*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT own The Phantom of the Opera, its storyline, or its characters. Please R&R.
I woke up at around seven in the morning to start getting ready for our upcoming meeting. I took a quick shower and proceeded to figure out what to wear. I decided to go with a two piece cropped pant suit with a white button up shirt paired with simple black heels and a black Chanel belt. I put my hair up in an elegant bun and then put some light make up on. I headed over to Megs room to meet up with her for a quick breakfast.
Meg opened her door after about the fifth knock. She was wearing a light baby blue bodycon dress, and a coral pink blazer paired with coral pink heels and a coral pink handbag to match. "You ready for that big proposal?" Meg asked. I nodded, "I'm ready to get this done and over with. You know I hate talking to large groups of people, but hopefully there is only a few of them and I'm able to get through it all."
After our quick breakfast, we met with Erik and Nadir in the lobby to head to Ballesteros-Valdés SRL. Once we arrived we were met by a kind woman at the reception desk which instead of reception, read "recpció." Once I saw that, it should have raised some flags but I hardly had anytime to think about it. Once the receptionist walked us to the meeting room, we took our respective seats. I was seated inbetween Erik and Nadir while Meg was seated next to Nadir and one of the other companies representatives.
We waited for the CEO of the company to walk in. Once he made his appearance we all stood up to shake hands. "Hello," he said in broken English, "I am Marc Ribas, the CEO of Ballesteros-Valdés SRL. Nice to meet you." Erik took over and introduced himself as well. "Nice to meet you Mr. Ribas, I am Erik Destler and this is my partner, Nadir Khan, my personal assistant, Christine Daae, and Nadir's personal assistant, Megdalena Gutierrez. We all shook hands with him and proceeded to retake our seats.
"Let us get started then," said Mr. Ribas. Erik motioned to me, "If you guys don't mind. My personal assistant, Christine will be giving you the run down on our proposal seeing as she is quite fluent in your language," he said. Mr. Ribas gave me a smile, "Well then, go ahead." I smiled at him and walked up to the front. "Buenos días, vamos a comenzar con nuestra propuesta que ha sido construida por el Señor Destlery el Señor Khan," I said. I saw a confused look go over Mr. Ribas face and the rest of his team. Do they not understand what I'm saying? Mr. Ribas confirmed my suspicions when he asked, "Qué va dir ella?"
Oh no! They must speak a different language! What am I supposed to do? It's a clear dialect of Spanish but I definitely don't know how to speak it! I quickly got to thinking. The language that they are speaking is fairly similar to Spanish but has some changed words. Luckily for me, one of the girls sitting on the team of representatives looked at me and asked, "Hablas español?" I nodded. "No te preocupes, yo soy la asistente de el Señor Ribas y yo le podré traducir a el después," she replied. I nodded in understanding as she whispered something to her boss and he nodded.
Giving the proposal after that was a walk in the park. I believe that the representatives in the room, including Mr. Ribas understood some of what I was saying as they nodded along and seemed to contemplate what I had been saying. After successfully giving the proposal, we decided to have a quick lunch with the members of Ballesteros-Valdés SRL in their meeting room. We ate and laughed back and forth as the members practiced their English with us and we practiced what we learned to be their official language, Catalán.
After lunch, we proceeded to say our goodbyes to everyone and headed back to the main lobby where our chauffeur was waiting to drive us back to the resort. Once we arrived, we all decided to take a stroll around the resort. Meg and Nadir made a run for the bar, leaving Erik and I trailing behind. Erik looked at me and said, "Thank you for everything, Christine. I really can't thank you enough for translating that proposal. I really should try to learn some Spanish." I laughed a little bit before replying, "Don't mention it. It was actually kind of fun, I have never done anything like that before and it gave me an opportunity to use Spanish again. I haven't spoken Spanish since Amá's funeral." "As for Spanish though, I can teach you how to speak it if you'd like," I quickly added. Oh my god! Why did you say it like that?! You're clearly flirting with your boss! You couldn't have made it more obvious!
Erik and Christine met up with Meg and Nadir shortly after. They found the two ordering drinks at the bar. "You guys want anything?," they both asked at the same time. Christine quickly said, "No, thanks. I'm alright, I think I want to grab a quick lunch and take a dip in the pool." Erik looked towards her, he was surprised that she hadn't wanted a drink. "How about I join you? Perhaps Meg and Nadir can join us later," he said without thinking. Christine smiled at him, "Sure! I prefer the company anyway."
Erik and Christine enjoyed a nice lunch at the resort's café. They talked back and forth about their trip and even shared a couple of laughs. Once they were done eating their lunch, Christine looked around before saying, "Well, I think I am going to head up to my room and change into my swimsuit." Erik nodded, "Yes, I think I will do the same. I'll meet you near the pool. I will order a cabana for the four of us, in case Meg and Nadir decide to join us." With that said, they were both off.
Erik made his way over to the cabana hostess stand near the pool after he had changed into his proper swim attire. He walked past a couple of women who stopped and stared at him, he even caught some murmuring things about his "sexy body" at times. Erik was well aware that except for the right hand side of his face, he was a very attractive man, but deep down Erik knew that if any of those women ever saw behind his mask, they would yell in fear before ever catcalling him. What makes you think that Christine could be any different?!
After the hostess showed him to his purchased cabana for the day, he set his things down and headed for the pool. He ran into Meg and Nadir as he was walking into the pool, they both stopped and pulled up some lawn chairs next to him. They had been talking for a bit, when they spotted Christine walking towards them. She had on a cover up dress, and was wearing a sun hat and sunglasses. "My god, Christine. You look like an old lady, lose the hat and cover up. Trust me on this," said Meg. Christine laughed, "Well thanks Meg. I know I can count on you to tell me if I look good or not. But don't you worry, I put the cover up on on purpose. Unlike you, I don't want every man in the world gawking at me as I walk by in a bathing suit." Meg laughed at that, and continued sipping on her cocktail, as she knew that there was no point in arguing for they both knew that Christine was quite right.
Erik and Nadir were paying no mind to the two while they were talking, as they both were having their own separate conversation. A conversation which quickly stopped when Erik found himself speechless. Not at what Nadir had said, but at the woman who walked around Nadir and quickly proceeded to cannon ball into the pool next to them. As she walked by, he had seen her in her sexy royal blue ring linked halter micro triangle bikini… had he mentioned it was sexy? He had no time to think about how sexy she had looked as she quickly swam over to them both.
"Meg, Nadir. You guys have to get in! The water is amazing," she said. Meg looked over her sunglasses at Christine. "Um, no thanks. I'd rather tan," she said. Christine looked over at Erik and Nadir, she motioned for them to be quiet. She then dove underwater until she came to the side of the pool and splashed Meg, making sure to get her as wet as she could. "Christine! I can't believe you," she yelled. Meg quickly got up from her chair and took her clothes off, revealing that she had a swimsuit underneath. Unbeknownst to Erik, Nadir was experiencing the very feeling that he had when he saw Christine… except he was looking at Meg.
Once they were done swimming, they all had a quick light dinner and each headed to bed. They were excited for the days to come as they had two days to enjoy however they wanted. Erik was sure that he would just work through the days and make a call to Destler LLC's headquarters to see how things were moving along back home. Erik was hoping to expand his company and he knew that that would take some work… a lot of work. Despite the work he had to do in the days ahead, he was still hopeful for some sort of interaction with Christine. Any kind…