Chase smiled as he pushed his chair back from the table and rose to his feet.  He extended his right hand toward the other gentleman rising from the table.  Luiso Amerretti shook it firmly and slid his own chair away from the cleared dining table.  The elder gentleman continued to exclaim about Chase’s new import plans and the few designs for cruise liners that had been laid out before him.  Chase had definitely found a new client.  He smiled as he gathered up the last of his papers and organized them into his soft leather briefcase.  Chase measured out and dropped a few large bills on the table for the slight built waitress, who unfortunately had held a good portion of Mr. Amerretti’s attention throughout the simple, but fabulous meal.  The aging Italian male definitely had an eye for the ladies, unluckily for the ladies, it wasn’t all he had for them, and the ladies in question usually didn’t have an eye for him.  Their waitress had smiled and dealt with the old man’s rather flamboyant and unwanted attentions mostly because she recognized Chase and knew it would be worth her while to make his client happy throughout the meal.  She had managed to skirt his wandering beefy hands quite nicely, while making it seem like she didn’t mind the attention, and for that, Chase left her a very tidy sum.

“Ah – I was hoping to see our waitress again and thank her for such a wonderful service.”  Luiso Amerretti drawled, one or two too many glasses of sweet liquor weighing on his tongue, slurring his words into an almost unrecognizable leer.  Chase almost laughed.  For this true-Italian to become so inebriated on just a few glasses of the Romana Black Sambuca was just the icing on the cake of the hilarity of the meeting.  He could easily tell that the man had mafia ties – although, not a close connections – but he attempted to hide them from the minute he had opened his mouth.  Chase half expected him to check the bottom of their table for a wire tap before ordering his food.  The gentleman, to use a term loosely, had wavered from confident to overly cautious and back every couple of minutes.  Chase preferred not to have any dealings with the mob in the city, but his research had shown these construction projects and material imports would have nothing to do with the mob’s regular businesses.  This was Luiso’s movement into securing his own future, should some of his connections turn south.

“Tamary has just left for break, sir.”  The busboy informed him as Chase fought to steer him toward the main dining hall and the exit.  Around them, the crystal features of the Bear Lounge twinkled.  Chase had to pause so that Luiso wouldn’t run him into the enlarged crystal bear juggling gold balls.  He could also see Tamary peak her dark head from the kitchen doors waiting for them to leave so she could attend her other guests.  Chase chuckled to himself and made sure to guide the man away from another young waitress on their way past the maître d’ and out of the gilded front doors.

As they reached the street, Chase crossed his fingers that the man hadn’t driven.  He watched as a young valet signaled a very professional-looking man standing nearby, who headed for the garage.  The valet then approached Chase to quietly inform him that Mr. Amerretti’s driver would be around shortly, Luiso running on rapid pace about the excellent hostess.  Chase knew from experience that the driver was a no-nonsense type that kept Mr. Amerretti well under his wife’s supervision, even when the buxom young Roman woman wasn’t around.  He gave a little sigh of relief and related the message to his guest, who had changed tactics and was now quite obviously extolling the virtues of his youngest daughter.  How he had turned to the prominent features of his family, Chase wasn’t sure, but he nodded appropriately anyway.  He had briefly met the wife once, but had never had the pleasure, or perhaps misfortune of meeting Luiso’s three glorious daughters.  From what he could gather, Amerretti’s youngest was no more than 6 or 7 and already she was enrolled in the best schools with the best extra-curricular and hobbies – all set to be groomed just like every other rich child of their social class, spoiled with no sense of self or direction save the one given to them.  It harkened his thoughts back to his own spoiled fiancée and her inability to decide on anything further than which Prada shoes to buy next and if it should match or contrast her purse.  The ‘real housewives’ of this city had nothing on his darling Madeline.  It wasn’t that Chase didn’t like her, he just wondered how long it would be before he would be unable to stand anything and everything she currently held in esteem.

The driver pulled the town car around and Chase helped the aging Italian into the back seat, hoping this was the last time he would have to deal with the mob-related man directly.  If the gentleman liked his designs, that was fine, but Chase was very clear about maintaining a serious and distinct distance with any of their under the table shipments.  Waving off the driver, Chase turned and headed toward the Paris Theater, deciding to drop by the Apple Store on 5^th avenue on his way. He glanced at his watch to see if there was enough time to drop into one of the off Broadway productions nearby before heading back to the office to fill out some of the information on his meeting with Amerretti.  There wasn’t enough time to see a whole play, but he considered for a moment dropping in for the first act or two and catching a repeat later.  Paper work and meeting notes were his least favorite parts of the job, but he had learned early on to keep a detailed record of his meeting with clients and very precise notes on their like and dislikes, and even sometime snippets of conversation he remembered to use in future presentations to them.  It made men like Luiso Amerretti feel important that he could recall such details for them.  It would be better to document it now while it was still fresh in his memory.  He had a feeling he wouldn’t need too much for this particular client – anything that had to do with handsome women would catch Luiso’s attention, but the rest of his board of directors would be a little more difficult to impress.  As it currently stood, Ammerretti was in his pocket, but he was also a very shrewd business man and one false move would blow his whole month of work on this outline.

Whistling a non-descript tune, Chase wandered aimlessly to the end of the block, reluctant to return to the 35^th floor of his building just yet.  The Seagram’s building was somewhat of a wonder, but some days, Chase much preferred being on the outside of the building admiring the architectural beauty.  He had to marvel at the designer, who had changed the blinds so they could only open in three positions, keeping the place as a whole in balance instead of some hanging crooked or completely at different angles.  Something inside told him to head toward 5^th avenue before heading uptown, as he passed across the Avenue of the Americas at 6^th instead of turning.  Chase knew that Antoinette’s parents usually stayed at the St. Regis Hotel, so he altered his course to see if Mr. Ralston was available for a dinner meeting to discuss his new proposal.  Bridgette, Antoinette’s step-sister, had called him a few days prior to see if he would be available to come to her mini-line launch, but it was at the same time as a company function, and he wasn’t able to get out of it, even though he desperately wanted to. He had apologized profusely, only half mocking, and Bridgette had been disappointed, of course, but she had understood and had even let it slip that her father would be in town to see the show and for a few days after.  Chase knew Bridgette looked at him as a big brother, especially since they were often in the same town and her two older siblings weren’t around as much anymore.  He had thanked her for the information and promised to drop by and see them as soon as he could.  Mr. Ralston had mentioned that he had an important business proposition for him to look over, and Chase was never one to pass up a chance to squeak ahead even a tiny bit more.  Coming from Mr. Ralston, he could count on it to be safe and highly profitable.

Chase looked up to see the street sign for 5^th avenue nearing.  He wandered around a falafel stand and the smell of sauerkraut assaulted him, and he hoped it wouldn’t seep into his clothing.  He loved the taste, but getting the pungent aroma out of his suits was often hell on his dry-cleaners, who were constantly complaining when he returned for the jackets.  They were very nice people, and did fantastic work, but were a little too attached to his clothing.  He supposed it was because he saw them so often.  Chase waited for the ‘walk’ sign to illuminate the cross walk and very nearly collided with a woman coming from the other direction as he spotted a familiar figure crossing from the diagonal street corner.  He apologized in a half-daze and hurried across the street to try to catch up to the figure.  At first, he was sure his mind was playing tricks on him.  She should have been in Florida, not New York.  But, he was sure it was her.  She looked different though.  Not bad, but there was definitely something different.  Her hair was the same tarnished auburn and her figure looked mostly the same, still curvy in all the same places, but there was something more that Chase couldn’t quite put his finger on, and yet, it was still Antoinette.  He wasn’t sure why she was in Manhattan, since she could usually be found in her offices in Miami, or not in the country at all, but he had that feeling.  His chest tightened and his breathing got shallow.  It was her.  She must have flown into town to see her family, but Bridgette had been sure that she was not going to make it to the launch this year, since she had a launch of her new line of products to contend with at the same time.  Fall was always a busy time in the textiles industry, and Antoinette’s new lines of yarn would be shipping to stores, even though they had been decided months in advance.

Finally, he got close enough to be sure as he watched her smile at the doorman and turn into the St. Regis Hotel.  She had gained weight.  It was a rounded gain in her midsection that didn’t seem to affect her legs or her face, but she was heavier all the same.  She was even more beautiful than he remembered and her skin seemed to glow.  Chase wondered when that had happened.  Four months ago, she had been rounded and beautiful, but not like this.  He smiled briefly to himself.  He wouldn’t have even noticed if he hadn’t still replayed every bare inch of her body in his mind daily.  Suddenly, Chase stopped and stared in disbelief as a few more puzzle pieces slid home.  A man walking too close behind him stepped on the back of his heel and cursed.  Chase apologized, but didn’t move.  He needed a few moments more to soak it all in.  There was absolutely no way – she was pregnant.