A Kiss To Remember..1(A Billionaire Romance) Read online

  “Then?” Where did I come in between all this? It was still a mystery for me.

  “She recommended your name for this job of hers.”

  “My name?” I was quite surprised.

  “Yes. I think you are perfect for this job, Trisha. You told me how much you loved to arrange meetings and all that stuff. And when we discuss new ideas for any events, you always come up with something innovative. Now I think you can take one step further and assist in arranging this one wedding for me. And hey, I’ll be in office doing the paperwork, bookings. You just need to go and help the French agency guy and bride, or travel with her to these shops and things like that.” Melissa exhaled. Her face was tight; I could see the tension brushing through her eyes.

  I was delighted at the new opportunity. But I’d never done this before. “But I’m…what about my current job? I’m helping Elizabeth and she wouldn’t like to leave me.” Elizabeth needed me, I knew, because I did most of her work. In the last month she’d asked me to attend sixty percent of her meetings with her. I couldn’t let her down like that without me.

  “You don’t worry about that. This is a very important account and we want the best person out there,” Tim interrupted.

  “But, if you don’t want to take this opportunity, I will not force you. As this is a very important client for us, I can't take the risk if you are not comfortable. It will be hard to find someone to replace Melissa at the last moment, but I will try out someone else. Maybe Tana would do it.” His voice was firm.

  “You can do it, Trisha, I know you have arranged meetings for high profile businessmen before, even a couple of weddings in your last job.” She paused for a moment. “Though the task is different than regular meetings, you have good experience to meet their expectations, their taste. So this wouldn’t be difficult,” Melissa said.

  “Hmm,” I whispered. This was really a good chance to shine, as Tim was a member of the board, and if I could meet his expectations I may get a promotions in the future.

  “If my best person tells me that you will be the best, then go for this, young lady,” Tim spoke, finishing his coffee.

  “It would be a great opportunity for you,” Melissa added.

  “Maybe I can take care of Melissa’s daughter and she can go out there,” I offered. I wasn’t comfortable with the wedding arrangement thing. Not without the preparation.

  “No, Trisha, you are not understanding. It’s a very important family. Melissa can’t work there while half of her attention remains with her daughter. And that’s not fair for a single mother,” Tim said. He looked quite annoyed by my negative response.

  I took a sip. I had to think quick and I needed a break from talking, and coffee was the only available option. The job was a lucrative offer, it was offered by Tim and I might get extra benefits because of this. I’ll also get break from my usual meetings. But it would be tough; I would have to venture into unknown territory for this one to work. What shall I choose? And if I didn’t choose the job, my and Melissa’s friendship would be in danger. I had a gut feeling that Melissa expected me to take the job.

  I looked at her; she was looking at me with pleading eyes. No, I can’t do this to her; I can’t turn my back on her. I have to take this job now.

  “Okay, I’ll do it.” The words sputtered out of my mouth. The new challenge came with a new excitement. The kind of excitement I enjoyed a lot.

  “Thanks, thanks a lot.” Melissa wrapped me in her embrace and brushed her lips over my cheek. She was always like this, always motherly to me.

  “That settles it, then. It was good to take you on board, Trisha. I’ll talk with Lizzy about this.” Tim stood and shook hands with me.

  “Can I ask you one thing, Tim?” I asked.

  “Yes please, and I won’t fire you for that.” He chuckled. He looked very smart when he smiled. He didn’t look in his late fifties.

  “Why the normal chair, when you have so many comfy chairs here?” My eyes turned to his chair again.

  “You are the first one who’s ever asked me this, so I’ll answer you.” He smiled confidently. “This chair reminds me from where I have come. And it reminds the clients as well, where I sit and what I do.”

  “Great.” I could see the thought process behind that man was built on principles and not on money.

  Chapter 3

  We walked out of there; the knot in my stomach was subsiding slowly, but not completely. I was still guessing why she’d lied about my past. She knew I’d never arranged any wedding before. And now I had to assist someone from France.

  How am I going to do this? I wasn’t experienced, either. The only wedding I’d ever attended was of my one cousin who’d gotten married five years ago. At that time, I was in college; I didn’t even care how she’d looked in that white, pretty dress. I was busy looking at boys and daydreaming about them. What can happen in a wedding? A dress, banquets, decoration, cake, dinner, Oh, my God. I didn’t even know what half the things looked like. What would I choose in the dinner? What if they don’t like it? What if they hate it and the bride kicks me out from the rehearsal dinner. What will happen? Tim was going to fire me for sure. He had placed high hopes on me, and there I stood thinking about my future in the wedding business.

  “Trisha, what happened? Why are you standing there like a crazy woman?” Melissa shook my shoulder.

  My eyes darted to her. That was the pretty face of hers which pulled me into this whole mess. Melissa had already started giving me the details of the wedding. It was only few days away and I didn’t even know what I was supposed to do. With the meetings, it was easy. If Lizzy had asked me to chair a meeting five minutes before the start, I would have done it. I had that in my blood now, because I’d managed so many meetings for Tristan. But weddings were altogether new thing. I took a deep breath and up made my mind to start with new task.

  “Trisha, what happened? What are you thinking again?” Her hands shook my arm to wake me up. “What are you doing? We are still in front of Tim’s office; get moving or he will go off on us.”

  “Let’s go. I need a coffee—hazelnut, and you’re buying.” I frowned at Melissa. She had put me in deep trouble this time.

  A thin smile appeared on her face. “I can understand your worries, from the pouty face, but don’t you worry, sweetie.”

  No, she didn’t know what was going on in my mind. She didn’t know how difficult it was going to be for me. She didn’t have the slightest idea how much trouble I would be in when I stepped into that wedding place. I would be making it messier than she could think.

  I followed her to the bistro near our office. It was just few blocks away. It was as busy as a subway bar at night. There was no empty table for us, so we had to share one with two men watching the football game on a wall-mounted TV. Their backs were facing us.

  “Thank God. I don’t think they can hear us,” I whispered to Melissa.

  The one I was sitting near was wearing a navy blue jacket. A light blue shirt collar was barely visible from the jacket. His back was firm and chiseled; I could feel it from his jacket.

  Why in the hell I’m thinking about the stranger when I should be thinking about this new job? I glanced back to Melissa, who was ordering coffee for us.

  “Okay, what happened there? Why are you thinking so much about this little job?” She came back with two cup of hazelnut coffee. I loved the aroma of it. I’d already started feeling better.

  This bistro was way too famous for the central circle in the city. I loved to be here, but it was expensive and always crowded. The one cup coffee cost me a quarter day’s paycheck. Melissa was at a higher post. She could afford it easily, so whenever we went for an outing or treat, she would pay for both of us. She was a great pal to me. But at that moment, I was feeling furious at her.

  “Are you out of your mind?” The anger came out in one sentence.

  She sputtered out, “I knew you would say something like this. Have coffee first. I brought you extra cream today.”
She smiled.

  “Hell with it, I don’t care about it.” But I actually cared a lot. I loved the extra cream, and Melissa knew it very well, so she was using it to lower my temper. “It won’t work. What was that? Why did you push me into this. Swan family? Come on, give me a break.”

  The man sitting next to me partially changed his direction; now he was looking at his friend’s face directly, but I still couldn’t see him clearly. Though he was looking somewhere else, I had a feeling that he was paying attention to our discussion. I didn’t know if I’d said anything to grab anyone’s attention. May be my shrill tone made him curious.

  “Relax, it’s not a big deal.” Melissa was quite relaxed now.

  “It isn’t for you. You have arranged fifty odd weddings, for you it’s just one of the…” I lowered my volume to avoid any more attention of others. “And what is really about me arranging the few weddings in my last job? I didn’t do that,” I said. It was an outward lie.

  “I’m sorry for that. You know Tana, she would grab this opportunity and try to push me out.”

  “That’s right,” I said. Tana was her direct competitor in the company, and she used any opportunity to push Melissa in the wrong direction. But so far, Melissa had been on top of her every time.

  “I couldn’t let her do this job, and that’s why I lied to Tim. And look, it will be a good opportunity for you.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “And more than that, I love you and I trust you like my sister.” She brushed her fingers over my hand. It was the symbol of her trust for me.

  “Thanks for that. I wonder how much bigger this wedding is going to be. And I really don’t have any idea about this at all.”

  “It’s gonna be bigger than you think. You have to wear the prettiest dress you have with a beautiful smile, or let’s go—we will shop for something for you today. Gift from me to you. Fine?” She sipped her coffee while holding the coffee mug with her left hand. Her right hand was pressing my palm. She was trying to console me by her words, her touch, even with her gaze.

  “I don’t know, Melissa. I don’t have any idea what I need to do there. I don’t even know his name. Aren’t we arranging for the groom?” I didn’t even know the slightest details of the wedding, how would I organize it.

  “It’s the bride we’re organizing the wedding for. Her name is Evelyn Swan. She is the prettiest and the richest girl in our whole city. So she is going to look great no matter how you try to make up her.” She giggled. I tried to concentrate on the details she was throwing at me.

  “Sorry, being serious. Most of the things are taken care of, so you don’t have to worry much. Main things like the decoration theme, dinner menu and other arrangements for guests have already been discussed. And look, you are going there as an assistant to the French arrangement agency. They must have sent someone to look after everything. Your work will be related to bridal things.”

  I looked at her, still confused what my role would be here.

  “Though things are not yet finalized, they are in quite good shape. And I will take care of this off site stuff. You don’t need to worry about that.” She continued assuring me.

  I knew these rich people had their own concepts and they could be difficult to handle.

  “What is Evelyn like? Tell me more about her.” I was afraid about being with the spoiled rich.

  “Rich girls mostly have their wedding plans already with them. They don't like to mess with their lifetime dream. They give you even the smallest of details about what they want. So we’ll only have to follow their instructions and arrange for what they want, whether it is necessary or not. For everything else, the French guy who I’ve been in contact with or someone from his agency would be there. I heard they paid him a good amount and have flown him here.”

  I was feeling a little more confident, as most of the detailing on the event was already in place and Melissa knew the in and outs about it.

  “Now, your main task to do is to be with the bride and fulfill her needs. This requires our presence with her, which I’m unable to do at this stage.” She sighed. Her face fell at the thought of her incapability at the moment.

  “That sounds good to me,” I replied.

  “So there are very few things remaining, like picking up the dress for bride, planning the cake and arranging the rehearsal dinner and some other small details. We will discuss all the aspects before you get ready to meet the Swans. And I’m sure you can manage all these things. After all, you are Trisha the super girl.” She tried convincing me with a huge grin.

  “But I’ll look naive there. Why can’t I just work as an assistant for you?” My eyes were again and again moving down. My mind was all busy in processing the ways I could escape this. Why isn’t she understanding this?

  “You are not understanding, This is assistant-like work only. I will be doing all the things from the office that I can and will be in touch with you and the French planner. But anything unplanned that happens, then that guy will contact you as you will be there onsite to help them”.

  I smiled a little, after a long time. I liked the concept of Melissa taking more responsibility. “This way I would not feel any burden and I can help out the bride in her tasks.”

  “Yes, absolutely. Besides, Sarah needs to go on a quick dialysis in two days. I can’t make it there to the wedding.” Her eyes became watery. Sarah was the daughter she’d had with her boyfriend, and then that jerk ran off. Sarah had been ill from her childhood, and now she needed dialysis quite often.

  “I’m sorry. What happened suddenly? I thought the appointment was scheduled for January, after Christmas? We are going to celebrate Christmas with Sarah, right?”

  We had planned to celebrate Christmas at Melissa’s house with Sarah. She was a very sweet girl; she was only ten, but was suffering from kidney failure. Melissa never told me, but the doctor had given her merely two or three more years. Her disease wasn’t curable and dialysis wasn’t going to keep her alive for long. But hope is the best medicine. And Melissa was fighting with all her strength against the circumstances. That was the reason she’d never gotten married again; her whole attention, love, care was dedicated to her cute girl. Even my eyes became wet thinking about that child. Why in the world did small kids get these fatal diseases, and why not adults like me?

  “It’s sudden. I didn’t have time to tell you. Yesterday, she fell unconscious. I had to rush her to the ER. The doctor said her kidney wasn’t functioning properly and we have to change the dialysis schedule. It’s going to be monthly now.” Tears started rolling down her cheek.

  I brushed my fingers on her palm. “Please don’t cry. Everything gonna be fine. Don’t worry. God is listening to us, and he will take away the pain from her.”

  “I hope he does that soon. I can’t watch her face in pain anymore, it breaks every string of my heart. I feel like cutting my own throat instead of seeing her in pain.” She spoke dryly; I knew she had cried the whole night.

  “Don’t worry about the wedding. I’ll do it, Melissa, and trust me. I’ll do it better than you. I wonder if your job will be in jeopardy when I’m done.”

  She tried to smile. “I’m sorry, I had no other choice. Only you could do this.” She cleared her running nose.

  “And from next time onwards, give me a call first before you set me up like that. “Sure. Thanks for this Trisha, you are a true friend.”

  “So, where is the prettiest lady in our town right now?”

  “Evelyn?”

  “No,, Sarah. We are going to see her. And we’ll stop by a toy shop to grab a few gifts for her. She is getting her Christmas gift today.” I smiled and stood. The coffee was half remaining, but I didn’t care for the tastier coffee that time. I had more important things to do.

  “But…what about the office?” Her brows cocked.

  “No, but get your butt up and let’s go meet her.”

  She stood up and smiled back at me. Sarah was the only reason for her to keep fighting. And
I wanted to see that woman happy at any cost. If I’d had to take any worse job than this, I would have taken it, smiling.

  I have very few friends remaining in my life and I will do my best to make them happy.

  Before stepping out of the coffee shop I tried to look at the mystery neighbor's face. But he had turned back, picking up something from the place I was sitting at.

  Chapter 4

  “You should wear your best dress tomorrow. I’ll message you the address, and don’t go in your old Cadillac or that 60’s model. Grab a cab and then go,” Melissa instructed me again over the phone.

  I’ve heard her instruction for the millionth time. Melissa had been all over me last night with her instructions. I didn’t know whether it happened for a reason, but we couldn’t find time to go and shop for a nice dress. Actually, I didn’t want to buy a new dress. The only ones I liked were either too expensive or didn’t fit my curvy figure. And sometimes I hated it. It wasn’t like I hated my figure; it’s curved at the right places and made boys look at least twice at me when they glance over my features. And my dress collection was enough for any party or meetings.

  But Melissa could never believe that. She even texted me so much information that I felt like I was going to a prom and my mom was giving me a thousand instructions about how to behave with the boys out there. Fortunately, my mom never did that to me. Heck, she had been busy with getting through her addiction.

  “This looks nice.” I peeked through my wardrobe; there was nothing much to choose from, but one of the dresses I’d worn when I was working for Tristan—a white blouse and a pencil skirt that looked nice on me. Tristan and lot’s of his MMA pals admired me when I wore it at a function. It suited my figure.

  “Stupid.” I couldn’t help saying those words when I saw my shoe collection. I didn’t remember the last time I’d gone for shopping for new shoes in the last year. Goddamn, I’d nothing to wear that matched my dress. What the fuck, what am I going to do now?