Feeling Cherrished
Samantha
We walked back into the room. I had my emotions under control by the time Dashawn opened the door. He had his hand on the small of my back as he ushered me into the room. I appreciated his support. I find more and more things to love about him, and I am glad I
followed my heart and the advice of the women in his life and gave him a chance.
“I’m sorry for the abrupt departure. Seeing Avery again was startling,” I said.
“How do you two know each other?” Ellora asked.
“I am her best friend,” Avery said.
“Was,” I said. “From high school. I haven’t seen her in seven years.”
“Oh, what a small world. Avery applied to be my stylist three years ago. She is extremely talented. She studied fashion and one of her teachers is my sister. My sister knew I needed a
stylist and pushed Avery to send me her portfolio. Her talent is magnificent.”
I just stared at Avery. I didn’t care about her talent, but an idea formed in my head, and I
decided to talk to Dashawn about it later.
“Ree, Mr. Krew has stated that he could make you an employee of Star Media as my stylist. They could pay you more than I can. Would you like that? The only downside is, they get firing privileges if, for some reason, you don’t work out. But we both know that won’t happen.”
“How much more?”
“If I may ask, how much are you getting paid now?” Dashawn asked.
“I pay her three thousand Euros a month.”
Dashawn raised an eyebrow. I wanted to smirk. In New York City, that was hardly anything.
“We’ll pay you seven thousand a month, plus we have a company apartment complex, where you will live rent–free. You just have to pay for utilities and your own necessities. That’s if you live in New York City. However, you will be traveling a lot, and will also get a per diem and reimbursement for any traveling costs. Depending on how well Miss Ellora is received in the
U.S., you could make more.”
“I’d like to be a Star Media employee.”
“Will my PA and makeup artist get the same option?”
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Feeling Cherrished
“Yes, when we come with the contracts, all we would have to do is fill in their names in the
appropriate places,” Dashawn said.
Avery looked at me. “So you live in New York City, now?”
I gave her a head nod. I was not willing to actually talk to her.
“I have missed you,” she said.
I was sure the glare I gave her was icy. I felt Dashawn take my hand, and I noticed Avery saw
that too. She did not like it.
“That’s so sweet. I am happy to see two old friends reconnect,” Ellora gushed.
I squeezed Dashawn’s hand.
“Well, I am happy everything is working out. We will be back tomorrow at three p.m. Please
have your lawyers with you. Also, let your other employees know to have theirs with them as
well.”
When we got into the car, Dashawn hauled me into his lap once again.
“This seems to be your favorite position when we get into cars,” I joked.
“I always want to hold you. Honestly, if I could fit you in my pocket, I’d carry you everywhere
with me.”
“That’s disturbing,” I said. I thought it was actually really sweet.
“Baby, I am feral for you. You have no idea.”
“I love you,” I whispered, putting my head on his shoulder.
“I love you too. Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Vincenzo, can you take us to Mia’s please.”
“Si,” Vincenzo nodded.
“Mia’s?”
“Best food in all of Verona. Mia is the great–great–granddaughter of Mellia Francini. Mrs. Francini was very famous for her cooking, or so the locals say. It is utterly delicious. I swear I
gain fifteen pounds every time I eat there.”
“Oh, then I shouldn’t eat there,” I said.
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Feeling Cherrished “Why is that?”
“I have a very strict eating regimen most of the time. I used to be very fat when I was a young
girl and teenager.”
“I don’t believe it?”
A
I pulled out my phone and pulled up some old pictures of myself.
He scrolled through them.
“Baby, you call this fat?”
“I was a size sixteen here.”
“Your curves are f*cking amazing. How old were you here?”
“Sixteen.”
“Very beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, you are stunningly beautiful now. If I had met you back
then, I would have been eighteen. I would have pounced on you. I wouldn’t have cared if you
were only sixteen. I would have done anything to get to you. God, all those curves. You need
to get rid of your eating regimen and just eat to be happy. Do you like a strict menu?”
“Not really. You wouldn’t care if I gained weight?”
“You could gain a hundred pounds, and I’d worship every inch of your body.”
I
“Well, that’s refreshing. I got teased a lot for my chunkiness.”
“Those were boys. I am a man. If you want dessert, baby, eat dessert. If you want some
bread, eat it. No more depriving yourself unless you want to, okay?”
I smiled at him. This man!
We pulled up to Mia’s. It was a quaint little restaurant. There were a lot of reds, greens and
white in the decoration. There were plants everywhere. The tablecloths were red and white
and long to the floor. The lighting was dim. Every table had a white tapered candle in a gold
candleholder and a small vase with a single red rose in it.
The waitress came over and asked in Italian what we would like to drink as she put a bread
basket on our table with a small tiny plate and some oil and balsamic vinegar. I ordered water
and decided to have a glass of red wine. One glass wouldn’t hurt me. Dashawn did the same.
“She didn’t hand us any menus,” I said.
“They don’t have menus. You eat whatever they’ve made for the day.
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Feeling Cherrished
“What if we had an allergy to something?”
“Then I would have informed the waitress, and they would have cooked a whole new meal to
accommodate us.”
“Wow, I love that. I can’t wait to see what we get.”
Dashawn smiled at my enthusiasm. I looked around. There were probably two dozen people, all of them couples. I smiled at the lingering looks, the hand holding. Some couples were sitting really close and nuzzling each other’s necks and I swear the couple in the far corner
were about to get it on. They were kissing like no one was in the room, and the woman’s arm
was making a suspicious hand movement under the table. I squinted, and then I could tell my
cheeks were getting flushed.
“Why are you blushing? Not that I am complaining, I love your blush.”
“I think that woman over there is giving that man a hand job.” He looked and chuckled.
“Looks like it.”
“I can’t believe they are doing that in public.”
“We just had s*x in the car today.”
“Yeah, but no one was around.”
“But the driver and anyone could have walked by.”
“The windows are tinted.”
“But baby, the car isn’t soundproof, and you moan loudly, plus we were rocking the sh*t out of
the car.”
“Oh, God,” I was pretty sure my whole face was now red.
“God, I love you.” He leaned towards me and brushed my lips with his. We were sitting side by
side in a rounded booth. “I could slip under the table and eat you for an appetizer.”
“Don’t you dare!” However, I squirmed at the possibility.
“I love corrupting your innocence,” he whispered in my ear.
I scoffed and hit him in the arm.
“I love your smile, Samantha. I am glad to see you happy again.”
I looked at him. “It threw me for a loop seeing her.”
“I bet it did. Are you sure you’re going to be okay knowing she is going to be an employee for
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Feeling Cherrished
us?”
“I’m fine. How often will I see her anyway?”
“At first? We will have to work with her for a little while. We need to make sure the image we project of Ellora in the U.S. works. That will include what she’s wearing. But after she takes off, we’ll only have to deal with Ellora and her team if something goes wrong. She’s good, so the offers will be pouring in once we get her head shots done and her audition tapes handled.”
“Something she said earlier about Avery being talented grabbed my attention. We should dabble in fashion design, jewelry design, and furniture design. Also, what about Painters?”
“You’re brilliant.”
He pulled out his phone and shot off a text..
“Who did you text?”
“Fred Jordan. He is our research manager. I am telling him to look into your idea.”
I blinked. “I didn’t think you would run with it.”
“Why not? It’s a great idea and I would love to break into that market. I love expanding our outlook.”
I felt some pride that I was able to give a great idea. Our food came. Our dish was three types of ravioli, meat, cheese and spinach. Everything was amazing. For dessert, we had cannoli and these puff pastry squares filled with a raspberry sauce or jam, sprinkled with powdered sugar.
On our way to the villa, Dashawn held me. He whispered how beautiful I was, how intelligent
he found me and how in love he was with me. I fell asleep with him caressing my thigh under my dress and kisses to my head.
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