Capítulo 54: Chapter 54 - A Table For Two
The music was pounding in the small underground bar. The beats from the bass pulsed through my body. I was surrounded by bodies of people under various levels of influence as everyone danced along. It was supposed to be a nice break from working so hard.
"Yo Dean this party is insane!" A man whose name I could not remember sloshed over clearly over intoxicated. His breath reeked of alcohol. His eyes could not even focus. I knocked back another shot and smacked my teeth.
"Yeah great excuse me one second." I brushed him off and moved up to a private room to settle down from the noise. 'Why was I even here?'
This all started a few hours ago. I was back home surveying the hotel chains my parents owned.
"Mr. Cortez we are pleased to have you come visit the site." Bleu Hotel was a specialized hotel designed for industry workers as well as people who travel for or host conferences. The upscale design flourished well with the location which was in the heart of downtown. Its location was prime for the food, nightlife, as well as close proximity to major corporations.
"Haaa alright lets get this over with." I followed the on duty manager as he explained the trends seen from the guests as well as providing a list of possible updates in correspondence to those trends.
I was a visual person so I asked to be walked around and shown where they wanted the updates and why. Normally a surveyor would come up with that during annual inspections which normally occurs. But after taking over, I wanted a dual opinion from both our team as well as our guests. The manager on duty would then compile the data for me to review.
Overall not much needed to be changed. Some choices were more for aesthetic like different bedding colors and updating certain hardware such as the central cooling unit to more 'smart' options. Others included more 'confidential' check in options more than likely to hide an affairs.
I had not eaten breakfast so while I was fine at first walking around was starting to wear me down as my stomach pains increased. "I think that just about wraps up the visual portion of the meeting. I sent over the full report as well as additional feedback from the guests. I will await the next course of action."
The older man bowed slightly. I nodded to my secretary who would handle the rest while I left to eat. I headed straight over to Dees Breakfast House since their breakfast sandwiches were amazing and would soothe my hunger.
Its normally busy in the mornings but they had a bar section where one could eat if there were solo. So my wait time was not long at all and I placed my order. I drank some coffee while I waited for the food to arrive when I heard a familiar voice.
"A table for two please." I would have to be dead or stupid to not recognize or respond to that voice. I nearly chocked on my coffee as I turned around and saw a flash of auburn hair being seated with an unknown man.
"Shit.. did I see that right?" I had spilled some of the coffee on shirt which thankfully was a black long sleeve button up. So any stain was not super visible. Despite the weather and to appear more 'professional' I often hid my tattoos only showing them off when I party, swim or have sex.
From my seat I could not see her, so my vision was not clear. But I knew in my soul that was Celeste. That head of hair and that voice told me it was her. 'What is she doing with that man, since when does she just entertain men? Is he a cousin? Business partner?'
I took a break from the exhibition because Celeste informed me of her vacation. It was running smoothly and despite it being a personal project, my other work could not be neglected. So with her gone I felt it was a good time to play catch up and then resume my time with her when she got back. But here she was and not alone.
At this point my food was served but my hunger was long gone. Curiosity took its place. 'Lets not get possessive, pull yourself together. You don't know anything and she owes you nothing.' I had to repeat this in my head to soothe the hurt I was feeling.
I have only felt this way once and that was when I was shipped off to school abroad and Felix started dating her. I deluded myself into thinking she meant nothing to me, so that took a while and many blackout nights to forget.
Her laughter pulled me from my mantra. Their food also arrived but I could not make sense of their conversation. Somehow I waited until she and her partner stood up to leave to also make my move.
"Celeste funny seeing you here." I hoped my voice was light and not laced with anger. It was like slow motion she turned around and even more beautiful than she already does. She was dressed casually. Wearing a light knitted cardigan with a simple shirt and jeans combo. She also wore sneakers.
"Oh hey Dean good to see you. Ah this is Dante de' Medici. He is a family friend from Milan and is visiting. Dante this is Dean Cortez, he is my current business partner and is also a longtime friend."
I felt better about hearing my introduction. I was more than a business partner. 'But I want to be more than a friend.' I jut out my hand to shake his and took a second to size up my competition. He was tall and lean.
He did not shake back immediately. He hesitated before also deciding to shake back. However he spoke in Italian. I only knew how to speak English and Spanish. Italian also had some similarities to Spanish but not enough to fully understand what he said.
I glanced over at Celeste who also looked confused. He turned to her and said something in Italian while she spoke back. Her slight accent in speaking was very cute to listen to but I was more concerned about her reaction.
He must know English but did not want to speak it.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
jklena
jklena New chapter! Deans perspective this time! please enjoy :)
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