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‘This is your floor,’ the lift operator informed her

‘Thank you’ She’d had a chance to study her reflection She looked so out of place it was almost funny Except it wasn’t, because she wanted tofroood start He was probably wondering why Security had allowed her upstairs in the first place in her thrift-shop dress and worn canvas sneakers She , if she hadn’t known by now that the name Don Xavier Del Rio opened any door But whatever aiting for her beyond the elevator doors, she would reh

She walked slowly down the subtly lit corridor, trying to take everything in She felt as if she rapped in money, cosseted and protected from the outside world, which was obviously the hotel’s objective Even the air smelled expensive And it was so quiet The carpet was so thick it absorbed the sound of footsteps, while the walls were covered with silk rather than paper, which would muffle any sound The décor was the type of tasteful opulence Rosie had only seen in ether, she guessed, but it was certainly effective Even the uests, providing them with a haven from their busy lives

So as she doing here?

It was tihts like that out of her mind She had to think positively now She was here to attend a cocktail party, whatever that ht entail

Her door was at the end of the corridor After several failed atte on the threshold, she stared around The rooht of her bedazzled expression in one of the mirrors on the wall, she quickly closed her mouth, closed the door—and then she saw the dress It was spread out on the sofa with a soft cream wrap next to it She loved the wrap, but her heart picked up pace when she took a closer look at the dress It looked like so a starlet would wear Cut to fit like a second skin, it had a plunging neckline, and a split up the side that would leave nothing to the iination No way could she wear underwear beneath it

Picking it up, she walked over to the ainst her The dress was obviously expensive and very beautiful, in its way, but if anyone had asked her honest opinion she would have said it was a bit flashy, and definitely not so she would have chosen for herself She preferred to blend into the background, rather than stand out, and there was no hope of blending in a dress like this With her shabby shoes and custard dress, she looked like a child about to dress up in her big sister’s clothes And then she saw the shoes lined up neatly on top of their box But were they shoes, or instruh-heeled shoes before ‘Pride must bear a pinch,’ Doña Anna would have said And she was being ungrateful, Rosie concluded, pulling a face Putting her concerns to one side, she headed for the bathrooe

‘Do you want ive you a hand?’ Xavier’s driver enquired politely when they had arrived outside what had to be thein the city

‘Would you ot herself stuck halfway between the car seat and the paveh, that she couldn’t find a way of propelling herself forward, short of pulling her skirt above her knickers to free her legs

‘Just put your hand on et you out, somehow’

He’d been quite stuffy up to that point, but nohen they shared a look at his suggestion, they both started to laugh ‘I’ll take you inside,’ he offered when he’d got her out in one piece and had steadied her on the pavement

‘Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be fine’ She was terrified, but she had to do this on her own She had to learn how big business and society worked if she was going to be any use to the islanders

Did she want to learn how society worked?

Not particularly, Rosie concluded, when she was left on the wrong side of the revolving doors, while everyone else pushed past her, but Doña Anna had insisted that part of Rosie’s develop her horizons, so here she was, broadening them

‘Excusea confident sroup approaching the entrance didn’t brush her aside so easily, and finally she was inside the building