Valeria instantly recognized the man before her, though she had completely forgotten his name.
"What are you doing here?" She asked immediately, not minding the faces that were already staring at her now.
The young man had a slight smile, his eyes glinting with amusement for some reason. "I see you remember me, and still don't like me."
"Boss? Do you know this filthy thing?" Andrea asked, nose contorting in disgust.
"And who are you?"
"Boss, it's me. Andrea. I work for you--"
"Please, all of you. Leave us alone." Jose said, but stopped Valeria as he saw her leaving. "Not you, short queen. The rest of you, leave us."
Valeria felt strong firm hands grip hers, and she couldn't help but feel excited. The attention he paid her was not one she had been expecting, but she listened to him and waited behind.
"But I think you're mistaken, sir." James said, feeling a bit angry that his hot boss wanted his wife to stay behind.
"Mistaken?" Jose asked, furrowed brows arched upward.
"Yes sir, this is my wife. And I would very much like to go home with her now." He bragged.
Valeria wanted to speak out her anger, but Jose clearly handled it fine. "Mr James, you have a wife? We all thought you were single and trying things out with miss Andrea."
This statement caused Valeri to laugh slightly. The look on James' face made it even more funny; drooped eyelid and pouting lips. "James, why don't you go and have fun with your girlfriend over there." Valeria said angrily.
"Girlfriend? Why would you say something like that, Val. You're my wife!"
Andrea didn't look too pleased to have seen James act jealous with another woman other than her, so she stormed off angrily.
James took one last look at Valeria and then decided that she would be better off without him, then rushed off to meet Andrea. This caused a storming rage to stir up inside of Valeria, but she decided to keep her cool.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Jose asked, waiting for a positive reply. "Or would you rather wait here with your man who doesn't even acknowledges you?"
Valeria sighed. What seemed to have annoyed her was the fact that Jose had been right! Her husband left her to be with another woman!
"Where are we going to?"
***
Valeria was being led outside of the hallroom, but through another passage almost like it was a back entrance. The room was beautifully lit, and a giant glass door demarcated her from the hallroom where the party was being held.
She didn't have to look too hard to see that James been following Andrea everywhere, begging her like she was suddenly more important than she was.
"I know it's none of my business but--"
"Then don't say it. If you understand it is absolutely none of your business, keep it to yourself." Valeria replied him before he could even say another word.
Jose's face contorted into a frown. "Do you know me before as your archenemy? Why the hate?"
"Hate? I don't hate you. I just don't like you." Valeria replied, then focused her attention on the big glass before her. James was whispering something to Andrea, but she didn't want to listen.
Valeria scoffed in disgust. "What are you doing, James? Why is she suddenly so important than I am!"
"Look woman, I think you should just go home. You've seen enough already." Jose said to her, his arms folded beneath his chest.
Valeria paused as a realization hit her. Her eyes opened wildly and she quickly turned to face Jose. "BlackRose! Is it really you?"
Jose stood as still as he could as Valeria's hands wandered all over his body. He frowned, totally shocked at the way she was behaving. "I really feel bad for you. The thought of your husband cheating on you must be really getting into your head, isn't that right?"
Valeria stopped at once. "Oh I'm so sorry. I just thought...I thought that you..."
"Should I call my driver? Let him take you home so you can rest."
"No thanks. I'm fine on my own."
"You know, I don't think you are--"
"Goodnight." Replied Valeria.
Jose watched as she slowly walked away from him, then when he saw that she had nearly reached the other side, he called out to her. "That would be you walking to my office."
Valeria paused. "Office? I thought this was the way out?"
"No, love. The way out is where you came from. Over..." he stretched his fingers and pointed out to the glass, "over there."
Valeria didn't want James to see her leave! But she had no other option now.
"Sorry for the disaster you faced today."
"Why do I feel like you didn't mean that apology?" Asked Valeria.
Jose smirked. "I saw some drama tonight. No offense, but this was some telenovela drama tonight."
"It's not funny. Whatever, goodnight!"
Valeria was about to leave when a man rushed forward to meet Jose.
"Sir! There's a problem!"
"Slow down, Freddie. What is it?"
"Our makeup artist for tonight...well...they..."
"They what? Why did you stop there, Freddie!"
"They couldn't make it!" Freddie bursted out.
Jose raised a hand to his forehead and shut his eyes tight. "What about our second option?"
"She's not in town!"
"What the fuck, Freddie!"
Valeria was lost. "Makeup artist?"
"Yes, makeup artist. We need them for tonight's fashion show!" Freddie explained, but a confused look soon washed over him. "Wait, who are you?"
"The girls that's going to provide you a new makeup artist." Valeria replied.
"You do makeup?" Jose asked.
"No. Not me, but I know a person. And she's really good at it!"
"When will they arrive?" Freddie asked.
"Tonight. I'll make my calls now and she'll be right here. I can also show you her designs while you wait for her."
"Okay, thank God." Jose said, satisfied there was a solution already.
"But why would you have your second option one that wasn't available in town? In management, you should make sure you cover all uncertainties and be on the path to perfection as close as possible."
"We already believed our first option would be available, and of course we didn't know the second option would be out of town." Jose replied.
"Either way, you should still come prepared. That way, you minimize damage and loss at all cost."
Jose seemed impressed with her. "What do you know about management?"
Valeria smiled. "Well because I'm a mom, that does not make me an illiterate. I bagged a degree in Economics in college, you know."
"That's awesome." His gaze fell on Jose who was still terrified. "What's up with you, we already found a solution."
"Yes. Gimme a moment to make my call." Valeria said, excusing herself.
Freddie leaned forward and although, hesitated for a while, but finally whispered into Jose' ears.
Apparently, Jose didn't have any reputable woman in his life at the moment to go out with him and receive his award. His sister was not around yet, and he already lost his mother when he was little.
"What? Who's supposed to be the reputable woman in my life now, huh!"
"I'm sorry sir. Your sister said she had a delay on her way." Freddie explained. "What about your girlfriend, sir?"
"Well which one! Besides, I don't think any of them are worthy enough to be a reputable woman in my life!" Jose replied.
"Well...Well perhaps we could rent a woman to pretend to be your girlfriend?"
"No Jose! Doesn't make sense. Where would we find any woman to rent as a reputable woman in my life. Where!"
"Hi, I'm back. She'll be here in the next 30minutes." Valeria announced. There was a pause, and both eyes stared at her like she was some sort of delicious snack. "Hello? What'd I miss?"
"Of course, here's a reputable woman in my life!" Said Jose.
"Wait, what?" Valeria screamed a little louder than she'd anticipated.
"Because from now on, you're going to be my P.A! Welcome to the team, short queen."