The Love Affair(Good Wife Better Mistress)

Hotel

The morning sunshine comes in through the gauzy curtains, casting shadows on the floor. Servants wake Nicole for breakfast. She grabs the clock on the nightstand and sees that it's already 8:00 AM. She asked the servants to wake her so she can prepare to start her first day as owner of the Balato Hotel.

She doesn't know how she finally managed to get to sleep last night. She felt like she tossed and turned for hours. She stretches and notices that the left side of the bed is cold and the sheets are unwrinkled.

One of the maids seems to read the question on her face, "Brownie was ill last night so Mr. Romano stayed there with him."

"I know," Nicole says.

"Alex is so concerned about that dog," Nicole thinks, "He was so mad at me yesterday—almost madder than when he thought I was cheating on him. I suppose Brownie is out of bounds for me."

She slides out from beneath the warm quilt, takes a brief shower, and goes downstairs. She hears a voice coming from one of the sitting rooms.

"Quickly, I have an important shoot today," Gaby's voice commands.

"Okay, Miss Montez."

Nicole pauses outside the sitting room door to watch.

Gaby's makeup artist bends over, using a brush to apply powder to Gaby's face. A team of stylists presents various dresses to Gaby, waiting for her to pick one.

Gaby opens one eye to look at the dresses and points at a light green one, "That one."

"You have such good taste," a stylist compliments her, "This one goes well with your complexion and brings out your glow."

Gaby spies Nicole outside the door and says, "Really? Whose complexion is better—mine or Nicole's? "

The stylist answers without hesitation, "Of course yours is better. Mrs. Romano always has this miserable look, like an abandoned wife. How can she compare to your youthful glow?"

"Really?" Gaby says with mock curiosity, "The rumor is that the Romano has pregnancy plans."

"It's all false," another stylist pipes up, "With them, it's always hard to tell what's real and what's a lie, but I heard that they're divorcing. Rumor has it that Alex doesn't love her."

"I think that's true," another stylist says, "As I was entering, I overheard some servants talking about how Alex disciplined Nicole after she hurt his favorite dog last night."

"I heard that Alex stayed with the dog last night," the makeup artist says.

"So he's no better than a dog," Gaby giggles, "That's juicy."

The sound of clapping comes from outside the door. Nicole enters the room, smiling enchantingly and clapping her hands together.

"That is quite juicy," she says.

"Mrs. Romano—" the gossiping stylists exclaim, awkwardly.

"What? Don't you find Gabriela funny?" Nicole asks coldly.

"She is," the stylists say with confusion.

"Then why aren't you laughing?"

Nicole sneers and looks at Gabriela seated on a sofa.

"Gabriela, why aren't you laughing at your joke?" Nicole asks, "Is it because the powder is too thick for you to move your face?"

"What are you talking about?" Gaby curbs her anger and forces a smile, "They're not wrong. Alex did indeed spend the night with Brownie."