Chapter 1 - Crash Into Me
Stepping out into the drizzling New York rain; it was unlikely she was going to catch a cab during the early morning rush, her steps quickened as she merged into the oncoming flow of people. Most were pre-occupied with Blackberrys' or Starbucks; only missing her by a fraction. She looked up through the morning mist and overlooking skyscrapers, there was no sign of the day brightening up anytime soon.
A sigh escaped her Lancôme coated lips; the day had started out bad and seeing as though God wasn't on her side today, it could only get worse. A sudden rush of cold water hitting her legs sent Izzy flying out of her day dream, the screech that left her mouth didn't go unnoticed by those around her either. Her eyes narrowed and quickly scanned the passing traffic to find the culprit, a man in his 50's sat in a classic rusted New York cab, snickering as he watched her regain her composure. The buzzing coming from her matelasse Miu Miu waxed leather tote prevented the man from receiving a barrage of insults; this was his lucky day.
Rummaging through her bag - past the necessities that were always carried around - she found her Blackberry. One deep and satisfying breath later, she pressed the answer call button.
"Hello." Her voice was soft spoken with a slight hint of annoyance, mainly directed at the cab driver.
"You're late for your meeting." Jenny's voice on the other end was far from pleasant, she 'played' the assistant to Linda who reigned supreme as the director of Bergdorf Goodman for 7 years.
Realising her feet were still firmly planted on the sidewalk of West 57th Street, she continued her journey giving one final glance to the cab driver, hoping he'd accidently take a wrong turn into the Hudson River. "Five minutes" were the only words Izzy uttered before hanging up. She quickened her pace, past the glossy windows of Chanel, avoiding eye contact with the mannequins to prevent getting delayed any further. Taking a left turn onto 5th Avenue, she saw her destination in the distance and brushed past the oncoming New Yorkers and Tourists.
Izzy pushed open one of the large glass doors and entered the lobby of Bergdorf Goodman, the familiar sights and smells of the store flooded her senses. The smell of leather and polished wood calmed her state of mind as she headed to the back of the store and upwards towards the offices she had grown accustomed to. The echo of her Giuseppe's on the hard wooden floor alerted Jenny to her presence in the corridor. Izzy scanned over the other woman's small frame, from her perfect pink toenails to her bouncy chocolate brown hair, she was 100% pure bitch, and not a pedigree at that.
"You know, you really should make sure you're punctual. One of these days Linda will fire your a-" Izzy continued down the corridor towards the conference room, leaving a bewildered Jenny retreating back to the office lobby. One more moment with that woman was bound to dampen her mood even more. Izzy put on her game face as she turned the handle of the conference room door, pushing it open she glanced around the room she saw three of her co-workers deeply engrossed in conversation. Her close friend Cassandra looked up at her through big brown mascara framed eyes and grinned widely at her "About damn' time you showed up."
Izzy could only smile at Cas before taking a seat in-between Sam and Melanie; the other two co-workers in the conference room. Linda sat at the head of the large glass table, glasses set on the bridge of her nose and a black and gold Montblanc fountain pen tapping against her blush covered cheek. The annoyance of being held up was clearly written across her face. Izzy sent a warm smile in her direction and shrugged her Burberry Prorsum trench coat off her shoulders and onto the back of the plush leather covered chair.
45 minutes later, Izzy left the conference room with Cas hot on her Giuseppe heels. "Would you care to explain how you managed to be 40 minutes late when you live 10 minutes away?" Cas' question was not unexpected, however the reasoning behind Izzy's lateness was a good enough reason to keep her mouth shut.
Aiming to save herself from reliving the mornings events, she replied hoping to cut off any further interrogation "That doesn't matter. All that matters is I'm here now!"
Izzy prayed that Cas would drop the subject and move onto more pressing matters, but to no avail "It does matter!" Cas exclaimed, "Plus, I saved your sorry behind in there. So you have no choice but to tell me"
Cas' sly smile spread across her face. She knew she had won. "Fine." Izzy replied "But if you laugh, or tell another soul there will be consequences."
Cas sensed an empty threat, but placed her hand over her heart and said "I promise to not tell a living soul or laugh, too much." She stuck her tongue out and mentally urged Izzy to proceed with her story.
Izzy's mind flashed back to that morning, rushing to get to work early for once and catching sight of the new tenant in her building. Not in a million years would she have missed this guy, however seeing his tall and well built frame along with his stark red hair caused her to come to a blinding halt in the elevator.