16. Chapter Fifteen Gloria
Chapter Fifteen: Gloria
A t half past eleven, I've pored over every word of this contract, trying to find a loophole for my client. So far, it seems ironclad, and I'm more than ready for a break.
Rummaging through my oversized tote to find my lunch bag, I realize I left it at home. Shoot . The thought of my pork adobo with rice, abandoned on my kitchen counter, makes my stomach growl. A text dings on my phone.
Raina
Lunch in twenty minutes? We could get tacos at the food truck in front of your work!
Gloria
Yes!!!!
I finish making notes on the contract, then reorganize my bag and make my way toward the elevators.
As I get into a lift going down, a familiar voice calls out. “Hold, please.”
Blinking in surprise, I jab the OPEN DOOR button as Henry McFayden, my former work nemesis, walks in and pushes the button for the lobby. His brows lift as he sees me. “Good afternoon, Gloria.”
“Good afternoon.” I eye him, still wary of him after all the times he took credit for my work or tried to one-up me in a meeting. My curiosity gets the better of me when we stop on the seventh floor and some businessmen get in, chattering on their phones. “I thought you switched firms.”
Instead of bragging about how much better his job is at a higher-ranked firm across the city, or boasting about his recent legal wins, he says, “I heard about the opening for senior associate.”
My stomach clenches. Now I have to deal with Giorgio, other competitors, and Henry?
Why would he even come back when this job is beneath his position at his new workplace?
“You want to be a senior associate? You said you were a heartbeat away from making partner when I saw you at that conference last year.”
Now that I’m examining him more closely, his brown hair is more grey, and dark circles shadow his blue eyes.
Though he’s five-ten, his frame seems to have hunched in on itself.
Maybe his new job has taken more of a toll on him than I thought.
“Yes, well, what they don’t tell you about being partner is that you work ninety-hour weeks and accumulate dozens of vacation days you can’t use.
In case your coworker steals your case while you’re on a beach in Fiji. ”
“Sounds stressful,” I say as politely as I can. “And you think you can just waltz back in and nab the senior associate position?”
Some of his old bravado straightens his spine. “I’m the most qualified for the job.”
A snort escapes me. “Good luck.”
“Yes, well, you’re the one leaving the firm for a lunch break,” he says with a shake of his head.
I roll my eyes in spite of my determination to be professional as the elevator stops. The two businessmen exit, and at least Henry is enough of a gentleman to let me out first. “It’s not a crime to have a life.”
Though it sounds like it’s a crime for a senior associate to have a life, from Henry’s descriptions. Checking my texts again, I see one from Raina saying she's waiting for me in front of the food truck, with tacos al pastor , churros, and chips with guac. I hurry out the door.
"I love you," I blurt out as soon as I get out of the law firm and face her.
She grins. "Are you sure you haven't confused me with your boyfriend?"
"No, I don’t have one. And even if I did, I would love you way more, because you bought me tacos."
"Aww." She smiles and we sit down on a nearby picnic table. "I love you, too."
We dig into our food after Raina says grace, a habit she's picked up since marrying Kostas.
"So, why is her royal highness Raina Vasileiou taking time out of her busy schedule to talk to a commoner?" I tease her.
"Please. More like, why is busy and important corporate lawyer, Gloria Romero, taking time out of her schedule to have lunch with a mere sitcom actress?" she teases.
Her words remind me of Henry’s description of ninety-hour work weeks and piled-up vacation days. I’m nothing like him. "I'm not that busy, am I?"
"I left you three voicemails asking you to lunch this morning before texting you."
I wince. "I never check my voicemail. It’s full of telemarketers and people asking me to take surveys."
"Oh. Well, seriously, though, how's the lawyering going?"
I fidget with a wayward strand of hair that’s slipped from my bun. "I wish I knew. I ran into Henry McFayden, my old archenemy, on my way out of here."
"What?" Raina gasps. “Why was he at your work?”
"He thinks if he comes back and begs nicely, they’ll give him the position of senior associate."
Raina nods. "Are you worried he’ll take it from you? "
I bite my lip. "I’m not worried about him. I’m more surprised that he complained about having to work too much. And he wasn’t even partner yet.”
“Isn’t being made partner your goal one day? Senior associate is a pretty big step towards that.”
It is. I picture my name with senior associate next to it.
I'd get my own office. I'd have more money to send home.
I'd know that I was being a good daughter, a good sister, a good employee—that my efforts were recognized. Even though Paulo makes enough money to contribute to the family, and we’re not poor by any means, money has always felt like a means to fulfill my responsibilities to my family, especially from so far away.
So why do I feel like getting the senior associate position might not be everything I’ve dreamed of?
“Yes. I’ve always wanted to be partner.” Granted, in law school, I hoped to work at a firm that advocated for the less fortunate. But we don’t always get everything we want.
"Sometimes, the dreams we have aren't the ones we actually need. They're the ones others want us to have," Raina says.
I frown. "When did you become so wise?"
She shrugs. "I hang out with Yiayia too much."
I chuckle at the mention of Kostas' hip, karaoke-loving grandmother. "I love that woman."
I haven't spent much time with her, but she's always been super fun, kind, and welcoming.
"Me, too," Raina says, putting down her taco. Her hand falls to her pregnant belly.
"So how's your third trimester so far?" I ask her, polishing off my last bite of taco and moving onto the churro .
Most of my older cousins had babies before me, so I was often assigned babysitting duties at family gatherings. I'd love to spend more time with Raina once her baby is born, even if she will be in Dorapolis. I guess I wouldn't be able to do that if I got the promotion.
"It's actually been pretty good. I don't feel as tired as I did in the last few months. But I keep having the urge to clean things and redecorate our living room or repaint the nursery. It's driving Kostas' housekeeper crazy."
I arch an eyebrow at her. "You let him hire a housekeeper? What happened to the middle-class Raina I know and love?"
She makes a face. "She got married and pregnant. Plus the whole royalty thing. Also when I was working long hours on the set of that sitcom, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was mop the floor."
"Kostas can't mop the floor?" I have a hard time picturing him mopping a floor in his Armani suits.
"He does his best to help out," she says. "He's learned to cook, he does the dishes, and he even scrubs the toilet. And he mows the lawn and takes out the trash and all those outdoor jobs."
"Aww." I have an even more difficult time picturing her uptight, grumpy, and regal husband scrubbing a toilet. But Raina knows him better than I do. "Are you nervous about giving birth? Or being a mom?"
She cocks her head to one side. "I'd probably be more nervous if I didn't have Yiayia, Helen, and Skye in my ear all the time, talking to me about how I can prepare for labour and delivery and postpartum.
Honestly, they're annoying me more than they're making me nervous, but if I had to choose between the two… "
"You'd rather be annoyed," I say with a laugh. That sounds like Raina.
"I know they're trying to be helpful, but if I have to hear about lactation consultants and sleep training one more time, I'm going to scream. Which is why I really needed this lunch date with you. "
"Ouch, and here I thought it was because we're BFFs, not because you wanted a break from baby talk." I press a hand to my collarbone in mock-offence.
"Please, you know you'll always be my best friend, Gloria. No matter what happens or changes in our lives," Raina says, squeezing my free hand once. "Do you have any updates on the boyfriend list? Or should I say, boyfriend spreadsheet ?"
I sigh. I knew she would bring this up, yet I'm still utterly unprepared to answer her question.
"Nope. I've gone on two dates with guys who seemed great on paper but turned out to be duds.
Did I tell you about the guy who wouldn't stop talking about his bench press max?
Or the guy who freaked out and basically called me a harlot, because I had the audacity to be friends with a man? "
"Yikes. Send me their addresses so I can disembowel them, please," Raina says as she dabs at her mouth with a paper napkin.
"I'd love to egg their houses with you, but disembowelling seems too messy." I sip my drink, enjoying the iced coffee on a hot day. "How about we stretch them out on that rack from The Princess Bride ?"
"I accept your terms. I'm sorry to hear about your awful dates, though. Have you considered that maybe you're trying to look for a man who's perfect 'on paper' when you should be looking for a guy who's perfect in real life?"
"Men aren't perfect in real life," I say automatically. "You must be thinking of fictional men."
She rolls her eyes. "Not flawless . I mean, perfect for you ."
"You're the one who helped me make the list, and now you're telling me I shouldn't look for a guy who has those qualities?"
"I'm just worried that while you're looking for a guy who ticks off all the big boxes, you might forget about the little ones," she says .
"Like knowing how to ride a horse or dance?" I say. I'm definitely not letting my mind wander to horseback riding with London and his nieces, or dancing with London in my living room.
"Like a guy who makes you laugh and appreciates you for the amazing, intelligent, capable, and loving woman you are," Raina says, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand. "These guys that you've been dating all sound like jerks."
I sigh and squeeze her hand back before we both pick up the remnants of our tacos. "Well, everyone says you have to kiss a few frogs to find your prince."
"And how many frogs do you plan on kissing?" she asks.
I bite my lip. "I've never kissed a frog."
"You’ve never kissed a frog," she repeats. "But—Wait, Gloria, are you saying you've never kissed anyone?"
"Could you please keep it down?" I hiss. "It's not a great accomplishment to have never been kissed at the age of twenty-six."
"I think it is," she says thoughtfully. "You've successfully dodged kissing all the frogs."
I bite into my remaining taco. "I don't want to talk about my kissing history or lack thereof."
"Fine, we won't talk about your 'kiss-story'. Get it? Kissing and history?" Raina teases.
"That's a horrible pun." Even worse than London's puns.
"All I'm saying is, you should be with a man who treats you right, even if he doesn't tick off every box on your list, not some imaginary perfect guy who is awful to you."
"If he's imaginary, how could he be awful to me? And if he was awful to me, he wouldn't be perfect," I say.
Raina throws her hands in the air. "Never mind. You're a lost cause. "
"Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better about my dating life," I deadpan, but I'm glad to be rid of the conversation topic. My unexpected romantic feelings about London aren't helping either.
"No, Gloria, I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry." Raina misinterprets my defeated expression. "You're not a lost cause. I'd set you up with Kostas' brother if I could. Then we could be sisters-in-law."
I giggle. "I'd be a horrible princess. I like working and cooking for myself too much."
"Hey, that's what I thought too, and look where we are now," she says.
"Eating tacos outside a food truck?"
Raina shakes her head, her smile belying her exasperated sigh. "Enough of this. How's your family? How's Paulo?"
I tell her about my family and that I'm thinking about taking a trip to visit them for All Saints' Day. But I can't help but feel like a coward, hiding how I really feel from her.
Because I’m scared to admit my feelings, even to myself.