34

It was Monday morning when I entered my office early in the morning and my computer booted up. The weekend was relatively quiet compared to Friday evening. I stayed home and caught up on sleep. Much sleep.

I opened my Outlook and immediately found that I had a message from Mr. Silva:

8:00 a.m. in my office

No hello, no bye, just those 5 words. I rolled my eyes and looked at the clock. It was 7am and luckily I had an hour before I had to go to hell himself.

I reported punctually to the secretariat of the board of directors on the fiftieth floor. The lady phoned Mr. Silva and escorted me to his office before running off again. I carefully closed the door and turned to the large, bulky desk.

Mr. Silva sat behind it and leafed through some documents with concentration. I watched him and analyzed his appearance. Today he wore a perfectly fitting black suit. Underneath was a light gray shirt with the top buttons undone.

You could see his tense muscles through the suit. A strand of his dark hair fell across his face. I have to admit that the sight of him was incredibly hot, but I knew that when he opened his mouth, he was anything but hot.

I cleared my throat to get his attention, even though he knew I was already in his office.

His head came up and he just gave me a quick look. "Ms. Miles, your resignation letter is on the table to your left." He spoke monotonously as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Shocked and stunned, I stood rooted to the spot. Termination? I'm fired. But why? I mean what's going on here?

"Ms. Miles? Please, I don't have all day," he brought me out of my shocked state.

I walked slowly to the said table and picked up the envelope. I took out the letter and the subject line was bold and large: Extraordinary termination Alea Miles.

I put the letter back in the envelope and a tear involuntarily left my eye. I turned to Mr. Silva and whispered a barely audible, "Why?"

"Why? Maybe because they not only called the CEO of their bank an asshole, but also got physical with him? Also, the deadline for the checks was today. Since you already had a warning anyway, the rest goes without saying," he explained to me dryly without any emotion.

Another tear rolled down my cheek. I didn't want to cry and show weakness in front of him. On the contrary. But I just couldn't hold myself back.

He met my eyes one last time before looking away and going back to his papers.

I ran to the door and before I could exit he said "pack your things and go today".

Then I went. Dejected. At the end. Completely off track. I reached my office and tried to process what was happening.

I decided to go to Andy. In a direct way. I couldn't pack my personal things in front of all the staff. I would do that tonight. When there's no one left The shame was too great.

I cried my eyes out all day. Andy comforted me, tried to lift me up and brought me ice cream. But nothing helped. Losing my job was the worst thing that could have happened.

it was my life My career went up steeply and he was over in one fell swoop. I now regret saying anything at that meeting. Because then Mr. Silva wouldn't know who I was to this day.

It was 7:30 p.m. when I re-entered the company. It was quiet and dark. Most employees were already at home and had finished work. It was fine with me because I didn't want anyone to see me like that. I wanted to spend the last few minutes alone.

What a sad departure.

I packed everything up in my office. It was a moving box full. I picked him up and looked back at my office one last time. A tear came again.

I walked down the corridor and waited for the elevator. *bing*

The elevator door opened and none other than Mr. Silva himself was standing inside.

I rolled my eyes and took two steps back. I would definitely not ride in an elevator with him. "I'll take the stairs," I said mockingly.

He looked up from the smartphone he was holding and said, "From the 24th floor? With a box in those shoes?" He raised his eyebrows as he did so.

However, I ignored him and ran towards the stairwell. I felt him run out of the elevator and follow me.

He caught up with me just before the stairwell and gently touched my shoulder blade "Alea..."

The touch and the way he said my name brought tears to my eyes again.

"No" I answer quietly. Then I opened the door to the stairwell and walked out fully packed with the box. Mr. Silva followed me anyway.

I took the first few steps and reached the first mezzanine when the bottom of the box ripped and the entire contents spilled onto the floor.

Wow could the day get any more shitty? I could feel the pity he was looking at me at that moment. I knelt on the floor and started sorting things out when Mr. Silva knelt down next to me.

"Alea let me help you" he said calmly. But it made me angry. It's all his fault

I jumped up and took two steps back to keep him at a distance, but he followed me again and came closer.

"Go away. What do you even want here? You've finally achieved what you wanted all along? Congratulations Alea Miles is devastated. She's doing badly. Now you can get back to the important things in life" I yelled at him. I knew I was using his first name, but I didn't care. I had nothing left to lose anyway.

I tried to get past him, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me to his chest. It happened so fast that I wasn't able to react. He put his hand around my waist and held it so I couldn't free myself. He put his other hand on my cheek and pulled my head towards him.

"Alea, look at me" he whispered to me. "Alea," he repeated. I closed my eyes for a moment before looking into his.

A tear ran down my cheek again and he wiped it away with his thumb. Then he put his forehead on mine and we were only a few centimeters apart. I could feel his breath on my lips. Was enveloped in his scent and unable to move.

"Stop crying, please," he spoke barely audibly. I closed my eyes again and placed both my hands on his chest. I could feel his muscles tense under my fingertips through the fabric of his shirt.

"Why did you do that?" I repeated my question from this morning in a broken voice.

"Because I have to, Alea. There's no other way," he answered me. What a stupid answer. What's that supposed to mean? Because he has to? He is the CEO of course there is another way.

With all my strength I pushed myself away from him and ran down the stairs. I was aware that my things were still scattered on the stairs, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from him. And I never wanted to see him again. Never again.