The Ambassador and Me: an unlikely love story (The Ambassador Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

“Hey, princess,” my mom said, walking out of the office. She was the money handler in the restaurant and the marketing guru. We credit our great fortune on her masterfully handling the finances of the restaurant. When my grandparents opened up the Mayme and Danny’s sixty years ago, it was a diner-style place with a couple of booths and their famous recipes brought over from Italy. It didn’t take long for my mom to make it one of the swankiest dining experiences in D.C.

“Hi, Mom. Will we be busy tonight?”

“When aren’t we anymore, Izzy? There’s a late night senate bill being voted on tonight, so they will be in here to eat. And, of course, it is election season. You look different.”

Different? I didn’t know how.

“Good or bad?”

“Good. You look sparkly and alive. Must be the new job? How was your first day?” She smiled and kissed me on both cheeks.

My mom was gorgeous for sixty years old. People say she looks like Sophia Loren, and I thought she resembled Julia Roberts. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she never completely lost her accent. It came out when she was pissed at one of us or talking on the phone to Aunt Gigi.

Lately there were two things that made her happy: money and more money. When we were growing up she was different, but ever since the event last year she had become obsessed with making and spending it.

My sister and I didn’t get lucky enough to get her breathtaking beauty. We both resembled my dad, though my sister was blessed with being tall and thin. Don’t get me wrong, my dad is extremely handsome. He is short and has black wavy hair that is now peppered with mostly grey, a large Italian nose, and full lips. I’m not complaining, but I wish sometimes I was statuesque like my mom.

My two brothers, on the other hand, look like her. My mom is Italian as well; she and my dad has recently celebrated forty years of marriage. Thirty five of it was happy- the last five were miserable for them and us.

“It was great. I’m going to love it there.” I smiled back at her thinking of my day and wanting to tell my mom about the Ambassador and how there was a spark between us.

“On your break, come back to my office. I bought you a dress for next week,” she smiled at me and walked away. Just what I needed was more dresses. I had enough to open my own store. My father was hosting an election party and I needed to dress up and, of course, work. I tell her repeatedly I can wear a dress more than once, but she doesn’t think I should.

The restaurant became busy by seven. I was beyond exhausted and Marco brought me espresso after espresso. It seemed to help slightly and gave me a stomachache as well. I took a break early went to try on the elaborate dress, and ate some eggplant. I had a few minutes to tell her about my day and how gorgeous the French Ambassador was. I inherited my love for men from my mom. She had a roving eye for any handsome, wealthy man that walked into the restaurant.

“Mom, you would love him.” I said, with extra excitement in my voice.

“I saw a picture of him you showed me on the Internet.” She didn’t take her eyes from the paperwork she had in front of her. Scattered on her desk that no one was allowed to go near, were the workings of the restaurant. We have all tried to talk her into putting all of it into a computer program, but she likes the old school way. It seems to keep working for her so we quit arguing with her about it.

“The pictures are not even close to how he looks in person. And the way he smells, Mom. I can’t even describe it.”

“Sounds like someone has a crush,” she laughed.

“I’m not twelve.”

“Don’t lose your head, Izzy. You wanted this career outside the restaurant. Make sure you focus on that and not the man.” She glanced up at me with her reading glasses perched on her nose.

“Of course. It’s nice to look at while I’m working.”

“Remember that. They are only good to look at,” she laughed.

Five years ago my mom and dad started fighting. It seemed to happen out of the blue one day and my sister, two brothers and I didn’t know why. All of a sudden, they hated to be around each other and argued over everything. It has been like that up until last year. That is when things came to a head, and now they are back in love again. At least, they pretend to be in love.

I went to the restroom to freshen up for a minute in between customers. When I got back to the front desk, I gasped. I stood by the doors, waiting to seat someone, when I saw Fabrice. The Ambassador had on his crisp, white oxford and dress pants with the leather suspenders he wore earlier. It wasn’t until his eyes locked onto mine that my knees wobbled. He looked better than he did in his office earlier. At that moment I wished I had taken more time getting ready. I should have applied more lipstick, more mascara, something. He walked up to me with confidence and a swagger that said he had to be incredible in bed. I couldn’t help but blush and stare at him. The fierceness of his eyes on me was scorching hot.

“Ambassador, nice to see you again today. Would you like a table?” I couldn’t help but look for a beautiful woman he must be dining with.

“Miss Piori?”

“Yes, it’s me again.”

There was a crackling in the air between us. It was different seeing him out and not inside the office as I had.

“How many jobs do you have? Should I expect you to be working at the gas station later when I need to fill up?” he laughed at me.

“I had to pull a shift tonight. I won’t be at the gas station, but I’m scheduled to drive a bus in the morning.” I smiled back at him.

“You are a resourceful woman. How did your day turn out for you?”

“It was fine.” I lied. I wanted to work for him. General Gerard was quite the stern mean one I thought he would be. He didn’t smile all day.

“How many will be dining with you?” I asked, hearing my voice sound shaky. More people walked in and I didn’t notice them. All I noticed was Fabrice.

“Just me, Isabella. I wanted to try the restaurant you mentioned at the gala. I love the décor.” Just him. No date. No redhead. His voice even sounded different when he was not in the office. It sounded huskier and deeper and that accent. Every time he spoke, I couldn’t help but think of sex. Mind blowing, up against the wall, rough sex. We held each other’s gaze and I was unable to look away. He exuded power and aggressiveness even now standing in the restaurant. My God, he was gorgeous.

“Right this way, Ambassador. You came at a good time.” I led him to a corner table that was in my line of sight as I worked. Big Betty also manned it. She was our waitress that was rather large, older, and hated men. She would treat him right and leave him alone. I handed him his menu and his hand brushed mine. I became wet; he seemed to do that to me periodically lately. My heart raced in my chest making me aware of my need to be with him.

“Our special tonight is eggplant parmesan, sausage, peppers, seared broccoli is the vegetable, and French onion is the soup. Don’t order the fish if possible.” I smiled remembering my father.

He gazed up at me and I fought the urge to sit on his lap.

“Are there problems with the fish?”

“My dad is upset because only half of his order was delivered today. I believe we have run out already. I’m surprised you can’t hear him screaming.”

“Thank you, Isabella. I won’t order fish.” When I looked back at him, he was still staring at me.

My mom came out from the office. She did that every half hour to make sure everything was running smoothly. I stood in front of her in a daze.

“Izzy, what’s wrong. Are you feeling sick? Your face is bright red.”

“No, no I’m fine, too much coffee,” I lied.

“Get on the ball. We are getting busy, Izzy. I will come out and help you if it gets nuts.”

“The Ambassador is here.” I came out and said it.

“Who? Oh, where is he?” She squinted her eyes and began to look around.

“He’s sitting right over there.” I nodded in his direction and he was reading the menu. Thank God he didn’t see us looking at him.

“No wonder you wanted that job. He’s beautiful.”

“Yes, he’s hot. I’m surprised he isn’t with someone.”

“That someone should be in bed waiting for him,” my mom said, as she continued to stare at Fabrice.

“Mom, please don’t talk like that.”

“Izzy. I’m not dead yet. Get over it.” She smiled and slapped me on the butt with a menu.

Fabrice ordered the Eggplant Parmesan and I watched him eat. He even ate sexy, if that was possible. He seemed to enjoy every bite. Gorgeous politicians came into the restaurant all the time and some flirted with me, which I didn’t mind. I couldn’t take my eyes off this man that had me mesmerized. I noticed none of the women in the restaurant could either. Big Betty even seemed smitten by his appeal and mouthed to me, “He’s hot.”

When my shift was over, I would have normally ran out of the restaurant to get home. I took my time leaving. He wasn’t in a hurry to go and I was hoping to leave when he did so he could walk me out. Fabrice seemed to be in no hurry to leave when I noticed him looking over the dessert menu. I decided to leave and not make a fool out of myself by trying to flirt with him. I’m a level-headed woman, and I don’t allow sex get in the way of work. Somehow, with him, I’ve allowed it twice in one day. No one has stirred me up like this before, not even Anthony when we first started dating.

When I arrived home that evening, Avery was up reading. I smelled the strong aroma of coffee right away. We sat on the floor and I told her how crazy my day was, how he showed up at the restaurant, and how gorgeous looked.

“So you end up in his office, he gives you sex coffee, walks you to the Attaché’s office, and then shows up at the restaurant. You don’t think this is a sign?”

“No, it was coincidence is all.”

“Did you make a move on him?”

“What? Avery, come on.”

“So you did nothing?”

“You don’t make moves on government officials, in my parent’s restaurant in public, Avery. He doesn’t want anything to do with me in that way. I’m kidding myself to think otherwise. The other night I was just smitten by him and was imagining he did.”

“Shut up. That is a bunch of bull. I would have followed him home,” Avery stated flatly.

“Well, I want to keep my job and have a future in Congress.”

“Maybe he will be a regular. You should wear that dress your mom bought you next time you work.” Avery started laughing at my mom’s elaborate tastes.

“Shut up, Avery. You’re jealous.” I eyed the dress hanging on my door. It was way beyond elaborate, and I had no idea how I would get out of wearing it. My mom has great taste but this was too much. It looked like a lounge singer's dress, covered in sparkly sequins.

That reminded me that I needed to look my best from now on when I went to work at the office and the restaurant.

Chapter 5

I
was full of boundless energy the next day when I made my way to the office. I wanted to look good in case I were to happen to bump into him. I chose a black dress, nude heels, and I kept my hair down for the day. I added a blazer and my grandmother’s pearls. I primped for an hour, getting up extra early to look good.

I was glad I did when I walked through the front door of the office. I scanned my card and reluctantly went up to my office next to the Attache's. When the elevator stopped, and I saw his office door with his name on it, my breath caught in my chest. Hoping to get a glimpse of him, I was disappointed when I saw none other than Elizabeth Saunders.

As soon as she saw me, she informed me that she loved her job.

“Didn’t we meet yesterday?” she asked as she faced me.

“Yes, we did. How was your first day?” I wanted to be polite, yet I despised her demeanor as she stood in front of me.

“My day was fabulous! I can’t believe I will be traveling to Paris with him a lot. This is a dream job. It doesn’t hurt that he’s hot.” I wanted to slap her across the face from the sheer fact that she was the one spending her days with Fabrice and flying to Paris with him.

“That’s wonderful.” I tried to make light of it to get to her.

“It was. Fabrice and I, all day.” Tempted to tell her to kiss my ass, she shut up.

After I settled into my office, my day seemed to go quite smoothly until we had a meeting that I needed to attend. General Gerard came in and asked me to have some defense file ready for him. He too was French and his accent was a lot stronger than Fabrice. He seemed to be extra serious and highly agitated. Even though he was old, he carried himself with a sense of power and confidence. Once I located the file for him, he asked that I come to the meeting with my tablet and take notes; rather he told me. Reluctantly, I agreed with a smile until I heard it was in Fabrice’s office.

I skipped lunch and made a quick stop to freshen up and look good before the one o' clock meeting. Once the meeting started, I noticed Fabrice was there with Elizabeth next to him. I had not taken my seat yet, and the sight of him made me wobbly in my heels. He was dressed in a navy blue blazer that made his blue eyes even deeper. His shirt was a bright white oxford and his tie was paisley. Mousy Elizabeth was in her glory, smiling and giggling at everything Fabrice said. I tried not to act as if I was out of my comfort zone, though I surely was. I concentrated on what was going on and helped the Attaché with his paperwork. It was uncomfortable being in such an exclusive meeting discussing high security issues and terrorist threats.