21

She remained paralyzed, completely static, the color left her face, her limbs lost their strength, and not falling down turned out to be a complete struggle for her. With great effort, she looked into his eyes, completely perplexed, Leonardo's words resounded like violent thunder in her ears, speech left her for an instant. Holding the hand of her boss, who had just proposed her to be his girlfriend, Emma trembled. Was it all a crude joke? She wanted to know, still without giving him any answer. She looked at him, hoping that regret would show in his eyes, but she saw only firmness in them, he had said what he had said and he didn't seem to regret it.

"Your girlfriend?" she stammered when she was finally able to loosen the choking lump in her throat.

"Emma, don't you realize that I liked you from the first time I saw you?" The girl did not answer, still holding on to him, looking in all directions, as if trying to find an escape from a situation that did not have one. The firmness in