- Chapter 15
ABBY
“This is a movie premier,” I squealed as we pulled up to the party Aldo wanted me to go to with him.
“Not exactly darling. It’s a launch for my friend's production company. It will be filled with boring money guys all trying to get their hands on the next big star.”
“I can’t go in there with you. Oh, my, God, I look hideous!” I said as we pulled up.
If I had known I was going to such a big event, I certainly would have done something fancy with my hair and makeup, or at the very least, I would have had Isabella meet me to do it for me. Instead, I waited in line for the shower at the shelter for what seemed like all morning and only got about two minutes in the ice cold water before a woman was trying to get in for her turn. I combed through my hair and put some Velcro curlers in while I did the best makeup I could with the stuff I had in my bag.
My nice dresses and shoes were still at Theo’s apartment, so I had to go with what I had in my storage unit. I found a long tight-fitting black dress that hid the atrocious black heels that I had. It had a low cut back that I thought would look good; but otherwise, it was a pretty plain dress.
“Darling, you look absolutely radiant. Most women go way overboard with their hair and makeup. You look delightful,” Aldo said as he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips gently.
As his lips touched my skin, I felt warmth rush through my body. I didn’t want to be attracted to Aldo, I really didn’t. He was married, and I would never date a married man. But he invited me to the event and was paying me $10,000, that was just too much money to ignore.
I wasn’t going to sleep with him. I was simply there to keep him company for the evening and help him enjoy his boring money men from his industry event. If there was anything I knew well, it was how to mix in with any type of crowd. I felt more at ease pretending to fit in with people than I did when I actually fit in with a group. But Aldo was going to have to stop kissing my hand if I was going to be able to concentrate on the evening.
“Now, what would your wife say if she saw your lips on me like that?” I teased him as I tried to keep the mood light-hearted.
“She would say she wanted you for herself,” Aldo said, his piercing green eyes focusing on me.
I’m not sure if I totally stopped breathing or what, but I definitely had to gasp for air. What had he just said? Clearly I hadn’t heard him right. I laughed and looked down at the ground. But I remembered that his wife had made a comment about me that morning when I had served them breakfast and wondered if she was bisexual.
“I’m serious. She wanted you for herself that morning you served us breakfast. When I told her I was taking you with me today, she was delighted.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, I’m sure you can tell by looking at me that I’m not a conventional man, right?”
Aldo was right; I could tell that he was a very modern guy. That night he wore a pair of deep blue slacks with gray crocodile shoes and brilliant pink socks. His button up shirt was short sleeved instead of long and showed his arms which were totally covered in tattoos. His hair was certainly salt and pepper gray, but it was short on the sides and long on top; similar to how my favorite singer wore his hair. Aldo Gioacchino was anything but ordinary.
“You have a much better sense of style than I do,” I joked.
“My wife and I understand that not every need we have can be filled by each other. We both enjoy the freedom of having other people in our lives and freely talk about it with each other. If my wife had not been alright with me bringing you tonight, I certainly wouldn’t have. She was excited that I had found such a nice woman to spend my evening with.”
I was simply dumbfounded by what he was saying. On television and in movies, I had heard about people having relationships like that, but I never thought I would meet someone who was in an open relationship. Question after question flooded my mind as I tried to think through how it could possibly work out that they both got to date other people and then came home to each other.
“Okay,” I said quietly; afraid that if I said anything else, I would sound totally infantile.
“I can tell you have questions. How about we go and enjoy our evening, and we can talk more about it later? Just know that I don’t spend time with anyone that I don’t genuinely want to get to know. That means talking, not fucking. I want to know more about you and can’t wait to spend this evening together.”
“Okay,” I said again, blankly staring at Aldo.
He again pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it as we walked into the building together. Aldo was unique and fascinating to be around. I wrapped my arm around his muscular, tattooed arm and walked with more confidence than I’d had for a very long time.
Just being there with Aldo was an experience I would never forget. It was exciting to be around all the industry professionals, and for that one night, I was going to remember my dream of being an actress. I had long given up on that dream, but while I was around this group, it seemed possible again. Perhaps I could use the evening to make some friends in the industry.
My breath was heavy as I tried to calm myself. In one swift statement, Aldo had made me feel more desire than any man I could remember. He didn’t just say I was beautiful, any guy could say that, and often did. Aldo made it known that he wanted to be there with me. Not any number of other beautiful women, but me. It was uncomfortable to hear that from a man but also an incredible turn on. I really didn’t get pure compliments like that very often.
“So this party will be a lot of people talking about celebrities and trying to show off. What I need to do is get the conversations switched back to business without looking like a jackass. That’s where I’ll need your help.”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“We can give it a try, and then I’ll give you some tips, and we will make our way through the party. I really hate talking to people, but I need to get some more movies filmed at my studio, so I’ll have to fall on the sword and work tonight.”
“I think I understand,” I said as I held onto his arm. “Will these people know that I’m not your wife?”
Aldo laughed and stopped walking as he turned toward me. Just his undivided attention made me nervous. I could hardly keep my hands from shaking as he held onto them.
“I will likely introduce you as a friend if that is alright with you?”
“Yes, that would be just fine.”
It was nice that he actually talked to me about everything before we met face to face with people. I had really felt caught off guard when Theo had just introduced me to his friends as his girlfriend. It was like he didn’t think I would understand if he had just asked me beforehand.
I felt comfortable on Aldo’s arm like he was going to protect me. It was an entirely different feeling than how I felt around Theo, though. With Theo, there was sexual tension and an intense physical attraction that I felt clouded my ability to talk to him or say what I really wanted to say; it was like we were in the middle of a game.
With Aldo, I knew he was in charge. There was no game to be played, and it was a relief. Aldo was paying for my time, and I was going to do what he needed me to do and try and make his night the best possible business night he could have. The simplicity of our arrangement sat well with me and motivated me to come out of my shell.
It didn’t hurt that Aldo was insanely handsome and carried himself like a CEO. He was straight to the point with what he needed me to do and very honest about the whole evening and the stuff with his wife. I liked honesty. It was hard to find, but it was something I treasured in all the people I kept close to me in my life.
“Maria, how are you?” Aldo said as we approached a very stylishly dressed woman in her mid-forties.
“I’m good, Aldo. Just finished negotiating a contract with Bradley Cooper to be in one of our prime-time shows.”
“Wow, that’s a big name. Congratulations.”
“Yes, we tried to get Channing Tatum and Brad Pitt, but they were busy. You know how it goes.”
“Of course, everyone is swamped.”
Aldo looked over at me, and I knew it was my cue to do something, I just didn’t know exactly what to do. I could certainly tell that this woman liked dropping the names of famous people that she was working with, but I didn’t know how I could change the subject. Well, I didn’t know until I looked down and saw her shoes.
“Those shoes are amazing. Are they Jimmy Choo?” I asked, starting with the only thing I felt comfortable with.
“Why yes, yes they are. I got them as a gift from the editor of Elle Magazine.”
I could certainly tell what Aldo was talking about when he said everyone just wanted to name drop. It was exhausting dogging all the names this Maria woman was dropping, but I could see why people did it. Knowing someone famous or working with them made you seem more legitimate and probably made people want to work with them more. But I had a job to do, and I was going to do my best to get it done.
“Are you going to be filming the series at Aldo’s studios?” I asked.
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead. We normally film in L.A., but it might be a nice change to film out here.”
“I know everyone’s in L.A. It’s turning into a graveyard for bad television,” I said although I knew absolutely nothing about television.
“So true. So true. I’m Maria Saunters by the way,” she said as she pressed her hand out toward me.
“Oh, yes, I’m Abigail Tessaro. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Are you an actress?”
“No, no, just a regular city girl here. A long time ago I wanted to be an actress, but then life got a hold of me.”
“Abby is a friend of mine from Kansas,” Aldo said as he interjected into the conversation.
“I love the Midwest. Everyone is so real. If I could film out there, I would totally do it in a second,” Maria added. “So Aldo, send me over your rates for a primetime series taping, and I’ll get back to you. I love the idea of taping out here.”
“Sounds good. I’ll have my assistant get them to you in the morning.”
“It was nice meeting you, Abigail.”
“You too Maria.”
And just like that, she was gone, and I was practically shaking from the adrenaline that was rushing through my body. I had butchered the whole thing. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to her and certainly didn’t know a thing about television shows or the L.A. market. So when Aldo grabbed my arm and pulled me down a little hallway, I was prepared for him to be angry with me. Or perhaps just tell me what I did wrong so I could do better with the next person.
His hand gripped mine firmly as we walked into the dark hallway. I was nervous, but not afraid; I just wished I had done a better job for him. He was paying me $10,000, and I wanted him to get all the clients he could possibly get. Before he had a chance to speak, I wanted to apologize.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea what I was saying. I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll do better,” I said as I bit my bottom lip and looked down toward the ground.
I was afraid to look into his eyes.
“Abigail,” Aldo said as he put one finger on my chin and gently pressed it up, so I had to look at him. “You did perfectly.”
“I did?”
“Yes, that was so good. I’m amazed by your poise and ability to get her to open up like that. Maria isn’t an easy nut to crack. Talking about her shoes, wow; I would never have guessed that was her weak point.”
“I really did alright?”
His finger moved from my chin and gently touched my lips as his piercing green eyes made me stop breathing. The power he had in that look was something I had never known before. It was intense, yet gentle. Sexy, yet not seductive.
“Shh, yes, have confidence in yourself, Abby. You did great. Now, let’s go do that some more.”
I took in a deep breath as his finger delicately traced its way from my lips down my shoulder. He took his time as he moved toward my hand and weaved his fingers with mine to bring me back out to the party.
“Wait, I have no idea what I’m talking about. You know that right?” I said as I pulled on him.
He swiftly turned toward me and pressed me up against the wall. I pulled in a deep breath as I felt his body press against me and the electricity between us building. He stood there pressed up against me, and I thought for sure he was going to kiss me. Everything about the way he was looking at me made me think he wanted to kiss me, and hell, I wanted to kiss him.
Our bodies were warm, and we both took in deep breaths as I waited for him to say something. I felt myself wanting him more and more, and I could hardly take the anticipation of waiting for his lips to touch mine.
“No one here knows what they are talking about. Feel free to make up statistics and talk about the industry anyway you want to; they won’t know the difference,” he said slowly as he looked from my eyes to my lips.
“Um … okay … I will,” I said, slowly licking my lips.
Upon watching me lick my lips, Aldo pressed his hips closer to me, and I felt how hard he was. He took in a deep breath, and I just knew he was going to kiss me, and I prepared myself for the moment. But instead of kissing me, Aldo slowly let out the breath and pulled himself away. His hand went back toward mine, and before I knew it, we were back out at the party and mingling with the guests.
What was it with these men and not giving into temptation? It was beyond frustrating and nothing I had ever dealt with before. Theo seemed to do it to make me happy. I felt like he wanted me to like him and didn’t want to take advantage of me or something like that. But Aldo, he looked at me with such lust at that moment, and even made sure I felt how hard his body was for me. But then he denied himself the pleasure of feeling my lips and his together, it baffled me.
I felt myself wanting him purely because he denied me. His age, style, personality were all something new and different to me. For all the men that I had refused to sleep with in the past, I could say that I would certainly sleep with Aldo if the opportunity came up. I wanted to know what kind of lover he was in bed. He seemed so tough with his tattoos and muscular build, yet he also seemed to have a gentle soul who would want his woman to be happy when he had her in bed.
The thought of sleeping with Aldo started to rush through my head, and I felt myself flush with the excitement. I was utterly distracted by my thoughts when we walked up to the next person he wanted to talk to, and I felt the awkward silence that came from missing a beat in a conversation.
“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’m totally not paying attention; your tie is absolutely mesmerizing,” I said to the man as I pulled my hand away from Aldo’s and touched the tie.
The man we were talking to seemed really out of place at the party. He was wearing a custom suit like many of the other people, but his suit was purple. The color purple just wasn’t a usual color to see any man wearing, let alone someone at an industry party like we were at.
“Girl, yes, yes, yes. I’m so glad someone in this place knows a good tie when they see one. It’s Hermes.”
“Now if I had a tie like that, I’d probably use it to tie Aldo here to my bed and keep him for myself,” I said before I realized what had come out of my mouth.
“Girl, you’re bad. I like you already,” the man said flamboyantly.
I could see a huge smile on Aldo’s face out of the corner of my eyes, but I wasn’t about to look at him. I was mortified that the dirty thought I was thinking had actually come straight out of my mouth.
“Michael is a director of Male on Male porn movies,” Aldo said as he tried to get me to look at him.
But I certainly wasn’t going to make eye contact with Aldo after he just told me this guy made porno films. Aldo was trying to make me turn red with embarrassment; I just knew it.
“Well, Michael, it’s nice to meet you. I bet your job is a lot of hard work,” I said as I winked at him.
Michael broke out into an absurdly loud laugh that caught the attention of everyone in the room. For a brief moment, I thought I had said something wrong, but then realized he liked my joke.
“Aldo, this woman of yours is delightful.”
“She is indeed,” Aldo said as he placed his hand in the small of my back, and I felt it move inside of my dress.
My plain black dress had a low cut back, and Aldo’s hand moved inside of it. Everything in my body tensed up in anticipation of what he was going to do with his hand. I didn’t care at all what he wanted to do; I would have allowed anything. The touch of his rough hands on my skin sent my whole body into overdrive and I forgot that I was trying to avoid looking at him. As I turned and my eyes met his, I felt like we were the only two in that room. It wasn’t a romantic moment, nothing as Hollywood as that; no, I felt like he wanted to bend me over and fuck me right there in the middle of that party.
“You know Aldo, I’ve got to sign with a new studio space next month. Would you be interested in renting to a porn king like me?”
“I would love to talk business with you,” Aldo said.
Aldo was able to keep talking to his industry contact despite his hand playing with my ass and touching me. I could hardly concentrate on a thing as I wondered where he was going to put his hand and what he was going to do with his fingers.
I felt his hand dip down between my cheeks, and his middle finger pressed against my ass. I was in shock and instantly took a step forward to force Aldo to pull his ever-reaching fingers away from my delicate ass.
“I’m going to find the ladies room,” I said quickly as I walked away.
I didn’t get far before Aldo was right behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me toward him. I felt the bulk of his body against my ass and his lips pressed against the back of my neck. This time, instead of pulling away from him, I totally melted into him, wishing we were alone so I could feel his hands on my body again.
“You’re doing wonderful, Abby. I’m so impressed. Thank you so much for coming with me tonight,” Aldo said in my ear.
“Sure, I mean you are paying me to be here.”
“You smell so delicious. I could just eat you up,” he whispered softly in my ear as his mouth took my earlobe and pulled it gently. “I could lick you slowly, devouring all your juices until you begged me to stop.”
“Oh shit,” I said as my knees went weak, and I felt his arms tighten their grip on me.
“Lapping up your body harder and harder. Watching you tighten up with desire; are you prepared to explode? Now that would be a wonderful night.”
“Yes, that does sound interesting,” I said as I let my hand slide behind me and massage his bulging body through his pants.
I wanted him. The desire was almost too much for me, and I wanted to feel him inside of me. I didn’t want a relationship with him. I didn’t even want to date the guy; I purely had an animal instinct that was overwhelmingly telling me to fuck him.
“See that guy over there,” Aldo said, pointing to a lame looking guy in glasses. “He’s my dream customer. His company films four sci-fi movies a year, and he has never even agreed to come to my studio to look it over.”
“What do I get if I land him for you?” I asked as I continued to stroke him.
“Anything you want.”
“You?” I asked.
“If that’s what you want.”
“Another ten thousand dollars?” I asked.
“Anything.”
“Oh, well then; game on.”
I pulled away from Aldo but held onto his hand as we walked toward the man in glasses. I felt like a secret agent going to complete her mission. Although, of course, there was no secret mission, and I was just trying to land Aldo a big client. It was fun to think of it as a game, and it was a test of my ability to get what I wanted from a man.
“He’s not an easy sell,” Aldo said as we got closer.
“What’s the name of his last movie?”
“Sins of Saturn.”
Just as we got closer to the man in glasses, I turned around and pulled Aldo toward me. I wrapped my arms around him and started to kiss him as I walked backward toward the man. Our lips touching sent a jolt of electricity through me, though, and I momentarily forgot what the hell I was doing. Instead, I wrapped my arms tight around him and got lost in the feeling of his lips on mine. He kissed me gently, and I felt the softness in each movement of his mouth.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the man in glasses said as Aldo and I ran into him.
“Aldo, oh my gosh, do you know who this is. Oh, wow, wow, wow!” I said as I tried to build up the moment because I really didn’t know who the guy was.
“Of course, I do darling, this is Ryan Baldwin,” Aldo said as he shook hands with the man.
“Hey Aldo, how’s business?” Ryan asked right away.
I was waiting for him to throw out some celebrity names or talk about why he was so great, but Ryan seemed much more level headed. He also didn’t appear to want to impress anyone, especially Aldo.
“Business is good. How about for you?” Aldo asked.
“It’s been a good year,” Ryan said as he turned to leave. “It was nice meeting you,” Ryan said to me.
“Can I ask you a question?” I blurted out in the hopes of preventing him from leaving.
“Sure.”
“Is everything in Sins of Saturn done with computer graphic? What parts were real? I mean, I watched it and thought it all had to be real, but my brain knew it couldn’t be real.”
“We filmed most of it with prosthetics and then added some CGI graphics. I’m glad it looked so real. It was nice meeting you,” he said as he continued to walk away.
“You too,” I yelled after him.
Aldo was just laughing when I turned back to look at him. It was sort of funny how the guy didn’t fall for a single trick that I had tried with him. But I assumed he probably had a lot of people trying tricks with him.
“Well, at least, you got a kiss out of the deal,” he said as he pulled me toward him and we moved on to talk to the next person.
“No, at least, you got a kiss,” I joked.
“Let’s get back to work,” Aldo said with a firm look on his face.
The rest of the night seemed to fly by as we talked with some of the other people at the party that Aldo wanted to speak to. But there was a significant change in how Aldo stood near me. He didn’t put his hand on my back and didn’t hold my hand at all for the rest of the night.
When we talked to people, he had a fake smile on and would interact with them, but I could tell something had gone wrong. Aldo didn’t seem to be having nearly as much fun as he had been having when we first arrived at the party. I wasn’t sure why he had a change in his attitude, but I continued to try and land him clients the best that I could.
Unfortunately, I never figured out what it was, and when he finally dropped me off at my apartment, the storage locker building, I still had no idea what I had done. It had been an amazing night, though, and I certainly would never forget it.
“Thank you for helping me out tonight,” Aldo said as he handed me a stack of cash in an envelope.
“Of course, anytime,” I said, climbing out of the car.
And just like that, the driver pulled away, and Aldo was gone. I felt horrible and couldn’t figure out what to do. What had I done wrong? Aldo had been all over me before we talked to Ryan Baldwin, then he wasn’t interested in me at all. Whatever the reason, I figured it didn’t really matter.
I was $10,000 richer and was going to send it all to my sisters in hopes that they could stop the foreclosure on the family business or the house. If we couldn’t save the business then, at least, we needed to save the house for them so they had a safe place to live.