Chapter eight

How he grew from being a reincarnation of her worst nightmare to the person she trusted with almost half of her estate was something Amelia could not understand.

Their meetings had reduced with time and although Amelia blamed it on her unavailability, Vivienne suspected there was more to it, but she trusted Amelia to tell her whenever something came up.

They sat at the café a few blocks away from the office when Eva walked in. She carried a few papers in.

"Couldn't these wait till when I returned to the office?" She asked.

"If it could, then I wouldn't be here." Eva and Vivienne had quite the worker-boss relationship, and it was easily noticeable from their interactions. "Mr. Leyva needs these signed so he can finish with the rounds at Santa Monica and make it here in time for the event. He said he'll be there," she told Vivienne.

Vivienne laughed, "I'd love to let you know that I was aware of all these so you don't need to ack like you know my man better. Okay?" She joked, mimicking some of the ladies you would see on reality shows.

Amelia and Eva burst out laughing and a few moments later, she joined them. "I was hoping I'd get the chance to talk to you soon, Eva," Amelia said. "We have a lot of catching up to do. You know, since we're the only ones without love lives and who have no shots of finding ourselves in a polygamous union soon. We should start a movement, don't you think?" Amelia winked.

Vivienne pouted and looked between the both of them. "Why did you wait until I was happy before you did this?" She tried to cry, but the sounds came out as laughs and Eva laughed, drawing the attention of others at the café.

She cleared her throat and looked around when she noticed no one else was laughing. "I'd better get back to work. I don't want to keep Mr. Leyva waiting. Have a wonderful time," she said and left their side.

Vivienne heard jingles as she walked out and Amelia looked relieved that she was no longer around. "Do you have a problem with her?" She asked Amelia, hoping to get an honest reply.

Amelia shrugged in response. She took a sip of the cappuccino and exhaled to let out some steam. "I don't want to be biased, but I don't think she's the ideal thing," she told her.

Vivienne did not get her drift and needed her to elaborate some more before she let her off. "I don't understand what you mean by that. Can you break it down like this ice on my wrist to the level of my understanding?" Vivienne asked and felt the pang of loneliness she felt when Amelia announced that she'd be leaving to chase her dreams.

"Remember Maricruz from college?" She asked and Vivienne nodded. "She reminds me of her. Too good to be true. How can someone be so tired, yet happy at the same time?" She scoffed. "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with her, but she's not the best. You need a less friendly person for a secretary. One who is going to call you out on your bullshit without fears."

Vivienne was confused. Eva did more of those things and she was efficient in every other area, so there was no need for the change.

"I don't think I'm with you on this one, Amelia. I like Eva just the way she is. She's perfect for the job and the fact that she acts like she has no worries in life endears me to her even more. There's always a new lesson to learn from her happiness. Some days, it's to appreciate the good days, and others, it's to live in the bad days. There's always something to keep me happy about Eva and I love having her around. I love her," she said without carefully analyzing the situation.

Amelia's eyes flew open. She looked at Vivienne accusingly. "Is she the reason you said you might swing the female way alone?" She asked her voice stern and almost laced with anger.

To the best of Vivienne's understanding, Eva and Amelia went along quite well and there was no reason to hate on Eva. She saw no reason why anyone would do as much as dislike Eva from a distance, except they had issues on more personal issues Vivienne did not know.

Amelia laughed and waved her off. "I'm sorry I asked that," she said. "I've had a hard time processing my thoughts lately and I just say things as they come." Vivienne nodded and tried to push the thought away, but it lingered on that Eva might be in trouble with the way Amelia was into her business. She didn't care that it was her best friend. She made a promise there to stand by Eva as long as she could prove that there was nothing off about her happiness and Amelia was just overthinking things.

"On to other issues at hand," she continued like she did not just make deteriorating comments about Vivienne's favorite staff. "How is he?" She asked. "Gavin, I mean."

Vivienne smiled at the mention of his name, but the smile did not last as she quickly thought about the problems they had before he left for Santa Monica. He had talked about handling the branch in Moreno Valley, and as much as it gave her great joy that she finally got a man who was interested in her business, she couldn't relieve people of their jobs just because her lover wanted it. It was unprofessional and against her morals.

Amelia sighed. She always had her chin in her hand like she was thinking of ways to bring the world to her feet. "Let him have it," she advised. "It's going to give you more time to look for new places and to build there. I see no reason to not give it to him."