Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“Move anything nonessential off my calendar today,” I say. “That’ll be all.”
She nods and scurries off back to Sofia’s desk. I poke my head out, watch her for a second, and sigh. Sofia should be here. I doubt she’s sick. She’s just avoiding me. Unfortunately, I can’t legally make her come in, and I can’t make her talk to me.
So I sit behind my desk and start working through the mountain of work piled there. Nina cancels meetings. Rafe comes and goes throughout the day. I put out fires. I sit through meetings. The whole day passes in a blur. I feel untethered without her at my side, managing my schedule. I can’t work like this forever.
The next morning, I half-expect to see Nina again, but Sofia’s desk is empty. I don’t know what that means. What if she’s quit? No, that email would’ve come straight to my phone. Robert in HR would have probably called me directly.
I’m still turning over the possibilities when I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Sofia walking in, and the relief nearly knocks me over.
“Sofia,” I say in what I hope is a normal voice.
“Good morning, Mr. Vieri,” she says in a professional tone.
I can see the wall she’s built between us, and I have no choice but to respect it. At least she hasn’t quit. That’s one small miracle to be grateful for.
“I’m sorry for calling out sick yesterday,” she says, voice bright. It’s false, too cheerful, pitched for the whole office to hear. “I had the worst migraine. Thankfully it’s all better today, and Nina already caught me up on your schedule changes.”
I nod. “Thank you, Ms. Bellini,” I say.
I can fight fire with fire. Or, I guess in this case, ice with ice.
My mood is somehow even worse than yesterday. Even though Sofia is physically here, the distance between us couldn’t be wider. I understand why she feels the need to do it, but it still hurts. And that is not a feeling I am familiar with.
Monday arrives too soon.
“Good morning, Mr. Vieri,” Sofia calls when I step off the elevator.
She doesn’t come into my office once. If she needs me, she sends an instant message or calls me through the intercom. She takes her lunch away from her desk, and somehow manages to be away any time I’m not in a meeting. She’s using my schedule against me. She always knows where I’ll be and when, so she purposely makes herself scarce.
I accept it. At least for now. She needs time to get over what happened. The message is loud and clear. She’d like to pretend it never happened at all, and she wants whatever’s between us to stay as professional as possible.
It will pass.
Except, a week goes by like that. Every morning it’s “Good morning, Mr. Vieri.” Her work ethic doesn’t waver and my life still gets handled perfectly, but she somehow manages to never physically be around. Even Rafe notices by Friday.
“What the hell is going on with your assistant?” he asks. “She didn’t even give me a cursory glance when I walked by.”
“Nothing,” I lie. “She’s just busy.”
The last part isn’t a lie. The next week I hear from my C-suite that Sofia’s been helping their assistants reorganize their documents, and it’s apparently revolutionized our filing system. The week after, she handles all the briefs for a new investor meeting, and there’s not a single error on any of the documents.
The whole office is talking about how helpful Sofia is. Everyone loves her. Every assistant comes to her for advice now. It’s great for her. It sucks for me. I blink and an entire month passes, and nothing goes back to normal. Now this uncomfortable silence is our new normal, and I have no choice but to accept it.
“All right,” Rafe says one day. “Spit it out. Why the hell have you been such a grouch the last few weeks?”
“I’m fine,” I grunt.
He rolls his eyes. “You’re clearly not. You’ve been more of a prick than usual lately.”
“I’m just busy.”
Just then, my cousin Tomasso strolls into the office with a stormy look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “Just more bullshit with the Calderones,” he answers. “And I’m hearing this new expansion in Vegas isn’t going to happen.”
Rafe curses under his breath, and I give Tomasso my full attention.
“What the hell do you mean?” I ask him. “I just spoke with the foreman yesterday, they’re supposed to break ground on Monday.”
He shrugs. “Apparently, there’s some union issue with the contractor. If you want, I can fly out and handle it.”
I shake my head. “No,” I tell him. “I should be the one to handle it.”
Just as I’m saying it, an idea forms. I can’t force Sofia to talk to me, but if I take her on a work trip, she’ll at least have to be in the same room with me.