Chapter 14

Dominic returns alone from lunch as soon as he gets out of the elevator, he and Nina exchange looks. She takes a step forward, waiting for him to propose some important task.

Dominic notices, by the look in his eyes, ponders and just says "come", and heads towards his room.

Richard gives Nina a brief goodbye wave and she follows her boss.

The two enter and Dominic goes straight to her seat, while Nina stands in front of her with her hands behind her. She was eager to start right away and show that she was very competent.

Dominic observes her posture, she seemed serious and willing.

— Nina, I would like you to read all my emails... — he turns his notebook towards her, Nina immediately sits down on the chair facing him and pulls out Dominic's notebook, who frowns, surprised. with your dedicated attitude — I was away for a long time, so there are a lot of incoming emails, won't you get bored? — Dominic still didn't really believe that she could be responsible and dedicated.

— Yes sir! Do you want me to start with the most recent or the oldest? — she asks, seriously.

— Well... start wherever you prefer, I want you to discard the insignificant proposals and schedule the meetings, parties or dinners to which they invited me for the important ones.

Nina looks at him, waiting for him to continue, but he continues in a relaxed posture, just observing. So you end up asking:

— And how will I know which proposal is important and which is insignificant?

— Look, in any commitment I will be the most important person, so no matter your criteria, use your intuition and classify them by priority. Just keep my schedule in order.

This might seem like a simple task, but Dominic received hundreds of emails a day. In fact, her request was more of a test to see if she was serious about striving to meet her expectations.

Nina knew how to organize schedules. She already did that since Hannah got sick. He knew well how to fit the schedules of his freelance work with the schedules of his daughter's exams and treatments. She was very organized, ‌ensuring that she was always present at important moments.

Therefore, before starting to read the emails, he created a spreadsheet in Excel and only then did he return to the emails. He imagined that Dominic probably received several emails from the same sender and that perhaps the requests were repeated. It also began filtering and analyzing orders, according to the relevance of the business to Dominic. He thought that if he was a diamond magnate, he would prioritize requests from those who had something to do with precious stones.

  As she works, Dominic observes her commitment and efficiency. She seemed extremely focused as she typed and swiped the mouse.

Some time passes and his curiosity about how he was doing at work increases, so he gets up, walks and stands behind her, looking at the screen. Nina didn't notice that he had gotten up, because she was very concentrated.

Dominic, watching her work, recognized that she appeared to have skill and so he approached her to take a closer look at what she was doing.

— Is that a spreadsheet? — he asks and Nina jumps out of her chair. You feel goosebumps when you realize that your breath touched the skin of your neck.

She swallows hard and explains to him how she created the spreadsheet and how it was easy to include data and find it that way.

— Impressive for someone who has never worked. — he says and walks away.

Nina gives a hidden smile, happy to have received her boss's first compliment about her skills.

Dominic returns to her seat and continues to observe and after a while, she catches herself observing her in a different way. Observe how she tucks the strands of her hair behind her ear, how she bites her lower lip a few times while reading, the slight movements of her lips as she pronounces the words without making a sound.

He feels his breathing suddenly heavy. He imagines himself face to face with her, cupping her chin and observing her full, red lips.

He imagines her looking back at him, with those mysterious eyes, without showing fear or shyness.

He imagines it, daring to bring his lips closer to hers and tasting the taste of her mouth.

"What's it supposed to taste like?" — he asks himself and this thought awakens him from his daydreams.

He runs his hands through her hair, thinking that it will be very difficult to resist, having to live with her every day. However, if he imagines watching her every day, she was extremely inviting.

He gets up and goes to the glass wall, looks at the landscape wondering what was happening to him. He invented the rules and having a girl as his secretary who provoked his desires was not in his rules.

— Nina, that's good for today. You can go now! — he says, turning back to her.

— Why? — she asks, surprised — I'm doing well, and this work isn't tiring.

— It's already two o'clock in the afternoon, Nina. — he says, walking back to his seat.

Nina looks at the clock and is surprised that time has passed so quickly.

— Oh, I didn't realize... Well, I can work overtime. I can go out with you, sir, at four o'clock in the afternoon. Maybe I can finish it all today.

Dominic furrows her eyebrows, wondering if she was serious since it was three years of emails.

— Well, I actually wanted to talk about it with you. I wanted to supplement my salary with overtime. I can work extra every day.

— If you will be my secretary, you must know that I am strict with schedules and your working hours end at two o'clock in the afternoon.

— Can't you make an exception? Please, I really need the overtime.

Nina looks fixedly at him, her eyes were full of expectations and Dominic really didn't like deviations from schedules, either more or less. They were within the rules she followed and imposed on the surrounding people... however...

— I'll think about it…

The two continued for a while, maintaining eye contact, until Nina realized she should leave