“Oh, stop, Yuslan. You’re still a good-looking guy.”
Yuslan shook his head while chuckling. “Not like I used to be. The women would pounce on me the second I walked into any public place. I was like a magnet for them, you see. And then I met Guadalupe, and everything changed.”
“How did you know she was the one?”
Yuslan looked off into the distance. “She was different than the rest. Sure, she made it clear that she found me physically attractive. But she wouldn’t put up with my flirting with other women. Before her, I wouldn’t think twice about hitting on women in front of each other.”
“That’s how you knew?”
“Well, that and something else, Jorge. I knew she was the one because whenever I wasn’t with her, I felt incomplete. A man should be able to stand on his own two feet. He should be able to make his way in the world without any help, and if you do it right, you’ll attract an equally strong woman to have by your side. And that’s how I felt about Guadalupe.”
Jorge nodded while sipping his drink, taking in Yuslan’s wisdom. “That’s how I’m starting to feel about Ginger. I felt terrible about asking her to help out with the Ria situation, but I also knew that she could pull it off. She’s the strongest, most independent woman that I’ve ever known. And I can tell that if I lost all of my money tomorrow, she’d still want to be with me.”
Yuslan patted him on the back while standing up. “That’s how you know, Jorge. And I could have told you that Ginger wasn’t the materialistic type a long time ago. Now let’s go back and join our strong, independent women at the table.”
I quickly sat up in my seat, not wanting it to be evident that I’d been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Jorge smirked at me as he sat down. “Well, now that we’re all here and liquored up, I’d like to discuss going away with Ginger for a week.”
My eyes instantly lit up. “Oh, Jorge! I’d love to go on vacation. Where to, though?”
“I thought that we could celebrate your recent promotion at a spa in Paris. What do you say?”
I started fanning my face, just as I’d done at Seafood Divine when I thought he was going to propose to me. Right as I was about to answer him, Eva spoke up.
“Are you kidding me? Ginger, you have to go to Paris! It’s the most romantic city in the world! You two can kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower, feed each other chocolate-covered strawberries in a Parisian cafe, and walk on The Ponts des Arts!”
Margo nearly choked on her margarita. “The what des what, Eva?”
Eva clasped her hands together while looking up at the ceiling, pretending it was the Parisian night sky. “The Ponts des Arts, Margo! You and Jorge inscribe your initials on a padlock, click it onto the metal, and then throw the key into the water!”
“I hate to break it to you,” Jorge said, “but the government put a stop to it in 2015. All of the locks are gone, and they even inserted panels to prevent it from happening anymore.”
Eva could not have been more devastated, but she made herself feel better by downing her third margarita.
“Well,” I said, “as much as I’d love to go to Paris right now, I don’t have vacation time for five more months.”
Guadalupe leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “Ginger, I thought you knew me better than that. Of course you can go to Paris with Jorge!”
“Are you sure, Guadalupe? I mean, we just got the new computer software installed, and I don’t want to go against the rules.”
“I make the rules,” Guadalupe replied, “and I’m ordering you to spend a week in Paris with your alto, oscuro y guapo man!”
20
Jorge
One Week Later
Spending a week in Paris with Ginger was nothing short of amazing. We made love every night in our five-star hotel, ate at some of the best restaurants, and even saw a few plays. Leaving the most romantic city in the world had been bittersweet, though. On the one hand, we would be returning to Miami without worrying about Ria coming between us. But on the other hand, both of us knew that work had piled up while we were away.
Ginger and I had showered together that morning and discussed working from home just so we could spend more time together. But we knew there would be physical mail waiting for us at work.
It was business as usual as I walked into my Miami office that Monday morning. My first order of the day was finding someone to fill Ria’s position. Ginger and I had discussed my options for replacing her while in Paris, and she agreed that my secretary would be the right candidate. She’d been with me from day one and needed little to no guidance on how to do her job. In her spare time, she had taken it upon herself to learn everything there was to know about the diamond industry. But the most important qualification was that she was trustworthy.
Of course, to be fair, I’d officially have to list the position opening and interview other candidates. The position would come with a significant pay increase and better stock options, which meant that giving it to my secretary would undoubtedly result in people complaining behind her back. They’d also speculate that she had slept her way to the top, too.
That’s what was going through my mind as I picked up a stack of documents from my lawyer, thankful that I’d decided to come into work that day.
