8. Matteo
Chapter 8
Matteo
H earing Amelia leave the house made me feel even more stupid for setting up this dinner for her. What was I thinking when I asked Agnes to serve dinner for two in the dining room?
It was a stupid thing to do.
I ate in silence as I stared down the long table at the seat Amelia was supposed to occupy. I couldn’t help wondering who she was meeting up with. I knew she’d been exploring the city but when I saw her earlier, she didn’t look dressed to explore. She was clearly meeting up with someone.
I tried not to think about that. Amelia was free to have dinner with whoever she wanted. I wasn’t her boyfriend. I was simply her roommate. It was a strange term to use for two people who had so much history between them, but it was perfectly accurate for the situation.
In the days that followed my failed dinner attempt, Amelia and I spoke even less than before. I knew I’d been avoiding her and I knew it was childish but it was the only way I could survive living with her. Seeing her so often was killing me.
Every time I saw her I was reminded of the day she dumped me. The day she broke my heart while the ring I bought for her burned a hole in my pocket. Even now, the ring sat in the left drawer of my office table. I’d thought about throwing it away many times over the years, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Instead, I let it haunt me every day. On most days, I would open the box and stare at the ring just like I’d done on that day five years ago. I still remember parts of the proposal speech I planned to say. And I remembered how nervous I was that day. After what Amelia told me, my nervousness was quickly replaced with sadness.
She still didn’t know that I was going to propose that day and I would make sure she never found out. I wouldn’t be able to survive that level of embarrassment. Plus, things between Amelia and I were already complicated enough. There was no need to make it worse by telling her the truth.
I’d given Eddie the day off, so I was driving myself to work. Doing that allowed me to clear my head a bit.
When I got to the office, I was surprised to see Kayla standing outside the building. I pulled into the driveway and turned off the car engine. Kayla rushed over before I even got a chance to step out of the car. I could tell from her panicked expression that something bad had happened.
“Mr. Hayes. Good morning.”
“Morning. Is there a reason you’re meeting me outside the building?” I asked. I reached inside the car to get my briefcase. Then I closed the door and locked the car.
As I walked into the building, Kayla walked beside me and filled me in on the latest crises. “Fitzroy Corp is trying to poach one of our cement suppliers.”
“Which one?”
“Ryx Cement.”
We had at least five companies that we sourced cement from. They didn’t deal exclusively with us but we were their biggest client. Of the five companies, one of them was quite renowned. They were respected all over the city and regarded as the best suppliers in the business. Anyone who worked with them immediately got more connections. That company was Ryx Cement.
Fitzroy Corp was a rival construction company that started three years ago. The owner, Alberto Fitzroy, was a spoiled brat who inherited a lot of money after his father passed. He started a construction company with some of his inheritance and over the years, his company has mirrored every one of my actions.
If I got an investment from a firm, Fitzroy Corp would try to obtain an investment from that same firm. If I secured a contract to build a skyscraper or just to fix some roads in the city, Fitzroy Corp would find a way to secure that too.
It was like Alberto was just mindlessly following my footsteps. I’d done my best to ignore him. For the most part, his actions weren’t harmful, just mildly annoying. But this latest endeavor would definitely be the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.
There was no way I was letting Fitzroy Corp take Ryx Cement. I had to stop them from joining the Ryx Cement clientele list because I knew Alberto wouldn’t just stop there. He’d try to dethrone my company and become the biggest client. If he managed to do that then his company would get a lot more respect in the industry. Respect that would be unfairly given seeing as the CEO only ever copied my actions.
I had no idea how I was going to stop Ryx Cement from moving forward with Alberto. After all, they were an independent company and they were free to supply to whoever they wanted. The only good news was that I knew for a fact that Alberto didn’t have the funds to match the deal my company had with Ryx Cement.
In the three years since his father passed, he’d managed to burn through all the money and his company was only surviving thanks to the Fitzroy name. It was how he’d managed to keep up with me all these years. I had the talent and business acumen while he had the connections. Thankfully, my skill won out in the end.
I hadn’t heard about Alberto in a while so I assumed he’d finally given up on trying to copy my company. This news about Ryx Cement made me very uncomfortable. I wondered what Alberto was up to during all that time when I didn’t hear about him. What if he’d been gathering funds and he was now able to match or even surpass the deal I had with them?
I called for an emergency meeting so my staff and I could discuss a way forward. When I stepped into the meeting room, they were all already waiting there. We spent the next three hours discussing potential solutions.
Sadly, we still didn’t reach a definitive way forward. After the meeting, I went back to my office to brainstorm and that was where I spent the rest of my day. I didn’t even notice when it got late because I shut the blinds of my office window hours ago.
Kayla knocked and walked into my office after I told her to come in. “I’ll be leaving now, sir,” she said.
I glanced at the clock in the corner. It was nine, way later than she’d ever left the office. I appreciated her dedication to helping solve the problem and I made a mental note to give her and everyone else a bonus once all this was over.
After Kayla left, I sat in my office staring at my laptop for a few minutes. When I’d finally had enough, I grabbed my bag and drove home. The elevator ride up to the penthouse gave me more time to think about the situation but when the doors slid open and I stepped into the living room, all thoughts of Ryx Cements and Fitzroy Corp were gone.
The room was dimly lit but I could still see Amelia laying on the couch. The slow rise and fall of her chest told me she was sleeping. I walked over to her and bent to check on her. Some of her dark hair was splayed over the cream couch but the rest of it covered her face.
I reached out a hand to brush her hair away. Amelia stirred but she didn’t wake up. Instead, she seemed to relax. Her plump lips covered into a peaceful smile that warmed my heart. As I looked at her, I found myself in awe of just how beautiful she was.
She was truly stunning.
I straightened so I could place my briefcase on the other side of the chair. Then I bent and lifted Amelia into my arms. Once again, she stirred slightly before relaxing into my hold. I carried her to her room and laid her in bed.
I was pulling away when her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes widened when she saw me. She blinked as if she was remembering where she’d fallen asleep. She realized that I’d carried her to bed. Amelia didn’t say anything and neither did I. We simply stared at each other, our eyes saying all the things our lips couldn’t say.
I wanted to kiss her but I knew I couldn’t. Amelia’s teeth tugged at her bottom lip bringing my attention directly to that spot. I pulled in a deep breath as I met her gaze again. I could feel my defenses wearing down and I knew I was about to do something I would regret.
I forced myself to back away even further. Then with great effort, I left her room. I returned to the sitting room where I grabbed my briefcase before heading to my bedroom. I placed it on the chair in the corner like I always did when I got back from work.
Only this time, I sat on the couch beside the chair. As I sat there, I thought back to my moment of weakness in Amelia’s room. I couldn’t believe I was so close to kissing her. I hated my undeniable attraction to her.
It made no sense for me to feel that way after everything. I felt angry at myself for even thinking about kissing her and I was glad I didn’t make that mistake. We might not be able to come back from that.
The next day, I woke up even earlier than I usually did. I was determined to leave before Amelia got up. After taking a shower and getting ready. I picked up my briefcase and headed out. The elevator doors were sliding open when Amelia walked into the living room.
She seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see her. From what Agnes told me, she never got up this early let alone got dressed to leave this early. She was also dressed differently. She wore a blue button-down top and a pair of black pants.
Her hair was also styled differently. She typically left it to pour down her shoulders but today she’d styled it in a slick bun. She looked more professional than I'd ever seen her, almost like she was going to work. I’d never seen her dressed that way before. It looked good on her.
Everything looked good on her.
We walked into the elevator together and for a while neither of us said anything. But then she turned to me and said, “I have a job interview today.”
“Oh.” That explained the clothing.
“Two, actually.”
“I wish you good luck,” I said, and I meant it. I knew Amelia had never had an actual job and getting one was part of her journey towards independence.
“Thank you. I’m honestly really nervous.”
I turned to her and I saw the way she fidgeted with her bracelet. My first instinct was to reach for her hands. I wanted to hold them and tell her everything would be okay. Thankfully, reasoning rumored instinct so I ended up saying, “I’m sure you’ll do great.”
The elevator doors slid open and Amelia walked out first. She turned back to me and smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
I watched her walk ahead. She waved at Eddie and he waved right back. “Have a good day, Eddie,” she called out.
“You too, Miss Pierson.”
She shook her head. “Amelia.”
“Right, sorry,” Eddie said as he smiled sheepishly at her.
“No need to apologize. I have to go now. Bye.”
There was no way I was letting her take public transport when I could drop her off. “Amelia!” She paused when she heard her name. She turned to me with a confused look. “Get in. We’ll drop you off,” I said.
“No there’s no need to—
“Just get in the car, Amelia. We’ll drop you off and then we’ll go to the office.”
“Really, it’s okay.”
Eddie pitched in. “I’d love to drop you off, Amelia.”
She finally sighed and gave in. “All right.”
It took real effort to shut down the part of me that felt strangely jealous. It felt like she only agreed because Eddie asked her. I ignored that jealousy and opened the door for Amelia to get in. Our eyes met briefly before she entered the car.
Once she was inside, I walked to the other side and got in. Eddie pulled out of the parking lot while Amelia and I settled into the car. I noticed she was sitting too far away but I didn’t think too much of it.
Keeping our distance was probably the only way we would survive this whole thing.