooked the city.
"Ready?" he asked, and pulled me through the rest of the penthouse.
On the other side of the living room was a kitchen. I had never seen so much stainless steel in one room. Down the hall a little and to the right was a closed door. The hall continued on (three doors on the kitchen side and two more on this one), but he had stopped here. He opened the door slowly and let me in a head of him.
This room was in gold and dark red colors, and had a huge king-sized bed and another beautiful TV on the wall. He nodded for me to sit on the bed. I did and he leaned down to whisper, "Give me one minute."
I nodded and watched him go into the bathroom, which was all visible from the room, except the toilet. There was another TV in here too, this one on the opposite wall from the marble bathtub.
He had gone to the little room where the toilet was, so I took the liberty of snooping around. There wasn't much decoration to look at, but there was a book on the left side of the bed on the table, obviously his side.
How To Stay A Billionaire
Billionaire? Under that was a Forbes magazine, the top 100 richest people edition. It was folded back to the top ten page and I looked over it.
Bill Gates
Jonathon Conté
Numair Salmalìn
Oh. That 's why that seemed so familiar.
Numair came out and put something on the table beside me. When I saw it I realized what was about to happen.
I looked over at him slowly and he smiled. "Found my magazine?" He looked at the page I was on. "I keep tiring to make two, but Jonathan always beats me."
He had taken off his button down black shirt and now only wore his (designer) jeans. His body was amazing, and I couldn't help but stare a little. When I met his eyes he was still smiling.
"Would you like to get started?" he asked, pushing some of my curls off my shoulder.
"Um..." but before I could say anything he put his hands on my shirt hem and slowly raised it up my sides. He took it over my head and let it drop to the floor, then slipped his fingers under the button of my jeans and undid them.
I was to scared to say anything. Not scared as in he was going to hurt me, scared as in he would get mad. I really liked him, and not because he was rich, either. When we were talking at the bar he was so sweet and down to Earth. But was it just to get me in bed?
Numair made me sit down on the bed and lifted my hands to his own jeans button. By now I was shaking so bad I could barely even undo them. I saw him studying my face, but kept to what I was doing. Then, with a sigh, he crouched down in front of me and took my hands.
"You've never done this before, have you?"
I met his dark brown eyes and shook my head. He sighed again and tipped back his head.
"I'm sorry, Numair. Please don't be mad at me."
"No, no, Daine, I'm not mad at you. I'm..mad at myself, really." He looked me over and sighed. "I hope this doesn't ruin things. I really enjoy your company."
I smiled. "I enjoy yours, too."
He smiled back. "Well, I can drive you home." He looked at the clock. It was near two in the morning. "Or you can just stay here tonight. You can sleep in here with me. I promise I want pull anything." His smile convinced me.
"All right." He kissed my forehead (which was awesome) and went to his closet (which was an electronic spinning closet, controlled by a little touch screen thing) and brought me a plain white button down shirt. I put it on and scooted to the other side of the bed, then crawled under the covers. He joined me and, to my surprise and comfort, put his arms around me. I fell asleep faster than I have in months.
The next morning I woke up from the sounds of Numair in the kitchen. I came out of the room and peeked around the wall. He was in lose black sweat pants and a gray shirt, his hair roughly pulled back.
"Do you have hot tea instead? I'm not really a fan of coffee."
He smiled when I walked in. "Of course," he said quietly, and made me a cup.
I watched him for a minute, and decided I should help. "Do you like eggs?"
He sighed happily. "Do you mean scrambled eggs? With cheese and toast? They're my favorites."
I went to his refrigerator (which was one of those huge ones you see on cooking shows) and got two eggs. He put the skillet on the gas stove for me, and watched me make them.
"Why don't you like coffee?" His tone was light, and made me smile.
"I just never have. It's too strong for me. I like tea much better."
"You need to try my coffee. I have the best money can buy."
"I'm sure," I mumbled, and gave him a sly look. He smiled and took two plates from the cabinet, then let me put the eggs on each. I followed him to the dining room, and sat down in one of the chairs. Numair sat beside me, stretching his long legs under the table.
"Where do you live?" he asked, buttering the toast he made.
"Um, about fifteen or twenty minutes from here. Not far."
"Do you live with family?"
I shook my head, and quickly changed the subject. "So you're really Numair Salmalìn?"
"In the flesh. Why? Do you not like rich men?"
I laughed. "I love rich men. But that's not why I'm interested in you."
"Um hum." His tone was teasing.
"It's not! I swear."
He smiled and looked out the window. "I would drive you home, but I need to go to work."
"Well I can take the bus-"
"The bus?" he laughed. "I'll have a driver take you." He looked at the clock in the living room. "Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?"
"Sure!" I said, and got up from my seat. Going in his room, I put on my clothes from last night and pulled up my hair.
Numair was waiting on the couch, and stood up when he saw me. "Just go down stairs, and he should be waiting in the lobby." He cupped my face and gave me a shy kiss. "I had a good time last night, even if it was a little...different."
"I did too," I whispered, wishing he had kissed me harder.
"Maybe we can go to dinner tomorrow night? Give me your number and I'll call you when I get home from work."
Yes, yes, yes! "Okay." I told him my number and he put it in his phone. He leaned back over and gave me one more small, breath taking kiss.
"I'll call around six or so."
I bit my lip and nodded, then, taking a risky move, gave him a peck on the lips. He smiled and pulled away, and walked me to the elevator.
"Have a good day," I told as the doors were shutting. He chuckled.
"I will."
My cat, Cloud, meowed at me impatiently. "He's going to call," I told her again. Cloud looked at me like I was crazy and jumped up on the kitchen counter to eat. Just because I had been waiting for the last hour in front of my phone didn't mean I was crazy, I just had no life.
I tried to watch TV, but it didn't help. I only had basic cable with three very fuzzy channels, and all that was on was the news. I laid down on my old beat up couch and looked at the clock on the wall. Seven forty-five, seven forty-six...a loud ring interrupted my thoughts . I grabbed the phone, knocking the receiver to the floor.
"Hello?"
"Daine?" His voice made me relax, and I sighed happily.
"Hey. I was starting to think you wouldn't call."
"I'm sorry." He sounded like he meant it. "I had to stay late today. How was your day?"
"Um..." All I had really done was go to the store and waited for him to call. And talked to Miri, which took up most of my afternoon. "It was good. I got some things done. How was yours?"
"Pretty good. Our stock went up two points."
"Cool." That was good, right?
"So...would you like to go to dinner tomorrow?"
I grabbed the passing Cloud and squeezed her until she meowed. "I would love to."
"Good. I'll have the driver come pick you up about five-thirty. He'll bring you to my apartment. I'd pick you up myself, but I have to work until five and it will save us time."
"Okay." I didn't want him to see my place anyway.
"All right. I, um, I'll see you tomorrow, Daine."
"I can't wait," I squeaked, and I heard him chuckle.
"I can't either."
The driver came at five-thirty sharp, and I almost ran to the big car he brought. The drive was wonderful, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
When I got to the place he lived the lady at the desk opened the elevator for me. I almost died, watching the floors go up one by one. Finally, though, I got to the top.
Nervously I knocked on the door and waited. I almost knocked again, but then it swung open, and I saw his beautiful face.
"Hey you." He was wearing a very nice black silk shirt (must be his favorite color) and a pair of khakis.
"Hey," I said back, smiling. He let me in and took my jacket.
"I got you this," he said shyly, and pulled out a red rose from behind his back.
"Oh. Thank you. I wish I had brought you a present."
He smiled a boyish smile. "Seeing you is good enough."
Sigh. "Um, should I have dressed up a little more?"
"Oh, I have that taken care of. Have a seat and I'll be right back." He motioned towards the couch and I sank into the fine leather. The TV was on, but it was the news. I looked over his books on the table. He must like to read.
"I hope this is your size," he said, coming out with a dress bag. He held it up and unzipped it, and my eyes bulged.
"It looks my size." It looked gorgeous, the perfect little black dress. "Was it expensive?"
"Daine, never look a gift horse in the mouth." He gave me the dress and a matching pair of shoes. "You can change in my room."
I went into his room and, folding my old clothes neatly on the bed, changed into the dress. I came out, a little shy. Numair saw me and blinked a few times.
"Ready?" I asked, and he got up.
"You look amazing. And to answer your question, no, I am not." He hugged me close to him and kissed me wonderfully again. I could only hang in his grasp, my hands on his face. I was a bit sad when he pulled away.
"Now I am ready." I giggled and let him lead me to the door.
We ate at what must have been the most expensive Italian restaurants in town. If fact, I think he took me here on purpose so he could read the menu (he spoke Italian, as well as French and a little Spanish) to me and I couldn't see the prices.
When we were done with our dinner he took me back outside, but not to his car.
"How about a walk instead?"
"Okay." Longer the walk, longer the time with him. He took me up the street and towards the park, where I saw a horse and carriage up ahead.
"Do you like horses?" he asked when he saw my face.
"I love horses. All animals, really."
"Good. Have you ever been on a carriage ride?"
I smiled, ecstatic. "No, I can't say I have."
"Then we'll go on one."
"Only if I can pet the horse," I told him quietly. He laughed and led me to the carriage.
I visited with the big Clydesdale horse while Numair paid the man. When he was done he came over to my side and watched me for a second.
"Would you like to pet him?" He looked a little skeptical at first, but then he put out his hand and let the Clydesdale sniff it. The horse's ears perked forward.
"I think he likes you," I giggled, and he smiled a little.
"Let's hope." He helped me into the carriage, then got in himself and sat beside me.
I looked around while we went down the street, trying not to notice his obvious debate over weather to put his arm around me or not. Finally he did, and I sank into his chest.
"It's getting cool," I observed, and he offered me his leather jacket.
"Oh, no, I'm fine. You keep it."
"No, I insist." He put it around my shoulders and wrapped his arms back around me.
Our carriage ride was too short, but I didn't want to ask to go longer. We walked back to his car, his jacket still around my shoulders.
"Would you like me to drive you home? Or we can go somewhere else, if you like."
I looked at the clock. Was it really almost eleven? "No, I'll go on home. Cloud will get mad if I stay out too late."
He smiled, and I could see he was worried. "But I would love to do something tomorrow, if you can. Maybe go eat lunch somewhere."
I loved the way his face lit up. "Sure. I would love to."
He drove me home by my directions, and parked out front when we got there.
"I had a really good time tonight," he said quietly.
"So did I." He reached out to stroke my cheek, looking strait into my eyes.
"Can I pick you up at eleven-thirty tomorrow? For lunch?"
"Sure," I whispered. He slipped his hand around the back of my neck and kissed me gently. Gently was nice, but I wanted something a bit harder. Slowly I leaned over the console and pushed against him and, slowly, he gave me the kiss I wanted. He pulled away much too soon and smiled at me.
"I'll call you tomorrow morning, before I come." I nodded, still a little shocked. He kissed my cheek. "Have a good night, and I hope Cloud won't be too mad I kept you out late."
"She won't," I breathed, and smiled at him again. I scooted out of my heated seat and waved good-bye to him.
Cloud was waiting unhappily when I came in and crashed on the couch. "Oh, Cloud, I think I'm in love."
She narrowed her eyes at me and started washing.
