America

Chapter 3

America

Giulia

Serkan positioned himself beside me and gave me an irritated look. If it weren't for my first job as a translator and my need, I would have run out of there. My hands were shaking and sweating. That man could be even more handsome in daylight.

"You? My interpreter?" He spoke softly and sat down. "Good morning, everyone!"

"It seems so... um," I hesitated for a few seconds, "Mister Serkan."

"Perfect, I will give you the instructions later. Introduce yourself to them as your first task. I wish you a warm welcome, and let's have a great job," he smiled an unwilling smile.

"Perfectly," I replied.

I introduced myself to everyone at the meeting and announced that I was the new translator of documents for foreign affairs. Then I sat down.

"Well..." he gestured with his hand to continue the meeting, approached me, and held out a piece of paper that looked like a spreadsheet.

"So, Giulia, it looks like you will be my advisor. Write down everything you think is important about what I am going to say. It will help you understand the documents."

"Yes, sir."

That perfume, that imposing and secure presence, made my hands tremble. And then he began to communicate with the group.

"I know you must be wondering about many things right now, but I can only assure you that I am in charge of the company at this moment and have come to spend some time until everything is settled. I studied Portuguese to take Mr. Henrique's place and moved in when he needed to step aside at last. I'm sorry that his departure is for health reasons. May Allah heal him. As for that house, it needs to be bought so that we can continue to prepare the land for the construction of the condominium. I will take care of it immediately. Do you have anything to ask?"

I watched his face and mouth as he spoke and almost lost myself in his features. He would make a perfect sultan. As soon as he finished, I wrote down his words on the subject.

"Yes, we have questions. How will you make the old man sell the house?"

"By offering more money," he answered.

"He refused."

He looked annoyed and slammed his pen down hard on the dull wooden table. I jumped in surprise.

"By Allah, what a stubborn old man. I will have to take further action!"

"There are no means," one of them answered. He was handsome too.

"I'll manage. Our meeting was a fiasco because I thought that one of you had achieved what we want."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Silva is adamant."

"Okay, meeting adjourned."

Slowly, huffing, with large, hurried strides, they all left the room. One of them kept looking at me until he reached the door and smiled. I smiled back at him. Serkan passed his hand in front of my face in the air as if to bring my attention back to him. I looked at him intently.

"Yes?"

"This is no place for flirting, Miss Giulia."

I frowned, pressing my eyebrows together without understanding what he was talking about. A smile in return for someone who smiled at me could not be considered flirting. Even if the guy was charming, I separated things and the places where I found myself very well.

"Flirting? I'm sorry, but this is absurd."

He moved closer to my body, dragging the wheels of the chair. The suit and the perfume came even closer. He looked me in the eye, looking annoyed. And what expressive brown eyes he had!

"Listen, miss, let's forget what happened between us last night, okay? For the sake of our work, let's pretend that we don't know each other and have never been intimate in any way."

I narrowed my eyes and smiled wryly, even though it was very difficult to resist his close lips. How was it possible to totally forget so many torrid kisses exchanged the night before? Finally, I felt obliged to answer.

"Okay, it's completely forgotten, Serkan bay."

I could have sworn he was going to smile when I called him "sir" in Turkish. But the frowning boss gave an almost smile and then returned to his character, that of the boss.

"Perfect, Miss Giulia. Your office will be next to mine, and I will send you a contract for the Spanish translation by corporate email. I need to explain something, however."

I stared at him as if I hadn't heard judgments and criticisms all morning. Inside, I was boiling with rage.

"I do not speak Spanish. When I took over this company, I came to cover for the chief director who is hospitalized indefinitely, Mr. Henrique. I learned English because I came to his country to take over his position, so any contact with Spanish, please provide a translation. I am fluent in English."

"Yes, sir. Serkan. May I ask you a question?"

By this point, I was already considering him a very bad-tempered person, very different from the good-natured and helpful man in the nightclub.

"Yes."

He was collecting some papers and answered without looking at me, in a hurry.

"The chief director, what about him? Will he be staying long in the hospital?"

He gave a wry smile and looked up.

"You don't like your current boss?"

I lowered my gaze, avoiding eye contact, since I really preferred someone else in that place.

"He has terminal cancer. I have been groomed for this position for a considerable time. Don't get excited; you'll have to deal with me for quite some time."

He stood up while I closed my eyes with hatred. I had kissed that man so much, how disgusting! I got up immediately and went into the next room. He shot past me like an arrow, hitting my leg with a pen. Whether he was going to leave or talk to someone else, I had no idea. The room that would be mine was completely black. The desk was black, the carpet, the cabinets, and even the laptop that was on the table. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, taking a deep breath. Working with that man who was now obnoxious would be very difficult. I had a very bad habit of responding to provocations, and it was very plausible that I would be fired as soon as I responded badly to him. But he was so annoying!

I sat down at my desk and started digging through my notebook. I found pictures of the old boss and also information about how Serkan had accepted the position. I read that the company Albaf & Co had at first been founded by a Turkish naturalized American and was looking for professionals in the country of origin for high management positions in Brazil. The requirement was to speak the local language and fluent English, in addition to studying American legal rules. I realized that he was the only one to have an interview with the owner of the company, and such was the amount offered in salary that it was strange that more lawyers had not tried for a position. To me, it seemed like a game of marked cards, he could have been indicated for the position by virtue of some influential acquaintance. Well, that was none of my business; I needed to get to work.

As I opened the emails, I was amazed at the number of lawsuits filed by Albaf&Co against a certain man named Albert Rupert. I remembered that Rupert had been mentioned by someone in the meeting. The documents were about the sale of his house and a large sum of money offered for this sale. Denied several times.

"Well, I guess people don't always want to sell their houses," I said out loud to myself.

The internal company phone rang on my desk, the screen flashed "director's office." Oh no, did he want to bully me some more? I took a deep breath and went. I felt my feet practically dragging on the floor of my office. As I entered his office, I saw him sitting alone at his desk. He didn't even look up. I crossed my hands in front of my body and waited at a distance for any command.

"I didn't call you to stand there like a plant," the voice was debauched.

I swallowed hard, why was he treating me like that? I didn't do anything wrong. I approached slowly, with my head down.

"Giulia, I need you to come with me to a place, actually a construction site."

"Construction site?"

He lifted his head and looked at me after so much paperwork.

"Yes, construction. I believe Mr. Silva can hear you since you are American like him."

"Yes, sir. But what is he to be told?"

"That he needs to sell me his house. He is hindering the construction of the condominium, and the construction company is bothering me."

"Is that all?"

He looked at me with a doubtful look, frowning.

"Was I not clear? If you need me to, I will explain it again."

"You were clear! I just wanted to know if that was all there was to it. Mr. Serkan, if you don't like working with me because of what happened yesterday, I'll leave because I don't know why you're treating me badly."

He leaned back in his chair and examined my expression. It was hard to hide the disappointment and all that was stuck in the lump in my throat that I felt at that moment.

"Well, Miss, it was really surprising that you are my employee the day after what happened to us, but I am a professional, and the fact that you denied me has nothing to do with the treatment today. That's the way I am, but I will understand if you don't need the job and resign."

"Not needing it? So this kind of treatment has something to do with my not seeing you yesterday?"

He lowered his head and started going through his folders, organizing them to leave. It was unbelievable that a man like that, with so much money and beauty, was resentful because I didn't go to bed with him. I continued.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you haven't been rejected; I just never... never..."

He stopped what he was doing to pay attention to me. It was as if his breath was held in anticipation of what I had to say. The expression on his face changed, he became curious as if he depended on my answer to breathe again.

"I never do these things."

The expression in his eyes relaxed as did his entire handsome, masculine face.

"That I understood yesterday. I found something else, anyway."

He stood up quickly with a few folders in hand and began walking hurriedly to the door. If he thought, even for a moment, that I would tell him I was a virgin, he was absolutely right. But I would never tell him this. I would never reveal something so intimate to a man I barely knew, and worse, my boss. However, lowering my head was something I would never do. If he continued to treat me harshly and judgmentally, I would resign without a second thought, and he would never have to see me again.