Chapter 1
“Can you just give me the coffee order”, Aurora was pleading with Sheila. “I slept in, and you know what a mad-house I am living in right now. I can’t be late again, I just can’t…
“Okay, all right”, Sheila laughed. “You know I was going to give you the coffee order”.
“Because you love me!” Aurora gushed sarcastically into the phone.
“Because I love coffee”, Sheila teased.
After she got the coffee orders, the intern walked into the coffee shop. It was always when the door slammed behind her that the full gravity of her life decisions crashed down on her. “I left accounting for this?” Aurora groaned as she took her place in line.
The coffee shop was on the ground floor of the Salacity Building. A fifty-story sky scraper mainly filled with banking and investment firms. The coffee shop was where you went to see the real money get made. The place was filled all day long.
She was thirteen people away from the cash register. Aurora also noticed that she was five years older than everyone else in this line. This coffee shop was filled with interns. Young, hip, and pierced, they were on the first rung of the corporate ladder. It was a fine position to be in, and Aurora had enjoyed her experiences as an intern the first-time round.
“Why did I leave?” Aurora thought. “I had made it past this point”. She was still young, at 28 Aurora could hardly go around calling herself old. She was in great shape.
“You’re a leggy, blond woman in her twenties, you aren’t allowed to complain about anything”, Sheila would always say. “I’m a stocky, forty-something, I do the complaining”.
“Hot coffee!” Aurora yelled as she walked out the door of the coffee shop. She was fighting her way upstream. The interns who had made it in to work on time were heading to the coffee shop for their second coffee run of the day.
“Hot coffee!” Aurora announced again as she pushed through the doors of Hand Up. Everyone rushed to grab their coffees, and order their bagels. It was the same as every other day.
Aurora held the coffee out as far as she could from her body, but she still came away with a stain on her new pink blouse. She sighed and looked to the sky for a second. Everyday! The scream was internal. Aurora tried to dab the spot for a second before taking the tray and the unused napkins to the recycling bin.
Hand Up was a non-governmental education charity. They went around the world helping kids gain access to education. Aurora believed in this goal, and that’s why she joined the organization.
“Making a difference in your community and around the world!” It was scrolled under every Hand Up logo in the office, and Aurora was beginning to think that the words were put there just to mock her. She had left a comfortable position at an accounting firm six months ago, as part of an effort to ‘make a difference’, and all she had done so far was get coffee, bagels, or lunch for people.
Aurora was glaring at the logo over the recycling bin when a hand latched onto her. “You’ve gotta hide”, Sheila was already pushing Aurora into an empty office before any questions could be asked. “Max is looking for you”.
“Did you tell him I was late?” Aurora moaned, her arm went to her mouth as she started nervously chewing on her finger nails. Of course, it wasn’t until Sheila pulled her hand away that Aurora even noticed it was happening.
“He is selling you off”, Sheila whispered as she moved to the door and closed it behind then. Aurora wasn’t sure what her friend meant, but she didn’t like the sound of it. “Lance Macauley…”
“The owner of Salacity?” Aurora interrupted. Lance Macauley owned a ton of property in New York City, and across the country. Aurora’s accounting firm had taken on a project for his company once, but she had never had the chance to meet him.
“Yeah, he’s a major donor, and Max is giving you to him for the weekend”, Sheila said without looking back at Aurora. The older woman was looking out the long, narrow window that ran alongside the door. “I know, it’s disgusting. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to trade pretty, young interns for donations”.
“I don’t know…”
“You’re the worst!” Sheila snapped as she turned on Aurora.
“What?” Aurora tried to hide her excitement.
“He’s a married man you know?” Sheila cocked her head to achieve the perfect look of disapproval.
“I don’t know”, Aurora could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. “I just want to meet him…I…”
“There you are”, Max had flung the door open. Aurora’s skin crawled as Max DeChiara smiled at her. There was something about the balding, overweight manager that put Aurora on edge, even on days when he wasn’t trying to sell her.
“You can have her”, Sheila sighed. “We’re done here”.
Aurora knew she would have to patch up that relationship sooner or later. Sheila was the closest thing the intern had to a friend at this company. Watching Sheila turn her back and leave the room left Aurora with a hollow feeling inside.
“Well, you’re the last one in today”, Max often started conversations like this. He made sure to let his underlings know that they owed him a favor right off the bat. “So, you will be accompanying one of our largest benefactors to a conference”.
“That’s why?” Aurora asked. “That’s why I’m going?”
Max turned to look at Sheila who had yet to make it all the way back to her desk. He was nodding as he turned back. “Yes, of course that is the reason. You drew the short end of the stick. We have a benefactor who needs a favor…”
“A favor?”
“A personal assistant, for the conference”, Max explained. “You’re going on an all-expense paid trip to the Swiss Alps. Really you should be thanking me”.
“I just want to know what is expected of me”, Aurora was trying to be as clear as possible without actually saying the words. She was excited about the Alps. She was excited to meet Lance Macauley, but Aurora needed to know that there was no hidden agenda.
“What do you take me for?” Max scoffed at the idea of offering interns for donations. “I have too much respect for you”. Max rubbed Aurora’s arm for far too long as he continued to explain his great love for women.
“Okay…”
Aurora’s neck snapped back as Max pulled her from the office. She had agreed to go just as Lance Macauley had stepped into the office. “Mr. Macauley”, Max smoothed down his greasy black hair before reaching out his hand for the billionaire real estate tycoon.
Aurora wanted to say ‘hi’, but the words stuck in her throat. She was taken aback by the tall, tanned man that she saw in front of her. He was forty-three years old, Aurora had read his profile in a magazine earlier in the year, but he didn’t look a day over thirty –five. Lance’s high jaw line was pulled tight, by the serious look on his face.
“Mr. DeChiara”, Lance ignored the hand, at first. He pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket. “Is this her?” Lance didn’t wait for an answer. “Everything she needs is in the envelope”.
Aurora, and most of the office, stood still as Lance left the room. Aurora had never seen anyone as polished in real life. His suit looked like it cost more than her rent. It was hard for Aurora to focus on any one thing about him. Lance seemed to have everything. His movements were filled with confidence and grace. Everyone could feel the power coming off of him.
“Wow”, Aurora mouthed the words, but the sound came from Sheila’s mouth. Aurora turned to see her friend standing right beside her. “What? He’s hot”. Sheila added a grunt before storming off.
“Here, go home and pack”, Max said as he turned to Aurora, handing her the envelope. Max walked off to his office.
The envelope was light. Aurora opened it and found only a phone number. It was written on official Salacity Corp letterhead. She decided to call the number as she headed out of the Salacity building and into the streets.
“Are you ready Mr. Macauley?” The voice on the other end of the phone was gruff.
“No, this is…”
“Ah, yes, the intern, I know who you are”, the man laughed. It was a sound that sent shivers running down the young woman’s spine. The knowing tone put Aurora on her guard as she listened to the man. “You need to tell me where you live. I am picking you up in an hour, and you’ll need your passport”.
The conversation moved onto packing for the weather, and the dress code at the seminar. It lasted until Aurora reached the door to her apartment. “I have to let you go now”, she explained. Aurora could hear the screaming coming from the other side of the door, and she didn’t want Anthony the limo driver to get the wrong impression.
Aurora took a deep breath and walked through the door. Luckily the door to Lydia’s bedroom was closed this time. “It’s a little loud today”, the words cut through Aurora as she threw herself back against the door. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”. The older woman cooed.
“No”. Aurora sucked hard to catch her breath. “I just didn’t see you”. Carly was a regular client of Lydia’s intimate massage service. Aurora and Carly had grown close over the years as they sat together waiting for Lydia to finish with different clients.
“I should wear a bell”, Carly joked.
Carly was blond, in great shape, and even though she was in her early forties, Carly could have any man she wanted. Aurora often wondered why a woman like Carly would need to visit Lydia. “This is just much less complicated than having a relationship”, Carly would always say.
Lydia was a registered massage therapist, who also considered herself to be a sexual healer. “I take a holistic approach to healing”, Lydia would always explain to her clients. Aurora had heard the speech a million times. The first was when Lydia moved her practice into her bedroom. Lydia believed that sexual health was just another part of a healthy lifestyle. Aurora agreed with her, but Lydia took this belief to the next level.
“I’m sorry, I can’t wait with you today”, Aurora explained as she went to pack her bags. She left the door to her room open. Aurora headed right for her closet. In seconds she had shirts, skirts, and dresses covering the floor. Aurora felt trepidations swirling through her mind. She could hear the voices of Max, Anthony, and even Sheila, they had all set her on edge about this trip.
As she held the clothes in front of body, Aurora stared into the mirror. She couldn’t help the feelings that were bubbling through her fears. She held up a blue dress. Aurora remembered buying the dress three years ago. She hadn’t found a place to wear it yet. She folded it and packed it in her suitcase.
“You’re glowing”. Carly was standing in the doorway. The older woman seemed to see right through Aurora. “What’s going on today?”
Aurora tried to control herself, but she was too excited. She could feel the big, stupid grin that was takin up most of her face. She covered her face with a black T-shirt. The women shared a laugh, as Aurora explained the day she was having. It felt closer to a fairy tale than anything that had happened to Aurora in the last five years.