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"I'd rather you not mingle with the other employees," he says, his tone firm.
"Hey, that's not fair!" I argue, my temper flaring. "You need to treat me better and trust me more!"
Giovanni sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Calm down. I trust you the precisely correct amount."
"Ugh, you're not even giving me any solutions to my problem!" I exclaim, slumping back in the chair.
"Perhaps that means there isn't a problem," he counters, his voice steady.
I start to throw a fit, crossing my arms and glaring at him. He stands up and walks around his desk, stopping in front of me. His hands find their way to my shoulders, and the touch has me shivering. It's as if electricity is coursing through my veins, igniting a fire within me that I struggle to keep under control. My heart races, and I can feel my cheeks flush with heat. There's a mixture of desire and longing that threatens to overwhelm me, but I refuse to let him see how much his touch affects me.
I look up at him, my heart still pounding from his touch. Giovanni's expression softens a little. "Okay, you win," he says with a hint of resignation in his voice. "I'll call some of the other secretaries and try to introduce you."
"Thank you," I sniff, trying to regain control over my emotions.
He walks back around his desk and picks up the phone, dialing a number. "Hi, Veronica? It's Giovanni. I have someone here who would like to join you for lunch today... Yes, that's right. Thank you." He hangs up the phone and looks at me with a small smile. "There's a group of secretaries going to lunch together today. You can tag along with them."
Overwhelmed by the sudden victory, I jump up and lean over the desk, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. His eyes widen, completely caught off guard. "Thank you!" I exclaim before rushing out of his office.
Once the door is closed behind me, I start to wonder if he'll be mad about what I just did. But I can't help myself - part of me wants to tease him, part of me craves his touch, and another part of me hates him. It's such a tangled web of emotions.
Nervously, I wait at my desk, trying to keep my composure. The elevator dings, and a few chatty women enter the room, all laughing and happy. One has red curls and freckles scattered across her cheeks, another is tall and slender with ebony hair pulled into a sleek ponytail, and the third has a curvaceous figure with sun-kissed skin and wavy blonde hair.
"Hi, I'm Lulu," I say, introducing myself with a smile.
Giovanni emerges from his office, and the women immediately start teasing him. "You're always so serious, Giovanni!" they chide him.
He plays along, maintaining his stoic expression. "My seriousness pays your salary, so you'd better like it."
The attractive blonde woman grins at him. "Oh, I like everything about you."
I can feel my jealousy bubbling up, but I try to keep it in check. Giovanni waves off her comment with a smirk. "Alright, alright, have fun at lunch today." He hands me a credit card. "Use this for everyone's lunch – it's on me today."
The women cheer, and I look at him with gratitude. Unexpectedly, he winks at me, making my heart flutter. Then I find myself being herded into the elevator and whisked across the street to a restaurant, my mind still reeling from the whirlwind of emotions and the exhilarating rollercoaster that is Giovanni Maldonado.
* * *
The moment we sit down at the restaurant, the women start to complain about their jobs. I listen, swirling the ice in my glass of water, but I don't have much to say. Their grievances seem so trivial compared to the chaos that has become my life since meeting Giovanni.
"Hey Lulu," the redhead, whose name is Emma, asks me, "how are things going with Giovanni? It must be overwhelming being here temporarily."
"Seriously," the tall brunette, Bianca, chimes in. "I don't know how Mariana managed to take care of him all those years."
"Speak for yourselves," says the attractive blonde, Vanessa, with a teasing grin. "I'd love to work for Giovanni. I'd find a way to crawl under his desk or on his lap any day of the week."
The other women laugh, and I force a smile, feeling my jealousy spike again. "Things are fine," I say, trying to sound casual. "He's not that bad to work for."
"Give it time," Bianca warns, her eyes full of pity. "They all get worse."
We finish lunch amid more laughter and gossip, but I can't shake the unease that settles over me. When I return to the office, Giovanni comes out of his office as if he sensed my arrival.
"How was lunch?" he asks, focusing on me.
"Fine," I say, though everything inside me screams otherwise.
He narrows his eyes, sensing something is off. "Did something happen?"
"Vanessa seems quite interested in you," I blurt out before I can stop myself. "And crude. She says she'd willingly sit in your lap."
