Chapter 17
Since the last night I saw Mattia, my days haven’t been the same.
I don’t know if he’s left yet, but it’s been a week since that day, and I feel empty inside.
I knew this would happen, and I still let myself get swept up in the feeling, the emotion, getting more involved than I should have.
Now here I am, staring out the window of the DL meeting room, remembering all the moments we spent together, on the project and off.
The new project has helped me forget a bit about everything that’s been going on, and it’s what I’ve been focusing on lately.
The work has been pretty intense. The client, Robert, is full of ideas, and every day he comes to me with something different.
It’s given me way more work than I ever imagined.
I’d been discussing the project with him in there. He was never satisfied with what I proposed, and what he gave me in return made absolutely no sense. Carter and I were almost ready to give up on this client, but we had a contract, and I insisted we honor it.
“You must be fed up with that mess by now.” Carter walks into the room. That’s our nickname for Robert.
“I’ll admit he’s draining what little patience I have left.” I smile.
“I’ve told you we can cancel the contract.”
“And make the company pay a penalty?! No way. I know exactly how I’ll handle him next time.”
“I wouldn’t mind paying a penalty to get rid of this guy. Remind me to run background checks on future clients.” We laugh together at that. Carter’s a great boss, always friendly and looking out for everyone.
“This guy is such a pain. I honestly don’t know how you’re putting up with him.” Sam walks in complaining.
“We feel the same way.”
“Could it be because he’s dealing with a woman?”
“I’ve thought about that too, but I don’t think so. He’s just confused and doesn’t know what he wants.”
“And here he is tormenting us with his problems. You could be working on something else, Emma. Henry, the one you met at the restaurant, is opening a new branch and wants you on his project. You could hand this one off to Eduardo.”
“Don’t worry, Carter. I’ll make all the changes Robert mentioned today and present them at the next meeting, which is in three days. If he comes up with one more idea, I’m off the project.”
“I think this is already exhausting you, girl. You spend hours organizing everything only to change it all over again.”
“The work isn’t going anywhere. We’ve been at this for almost a month and can’t make any progress. He always has a different opinion.”
“Samantha, call Eduardo, please.” She leaves the room.
“Do you think he’ll accept?”
“We won’t know until we ask.”
“Does somebody need saving?” Eduardo says, walking in behind Sam.
“We’re thinking about handing Robert’s project over to you. He’s giving Emma too much trouble.”
“But when he chose us, he said in so many words that he wanted her on his project. What’s he up to?”
“Yes, but we can’t reach an agreement. Every meeting he has a different idea. Emma makes the change, he says it’s not right and asks her to change it again.”
“I think he’s doing this because she’s a woman.”
“I don’t think so. If that were the case, he would have chosen me, or even Carter, and asked her to assist.”
“I'll make the changes he requested today. I sketched out a rough draft on the iPad,” I say, casting it to the conference room screen. “He wants it like this. I'll clean it up, of course, but this is the general idea.”
“But this is so weird—the colors, the furniture, nothing matches.”
“That's exactly what I've been trying to get him to understand, but it's been really difficult. I'll give it one last shot. If he changes anything else, I'm handing this project off to someone else.”
“That's why I called you, Eduardo. I'm thinking of putting you in charge, because my patience is running out just like Emma's.”
“I can help with him, if you want,” Sam says.
“Are you sure? You might regret it later.”
“You can count on me.”
And so it's decided. I go to my desk to make the project changes once again.
This is really exhausting, and I end up staying there for a few hours.
When I check the clock, it's already past quitting time—and of course, today of all days I don't have my car.
I should have left earlier since I'll have to take the subway.
I gather my things to leave, say goodbye to the girls at reception and the security guard at the door. I'm on my way out when I hear a familiar voice. It can't be. Not him. I freeze, staring at him as he starts walking toward me.
“Hi, my love. I missed you, so I came to pick you up.”
“Wh... wh... what are you doing here?” I stammer nervously.
“I wanted to see you.”
I stand there, frozen, not knowing what to do.
Then I hear Sam calling me. I turn to look at her, then turn back to face him—this person who made me suffer so much—and after all this time, he simply walks away.
My legs go weak, and I start to collapse.
Suddenly someone lifts me off the ground and carries me back inside the building.
I see Carter there, helping me. This time I won't be able to run away without telling him everything, and that's exactly what I do.
“Girl, are you okay? What was Frank doing here?”
“I don't know, girl.” And I start to cry.
“Okay, girls, tell me what's going on.”
And so I tell them everything, from the beginning up until I finally got away from my ex-abuser.