Chapter Six
CAMILA
Going out with Evelyn on Saturday wasn't something that actually helped me.
My friend was perplexed by the whole thing, so much so that, perhaps for the first time since we’ve met, she didn't have any advice to give me.
And we had known each other since I was eight years old (she was a year older than me), when my parents died and I went to live with my grandmother, thus becoming her next-door neighbor.
Even with the age difference, we ended up studying together in high school, since I got ahead a year because of my good grades, which also led me to enter college early.
Her mother still lived in the same apartment across the street from mine, but Evelyn and I moved out and shared an apartment during college. She recently moved out to live with her boyfriend, while I had to move back in with my grandmother.
Evelyn had been a talkative child, which lead to her becoming an equally talkative woman. She always had plenty of opinions and advice to give on absolutely everything.
Now, I knew that wasn't exactly to everything . The only thing she could say to a friend who had gotten drunk at a company party and woken up deflowered in bed next to her boss was, "Shit, Cami."
It was truly one hell of a shitshow.
I hoped, at least, not to be fired, or not to be forced to resign.
I couldn't bring myself to tell my grandmother what had happened.
I had always told her absolutely everything about my life, but this was definitely different from anything that had happened before.
I could already imagine the disappointment in her eyes when I told her about my drunken escapades, and I couldn't deal with that.
I could deal with anything in life, except the possibility of disappointing my grandmother, who was the most important person in the world to me.
And that's exactly why I, too, hadn't told her I hadn't been promoted. I just smiled every time over the weekend she said something about being proud of me or referred to me as 'the new chief architect at Turner Architecture'.
I was incapable of lying to my grandmother, but that wasn't even the case. I just didn't tell the truth.
It was different, wasn't it?
But if there was one thing I couldn't avoid, it was going back to work on Monday.
It would be hard enough anyway, because facing that piece of shit Smith enjoying his new position that I got him would be pure torture.
Now, everything would be much worse because of my recent adventure with the big boss Michael Turner himself.
Well, at least he never showed up in my sector.
“Girl, you won’t believe who was here!” That's how Layla, the intern, greeted me as soon as I arrived. “Our boss, the smoking hot Michael Turner.”
I found myself suddenly breathless at the news. What had that guy been doing in my sector? He never mixed with mortals.
“This has to be a joke...” I mumbled, sitting down in my chair.
She stood beside me, her dark brown eyes shining with excitement, like a teenager's.
Well, that's pretty much what she was, at nineteen years old.
“Everyone here was left in disbelief too,” she concluded.
“But what exactly did he come here to do?”
“I think he came to inspect the work, I don't know.
It was strange because there were still five minutes left until the start of the workday, and there weren't many people here yet.
He just arrived, greeted everyone, went from table to table looking at everything.
.. Actually, yours was the table where he spent the longest time.
He looked at your photo there, I think he thought you were pretty.
How could he not, right? You're hot like that.”
She pointed to the picture frame on my desk, and I sighed in dismay. It was a picture of me hugging my grandmother.
He had certainly recognized me.
“Did he say anything?” I asked.
“No, he just looked at everything, then left. No one understood anything. All I know is that, for the love of God, the man is so handsome! You should’ve seen him!”
“Yes, I've seen him...” And I had done much more than just see it, in fact, but that was beside the point.
Layla looked at me, surprised.
“You have?”
“Ah... er ... he went to the party on Friday.”
“Really? I really wanted to go. It's absurd that the interns weren't invited. But hey, it's true! What are you doing here? Haven't you packed your things yet to free up the desk? You have your own office now, boss.”
I didn't actually...
“Victor Smith has his own office, not me.”
“What do you mean?”
I was going to tell her about what had happened.
However, at that moment, the aforementioned guy arrived, giving orders and announcing that from that day on he would be in his own office, but that he’d still supervise our work.
In the end, some minions went to congratulate him again, while I remained still, sitting in my chair, chewing over all my hatred.
“He's not qualified for that,” Layla said, leaning down to speak close to my ear.
I nodded in agreement.
“That's why he stole my work.”
It was supposed to be just a whisper, but I ended up speaking a bit louder than I meant to—loud enough for the people nearby to hear. That included Victor Smith, who looked straight at me and immediately stopped smiling.
“Did you say anything, Miss Collins?”
“No, Smith. I didn't say anything.”
“' Mister ' Smith,” he corrected me, with all his arrogance now multiplied. “Don't forget that I am now the head of the sector.”
“Thanks to my work,” I dared to answer, seeing his gaze in my direction become completely possessed by hatred.
“Don't make frivolous accusations. You were part of my team, you did the project under my supervision.”
“I did the project alone, staying here at the company until nine p.m. every day and still taking work home and staying up all night. You know you had no part in it.”
He pressed his lips together, visibly trying to control himself from shouting any insults in response. We were surrounded by other people, and he knew he would lose his ground if he overreacted.
“Alright, Collins... come with me to my office. We'll talk about this without an audience.”
I knew what that meant. The son of a bitch was going to get me fired. It was the last thing I needed at that moment, but I simply couldn't stand by and watch him benefit from a job I had done.
And if I had the courage to stand up to him there, in front of a sector full of employees, it wasn't in the face of that threat that I would show fear. I was obviously terrified of the idea of being unemployed, but I wouldn't lower my head.
So, I stood up, already preparing to follow him to his room. But neither of us had taken a single step when we heard a voice:
“Actually, both of you come with me to my office.”
Smith turned toward the door, and, with that, he moved out of my field of vision, allowing me to see who had said that.
Not that I had any doubts.