Chapter 28
It's been exactly one month since I set aside the love I felt—or still feel—for Mattia, all because of a despicable human being. How could I let this happen? When will I finally have my freedom back?
After everything I said to my Italian, my world fell apart.
I had finally experienced love, tenderness, affection, and I was loving every moment of it, but I let Frank put an end to what had been my happiness.
When I got back here, I only saw him once, when he showed up at the office door to dump more of his crap on me.
“Hi, my love.
I'm not your love, and I want you to stop showing up at my workplace.
I come here whenever I want to see you. But I just stopped by to say I'm glad you finally dumped that piece of shit Italian. He's not man enough for you.
Oh, right, and you are, huh? The perfect man for me.
Yes, and you'll realize that soon enough.
Go away, Frank, or I'll have to call the police.
So now you want to involve the police? You always wanted to protect your precious reputation. What changed?
I'm just tired of everything—of you, of your threats…
If you report me, you know what I'm capable of, so you'd better keep quiet. I'll come see you another day. Bye, kitten.”
Just remembering that awful day makes me shudder. It makes me sick knowing he touched my face, but after that, he hasn't shown up again, so I'm carrying on with my life as always, working hard to forget about Mattia, at least a little.
Right now I'm working on a big project. This time the whole team is working together. We're setting up a company from scratch, and since there are several floors, each of us gets two, so there's plenty of work for everyone.
Sam is helping me. We're working together with Carter and Eduardo, and it's going really well. We're halfway through the project, and our client, who I know very well, has approved all the great ideas we've come up with.
After Italy, when Henry got back here, his partner Nicola thought about expanding the company, and of course he agreed, since we're getting more clients every day.
After all, quality work is hard to find.
I'm focused on the executive offices, which consist of two rooms, when I feel a sudden wave of nausea.
I get up and run to the bathroom, barely making it before I throw up my entire lunch.
Before I know it, Sam is behind me, holding my hair back. I've been feeling nauseous lately, and dizzy too, but I've been hiding it from her and from my mom and sister. I'm emotionally messed up, so I use that as my excuse for what's happening.
“What's wrong, girl? Are you okay?”
“It must be something from lunch that didn't sit well. That has to be it.”
“But girl, everyone in the office had the same meal.”
“My stomach's been sensitive because of everything I've been going through.”
“Girl, I get that you've been going through a rough time, and that idiot showing up here didn't help, but that doesn't explain this. Have you seen a doctor?”
“No, Sam, and I'm not going to. This will all pass soon.”
“You're not hiding anything from me, are you?”
“Of course not, Sam. You're my friend—you'd be the first to know.”
“I hope so. Are you feeling better? Want to head back?”
“Yeah, let's go. They might miss us.”
We took our seats and went back to work. I needed to finish that project because in two days we were going to present it to the clients, so over the past few days I'd focused on it and barely paid attention to food, sleep, or the symptoms I was having.
On the day of the meeting, I arrived early and went straight to the room, where I found Nicola and Henry along with Carter. They came over to greet me.
“Hello, Emma. How are you?”
“Hi, I'm fine. I wasn't expecting you all here so early.”
“Oh, yes, I came straight from the airport, picked up Henry, and then I'm going to get settled in a hotel.”
“I hope you had a good trip.”
“I did, very smooth actually. From what I can see, you've been working hard on the project.”
“I'm trying my best to make it perfect.” — They must have noticed how exhausted I look, which is exactly how I feel right now.
“Your work is excellent, Emma. You don't need to push yourself so hard.”
“I love what I do, and I want to give you my best work so you're satisfied.”
“What do you say we start with Emma's part, since she got here early?”
“That's fine with me. Is that okay, Emma?”
“Of course, let me just set up the iPad and transfer it to the screen.”
I organize everything, transfer the images to the screen, and show all the details exactly as each person requested. I jot down the small changes they ask for and wrap up my presentation.
I stay until the end of the meeting because the work is collaborative—we need to stay on top of what everyone else is doing, and everything has to fit together perfectly.
By the time everyone finishes their presentations and notes down the changes, it's already past lunchtime, so we decide to order food right there.
I order a salad and steak to avoid feeling sick—I'm starting to get suspicious about this nausea that keeps coming back.
I finish my meal and we stay there chatting a bit longer.
We're planning to visit the building this week to see what needs to be done—the renovations and modifications.
As I mentioned, it's going to be a big project because they bought the entire building, which has nine floors.
We've already provided designs for seven floors that will be in use, leaving two that they've asked me to come up with ideas for.
So we arrange to go there this week to take a look and see what could be done.
I study the entire project and notice there's no cafeteria or break room for employees, so I think that'll be my first suggestion.
The week flies by, and finally the day of our visit arrives.
I bring my iPad with the complete project and floor plans.
“Good morning.”
“Emma, always early. How are you?”
“I'm fine, I just got here. Should we go in?”
We go in and start with the ground floor, which will be the reception area.
The app company will operate there, along with a law office for Nicola, who plans to practice in New York as well.
The fifth floor is empty—it wasn't included in our project, so I suggest turning it into a restaurant with a lounge area.
I walk them through everything while Sam takes notes.
Then on the seventh floor, which is also empty, I propose creating two meeting rooms for the different companies so they won't have scheduling conflicts.
“Emma, your ideas are wonderful. That way we'll have the top floor just for our offices, small meetings, and our secretaries.”
“Yes, and each office on opposite ends, with a small meeting room connected to the executive suite, plus a private bathroom for each of you.”
“Perfect, but what about the changes—won't that be difficult for you?”
“Of course not. I'll do it tomorrow, and if you'd like, I can present the rest to you on Monday.”
“Perfect, so we'll meet at Carter's again on Monday. Emma, everything turned out great—I'm very satisfied.”
“I'm glad to hear that.”
“Well, we need to get going. Do you want a ride?”
“No need, I drove today and I'll take Sam with me.”
“Okay, see you later, girls.”
We say goodbye, and at that moment I feel unwell—dizzy—and I grab onto Sam, who gives me a worried look. I decide to tell her.