Chapter 1
The week has been hectic, it's only Wednesday, and I'm already exhausted. We've never had such a tiring week, but this is great—it means the company is really thriving.
I've been working at Design Lab for exactly one year now as a design assistant—a job I love and do very well, if I do say so myself, or at least I'm a big help to my boss, Eduardo Smith.
Today, he called me in for a meeting. I still don't know why, but I'll find out soon.
I'm running a bit late, so I quickly gather my things and head straight to Mr. Eduardo's office, where he's waiting for me.
I knock twice on the door, he tells me to come in, and I walk through to see that the company owner, Mr. Carter Tenner, is also there.
We don't interact with him much, but he's always been very polite to all the employees, and he invites me to enter.
“Good afternoon, Miss Emma, please have a seat.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Carter, thank you.” I sit in the chair positioned in front of Mr. Eduardo's desk.
“Hello, Emma, how are you?” Mr. Eduardo greets me.
“Hello, sir, I'm well.”
“Well, miss, let's get straight to the point.
A friend of mine owns a chain of restaurants, and he's going to open a franchise here in New York.
Naturally, he reached out to me to handle the project.
He already has the restaurant name—we'll just need to work on the interior and exterior design.
I spoke with Eduardo, and he immediately mentioned you for the job.
Since I want to be at the forefront of everything, I'd like to work with someone who's one hundred percent dedicated. So, are you on board?”
“I confess I'm a bit surprised, since I've always been an assistant.
Of course, I give my all to my work so everything turns out perfect.
I'm very happy and honored by Mr. Eduardo's choice. Thank you so much for putting me in charge of such an important project for the company, and yes, I accept the job.”
“Excellent, I'll put you in touch with Mattia. Give me the WhatsApp number you use at the company—I'll forward it to him today, and he should get in touch with you.”
“Here it is, sir.” I write the number on a piece of paper on the desk and hand it to Mr. Carter.
“I hope we can do excellent work together, Miss Emma.”
“We will, sir, and once again, thank you for choosing me for this job. I'm thrilled and will give it my best.”
“I'm glad to hear that. Stay alert—Mattia will be in touch with you soon. You're dismissed, miss.”
“If you'll excuse me.” I stand up and leave the office.
I'm ecstatic about the news—I'm going to work on a project alone! Well, with Mr. Carter's supervision, but I'm going to create everything. I walk to my workstation because I need to tell my friend Samantha. I arrive, barely sit down, and I'm already talking.
“Girl, you won't believe what happened.”
“Tell me already. You were called to the boss's office, something serious happened, and judging by your happiness, you weren't fired.” I give her arm a playful tap, laughing, and say:
“Of course not, right? On the contrary, I was invited to take on a project—create it on my own. Of course, Mr. Carter will be overseeing everything closely, but just knowing I won't only be assisting makes me so happy.”
“And I'm happy for you, friend, truly. I know how much you've studied and worked for this, so you deserve it and then some.” She hugs me.
Samantha was the first person who welcomed me here.
I've always been very intelligent and studious, so I made enemies too.
In the beginning, I assisted on smaller projects, and when Mr. Eduardo saw I could do more, he put me on important jobs.
I studied a lot and gave great ideas. The senior employees seemed bothered by this, and I ended up creating some rivalry, until they got to know me better—and today I'm more accepted.
Soon they'll find out about this specific job, but it won't be from me.
I'm thinking this when I receive a message on WhatsApp.
I open the conversation on my computer and am amazed by the beauty of the man in the photo.
I click on it to see the image in a larger size, and yes, he's gorgeous.
I receive another message, so I decide to respond.
“Buon pomeriggio[1], miss,” he mixes Italian with English, and I decide to practice a little of my rusty Italian.
“Buon pomeriggio, signore. Come stai[2]?”
“Parla italiano[3]?” he asks.
“Molto poco[4].” I decide to switch to English so I don't embarrass myself. “I took some classes, but I didn't have anyone to practice with, so I ended up forgetting a lot. Are you Mr. Mattia?”
“Yes, miss, Carter gave me your contact so we could discuss the project. I expect we’ll be talking quite a bit.
So save my number on the company phone and your personal one as well.
I like to follow everything closely, and since I’m not there, I want to make sure everything is perfect for when I arrive. ”
I know Italians like to give orders, but this one is already way too bossy from our very first conversation.
Mr. Carter doesn’t like us giving our personal numbers to clients, so I’m nervous about speaking up and risking my first solo project.
But before I can say anything—as if he’s reading my mind—he says:
“Carter already authorized me to have your personal number, so write it down and send me a message so I can save yours here.” We’re going to have problems if he thinks he can keep bossing me around. I’ll go along with it for now—just for now.
“Of course, sir, I’m saving it now.” I send a “hello” from my personal phone.
“Perfect, let’s get started. I want this project done as quickly as possible, and I want it impeccable—no errors.”
“Certainly, I’ll do my best, Mr. Mattia. Nothing would make me happier than delivering an excellent project.”
“I hope so, Miss Emma. I assume Carter already told you the project will cover both interior and exterior.”
“Yes, he told me.”
“Then let’s begin. I don’t like dragging things out.”
I can already tell this job won’t be easy.
I massage my temples—my head is already starting to throb.
Yes, this Italian is going to give me plenty of headaches, but I have to tough it out and do my best. Otherwise, I’ll never land another project on my own.
So here we go, time to face the arrogant Mr. Mattia—and that’s exactly how I save his contact in my phone.