5Chapter 4
I sat at my desk trying to get work done, but as I looked at the files on top of the desk they seemed very uninteresting. I picked up the cell and started to dial Mike. I had to know what was going on. The suspense was killing me.
But I stopped before I hit 'dial'. Why did I even care? Why was I so curious now?
I decided not to call so I set the phone back down. However, the moment I did- the phone rang: "Mike".
"Hello," I spoke into the call.
"Michael is a pig. Why are we still after his dirty money?"
"What happened?" I asked, ignoring the jibe about the acquisition.
"He touched her. He grazed her leg and if I hadn't shown up, I am damn sure he would have tried more."
I could hear how upset he was over the phone.
"And...Valarie?"
"I dropped her off. I'm sure she's walking around somewhere, her head in the clouds. I couldn't talk to her yet. Need to blow off steam."
"Alright, I'll see you later." I hung up, the phone touching my lips, "What are you up to Valarie?" I said out loud.
I was a little surprised to see Michael make a move like that. What was he thinking?
I shook my head. I really needed to get this work finished. I decided to take a walk to clear my head.
I told my secretary to hold my calls until I got back.
"Of course, Mr. Valencio!" She replied in her sickly sweet voice. I shook my head as I walked out. Women.
I took the elevator down to the lobby. I felt my head move a little to the snazzy elevator music. I loved looking at the architecture of the building. Modern, yet soft. Glass and white steel dominated the ceiling and the side frame of the building. The sunlight illuminated into it and splashed the floors- you almost needed to wear your sunglasses. Where could Valerie be? What did Mike mean she's walking around with her "head in the clouds"?
When I saw her at the far right sofa, near the entrance, I understood immediately what Mike meant. She looked like a lost little puppy, gazing up at the world. Waiting, thinking, "What happened"?
I walked her way.
I cleared my throat, unsure of what else to do or say, "Ahem".
"Oh" She looked up at me, "hello".
"Mike just called," I figured a straight approach probably was the best, "I'll, um, speak to Michael."
She stood up, "Listen, it's fine. He...um, he's harmless. I can handle it. Mike sometimes gets too angry too quickly."
I nodded, "I know Mike, but I don't think I've seen him this upset before. And Michael's behavior isn't allowed."
There was a small pause and I cleared my throat again, "Um," my voice became softer, "Are you alright?"
She looked at me again. She didn't speak, but there was something in her eyes- she wanted to be honest, but went with the safe route, gently saying "Yes".
I nodded. Was I supposed to be having this conversation with her? Should I have HR call her?
"Do you want to speak to anyone?" I asked, trying not to sound hesitant.
She shook her head, "I'll just head back to my office. I, um, need to get some work done."
She looked around for a second before she looked back at me. She gathered her bag and said goodbye as she took the same path back to the elevator.
I sighed as my brain kept turning wheels. She was so odd. I shook my head and shook off the feel of the conversation. I'd just wait for Mike to get back and see what he could do for her. I sat down where she had been sitting and continued to think about her odd-ness, even though I had told myself not to.
She didn't seem shaken in a traumatic way, yet shaken she looked. She seemed strong enough to handle other people's bullshit. What bothered her about the situation with Michael then? I mean, the creep had taken advantage. I had heard rumors of Michael asking her on dates and saying lewd things to her. With this, I now knew they must be true.
"Zach," Mike's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and nodded, "You alright?"
He nodded, "I'd rather talk in private. Let's go to my office." We walked the short distance to the elevator and to his floor. I knew Valerie's office was on the same floor so I didn't argue. Maybe I could stop by after and she how she was doing. As we walked around the corner of the cubicles, I looked to the right and saw Mary sitting at her desk. Valerie's door was open, but I couldn't see a figure through the frosted glass.
Mike went to sit down on his chair and I took a seat at a chair on the other side of the desk. As his office was much smaller, there was no space for any other furniture. A sofa and a bar cart would have been nice right now, even though I wasn't one to take a drink during work hours.
"So, what happened?" I asked Mike, whose face was now scrunched up in thought.
"He grazed her leg. When I burst through his doors, she was on the other side of the room and he was walking towards her." He scoffed, "Probably to try again, I can only imagine."
"She's okay though Mike," trying to calm him.
"You don't understand our relationship Zach."
"So tell me," I shrugged nonchalant, but now very curious.
"She's like a sister to me. I grew up with her and have seen her through the best and the worst. I know I don't say it much, even to her, but I absolutely love her. And I'll be damned if someone like Verbaas is going to try and take advantage of her." The scowl appeared again.
"She seems very capable of taking care of herself," I said in response to the last bit. I knew Mike cared about her, but never knew how much until now. I knew Mike wasn't a 'touchy feely' guy- it was very interesting to see him talk about his feelings.
"She is. She could cut him down instantly, but I'm sure she didn't because of the acquisition. She kept ushering me out of the room. The Val I know is a fighter."
I crossed my legs, "So are you telling me I should pull her off of this?"
Mike looked up at me for the first time. I could see something in his eyes that looked dangerous. He seemed to struggle with his next statement. "You're the boss. It's not my decision."
Now it was my turn to scoff, "Listen, I get that it was my decision to have her do this. But I can't take responsibility of his actions."
"I'm not blaming you, Zach. I'm saying that my personal opinion is yes, take her off of it. But I understand what you're trying to accomplish with her. And ultimately, it's her decision on what she wants to do."
He snapped his fingers, "This is a great segue into dinner!"
I shook my head, "What?" How did the conversation shift so suddenly.
"Look, we've been trying to figure out how you can get to her personally, right?" I nodded yes, "It's too hard at work, we all have things to do and not enough hours. And can't at your house meetings, because that's weird."
"Right, that makes a lot of sense," I said making a face that said 'no duh'.
"As much I hate to take advantage of this situation, it's the perfect way to get Val out of the office and have a personal conversation. Pretend your lunch tomorrow is taken with a meeting. Ask her to dinner on pretense of talking about all this." He said excitedly, he was standing up and waving his hands in the air while talking. As crazy as he looked, his thought made some sense.
"This is ridiculous still. Maybe I should try talking to my parents again." I stood up too, hands slipped into my pockets.
"Zach, how many times did you grovel?" Mike said with a pointed look.
I sighed. He was right, in the last few days, I had tried everything to reason with my parents. They had made an agreement with Valerie's parents that this wedding would happen. It would be announced at the next board meeting, then to the public. I had 6 months to figure out how to win her over. Lucky me, I was given full autonomy of how I could achieve that. I could tell her the truth, 'wine and dine her', or somehow get our parents to do the same with her. My choice however. Again, lucky me.
Obviously, telling her the truth seemed to be least favorable idea. Who knows how she would react to that. I didn't want to strong arm her. The idea of the parents doing the same thing to her seemed pretty favorable to me, however Mike vetoed that idea quickly. He was really going for the wine and dine her.
"Fine. Let's do it." I closed my eyes. Hell, here we go.
"You shouldn't wait too long- go do it now!" Mike came around the desk and turned me towards the door.
"Alright, alright don't push," I laughed at his enthusiasm. I walked out of his office, but stopped and turned around, "Wait, what do I say?"
Mike laughed, "Seriously playboy? Just ask her to dinner!"
He shooed me with his hands, "Go".
I sighed and straightened up. Why was I nervous suddenly? I felt my stomach drop, and something made a noise. I shook my head again when I remembered the way she looked up at me in the lobby.
I walked my way to her office, past Mary. I knocked, but still stepped in as the door was open.
She wasn't there.
"Oh, Mr. Valencio, she actually went to go see you in your office," Mary said as she stood up.
"Oh, alright. Thank you," I nodded at her, but stood in her office a moment longer. Her desk was clean, her bag sitting on the floor behind her chair. She had frames on her walls of pictures and a small plant on desk across hers. It looked homey and lively.
I walked back to my office rather quickly. Why was she there?
I stopped before entering. The elevators opened to a small lobby before entering the double doors of my office, the only office on this floor. There was also a board room up here and a small waiting area. Nothing else- and definitely not lively as Valerie's office. Why was I so anxious?
As I stepped into the office, the first view was the secretary's desk.
"Mr. Valencio, welcome back!" She stood up, but I ignored her and looked to my right. Valerie Parv was twiddling her thumbs and shaking her leg, waiting for me.
"Ms. Parv is waiting to see you, just let me know when I can bring her in," the secretary still chirped. Valerie stood as she saw me, and with a small nervous smile said hello.
"Come with me Valerie," I said as I walked past them both and into my office, "Close the door behind you."
I looked behind me. She had entered the office and the door was closed, but she was looking around. Too bland for her, no doubt. I pointed to the sofa area, "have a seat". Did I sound cold?
"What can I help you with?" For some reason, telling her that I had gone to her office seemed to friendly. I decided not say anything.
"Um, Well I just came to apologize if the situation earlier caused any problems with Michael."
I was about to sit down, but what I had just heard stopped me. "I'm sorry?"
I closed my eyes, why did I say that?
"Oh, well-"
I cut her off, "No, I'm sorry I understood what you said, it just took me by surprise." I shook my head, and smiled at her, "Why don't we go to dinner tomorrow? I'm booked for lunch."
I wanted to smack my head. When had I lost the touch to woo women? That had to be the worst way to ask anyone to dinner. Be rude, cut someone off, and expect them to say yes. Bravo Zachary.
"Oh, um tomorrow?" she said dumbfounded. Was she creeped out by the smile?
I pulled my smile back, "It'll just give us a chance to talk about the situation. And yes, tomorrow."
"Um sure."
"Great, then we can continue this tomorrow. Is that alright?" I sounded like a maniac even to myself.
"Yes, I'll, um," she looked at the door, "head back to my office." She turned awkwardly and walked out of the office.
I sighed and sat down on the chair. That had to be the most awkward conversation ever.
-Author's Note
Hi everyone! Thanks for waiting for the new chapter. It's definitely a slower pace than the 1st edit. However, I think it'll help make the story more realistic if it's not rushed past the foundation of the relationship. Thanks for reading and I'm actually really excited to see where this goes.
Please let me know your thoughts- if you have any ideas!
jd