Chapter 18

At eight o'clock sharp, Dominic stepped out of her exclusive elevator. Nina was there, waiting for him, as she had planned to arrive before eight following her boss's rules.

He went to his room and Nina followed. As soon as she entered, she asked:

— Can we continue organizing the agenda or would you prefer me to do another task? — she asks, seriously.

— Keep going. — he says, succinctly.

Nina continues looking at him, as he didn't give her his notebook, like before.

Dominic observes her and asks:

— Do you have any more questions?

— Actually, a request. I wanted your notebook so I could continue working.

Dominic arches her eyebrow and responds:

— Do you think I'm not going to give you a tool to work with?

— Well, that's how I worked yesterday.

— Turn around!

— Turn me around?! — She looks at him strangely.

— Yes, I want you to turn around.

Nina, a little embarrassed, puts her hands behind her, surreptitiously hiding her butt, and then turns around.

When she looks, she feels like an idiot, because he wasn't trying to look at her butt, as she thought, he was trying to show her that there was a desk right in front of his desk.

She starts to smile and passes her hand over her forehead, she realized that she no longer trusted a man's requests. She heard so many men at the bar, making requests of her just to look at her ass and make some embarrassing comment, that she automatically imagined that this was the same situation.

Well, the act of trying to covertly hide her butt was noticed by Dominic, he thought about asking her why she thought he was wanting to observe her curves, but involuntarily he ended up observing her.

He noticed how well the pencil skirt outlined her curves and as soon as she sat down, he disguised the fact that he was looking.

He clears his throat, looking away and says:

— All your spreadsheets are already in your notebook. I forwarded my messages to your email box and now, whenever someone wants to make me an invitation or request, you will receive it and you decide whether it is important or not.

Nina's eyes widened, she thought the job was a lot of responsibility. However, she didn't say anything and started working.

She didn't discard any emails, well... just a few... Those from Samuel. Nina didn't want to meet him again. And that worked because Richard, the receptionist called Nina, letting her know that he had an unexpected visitor.

Nina snorted, as Dominic watched her, her desk was right in front of him and he could watch her every move whenever he wanted.

— Mr Dominic, there is someone wanting to see you. — she says, in a serious tone — But it's not on your agenda today, can I ask to come another day? — she says, avoiding mentioning who was there.

Dominic, suspicious, asks:

— Do I have any commitments at that time?

She immediately consults the day's agenda and says:

— In one hour, you have a video call with Sheikh Khalid. I think you'll end up being late if you receive someone at this time, and you don't like delays. — she tries to convince him using one of her rules.

Dominic raises her eyebrows, realizing that she was trying to manipulate him, then says:

— Send me in!

— Is it serious? Are you really going to receive someone who is not scheduled?

Dominic just looks at Nina and she exhales and calls reception:

—Richard, order in.

A few seconds that seemed like minutes pass. Nina gets a little nervous and Dominic notices it.

The door opens and Samuel enters the room.

He looks at Nina, who lowers her head, then looks at Dominic who looks at him with superiority. At that moment Dominic realizes that it really was who he suspected. Samuel and Nina's relationship was leaving him very intrigued.

Samuel, adjusts his posture and sits in front of Dominic, saying:

— Dom, just arriving by surprise to be able to talk to you.

— You can request a time on my calendar.

— Well, I requested it. And after canceling our last meeting, you said you would reschedule, but so far I haven't received a confirmation.

Dominic arches an eyebrow and says:

— Nina, when is my meeting with Samuel scheduled?

— Ah, well... — Nina pretends to be looking at the schedule and says — It's not scheduled yet. I didn't have any email from Mr. Samuel.

— What do you mean there weren't any emails, if I sent several? — asks Samuel, turning back and looking at Nina.

She shrugs and says:

— Did not! You'll see they all went to Spam. If you keep filling your email inbox with messages, this could happen.

— What are you waiting for to schedule? — he says, rudely.

— Look, I'm still organizing Mr. Dominic's schedule, maybe I'll get a time next year.

— Dominic, I already told you to fire that woman. The incompetence is obvious, I should have priority on your agenda.

— Samuel, what do you want to talk about at the meeting? You have 20 minutes. — he says, looking at the clock.

— I want to talk privately.

— It won't be possible, Nina is very busy right now and I don't want her to interrupt her task.

Samuel snorts in anger and with a less than satisfied expression, says:

— I want to talk about your support for my campaign.

— Okay, and what do you want me to do?

— Take part in some advertising campaigns, interviews…

Dominic looks at Nina, who was watching the two with a less than happy expression. She was one of the people who knew Samuel's real nature and it would be a very uncomfortable situation to work for Dominic and for him to support Samuel's candidacy for the Senate.

— You can say that I support you out there, but I will not appear at your side.

—Dominic, think about it. This will be good for both of us.

— I don't need advertising to make my business grow, Samuel. This will only be good for you. Speaking of being good to you... Dominic leans over the table, looking closely at Samuel's face — Why are you wearing makeup? — he says and runs his thumb over Samuel's dark circles, removing the concealer and revealing that he had a black eye.

—What happened to your face, you look horrible. — concludes, Dominic.

  Samuel, a little embarrassed, replies:

— This city is very violent. I was robbed and the watch you gave me was stolen.

—Tragic and ironic, don't you think? — he says, looking at Nina who widens her eyes, surprised.

He remembered that Dominic had called Patel, telling him to do something with Samuel. He wondered if Dominic was behind this robbery.

— But don't worry, Dom. That was actually good,I increased my popularity a few points, when I presented that I had a plan for security, placing myself as a victim of the city's crime.

Nina closes her eyes angrily, not believing that Samuel was able to use this to promote himself further. Dominic didn't like it very much either, so she said:

— Your time is up, Samuel. You can leave now.

— Okay, but let's see each other more. You're going to the party at the Montenegro hotel, aren't you?

— Maybe… — Dominic says, not paying much attention to him.

Samuel stares at Nina for a few moments and then leaves.

Nina gets up and goes to Dominic's table and says:

— Are you really going to support Samuel's candidacy?

— Why not? — he asks, speculating.

— Because he's not a good person... well, he falsely accused me and hurt me, you see? You can see he's a liar, you can't support him.

— Since when have you known Samuel? — he asks, directly, cornering her.

— Ah, well… I met him that day, I had never seen him before. — she tries to hide it.

— So if you don't know him very well, you shouldn't say he's not a good person.

— Well, no, but I don't think so…

— We'll talk about it later, okay? I'm going to join the video call with the Sheik now, and stay at the reception with Richard.

Nina just nods and leaves the room, but before going to reception, she goes to the bathroom. As she leaves, she is suddenly approached by Samuel, pulling her by the arm.

— Let me go! You are crazy? — she says, pulling her arm.

— You didn't hear me, did you? He didn't move away from Dominic. What are your intentions, Nina? Do you want to screw me?

— Samuel, I don't care about you! I just want to work and it's you who isn't leaving me alone.

— Look Nina, if Dominic finds out about… — they both hear Richard's voice, calling Nina, so Samuel takes a deep breath and looks around, then says — Let's set up a meeting, I have a proposal for you.