The Guardian

One

Gisele

"Are you sure you want to wear a wig?" Vivienne Wolf skeptically glanced at me with her usually serene face now contorted with disapproval. She certainly did not like my loony idea the moment it hatched from my less than lucid mind.

The plan on how to seduce the man I had designs since the beginning of time materialized when I was two bottles deep into Dom Perignon. While Vivienne and Blair had busied themselves from swaying from one crush to the other, I remained resolute, beholden to one man, the unsmiling, all seriousness Jared St. James.

We were in Blair's bedroom, lavishly decorated in pink, black and gold, the very portrayal of her personality—the bitchy princess. She wasn't royal but she lived with every ounce of the pampered princess, all regal, snobbish and anyone she deemed stupid would get a serious whiplash from her scathing remarks.

"That's the whole point, she has to look different or he'd immediately recognize her!" Blair Rinaldi irately remarked back at our friend. She'd been short-tempered lately after breaking up with the twenty-one year old João Roberto, the hottest Brazilian man we had ever seen. She stated that she was too young to fall in love and that at her blossoming stage; there was so much to experience in life than be caught up in romance and skew your fresh perspective of the future. Although her parents were still married, they lived in separate bedrooms and her father wasn't particularly discreet with this mistresses. Her mother had drilled it into her head that no man was to be trusted. And I suppose her mother's wisdom reflected on how she treated the opposite sex, as if they were simply dispensable. And yet here was Blair a week after breaking that man's heart, short fused and desperately scouring for a rebound.

Best friends since the age of five, we're thick as thieves, sisters not by blood but a stronger bond that went over beyond the normal call of friendships. Vivienne and Blair had their fair share of going boy crazy and through it all, I had been there standing guard, making sure that their parents hadn't had a clue of the kind of mischief they were up to. Both women had their fun and this time it was my turn. Little did they know what I had in mind. Oh I could be naughty too, it just had to be with the right person. After years of being teased of being a good girl because I didn't want to date anyone else—the always designated, straight A student and a certified sober bore was about to wander into the naughty world. One night, it was all I dreamt of, just one night with him then I'd fully let go of this grand delusion of loving a man from afar.

"I honestly don't get why you have to put yourself through all this, Gisele? I'm sure you already know but there's a sea of guys who'd die to have you in their life. Why can't you just drop this idea of Jared? He's too old for you anyway." Vivienne unwittingly remarked.

Vivienne would never understand it. Though she wasn't prudish, she didn't like the idea of pursuing men. In her mind, it should be the other way around. We all loved to be chased, I mean who wouldn't? But my circumstances were different than theirs. While they lavished on young men's attention, as did I once in awhile if they were cute and engaging enough, my attention had been held by one man and one man alone from as far as I could remember.

Jared was the only male I had met who wasn't fascinated by my beauty. And since the man was worth billions, my father's riches didn't impress him either. My father, Peter Weber, was the in the world's top ten richest man. And Jared trailed closely behind him. The two were like father and son but Jared never spared me a glance. He was always so reserved and only spoke when I politely addressed him but he never went out of his way to converse with me. I suppose with the ten-year age gap, in his mind, there wasn't much to discuss with me. Add the fact that electronics and science, wasn't truly my forte, most likely added to the severity of that situation.

I was more like my mother; Edna Weber was once the Miss Universe, a beauty queen from Brazil and had caught my father's eye when he was about to reach the pinnacle of his success. Though many would argue that she sought him for his riches, their relationship was built on love. I grew up knowing and feeling the love from both of my parents. Well up until three years ago, when my mother died from a throat surgery, my father's never been the same. The loss of my mother had taken a toll on him. The once vibrant man now had his brightness dimmed with profound sorrow severely etched around his gaunt face. Before mom died he had weekends off but those days were long gone. These days he spent his every waking moment in his company, busy going through new inventions and progressing the evolving world of technology. As much as I was in awe of my father, I wished that he'd spare me some attention because it wasn't only him who lost a loved one. I lost her too.

"So what's the plan again?" Vivienne intently glanced at Blair and I. "What if he shows up with that chick he's been seeing lately? What's the protocol on that?"

As much as I loved my friends sometimes they give me little credit. They should know better that I wouldn't even take such a massive risk if there were a possibility of Jared having a woman in his life at the moment. He was much of a womanizer, in a sense, he stuck to one woman however the longevity of the relationship. "She won't be there. Jared doesn't recycle past lovers. Yovanna was out the door the second she made that tabloid interview."

"How could you be so sure?" Vivienne gave me a sparing look as she scrutinized the inky black wig with condemnation.

"Because I know him. He hates being in the media. He keeps a low profile and Yovanna just blasted his personal business to the world. If my timeline is right, he'd be on a prowl to replace her position. So in my book, he's been single for a week now."

Vivienne's bright blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "Good God, you studied the poor guy."

Blair snickered. "He's far from poor but yeah, you can't fault Gisele for plotting this perfectly."

I was devious and cunning...but only when I needed something accomplished. And tonight, my sights were on the man I had craved for years now. "All I need is one night...then I can begin living my life." It was a desperate attempt to simply temporarily possess something that wasn't mine to behold. Somehow, I felt it right for Jared to take away my virginity before I begin dating men my own age. It was mad but it was how I felt.

Tonight was Hank Rinaldi's sixtieth birthday and everyone important was going to be in attendance including Jared. The second Blair gave me the green light that Jared's secretary accepted the invitation, my plan began to unfold.

Blair's long lacquered fingertips brushed through the wig's silky hair. "Do you want to put on the contacts first or the wig?" Blair excitedly suggested.

Jared liked dark-haired women. It was a known fact to whoever knew him.

My vivid grey eyes will be blue tonight. My blonde tresses will be hidden under a wavy mass of black hair. I intend to seduce and I had to make do with whatever arsenal I could enhance.

I was to be a twenty-five year old socialite who just recently came back from South Africa doing charity work for her father's foundation. That's all I knew and I suppose I simply had to improvise if Jared would bite the bait I'd cast. Although I had no firsthand experience in seduction, I suppose I had seen enough movies to figure out how to catch a man's attention.

Tonight was my night. No matter what happens next, I was going to get Jared to notice me.