Chapter 2

Emily

The creaking sound of the bathroom door startled me. I heard someone enter the bathroom and I waited for them to leave before I continued practicing what I was going to say to my boss.

I had already spent over thirty minutes in the bathroom, yet, I was still anxious for what I was about to do.

The thought of telling my boss, Mr. Giordani, that I wanted a promotion was absolutely terrifying. I didn't really know anyone who had requested a promotion all through my stay here which made me all the more scared. I was not sure what the outcome would be but I was determined to give it a try.

Last night, Stacy gave me a little pep talk and she walked me through what I was going to say. Confronting people had never been my thing and this was going to be extremely hard for me.

I assured myself that he'd accept my request because he promised me a promotion when I was denied the position of marketing officer -the job I'd initially wanted, and made his secretary.

Well, it's been well over two years- precisely two years and six months- yet, there was no sign of promotion.

I took some deep breaths in order to calm myself down.

"This couldn't be that hard," I said to myself.

Bleep....bleep, my alarm went off.

I needed to be at his office immediately. I didn't want to be late, especially not on the day I was making a huge request. I headed to my desk to acquire his documents which I had printed that morning when I got to work and put in a file. I went straight to his office, knocked once, and made my way in.

"Good morning, Mr. Giordani," I said in a cheery voice.

He raised his head and scanned my figure with his piercing eyes. I hated when he did this. It made me feel like a piece he was contemplating to buy.

"Good morning," he replied in a deep yet rich voice. The flow of his baritone was so luxurious and moved with ease.

"What's on my schedule for today?"

I immediately handed him the schedule and a bunch of other documents while listing out everything he had to do offhand. I did this whilst stealing glances at him as he went through the documents.

His face looked beautiful, crafted to perfection, and remained calm as his eyes skimmed through the documents. At this point, I think I was staring but I did not want to look away.

His face was so well defined, with a chiseled jawline that looked sculpted. His brown locks were intricately arranged to resemble the waves. I did not mind drowning in them. No matter how frustrating he could be, I could never deny that he was such a good-looking man.

"Why are you still standing here?"

That was enough to get me out of my daydream. I was so startled and immediately began to apologize. I hadn't realized I had been staring at him even after I had finished speaking. How embarrassing of me!

"I'm sorry sir," I muttered, lowering my head to avoid his gaze. Gosh! I just wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

He pointed to the door and I bee-lined out of his office avoiding any further eye contact with him.

I walked to the elevator and found it to be out of service so I took the stairs instead. I really did not know why my office had to be so far from his when I was his secretary. Mr. Giordani just did things in an odd way. When I got to my desk, I reached for my phone inside my bag, where I saw a message from Stacy waiting for me.

Have you told your boss about the promotion?

I typed a hasty reply.

Well not exactly

Before I could drop my phone, she had already sent a reply. There was never a time that Stacy wasn't online. I would usually tease her that she had an obsession with her social life. She had a huge following on all her social media and captured every single moment of her life to share with them.

What do you mean by that?

I sighed. Stacy wasn't gonna like what I was about to inform her"

I slipped the letter in between some of his documents.

Why? That was not the plan. She replied.

I was too scared, I texted back followed by a sulking emoji.

I winced when I saw her next text. Stacy was obviously low-key upset. I thought we went over this last night!? Well, never mind…Are you sure he is going to see the envelope?

I'm so sorry, Stacy. I type back immediately. But, yes, he will see it. He is very observant.

I really felt bad. She had helped me out all night, telling me what to say, and boosting my confidence, and I just chickened out.

Ok, if you say so. Well, Bae and I are going out tonight and I'd be sleeping over at his place.

Have fun, I replied, making sure to add a blushing emoji.

She then replies with a string of kissy and heart emojis.

Today was going to be a lonely night for me. I would probably just binge-watch some shows or paint, a new hobby I developed when Stacy got into a relationship.

Stacy was my only friend in New York and it was really hard adjusting when she started dating her boyfriend. The first few weeks of their relationship, when they used to go on dates constantly, I would sit in my apartment and cry. I'd felt super lonely. I haven't had a boyfriend since high school so I guess a part of me was envious of my friend.

After a heart-to-heart with her and a few YouTube videos, I was able to get over those negative feelings and started learning how to spend quality time with myself, enjoy my company, and care for myself.

***

After a long day of scheduling meetings, making calls, and attending to my employer's needs, the work day was finally over; I was so ready to lay back in bed and watch a comfort show.

I decided to check my emails one last time before I left. I skim through a Netflix subscription reminder, a Shein promo, a transaction receipt, another transaction receipt, Mr. Antonio Giordani, a Temu promo…

Wait a minute! My boss sent me an email. Why didn't he tell me about the email when he called to give me a task? I wondered how long it had been since he sent the email.

I proceeded to check the time the email was delivered and it said 1:00 pm. That was about five hours ago. I became curious about what the email might contain. I almost started panicking but I took deep breaths to calm myself. There was really no reason for me to be panicking, so, I proceeded to open the email.

Refusal to offer promotion.

Miss Wattson,

No, I cannot offer you a promotion. I am surprised you asked for one after how incompetent you have been so far. I really can't fathom why you think deserve a promotion. You don't have the skills of a marketing officer. Just last week you mixed up my appointments and now you expect me to give you a greater task. You must be out of your mind.

You can't do your job properly, yet, you want to take up a higher position. How hilarious and fanciful of you!

Yours sincerely,

Anthonio Giordani

Before I could even get to the last line, my eyes were already clouded with tears. He called me incompetent because of a minor mistake. I always thought that maybe he wasn't such a bad person…But now, I realized that he actually wasn't.

No, calling him bad was a severe understatement. He was the devil's incarnate. He was a selfish and inconsiderate son of a bitch. Nothing but a spoilt nepotism baby.

I decided that I wasn't going to sulk about this. I won't waste my tears on a man who didn't even have a heart.

I sniffed in the tears, cleaned my eyes, and put on some makeup. I grabbed all my belongings and signed out for the day. I walked to the station, got a ticket, and got on the train. On my commute home, all I thought about was how to get back at him.

I was going to make him regret every single word he said.