All her expectations were shattered when she saw Ethan's name on the screen.But what did he want at that hour? Wasn't he supposed to be with his fiancée?"Hello," she answered, suspiciously. But she found the silence on the other end of the line strange. "Mr. Smith, is everything alright?""Come pick me up," Ethan finally said. His voice sounded a bit slurred."Are you drunk?" she asked, confused."Does it seem that way?" he asked."I believe so, since you’re calling me.""Stop talking and come quickly, Rafaela," he repeated."Do you realize what time it is?" she asked."Of course, do you think I only use my phone for calls?" he responded. "I’m drunk and can't drive, so come quickly.""Why don't you call your driver?""It’s his day off.""Then take a taxi.""If you’re not at Paradise club in less than twenty minutes, don’t bother coming to work tomorrow." With that, he hung up the phone."What was that?" she wondered, still staring at her phone screen.She tried calling him back, but
"I told you to do this."Without questioning, she got out of the car and then opened the passenger door, helping him out. She was nervous about the situation but realized that saying anything at that moment would be a waste of time. She would keep everything bottled up for the next day.Helping him into the elevator, she felt uncomfortable with how close they were. Ethan was so big, so strong, and so handsome that it left her feeling completely flustered.If he just stayed quiet and didn’t say a word, he would be someone very easy to fall in love with."You really are a good employee," he said, whispering in her ear. "I wasn’t wrong when I hired you.""You wanted to fire me on the first day; please, don’t be a hypocrite," she replied. "And you didn’t give me much of a choice to come or not," she added, catching the scent of his cologne.The two were practically embracing, due to him being so drunk that he couldn’t stand on his own."I’ll make it up to you.""Not doing this again would
Still uneasy from receiving an unexpected kiss from Ethan, she felt cornered when she saw his fiancée looking at her with a suspicious gaze."I came to bring him home since Mr. Smith was too drunk to drive.""Are you his secretary or his driver, by any chance?" Eva asked, with an unfriendly expression."Leave her alone, Eva," Ethan replied, inserting himself into the conversation, noticing that his fiancée's tone was escalating. "Don’t take your stress out on someone who’s not at fault.""Do you really think I’m stressed because of her?" She directed herself to Ethan. "How dare you leave me waiting at your parents' house? Have you forgotten who I am?""Let’s discuss this inside; Rafaela doesn’t need to witness your hysterical behavior."Rafaela watched the two arguing and didn’t say a single word. It was incredible how Ethan had composed himself immediately, not even seeming drunk anymore."Fine," Eva responded, composing herself and changing her facial expression. "Now that he’s home,
“What do you mean by that?”“He kissed me.”“No way!” Kate's eyes nearly popped out.“And his fiancée almost caught us in the act.”“Rafa? How did you let that happen?”“How should I know? Things happened so fast that before I realized it, all of this had already happened.”“Why did he kiss you? What did you two talk about that made him do that?”“I don’t know, friend, but I was very confused by what I saw and heard,” Rafa revealed.“What do you mean?”“Ethan sent his fiancée straight to her parents' house, even though he lives alone.”“Maybe he didn’t want her to be alone.”“I don’t know, I thought he was very indifferent to her. The two had planned to meet at night, and even so, he went out drinking and then called me to take him home. If she hadn’t gone after him, he wouldn’t have gone to her.”“What are you trying to say? Do you think Ethan and his girlfriend don’t get along?”“I can’t say that just yet. After all, he did make a point of sending flowers when she arrived.”“That doe
When she arrived at Ethan's apartment, Rafaela called to let him know she was there."I'm not ready yet, come up immediately," he said."No, thank you, I’ll wait for you in the car," she replied."That wasn’t a request," he said before hanging up on her."Ugh, I really hate this man!" she exclaimed nervously, hitting the steering wheel."What happened?" Kate asked, concerned."He rushed me, and he’s not even ready yet, and now he’s telling me to go up.""If I had known, I wouldn’t have come with you," she grumbled."Friend, wait for me here, I’ll be right back."Rafaela got out of the car, heading towards the elevator, pressing the button for the floor where Ethan lived. She was nervous; she didn’t know what he wanted, and after what happened yesterday, everything had become strange. She looked at herself in the elevator mirror, adjusting her white button-up shirt in the front, and ran her hand through her hair, pulling it out from behind her ear. She thought about the possibility of r
"I'm sorry!" she apologized, quickly closing the door.Realizing the mistake she had just made, she ran back to the living room, with her hand on her throat to keep her heart from leaping out of her mouth. Only a few minutes had passed when Ethan appeared, dressed like a true executive."What were you looking for?" he asked calmly."The kitchen," Rafa replied."Oh, right, I forgot to show you."He walked toward a wall decorated with wooden slats and touched it. The wall started to move, revealing a door, and behind it, the kitchen appeared, now connected to the living room."I would never have guessed," she said sheepishly."The upper cabinets have everything you’ll need. I’ll start the meeting in 10 minutes," he said, sitting down on the sofa and opening the laptop that was on the coffee table.She began rummaging through the kitchen, looking for everything she needed to make coffee. Even trying to control herself, there were moments when she couldn’t help but glance at him."Why do y
And once again, there was Ethan, wanting to remind her of what she wanted to forget. "I shouldn’t have called you," he began. "Indeed, I won't disagree with you on that," she said, showing her discontent with the previous night. "I recognize it was a mistake, alright? If I do it again, you don’t need to come to get me." "But what if you threaten me?" "Don’t take what I say when I’m drunk to heart; what matters are my words when I'm like this, talking sober, face to face with you." "Fine, I'll remember that. I hope you remember what you just said as well. I care a lot about my job, and I can’t afford to lose it for any reason." "Are you that afraid of being fired?" "Of course I am; things are complicated for an immigrant," she lied, never revealing the true reason. "Don't worry about that. As I said, please ignore what I say when I’m drunk. I’m a man of my word, Rafaela. If I say or promise something, you can be sure I’ll keep it," he looked at her intently. "I don’t
“Of course, nothing is happening; don’t be paranoid," he replied."I'm not paranoid. I just think you both seem pretty close.""She’s my secretary; it’s normal that we’re close.""But isn't it strange that you two came to work in the same car, don’t you think?""You know she kept my car last night.""Even so… First last night, and now this. Why did you two arrive at this time?""I had a last-minute teleconference, so I did it at home.""And she was there with you?""Yes, she came to pick me up and ended up waiting for me.""Were you alone in your apartment?""Are you going to start again?" he sighed impatiently."I don’t like the idea of seeing you alone with another woman, whether she’s an employee or anyone else.""All right, Eva, now you can go.""What do you mean? I waited for you for quite a while, and you’re dismissing me like this?""I told you since yesterday that I’m full of work; I can’t give you attention right now.""Don’t you care about how I feel? Don’t you think I feel l