Chapter One: The woman in red

Author's Note: More characters will be introduced next week. This chapter is just the backdrop to whats to come. Each chapter will be posted every Tuesday. If you see any grammar errors or misspellings, please let me know. Hope you all enjoy…Until next time!

Translations:

bruja en rojo – witch in red

Vete al infierno – go to hell

Perdón – sorry (forgive me)

No me mandés fruta – don't bullshit me

Like days past, a fortress of glass walls surrounded the room. They stood sturdy and clean like the Medieval knight's armor in the halls of the Metropolitan Museum.

There was something different about this room, on this day: it felt less sterile.

The song of sparrows snuck in to steal the silence, as the suns breathe clenched every corner from the ceiling to the floor. Hidden in the atmosphere were molecules that made the hues of daybreak melt so easily onto the unstained glass. Sculpted by the light of morning, a prism of colors echoed against the pianoforte white porcelain tile. The building sat high over the city, it's view so striking it intimidated all who had never experienced it: the Estrella sisters filed in, nonetheless. Dressed to the nines, each looking more pristine than the one before, they took their places at the conference room table.

"¡Oh!" Florencia uttered under her breath, "¡Qué hermosa es esta oficina!"

She whisked her head around the room to catch the beauty of the modern designs. She was stopped in her tracks when she saw the remarkably polished dark-haired woman at the front of the room—how did she not notice her before. Slender and still, she took up little space, yet, her self-assurance set fire to the new day. Her face was stone and every strand of her dark mane was pulled tightly into a high bun. They locked eyes for a split second, sending Florencia into a nervous compulsive fit: Back hunched over, arms a breastplate, and everything silent.

Hhm. Hhm. Hhm.

Her left hand tightened on the neck of her powder blue blouse. Her fair skin turned ghostly white as her fingers curled into her palms. She dropped her head into her chest, tipping it slightly, as she repeatedly jerked her right shoulder toward her right-side temple. The fast blinking quickly became reminiscent of a flinch.

Hhm. Hhm. Hhm. She repeated each tic with a vibrant monotony, "¡bruja en rojo!"

"¡Flor!" Lucia exclaimed.

"¡Lucia!" Florencia quickly went into defense mode, "Vete al infierno."

The short exchange made the dark-haired woman with the stone face giggle. Florencia was taken aback when she learned a person with such a serious manner had enough emotion to laugh.

"Perdón. Perdón…I'm so sorry," She nodded her head and straightened her hand out in front of her as a gesture to parallel her remorseful sentiments.

The dark-haired woman waived her off; she knew the other woman couldn't help it.

"Good morning ladies, I'm Lena Luthor."

Draped in the finest designers, she donned a tailor-made Chanel blazer in the color we all wished our enemy bathed—slender lips to match. Beneath she wore a rose printed button-down blouse, and a high-waisted black pencil skirt, that curved her body ever so slightly—this is what they mean when they say, 'dress to kill'.

"I'm sure my assistant briefed you on the reason I flew you out for this meeting?" Lena continued.

"Not in full detail," Lucia retorted. She was the bluntest of the bunch.

"I'm truly sorry about that. There is a lot of secrecy around this project. We have to be intentional about who finds out."

The air was engulfed with suspicion. Each sister had her predatorial claws out; waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"Could you please explain in more detail in what regards our role would be in this project, Mrs. Luthor," Virginia a bit on edge.

"My mother is Mrs. Luther. You can call me Lena."

Lena cleared her throat, her eyes shot around the beautiful long white conference table inspecting an array of blonde and brunette locks, just before directing them toward the screen that was descending from above.

"A few months ago, while on vacation I was accidently booked at your hotel in Argentina. My first night there I was having brunch in your bistro when I was a woman filming a video-

Hhm. Hhm. Hhm. The tics intensified. Hhm. Hm. Hm. Hm. Hm.

"Perdón. Perdón." Florencia was slack-jawed.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Lena asked subtly.

Her stone face had contradictory soft emerald green eyes, making her severe demeanor so much more delightful.

Florencia looked away to reply, "no thank you."

"What intrigued me most about your confession was that you spoke to all my fears," Lena now staring directly at the woman with the twitch, she continued, "For a long time, I felt like a pariah. First, because I was rich and then because of my brother. You said that everyone laughed at you. They laughed because you had a problem. I remember you even said that it made you want to be invisible, you wanted to dig a hole in the ground and sink.

"Though I may not have the same problem as you, I know what it's like to feel as if you're the butt of the joke. Your kind and genuine nature isn't found in many top execs in National City, this is why I want you all to be my new partners. L-Corp and CatCo are branding the world's first line of 'smart' hotels. To start, we want to open in three major cities: Sydney, London, and of our course, National City. What do you thin-"

"No me mandés fruta," Florencia clenched the seat beneath her and apologized quickly, "Perdón. Perdón. Perdón."

"I feel like there's a catch?" Carla loosely questioned.

Indeed, there was a catch. L-Corp had compiled fifteen investors who were willing to put up the money needed, to expand their large commercial venture. Each of L-Corps backers knew that Luthor Technology was the way of the future and they would be willing to invest if all parties would be willing to sign the closing corporate agreement by days end.

"Why did you wait until now to bring us in for this meeting," Lucia crashed in the conversation.

"Once again, my apologies. However, things move fast in this city. Stocks drop quickly but investor interest drops even faster," Lena continued, "not to sound like an egregiously stereotypical privileged wealthy white woman-

"So, don't," Lucia interjected.

"…but I, butI can make you extremely rich. This project would put you five women at the helm of the commercial real estate world. Your 'smart' hotels would advance virtual reality living and give consumers a glimpse into the future. You would even have a platform to speak about your condition."

"No disrespect but her condition is none of your business, Ms. Luthor" Virginia came to Florencia's defense.

She paused.

"I have actually beaten my record for the amount of times I've put my foot in my mouth is less than an hour. I didn't mean to get ahead of myself, I just really believe you all are the right team for this project. I'll give you some time to decide, I'll step out."

"Gracias," Miranda nodded.

Before she took her exit, the stone face looked over her shoulder and extended her hand, "take this," pointing to the projector at the front of the room, she continued, "This is the controller to that presentation. Please, look through it. It has all the information you will need to help you decide if this is project is something you want to do. Take all the time you need to go through it."