Shimmy

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Gabriella

We are ready to hit our favorite club in South Beach on a beautiful starry Saturday night.  As I'm basking under the glowing moonlight, my mind is pondering with the possibility of being the unknown mortal daughter of Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon.  The silly idea makes me smile.  Perhaps the poet Mousaios is not Selene's only mortal child.  It's the most logical explanation of why and how I could spend hours staring in utter delight at the seductive moon and the sparkling stars shinning in all their magnificent glory in the dark sky. 

My mind drifts into the myth of Selene and the shepherd Endymion.    The intensity of the emotions he awakened summoned easily her mind and body to surrender to her consuming desire for him.  Her, a goddess, summoning to a mere mortal.  According to the Greek mythology, Selene visited Endymion in the Latmian cave every single night, completely seduced by his beauty and charm.  Every night she was a willing victim to be his to claim, his to take and his to love. I felt like that once ...

"Gabs? Are you ready?"  That's my queue to leave Fantasy Land. Thank God for high-pitched friends with excellent timing who doesn't let you get lost in the lustful haze of your traitor mind.   Just in time to escape from Selene and Endymion's passion's spell. I look myself in the mirror and my memory drifts to another kind of memories which start flooding my mind.

"Almost!" I say loud enough for her to listen.  My eyes are fixed in my reflection as excitement rushes through my body. I'm still walking on cloud nine.

My dream came true. This is everything I've ever wanted. The shock of the news finally leaves me as the understanding of all that happened yesterday starts unraveling before me. 

"Congratulations, Ms. Stewart.  You did it! You're on your way to become a GM at The Russell Grand International Resorts."  Gabriella Stewart, General Manager. Flashbacks of my meeting with Mrs. Brooks keep popping in my head every now and then.  The congratulations, the best wishes from my coworkers and friends, my meeting later that day with Mr. Russell...  I have to admit he's not only a knowledgeable person, but one of the people I most deeply admire and respect.  It's an honor to work for him and I'm willing to show him how much I appreciate this once in a lifetime opportunity. I won't let him down. I can't stop the stupid grin dashing on my face every time I think about it.  I feel so happy that all I want to do is to shimmy! My favorite belly dancing move. 

As exciting as it is to work for Mr. Russell, I also have to admit that working side by side with Mr. Stevens, our current General Manager, is rather the opposite.  There's something about him that makes it difficult for me to trust him.  He always have been very careful and addresses me professionally, but I've never liked the way he looks at me.  It makes me feel uneasy, so I keep him at arm's length at all times.

My success makes my mind drift one more time. This time, I find myself walking farther into Memory Lane. This time memories are not that sweet.

All those sleepless nights and hectic days paid off.  I'm done proving myself to my parents.  I'm exactly where I want to be.  Success, failure, smart decisions, bad choices ... No one else to blame or praise, but me. I'm ready to let go of the past.  To be free.  This was the last piece that was holding me to it.  The tricky part was to have a real shot entering the Management Development Program.  And by some miraculous reason, I did.

I still need to break the news to my parents.  I know my mom will call anytime soon expecting to hear that I didn't make it.  I think she rejoices with my failures. My father is a whole different story. I don't think he even cares.  As painful as it is, I know that if  I decide to share the news with him, I'll have to call him.  My daddy.  It looks like yesterday when he called me his little princess and swore there was no one more important in the whole wide world for him than me.  Sometimes I wonder if my memories are just dreams.  Tricks that my mind plays to me to make me feel that I was loved once.  I he did love me, he doesn't seem to love me as he used to anymore, because the man I know today is definitely not the same man I remember.