The return of Ana - part I I

In his office, Carlos paced back and forth.

"That way, you'll end up creating a hole in the room." Marcos joked.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not in the mood for jokes."

Approaching Marcos, Carlos patted him three times on the shoulder.

"Okay." He frowned

"Is the paperwork for the settlement ready yet?" He couldn't hide his anxiety and wanted everything to come out perfectly.

"They're being printed."

"As soon as it's done, send it to Mr. John's house."

"Did she really agree to be your secretary?" Marcos was still in disbelief at how easy everything was.

"Easier than I thought it would be.

"And now, what do you intend to do?"

"What do you think hurts a woman the most?"

"I don't know... what?"

"Being scorned by the one she loves."

"My friend, sometimes I think that instead of being a thirty-five-year-old adult, you are just a teenager with some meaningless plans." "You're what? Ten years older than her? What makes you think this will work out?"

"Want to bet?" he said confidently.

"And they still say I'm the more childish of the two of us. I'm more of a womanizer, but childish, no!"

"Are you afraid of losing?

"Okay, let's say you manage to win her over, and then will you kiss her even though you know she is to blame for Lisa's death? Will you be able to go to bed with someone you've hated for so long? I'm sorry, but this plan is flawed, my friend, and you know it."

Faced with the words of his best friend, Carlos just remained silent.

It was already night and Ana was ready for bed when her cell phone rang.

"Unknown number... hello."

"Hi, Ana, sorry to bother you at this hour."

"Who is it?"

" Carlos."

"Ah, sir, I mean Carlos... what do you want?"

"I called to inform you that your father and I are officially partners and that I need you to be present here in my office tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"It's not like it all went so fast."

"Like I said... I'm without a secretary."

"Give me the address, and I'll be there tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I'll send a car to pick you up."

"No... did you hang up on me? What's pretty about it is gross."

Lying on his bed, Carlos thought about his best friend's words, "will you be able to kiss her or sleep with her?" He didn't know if he could, but it was a sacrifice to be made and when she was in love he would humiliate her and leave her as if she were a piece of trash which cannot be recycled.

Ana practically got up early the next day, leaving on her bed some clothes that she intended to wear on her first day of work.

"Who is it at this hour?" her cell phone was ringing, "Hi, Claire."

"friend, you didn't even call me."

"Sorry, I was too tired."

"So, have you seen your mom?"

"Not yet. My dad said it wasn't a good time."

"How is he?"

"Even though he wants to look good, I know he's not."

"What about you? Have you been having nightmares?"

"Only the day I arrived.

"Tell me anything, and I'll get on a plane and come to you.

"I know."

Since Ana had moved to France, Claire had become a pillar that most of the time kept her from falling. They were like sisters, always supporting each other.

"friend, we'll talk later... I need to get ready to go to work."

"Already?"

"Yeah... I'll be working as a secretary for my dad's business partner."

"Huh?"

"It's a long story, but long story short, while I provide secretarial services, he will teach me how to run a hotel."

"Let's hope he's not like that decrepit old man from your old boss."

"Old, at least he isn't."

"And how he is."

"Handsome, very handsome... I have to go."

As soon as she finished the call, the room phone rang, informing her that a man was waiting for her.

"Good morning!"

"When you told me you would send someone to pick me up, I didn't expect that someone to be you, I mean you."

"Am I that old?"

"Sorry, force of habit."

"Relax, I was just kidding," he opened the car door.

Before they reached the company, Carlos handed over his planner.

"All my appointments are in there, if you have any questions, call me."

"Now in the morning you will have breakfast with Mr. William."

"That sucks."

"Huh?"

"I'm always unhappy to meet him... nothing is ever right."

His displeasure at having to meet with William was clear.

"Is there something I need to know about him?

Ana was with a certain curiosity.

"William has a tour agency that indicates our hotel to tourists, but he is always so picky about everything that he becomes a nuisance."

"Oh, anything else?"

"Surely he will ask you out, but don't worry, I will take care of that. Now tell me this one or this one?" he asked, pointing to two ties, one black and one blue.

"The blue one!"

"Can you help me put it on? I've never been good at it. The one who helped me before was Alice, my old secretary."

"Sir, we're here!"

"As soon as Ana finishes putting on her tie, we'll leave."

"Yes, sir." the driver left them alone

"Excuse me." she took the tie and approached him.

"What perfume do you wear?"

"Um?" that question made her realize that he was staring at her, and she couldn't deny that his voice was somewhat seductive, which made her realize that she was probably in front of a womanizer.

"It's not perfume." she replied, looking into his eyes, but soon looked away.

"And that smell is what?" he shifted his gaze to her lips.

"My moisturizer...if you don't like it..." she realized his eyes were on her lips. "It is... if you don't like it, I..."

His gaze baffled her.

"What?" Carlos realized, making her nervous.

"Nothing!" She trailed off, "If you don't like it, I won't use it again."

She tried to avoid looking at him.

"On the contrary... I quite liked it" she smiled.

"Perfect." he said, looking at his tie.

"Let's go."

He again opened his car door and waited for her to get out.

Before they went to meet William, Carlos took her to his living room.

"Ana, this is Marcos, Marcos this is Ana."

"Welcome."

Marcos didn't know how he should act in front of Ana, but he tried to act as natural as possible.

"Thank you."

All Ana could think about was how beautiful a man she had in that office that was different from her old job.

"And where will I be staying?"

"Here in my office."

"Why?" her voice came out a little high.

"Sorry!"

"I know you must be wondering, but since you've also come to learn how to run a hotel, it's best to stay here near me, don't you think?" he watched her as she looked around the room.

"Nice room."

"Thanks!" Mark, we will be meeting with William, so I leave it up to you to provide a table for Ana.

"Okay."

"Shall we?"

"Yes."

Carlos took her to one of his father's hotels.

"You know what I don't understand..."

"What?"

"How someone who runs several hotels becomes a partner in your competition?"

"I've only been managing my father's hotels. So I wanted to try something new, something challenging, but since I wouldn't have all that time, it's better to just be a partner instead of an owner. And you, why be a secretary instead of running the family business?

"I didn't intend to go back, but my father got sick and here I am trying to make up for lost time," he smiled dully.

"Why didn't you want to go back?

Before Ana could answer, William interrupted them.

"I see you're in good company."

William pulled out a chair and sat down next to Ana. "What's your name?" he threw his body to her side.

"You never change, do you, William?"

Carlos pulled her close to him. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't startle my new secretary on her very first day on the job."

"All your secretaries are beauties, a real eye candy."

Ana could feel naked just by the way William looked at her.

"Well, to business." he pulled a folder from his briefcase and placed it on the table. "As you know, next month will be a very busy month, and I would like to know what my percentage of the clients who will be staying at your hotel will be."

"You know that the percentage is 10%."

William moved his head in a sign of denial.

"15% what do you think?" he tried to negotiate.

"Not really!" He laughed.

"Less than that, I don't negotiate."

"If that's all, let's go, Ana."

Carlos stood up and, while arranging his jacket, William went back on his words.

"12% how about it?"

"Alright! Let's go Ana!"

That was the fastest negotiation she had ever participated in her entire life.

"Make a contract with this new change and send it to his office."

"Okay."

Everything went so fast that they didn't even have time to have coffee.

It was almost lunchtime and Ana wondered when he would let her eat, because she was very hungry since they didn't even have coffee.

"Carlos, aren't you going out for lunch?"

Marcos was in the habit of entering the room without announcing himself, and this startled Ana, since the room was silent from the time they arrived.

"I'm sorry! Did I startle you?"

"No problem." she replied with a smile.

"The hour went by so fast I didn't even notice."

Carlos looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Only if it is for you because for me, it almost doesn't pass." Ana thought.

"Ana, aren't you coming?"

His voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Where to, Mr. Carlos?"

"To lunch, aren't you coming?"

"With you?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"No, it's just that I prefer to go alone."

"No problem!" See you later.

Marcos and Carlos headed toward the elevator.

"Mr. Carlos? I don't think your plan is working out." Marcos joked.

"Relax, it's only a matter of time."

"Man, other women were super happy to be invited to lunch with one of us two, but she didn't seem that happy." he laughed as he put his hand in his pants pocket.

"What are you laughing at? Even with you, she wasn't excited, I think you're losing your charm, Mr. Marcos." he mocked.

"It's because I never threw my charisma to her, otherwise she would already be in mine. You, on the other hand, I'm sure you tried, and the result wasn't that good...at least that's what I noticed."

Carlos and Marcos were known to be quite coveted by women, and no woman had resisted their charm and money.