5 A New Job

A couple of days later, Miranda comes to visit me unannounced (she had no choice since my phone is still off). I really don’t want to see her, I don’t feel like talking about the party or explaining to her why I disappeared from the cyber-world. But I know none of this is her fault, so I greet her with a big smile. 

She already knows about the online harassment, apparently the story of what happened is being shared by all of our acquaintances, so she has seen several posts online about it. Miranda thinks this whole thing is going away in a few weeks, but she has a proposal to help me distract myself in the meantime. 

“My dad’s assistant was in a car accident and she’ll be on leave until she recovers, so he needs someone to cover for her and, of course, I thought of you.” She says with a big smile. 

I make a face. Me? What is she talking about?

“But I know nothing about being an assistant... what made you think of me?” I ask confused. 

“You desperately need a change of air. I’m not going to lie, Oli, this thing with your dad did real damage to your reputation, people are saying the craziest things. You need to get out of this house and see new faces.” 

“Wait, what things are they saying?” I ask terrified. What else can they say about me? What I read was already pretty bad. Is there more?

“Oh, don’t worry about it, just some crazy gossip about your dad being in the mafia and being this important mobster... ridiculous, I know, but people believe the wildest things.” Miranda looks amused by these theories. Of course she is, it’s not her dad they are talking about. 

“What! That’s terrible!” I whine. “My dad lost his temper for a moment... that doesn’t make him a mobster!”

I feel a hole in my stomach. What an awful thing to say! It’s ridiculous, my dad might have a bad temper, but he’s an honest man. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time I hear this absurd accusation. At my brother’s funeral, a cousin had the nerve of saying that Alex was murdered because of my dad’s sketchy businesses, he was of course taken out of the funeral by my uncle Gus and we haven’t seen or talked to him again. I’ve never told Miranda about it, it was so silly I didn’t see the point and I won’t say anything now either, just because other people are making up similar stories about my dad doesn’t mean they are true.

“Of course, I know that! I told you it was ridiculous and, trust me, people are going to forget all about this very soon. But, in the meantime, you should find something to occupy yourself with and this job is perfect! It’s only for a few weeks and you’ll gain some experience and money! It’s better than doing nothing while you’re still taking time off from college.” I can see in Miranda’s face that she’s not giving up and I have to admit she does make some good points. I mean, I don’t need the money, my parents give me everything I want (except freedom), but it will be nice to have some money of my own and to get out of the house more. 

“I’m not even sure what your dad does for a living... something to do with cars? I have cero knowledge about that.” I admit, but the more I think about it the more I like the idea of taking this job.

“Who cares! You’ll be answering phones and making copies, you don’t need to know mechanics to do that. Come on! Say yes.” 

“Yes.” I say, feeling excited for a second. “Oh, wait, no... I should probably talk to my parents first.”

“Are you serious? Olivia, come on! In what planet is it normal to ask your parents’ permission to work when you are in your twenties?” She asks exasperated. 

Her remark really bothers me. She doesn’t get it. Her family has always been free and open minded. Miranda has a close relationship with her mother, they talk and share everything with each other. She has no idea what is like to grow with cold parents whose idea of parenting is to control your every move. Also, she has never lost a sibling, so she ignores how much that can affect an already dysfunctional family.

“I’m not asking for permission, but they feel unease when I spend too much time out. They are only ok when I’m with you and that’s just because we know each other since middle school. You don’t get it. They are in pain and I have to be considerate about that.” Once I start explaining this to Miranda I realize taking the job is a terrible idea. My mom is going to worry if I’m out all day... It’s not ok to make her go thru that. And for sure my dad is going to hate the idea of me dealing with strangers every day. “Actually, I think it’s a bad idea. Your dad should look for someone else to be his assistant.” 

“No! Oli, don’t do this to yourself!” Miranda cries. “You’re right! You should be considerate, but you should also have a life. Besides, you said it yourself, they are ok when we are together and you’ll be working for my dad, so that basically counts as being near me.”

I can’t help but to laugh with her logic. “Ok, I’ll talk to them.” I say, knowing my dad is most likely going to oppose. 

“Can you do it now? My dad kind of needs to know soon.” She says with a smile. 

I sigh and then nod. I walk to my dad’s office while Miranda waits in my room. Once I get to his door, I lift my arm to knock, but then I regret it. I hate feeling like this. As if I’m doing something wrong whenever I want to do something that for others is perfectly normal. I mentally rehearse what I’m telling my dad so he won’t oppose right away. I know for sure he’s going to have a million objections and I want to be prepared, at least give him a fight to tell Miranda that I tried. 

“Are you going in or are you planning to stand there the whole day?” 

I recognize Handsome Intruder’s voice behind me. I turn around to face him. 

“I was going in, but my dad sounds busy. I’ll come back later.” I lie agitated. I hate how nervous he makes me feel. 

“No, he’s not, but if you want you can talk to me instead.” He says in a very sensual voice, he then takes a lock of my hair and places it behind my ear with a gentle move. His fingers softly brush my cheek as he does it. 

I gulp, painfully aware of how close we are to each other. At this distance, I can smell his cologne, he, of course, is not one of those guys who over uses it, so I just get a hint of it, but it’s enough to make me tremble with desire. He smells so fresh. I wonder what it would be like to have him even closer, to be between his arms.

What am I doing smelling this stranger?!

“I don’t need intermediaries.” I say taking a step back that almost makes me hit my dad’s office door. 

“Tell me. Maybe I can help you.” He insists, taking a step forward to shorten the distance between us again. 

“You can’t.” I move to the side and duck him, I start walking down the hall, but he grabs me by the arm and stops me. 

“Hey! We are not finished.” He says pulling me near him. I move my arm to try to break free, but he tightens his grip.  

“Let me go!” I demand enraged. Who does he think he is?

“I’ll let you go after you tell me what you need.” He says very calmly as if he wasn’t holding his boss’s daughter against her will. 

“I have nothing to tell you. This is between me and my dad, it’s none of your business.” I say angrily.

“Everything related to you is my business, doll.” He says with a smile. 

“Stop calling me doll. My name is Olivia.” I mutter.

“I know. But you remind me of a doll with your big beautiful blue eyes and porcelain skin.” 

My pulse accelerates and I feel my cheeks blushing. I hope he doesn’t notices it. I’m out of words, I’ve even stop trying to break free from him. It’s so absurd, he tells me I have beautiful eyes and I forget my anger. We stare at each other in silence. He has beautiful blue eyes as well, but his aren’t sweet like a doll’s, but menacing, like he’s a wolf ready to face any threat that may arise.

“Please, let go of me.” I whisper. 

He opens his hand, releasing me from his grip. I take a step back and then turn around towards the stairs. I feel him walking behind me. I stop and look over my shoulder. He’s right behind me, so near I can still smell his cologne. 

“Please, tell me what you need. I want to help you.” He asks and for the first time he doesn’t sound like a smug. 

“I don’t need anything.” I answer in a kinder tone. “I wanted to ask my dad for his opinion. My friend’s dad needs an assistant for a few weeks and he’s offering me the job.” I explain. 

“And you want to take this job?” He asks with surprise. “Do you need money or something?”

I scowl. He must think of me like I’m a spoiled brat whose only interest is to do her nails. And, yes, I love doing my nails and I guess I’m kind of brat in some ways, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a job like everybody else.

“No, but it’s already September so it’s too late for me to enroll in college and I thought it might be a good idea to gain work experience before next semester.” I explain while wondering in my mind why I’m explaining myself to a stranger. 

“Well you are not going to need much work experience once you are my wife, but I guess if you want to try it out for a while I’m ok with that. Just briefly, doll, once we’re married I’ll prefer for you to stay home.” Handsome Intruder says with a straight face and I wait for him to laugh or show in any way that he’s joking, but he just keeps looking at me with a solemn expression. 

A nervous laugh escapes me. “What did you just say?” I ask giving him the chance to clarify his strange joke. 

“That I’m ok with you working temporarily, doll.” 

“Temporarily until we... get married?” I ask with a nervous giggle.

“Yes, exactly.” He answers, still no laugh.

“Are you drunk... or did you hit your head on something?” I ask and look around me to see if there’s a hidden camera or something that would explain this weird prank. 

“No and no.” He squints, apparently confused about my question. 

“So... take care.” I said and start walking away. At first I walk hesitant, waiting for him to say -Wait! It was a joke! Got you!-, but he doesn’t and so as soon as I’m out of his sight I practically sprint back to my room.

“You are not going to believe what just happened!” I exclaim to Miranda.

I tell her about the strange conversation I just had with Handsome Intruder. Miranda listens to me baffled. We are trying to make sense of his strange comment when I hear a knock on my door. It’s my mom. 

“Oli, why didn’t you mention me you got a job?” She asks looking a little hurt. “Your father says it’s perfectly safe, but is it? The office is not in a sketchy part of town or anything, right?” 

I look at her perplexed. How does she know? And my dad knows too?  

“No, Mrs. Ricci, it’s in the financial district, my dad has worked there for years, It’s totally safe.” Miranda replies. 

“Oh, good. Vittorio didn’t seem to have much information.” Says my mom. “When do you start?”

“Next Monday.” Miranda replies again as I’m still muted by the surprise. 

“Oh, so soon! Do you have everything you need? What are you going to wear?” My mom seems anxious about the idea of me working. 

“Actually, we were just talking about that and we concluded that we need to go shopping. If that’s ok with you, Mrs. Ricci.” Miranda has a big triumph smile in her face.  

“Of course. Ask Ivan to take you... have fun, girls.” My mom didn’t even notice I didn’t say a word. 

“How did this happen?’ I ask as soon as we are alone. 

“I guess Handsome Intruder talked to your dad and convince him it was a good idea.” Miranda replies. 

“But... how? It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Who cares? You got what you wanted. I mean, this probably means you’ll have to marry him as a thank you, but whatever.” She jokes and I scowl. “Come on! Forget about it. Let’s go shopping for awesome work outfits for you!”

Miranda drags me out of the house and we spend the rest of the afternoon at the mall looking for different outfits to make me look professional. I feel excited. My first job! Miranda is right, who cares about what Handsome Intruder did to convince my dad. The only thing that matters is that soon I’ll become a professional woman. 

After going thru countless shops we take a pause at a coffee shop, we chat incessantly as we drink our lattes. Miranda tells me everything I’ve missed since I gave up social media, we laugh and gossip and for the first time in days I’m having fun. 

That’s until I notice two women, sitting at the table next to us, staring at me with disapproval. One of them looks at her phone and then back at me. They speak between them but look directly at me, whatever they are saying is not nice. It reminds me of the way Martin, Sam’s brother, and his friends were looking at me at that party. Their gazes are so inquisitive I start to feel really uncomfortable. Miranda has no idea what’s happening. I don’t feel like telling her, she might say something to them and the last thing I want is to make a scene. 

I tell Miranda that the coffee gave me a headache and that I want to go home. She buys it and we leave. The women follow us with their unkind eyes to the exit. Apparently, the incident with Sam has been widespread and I have more detractors than I thought.