Ella walked straight back to the elevator and punched the button. The doors opened and she stepped inside, taking the car right back down to the lobby. She walked out the doors and hurried past the doorman.
“Ma’am? Is everything alright?” the doorman asked, surprised to see her return so quickly.
“Um, yes, fine,” Ella said as she stood on the sidewalk, looking around. “I just forgot something,” she lied.
She spotted a little tavern across the street and ran across the road. She slipped into the bar and found a seat in the corner by the window. She ordered a drink and sat with her flower arrangement, quietly watching the building over the road.
Several minutes later, she saw Nadia emerge with a look of pure rage on her face. Her long, black hair flowed out behind her as she stood impatiently, her large dark glasses covering her eyes. A second later, a sleek limousine pulled up and the driver whisked the heiress inside before the car took off.
Ella watched the building to see if Karim would follow. Seconds turned into minutes and when Ella’s drink was gone, she was satisfied that Karim was not coming out. She looked at the flower arrangement. Lilies. That’s what she had chosen for the centerpieces. It was a classic choice, and like the architecture at the Plaza, Ella loved classic.
The bartender came over to refill her drink and Ella refused politely. She paid her tab and gathered up the flower arrangement. Moments later, she was back in the elevator, heading to the penthouse suite.
“Just go in, deliver the arrangement, and leave,” she said to herself as the elevator climbed the floors. “No getting close, no touching, and for goodness' sake, no hugging!”
She inhaled and exhaled deeply, readying herself. “Just drop the flowers off. That’s all you have to do. You don’t even have to go to the door. When the elevator opens, just put them on the floor and someone will find them. You never even have to get out of the elevator!”
Ella had just about convinced herself that she could do it when the doors opened and Karim appeared in front of her, and all of her resolve immediately vanished.
She stepped out of the elevator and stood in front of him, smelling the distinctive aroma of whisky over the scent of the lilies. His eyes were rimmed with red and his features looked worn.
“Karim,” she said, taken aback at his appearance. “Are you alright?”
Karim shook his head and gently took the flowers from her. “Not really,” he said, and began to head back to his open door.
Ella stood still, unsure if she should follow. Karim looked deeply unhappy, but she didn’t want to give Nadia any more ammunition by trying to comfort him. Ella cared about Karim, more than she wanted to admit. And she thought he cared about her, too. But he was a client. A client with an amazing body, incredible eyes and a thoughtful, kind personality; a client who was getting married to someone he didn’t love; a client who was standing in front of her, upset and apparently slightly drunk.
She reasoned that she shouldn’t leave him alone in his condition. “I'll just stay for a minute,” she murmured to herself as she walked down the hall toward the doors. “I’ll just make sure he’s okay, and I'll be on my way.”
The doors opened up to a wide living room overlooking the East River. Ella walked straight over to the windows, unable to take her eyes from the breathtaking view. The sun was dipping low behind the buildings, casting long shadows across the river.
“Wow,” Ella said, mesmerized.
“Yeah,” Karim’s deep voice came up behind her.
Ella felt his breath on her neck and quickly moved away. “Um, I’m just here to deliver the flowers.”
Karim smiled and walked over to the bar across the room. “Drink?” he asked, fixing her one before she could answer, then pouring another for himself.
“No,” Ella said from her spot, as far away from him as she could be. Her skin was still prickly from the heat of his breath.
“I don’t think you should have any more,” she said gently.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I know. I wouldn’t want to become a drunk or anything… like my lovely fiancée!”
Ella watched as Karim walked unsteadily over to the sofa, placing both drinks on the glass table before collapsing into the cushions.
“It’s just such a mess,” he said exasperated. “The whole thing is such a mess.”
Ella felt her heart ache and moved across the room, careful to sit on the far end of the sofa. “Then why?” she asked. “Why are you marrying her if it's making you so unhappy?”