The Miami Millionaire (10 page)

“What about your ring?”  Mark asked as he looked at the empty space on Victoria’s finger, she never went out of the house without her engagement ring on and if she wasn’t planning on wearing it he wanted it back considering it had cost him a small fortune.  As far as Mark was concerned Victoria couldn’t have it both ways - if she was cancelling their engagement he wanted the ring back.

Victoria laughed!  Wow, it hadn’t even occurred to her what to do with the ring, but she would be dammed if she was going to give it back to him just so he could give it to someone else.  She had no idea what she was going to do with it but she wasn’t about to let Mark know that.  “Well considering I will never be wearing it again, and it is legally mine because you gave it to me, then I suppose I’ll sell it and treat myself to something nice from it.”  She enjoyed watching Mark nearly choke - she knew how much he really hated it when he wanted something but he couldn’t get it.  “So Mark let’s recap.  You and I are over.  Don’t bother to contact me again.  Stay away from the house until ten o’clock on Saturday morning when you need to be there to show the estate agent around, and get our house sold by the time I get back from Miami.  Got it?”

“Miami?”

“Yes, I was coming home last night to tell you but it really doesn’t concern you anymore.”  She knew she shouldn’t tell Mark but she couldn’t resist rubbing his nose in it a tiny bit. “I’m off to Miami to spend some time with Creative Technology Holdings’ marketing team at the personal request of Jake Cumberland.   And you know what Mark?  It sounds like it’s going to be one great big party.  Goodbye!”  Victoria said as she turned around and walked off leaving Mark standing in the middle of his office with his mouth half open and a hallway full of spectators looking on.  For the first time in nearly twenty-four hours Victoria actually felt good, and she almost didn’t feel like her heart had been ripped out of her body and stamped on multiple times with all her hopes and plans for her future shattered and blown away into the dust.

CHAPTER FOUR

The dry warm air hit Victoria as she stepped of the airplane and she welcomed it.  She had tried to sleep during her eight and a half hour flight from London to Miami, trying to keep her mind from imagining Mark and Chantelle together, but it had been no good and the images of them had flashed through her head over and over again.  Victoria knew she shouldn’t care, she was well rid of a rat like him, but it still hurt and she suspected it would for a very long time.  And then walking away from Mark wasn’t the end of everything, not just yet.  Victoria still had to cancel the wedding.  She had tried to do it before she left England but it was just too much for her at that time, each time she picked up the phone she put it back down again without even dialling a number - Victoria decided it wasn’t going to make any difference if the venue was cancelled this week or next week, they would still lose all their deposit money anyway, but she needed a few more days to let things settle before she had the strength to make those calls.  For now it was enough that her family knew the wedding was off, and Alice would see to it that her friends knew too.  After that she wanted to handle the cancellation of the church and the venue herself, she needed to do that for closure.

But for now as Victoria walked through the air conditioned bustling airport, collected her heavy suitcase and passed through security and passport control, she looked forward to the busy few weeks she was sure she was going to have with Creative Technology Holdings, and this was a good a start as any to the beginning of the rest of her life.  Besides, she couldn’t think of a better place to start anew than here, in Miami with its stunning beaches and hot sunshine.  No matter how much it hurt, she was determined to put Mark behind her, because someone who could do what he had done to her had no place in her life.  She knew she deserved so much better than that.  She deserved so much better than him!

Victoria spotted a sign being held up with her name written across it and handed her suitcase to the driver as she followed him outside to his car.  As the driver exited the airport and expertly weaved his way through the ridiculous amount of traffic in all four lanes of the highway she looked out of the window, the sky was turning a dusty shade of dark blue and car lights sprinkled like fairy lights on a Christmas tree all around her.  Victoria took in a deep breath, for the first time in a while she was actually feeling a little bit excited.

The car pulled off the highway and Victoria watched the frenzy of car lights disappear into the distance as they drove along the streets.

“You ever been to Miami before?”  The Latino taxi driver called over his shoulder.

“Yes but it was a long time ago.  It was when I was a child but I don’t remember that much.  I do remember your great beaches though.”

“Yeah that we have.  You’re going to be in for a real treat lady.  You here for your holidays?”

“Not really, I’m here for work but I’ve got a couple of days free first.”

“Work?  What you do?”

“Nothing too exciting I’m afraid.  Marketing, that kind of thing.”

“Well you need a taxi somewhere you give me a call and I can be your driver.”  He handed a card across his shoulder and Victoria leaned forward to take it.  He seemed friendly enough and it was always good to have a taxi number just in case she needed it, but then again every third car driving on the Miami streets seemed to be a yellow taxi so she doubted she would ever need it.  Victoria pocketed the card just in case.

“Tell you what, your hotel is just around the corner but I’ll drive you around this little area first so you can see what you’ve got.  It’s a good little area, you have got shops along this road here and at the end there.”  He said pointing to the long road of retro styled buildings where every shop window shone brightly enticing its customers through their doors. 

“Then your hotel is down this road,” he said turning into a small road lined with coconut trees, “and Hollywood beach is just at the end of this road.”

“Thank you, Ramone.”  Victoria said quickly checking the man’s name on his card.

The taxi came to a stop outside a little hotel looking like a collection of old style classical beach apartments.  It wasn’t anything like the huge new glass fronted hotels Victoria had passed on her way from the airport, but it looked clean enough and it was right next to the sea front which was what she really wanted - she had managed to negotiate a good rate otherwise if Ben Churchill had his way she would have been in a bed and breakfast in the middle of Miami Central and she hadn’t come all the way to Miami, work or not, to not be by the sea.

As Victoria got out of the taxi she smelt the salty sea air on the warm night breeze and smiled.  Now this was more like it, this is what she needed.

“You want me to take your bag inside for you?”  Ramone asked interrupting her thoughts.

“No thanks, I’m good from here.”  Victoria said as she handed some dollars to him and took her suitcase.

“No problem, but if you need me you give Ramone a call.” 

Victoria laughed as he drove off.  If Ramone was anything to go by then people really were as friendly as they seemed in the American movies.   She pulled her suitcase along behind her and headed into the cosy hotel reception, she planned on getting her case safely stowed in her hotel room and then head off to the beach promenade to go for a long walk to blow away the cobwebs in her mind.

Victoria woke up as the sun shone through a tiny gap in the curtain.  She turned over and looked at her watch on the night stand next to her bed and she couldn’t believe it was ten o’clock already.  Her stomach grumbled confirming it was indeed way past breakfast time and she guessed the little restaurant in her hotel would have finished its breakfast run by now.  She flopped back onto her pillow and couldn’t believe how well she had slept.  Victoria imagined she would have been tossing and turning all night like she had been during her last night in London - thoughts of what could have been running through her mind whilst the unfamiliar feel of an empty bed next to her only added to the emptiness in her heart.  But not last night.  After a long walk along the Hollywood Beach promenade with an iced strawberry daiquiri in hand, listening to its serene sounds of the night time waves crashing against the sand, she had finally returned to her hotel room and fallen into bed at midnight.  Victoria counted that it would have been the middle of the afternoon in England by now considering they were five hours ahead of Miami time and her stomach rumbled once again just for good measure.  She pulled herself up from her bed and walked across to the curtains.  Pulling them open she squinted against the bright sunshine, but then let the warmth of its rays wash over her before turning around and heading to the bathroom.  She planned on having a quick shower and dressing for the beach with a quick stop for breakfast, well brunch now, at one of the little beach front cafés on her way.

Victoria was relaxed when her phone rang interrupting her tranquillity, and she grabbed for it in her beach bag without lifting her head off her beach-towel.   She answered it and squinted when she didn’t recognise the female voice to begin with.

“Yes this is Victoria. Sorry, who is this again, I missed your name?”

“It’s Andrea, Jake Cumberland’s personal assistant.”

“Oh sorry Andrea.  Hi, how are you?”  That caught Victoria’s attention enough to pull her away from her sunbathing and she sat upright putting her mind into work mode.

“No problem.  Look Jake has asked me to call you and check what time you are flying in tomorrow night and arrange for a car to pick you up from the airport.”

Victoria squinted against the sun, it was Saturday.  What was his personal assistant doing at work on a Saturday?  “Oh no don’t worry about that, I’m already here in Miami.  I wanted to have a couple of days here before I started work so I took an earlier flight - I arrived last night.” 

“Oh I see.”

Victoria could vaguely hear Andrea say something to someone, but it wasn’t clear and she couldn’t make out what it was.  “Don’t worry Andrea I will be there bright and early on Monday morning. I was planning on heading straight into Jake’s office first thing but if he would rather I went to your marketing department first then can you let me know?” 

“No that’s fine.  Actually can you hold on a minute, Jake’s here and he would like to have a word with you.” 

Victoria waited for a moment hearing muffled voices, obviously Andrea had put her hand over the phone rather than putting her on hold and then Jake’s voice came through the phone deep and smooth.  “Hey you’re here already!  Andrea just told me you got in last night?”  Jake sounded bright and friendly, “If you haven’t got anything planned how about I show you a bit of Miami later?”

Victoria swallowed hard as Jake’s deep tones consumed her and something in her stomach did a full on somersault. “Oh I don’t want to be any bother, don’t worry I can find my way around.”  Victoria hadn’t anticipated seeing Jake before Monday morning and the thought of it flustered her.

“No way, you want me to pick you up or you want to meet me somewhere?”

“You really don’t take no for an answer do you?”  She laughed.

“Nope.”  Jake chuckled down the line.

“Okay, what time?”

“Let’s say seven thirty.  Do you want me to come and get you?  Where are you staying?”

“No that’s okay, I will come and meet you.  Where are we going?”

“Meet me at a restaurant called the Pelican on Ocean Drive, South Beach.  We’ll have some dinner and then I’ll take you to see the famous Miami South Beach night life.”

“Alright Jake, I’ll see you at the Pelican at seven thirty.”

“Alright Victoria I’ll see you then.”  He mimicked and then put the phone down.

Victoria sat looking at the phone in her hand.  She didn’t know what she had expected but that hadn’t been it!  In all her expectations of leaving London and starting a great new marketing project, and forming new work relationships in Miami, not one time had she imagined herself dining with Jake Cumberland at South Beach the night after she arrived in Miami, or at any other point for that matter!  She was in Miami for work and that was all.  But the offer of a night out with a local Miamian, experiencing the famous Miami nightlife, was far too good to turn down.  And what a local she was going to be out with - a ridiculously good-looking, buff, multi-millionaire!  Victoria blew out a puff of air and flopped back down on her towel, immediately regretting it as the sand underneath wasn’t as soft as it looked.  She looked at the time on her phone, yes she still had time for a bit more sunbathing before she needed to head back to her hotel to get ready, and she let her mind relax once again to the sound of the sea.

Victoria’s taxi drove along the length of Ocean Drive as she marvelled at the colourful restaurants and buildings as they passed by.  Just when she was beginning to think the driver had no idea where the restaurant was and the promenade was going to end, he stopped abruptly and motioned to the restaurant in front with a clustering of white wooden tables and chairs with huge dark blue parasols.  Victoria paid the driver and got out. 

Standing still on the pavement Victoria took in her surroundings, she was in no hurry.  She had deliberately arrived fifteen minutes early - she might have been off the work-clock now but Jake was still a potential business client and she needed to make a good impression, and being late would not have been a good start in her book. 

Victoria turned her back on the restaurant to look across Ocean Drive, out to the white sand and the crystal blue sea stretching back as far as the eye could see.  It was still hot but she could feel the strength of the sun easing now as the day was coming to a close.  Before coming out tonight she had spent a long time in front of the wardrobe holding what limited selection of clothes she had bought with her, not knowing what to wear.  Finally she settled on a simple but stylish soft cotton multi-coloured pencil strap sundress which ended just above her knees, and a little short sleeved sky blue cardigan which she draped over her arm.  She finished off her look with a pair of red strappy high heeled sandals and a matching red bag.  She liked what she was wearing, it said simple yet fun, and sexy, but not trashy.  Victoria turned back to the restaurant and pushed her long dark red hair back as it hung loose over her shoulders and walked towards one of the waiters.

The waiter approached Victoria as she made her way through the perfectly spotless group of white wooden tables and chairs on each side of the pavement, “Good evening Señora.  Can I get you a table?” 

Victoria hesitated, she realised she didn’t know if Jake would have booked a table, and if so would he even have used his real name knowing that a lot of famous people preferred to stay anonymous when they were booking tables in hope of actually enjoying a night out without the paparazzi finding out where they were.  But then again she was in Miami, and from what she saw on the television and heard through the grapevine, it was swarming with famous people so maybe it was something they didn’t need to think about so much here.

“Yes please.  I’m meeting someone here but I am not sure if he’s already booked a table.”