My Brazilian CEO

Chapter 1

I stepped outside into the nippy air, exhaling with exhaustion, watching my breath cloud up in front of me. I was finally in New York, after my drawling 9 hour flight from my home, Athens.

Adjusting my grip on my suitcase, I stepped forward onto the curb outside the airport and hailed a taxi.

Within moments, a yellow cab appeared and I gratefully opened the door and hopped in, closing the door after.

"Where to, miss?" The driver asked, sharing a glance at me through the rear-view mirror.

"The Aalaooka Hotel, please." I replied, sinking into the seat, a breath of exhaustion gushing out of me.

He raised an eyebrow at me, a glimpse of disgust flashed across his face before he beamed a smile at me and pulled onto the road.

The streets were crowded, the car was quietly humming beneath me, and although I was in a completely new city, I felt at ease.

As the taxi drove through the central city, my gaze peered up to the huge, daunting, glass sky-scrapers all around me. One in particular caught my attention, a huge, silver skyscraper with massive, black letters at the very top spelling out, Grey Incorporates. Jesus.

The taxi then lurched out onto a side road and begun heading out to the edge of the city.

We were driving for at least 40 minutes before the driver pulled up against the curb, "$33.50 please, miss." He said.

I quickly handed him the cash and grabbed my luggage before stepping out onto the path.

A frown quickly plastered on my face.

A short, un-maintained flat building sat in front of me, with the sign half hanging off and a vacancy sign hanging in the door.

I thought this was a hotel?

I turned around to ask the driver if I was in the right place only to see he had driven off.

Biting my lip, I slowly make my way to the door, push it open and head to the front desk.

An old woman sitting behind the desk, looked up at me and adjusted her glasses. "Hi dear, what can I do for you?" She asked kindly.

"Hi there, I have a room booked for this week." I said, faking a sweet smile.

"Oh I see, whats your name sweetheart?" She replied.

I looked around wearily, there was no-one in the lobby except a tattered couch with a ripped pillow on it, "Aaliyah Smith."

She passed me the key to my room and I headed off down the hallway.

I found my room quite easily, seeing as there was only 10 rooms, seven of which were vacant.

I unlocked the door and headed inside, dumping my luggage on the floor.

There was a double bed in the centre of the room with some old, floral bedding, a faded dresser to the side, a small kitchenette to my right and the bathroom at the end of the room.

"Oh great." I muttered to myself. I hauled my bag onto the bed and began unpacking.