Mr. Handsome A Billionaire Romance(6)
My eyes widened at the fact that he just said, settle down.
“Settle down? You’re thinking about settling down with her? Wow…Vanessa truly is magic.” Victor threw a napkin at me and I laughed. “This is amazing, I have to call Mama Galina and tell her she’s finally getting a daughter-in-law.”
Victor’s eyes widened at my joke and I laughed even harder. “Don’t you even joke about that, my mother would be on the first plane over and she’ll never leave us alone.”
I couldn’t help but laugh again at the visual.
“Alright, alright, I’m done, but I am happy for you, Vic,” I said sincerely. I couldn’t help but think that he might be right, though, in his actions. I was thirty-four and it was probably about time I started settling down. Finding the right woman, however, might prove to be difficult.
Chapter2
Christina
My alarm jolted me out of a deep sleep and I floundered to turn the blaring contraption off. I really needed to get a new alarm clock, or maybe a phone so I could use that as my alarm. I couldn’t take waking up with a headache every day. I ended up knocking the clock off of my nightstand and it fell to the floor, the power plug coming out of the wall and effectively killing the annoying beeping.
I sighed and pushed the blankets back to get up and get my day started. My once optimistic outlook on moving to New York City was swiftly waning. My job search was grueling, especially as I didn’t know anyone in the city who could get me any connections for a good advertising or marketing job.
I rolled out of bed and marched across the open studio space to my bathroom for a quick shower. I dressed in a white blouse and dark blue jeans with a pair of white and gold flats. I had found a job at a modeling agency and was basically the intern assistant who got everyone coffee and food.
I did do some secretarial work, but I mostly worked on the shoots and catered to the models' and photographers’ needs. It was entry level and mind numbing, but the agency was high-end and the job paid the bills. I quickly put on a few accessories and then grabbed my purse and keys to head to work.
I lived in Brooklyn, just across the bridge from Manhattan, where the rent was marginally cheaper. It only made my commute about an hour long, and that was depending on traffic. I walked downstairs and out to the curb where my trusty Honda Civic sat waiting for me. It was nearly fifteen years old, but Ol’ Betty never missed a beat. I stopped by my favorite coffee and bagel place first for some breakfast and then headed into the city.
“There you are! We’ve been looking everywhere for you, Christina, weren’t you supposed to start at seven today?” One of the talent coordinators all but pounced on me as soon as I had my foot in the door.
“It is seven, Kristi,” I pointed out and she glanced down at her watch.
She seemed a bit confused, but also erratic and hopped up on something. Perhaps too many espresso shots. She was notorious for knocking those back.
“Oh, well, I guess I lost track of time. Anyway, we’re setting up another shoot for Armani and I need to know if you can work tomorrow night. Of course you can, because we need you. Now, there’s a ton of phone messages Jennie made a mess of earlier and she needs your help sorting them out and getting them to the right people. After that, can you go and pick up bagels and coffee from that place everyone loved on Second Avenue? Thanks Chris, you’re a lifesaver!” Kristi was like a whirlwind as she gave me orders and then hurried over to her office.
I walked over to the reception desk and Jennie smiled at me knowingly.
“I’m guessing from the shell-shocked look on your face you encountered Kristi in hyper drive.”
I laughed and then nodded.
“I’ve never seen her at that level of wired before, I’m worried about her heart.”
Jennie waved away my concern. “She’s built like an ox. This is a rare occasion; she actually hasn’t had any caffeine yet. She’s been up all night and is just naturally wired. She’s half delirious right now, it’s amazing,” Jennie said while going through the pile of messages on the desk.
“Well, let me help you with those, I don’t know if I want to see what she’s like when she’s delirious and pissed off,” Jennie snorted. I sat down behind the reception desk with her to sort out which messages went to whom. One would think that in a chic office like this, there would be a better system for receiving messages. But the boss was old fashioned and she liked to have messages handwritten and read aloud when the information was needed or called for.
Urban Plus Management was run by Marissa Fiore and she used to be the icon for modeling.
She only worked with male models, because she never had time for the “attitudes” of female models. Yet, the office was full of women who work for her. I never understood that, but she was a legend, so who was I to question it, really.
“How did all of this get so disorganized? If Marissa saw this mess she’d definitely fire someone.” Jennie sighed and I looked over at her questioningly.
“It wasn’t really my fault. Kristi, in her hyper-driven state, knocked over the message board and the tray. So now I don’t know who got their messages or who got what messages. I can’t tell old from new. We should come up with a system so this doesn’t happen again,” Jennie said in agitation.
“Yeah, instead of putting old messages in the bin, they should be marked off as well as put in the bin. Just in case it’s knocked over again,” I suggested.