C6 Chapter 6

Eliza Campos

I walk with my head down, with a certain shyness and a little nervous, I know that everything has to be perfect, my permanence in the company depends on it.

So I decided to ask Carla.

- Carla, but, has the meeting already started?

- It is about to start, but Pedro asked you to go to his office to show him that project you had told me you were doing.

As nervous as I was, I thanked Carla and went to Pedro's room.

Upon arriving at Pedro's room, I take a deep breath and knock on his door.

- Come in," Pedro says in a thick voice that sends shivers through my entire body.

I open the door slowly and speak.

- Carla said you wanted to talk to me before the meeting started.

Pedro looks deeply in my direction before answering my question.

- Yes, I wanted to know about your project, Carla told me that you had put together some spreadsheets when I went to your office, but I forgot to ask.

I swallow dryly because of that look he was giving me, but I hand him the project I created.

Pedro analyzes the paper for a few moments.

- Look, this is great, the spreadsheet is very complete, I saw here that you put the information about the company, from when it was started until today, with data from books published by us - He says, looking impressed - Where did you get these ideas?

- Thank you - I say embarrassed – Well, I remembered the time I launched some of my books and that before doing, so I did a brief survey to find out which books were most successful and what the target audience of each one was. The spreadsheet has all this information - Complete.

- You manage to surprise me more and more - He says, holding my hands again - You surprise me more every day - He completes without letting go of my hand, but, before I could do anything, someone entered Pedro's room without knocking, making me let go, afraid of what could happen if someone saw that scene.

It was a blonde, medium-haired, haughty woman with an elegant bearing.

- Am I in the way of something? - the person asks, casting a contemptuous glance in my direction.

Just as I was about to answer that woman's question, Pedro answered in my place.

- No, you didn't, Heloise," Pedro says, so he probably knew the girl who had entered his room. Could she be a relative of his? - My love, here in front of me is Eliza, the newest employee, and Eliza this is Heloise, my fiancée.

When Pedro says those words they seem to echo through my head "Fiancée, fiancée, fiancée" and once again I had my heart broken by another love disappointment, it was probably something in my head to believe that Pedro could have some feelings for me.

I don't expect Peter to say anything else.

- Pleased to meet you, Heloisa," I say greeting the girl who just returned the handshake out of politeness, "Do you need anything else?

- No, thank you for the spreadsheet, this is amazing - he answers - I want you to present the project - he asks, and since he is my boss, there is no way I could say no. As much as I find it strange that an employee should be a part of the project, I think it's a good idea. As much as I find it strange for an employee to present at a meeting on her first day of work.

- Okay, I'm waiting until the meeting starts, ask Carla to call me - I ask already leaving the room, I was very sad about the occurrence for being so stupid and not seeing things clearly, Pedro was probably just being polite with me.

But I left the room with a huge smile on my face, I wouldn't let myself be shaken by this one because if I did that I would be giving wind to all these people who don't deserve 1% of my attention, I was so distracted that I end up bumping into the last person I wanted to see in the earth phase.

- Sorry, Pietro, I didn't mean to bump into you," I say.

However, I would have kept quiet if I had known I would hear what came next.

- Look where you're going, you're not only drugged, you're blind too." He smiles mockingly, he had probably spoken that way because he knew how I looked, even more so in front of all the employees, who thank God were busy doing their respective jobs.

As I needed to pull myself together, I headed for the bathroom. I never thought that Pietro could treat me like that, of course, in parts he blames me for the loss of our daughter and that I have made him suffer a lot in the last years, especially when we were dating.

I decided not to hold any grudges for the words spoken by my ex-boyfriend.

While I was still in the bathroom, I heard the door opening and as I looked in the mirror, I realized that it was Carla who seemed to be worried about my condition.

- Eliza, are you feeling all right? - she asks.

- Yes, you are, don't worry about me, Carla," I answer, but Carla probably didn't believe me.

- Are you sure? Because I saw an argument between you and Pietro," she says.

Since there would be no point in lying to Carla, I decided to answer everything, except that I will not talk about my drug addiction.

- Okay, Pietro is an ex of mine and I accidentally bumped into him, and he ended up being rude to me - I answer.

- Eliza, but what I saw went beyond rudeness. You know I'll have to report his behavior to Pedro, don't you? - She says.

- Don't say anything, please, I beg you, leave everything as it is." I ask, not least because I don't want to harm Pietro even more, the last thing I want is for him to lose his job.

- Okay, just for your sake, I will not say anything - Carla did not seem happy to do that.

- Thank you, Carla, but changing the subject, did Pedro tell you when the meeting will take place? - I ask.

- I was going to start now, but Heloise showed up and Pedro postponed it a bit - She answers - If I may ask, what did he think of your project?

- He said he liked it a lot and wants me to present the project in front of all the partners - I say, but the expression Carla makes is strange - What is this face?

Carla has an expression that shows confusion on her face.

- It is nothing, but Pedro has never asked this of any employee, especially when he was new," she answers and then smiles playfully.

When Carla says that, I start to blush with embarrassment.

- Carla, stop it, it has nothing to do with it. Besides, he's married," I answer, and so I stop the conversation with Carla, leaving the bathroom and standing in the hallway waiting for the meeting to start.

Pedro begins to rummage around in my thoughts again, could it be that nothing could happen between me and Pedro? I hope that everything goes well in this meeting.