Chapter 2

"Mr. Smith, I appreciate the opportunity to conduct business with you, but the amount you are proposing for this deal rather insufficient." Scott Brown slid the catalog file onto the table as he spoke. I was having a dinner meeting with Mr Brown. "Mr. Brown, here at Galo Autotech, we pride ourselves on fair business practices. We take great care to ensure our business associates face no undue losses," I stated, pausing to gauge his reaction. After some negotiations, we eventually reached an agreement, we both rose to bid each other farewell. As we parted ways, I left the restaurant and made my way to the elevator. A conference phone call awaited me from my best friends,James Gomez and Paul Johnson. "How it went?"James asked, referring to the meeting I just finished. I thought to myself, how could he have possibly known that the meeting had ended and called me at the moment I left the meeting. "It went well” I said. Now we have a new rubber supplier for our tire manufacturing unit." I responded as I stepped out of the elevator into the parking lot. Sticking the phone to my ear, I marched towards my car. "So, heading home now?" He asked. "Yeah, need some sleep," I mumbled. A sudden frown appeared on my face when my eyes landed on two women standing near my car, doing something that I couldn't understand. Were they trying to steal my car? "See you tomorrow, guys." I hung the call and walked towards them. "What's going on here?" I asked in a hard, stern voice, annoyed. One of them scurried away in fear when she saw me but one was still there. Slowly, she turned to face me and I frowned deeply when I saw a familiar face. Miss Martins? Her wide eyes caught my attention, and I raised mine in confusion as something dropped from her hand. Lowering my gaze, I noticed a knife on the floor. Why on earth do you have a knife? I aksed. "Oh, hello, Mr. Smith. H...how was your m...meeting?" Her stuttering baffled me as I have never seen her stutter. Perplexed, I questioned, "It went well. What are you doing here? And what are you doing with a knife?" I asked again "It's a mall, sir, a public place, and I came for shopping. I...I shopped for a knife." She laughed nervously, her explanation not quite adding up. I simply nodded, unlocking the car with the remote key and heading towards the door. However, she unexpectedly blocked my way, almost colliding with my chest. At this point I could not understand what was happening in front of me again "Why are you blocking my way, Miss Martins?" I frowned, taking two steps back from her. She scratched the back of her neck, attempting to speak, but only mumbling to herself. Finally, she said, "I...uh, I want to know wh...what happened in the meeting, what all you talked about? Yeah, that is what I want to know." "Excuse me?" I questioned, wondering if she was even listening to herself. "Actually, I...I need to make notes so—" "If I wanted you to take notes, I would have asked you to accompany me to the meeting," I pointed out the obvious. "Yeah, that makes sense," she nervously laughed again. What in the world was happening to her? "Miss Martins, step aside, I have to leave," I stated firmly as I was close to being annoyed "No!" She suddenly shouted, once again coming closer to me. "I mean... No, I still have something to talk to you." "Talk to me in the office." I gently pushed her aside and took a step forward but abruptly stopped when my eyes landed on the hood of my car. My eyes widened. It was scraped! "Damn! Who did this to my car?" I screamed, as I was almost hurt by the sight of my scraped car. "I swear it wasn't intentional," I heard Miss Martins say. It's her? Gritting my teeth, I furiously glared at her. "It was you? Why? Are you crazy or what?" I shouted. "I swear I had no idea it's your car. I wouldn't have done it if I knew it's yours. I thought it's someone else's car, and—" "Mine or not, you can't do that to anyone's car!" I banged my fist on the hood. "Damn!" "Don't do that; you'll damage it more," she shrieked. Seriously? I said not believing what she just said Closing my eyes, I rubbed my face with my palms. "Tyler, don't be angry. Calm down," I mumbled to myself. Sighing, I looked at her. I had just signed a new deal, and I was in a good mood, but she ruined it. "We'll talk about this in the office tomorrow," I said in a calm tone, trying hard not to snap at her again. "In the office?" Her panic-stricken eyes studied me. "You are surely going to fire me, I know. Please, please don't do this. Cut my salary but don't fire me, please." She begged. Well, I wasn't going to fire her, as she was a very efficient employee, and I could definitely get my car repaired in minutes. However, I had to teach her a lesson for her foolishness. "Miss Martins, don't make me create a scene at a public place. I'll talk to you tomorrow," I said firmly. After rubbing the scraped part again, I sat in the car and drove off. ___________________________________________ Linda Martins "Oh no! He's definitely gonna fire me." I panicked so bad. My mind raced, desperately searching for a way to salvage the situation. Suddenly, a name screamed at me – Barbara Gomez, my best friend. She was kind of close with my boss, and involving her might be my saving grace. However, I hesitated. "I think I should first talk to him tomorrow, and if he doesn't understand, then I'll involve her. Yeah, that's better." I reassured myself, still dreading how I would face him the next day. "I told you it was a bad idea!" Susan's voice grated on my nerves. Traitor, I said to her I turned to face her in rage. "Bad idea? I was doing it for you, and what did you do? You left me alone with the devil." "Hey, I appreciate that you wanted to help me, but I was against the idea of car scrapping from the start. I sighed, realizing I couldn't be angry with her. It wasn't her fault; it was me who wanted to go crazy. "It's okay, Susan. I'm not mad at you. It's me who is unlucky." I sighed. "But hey, girl, your boss is too hot. It was the first time I saw him out of the screen." She teased, punching my upper arm. "Too HOT," I agreed, injecting sarcasm into my tone. "Hot-tempered. He's gonna show me his hotness tomorrow by firing me. And I swear if I get fired tomorrow, I'll burn your boyfriend alive because I'm in this situation because of him." I vented my annoyance in one breath. "Okay, I get it. I think we must head home before you burn this place down." She dragged me to her car, and we headed home. I couldn't sleep the whole night. So, when morning arrived, I bathed and quickly prepared for work. My lack of appetite prevented me from eating breakfast. Arriving at work, I knocked on his door, and he asked me to come in. "Good morning, sir," I chirped somewhat actively, hoping my upbeat voice would change his mood. "Oh, come on, Linda, as if it is possible." "Miss Martins, the car..." Oh god, he hasn't forgotten it yet. Panicking, I blurted out, "Sir, I... please listen to me. It wasn't intentional, and I told you I'll pay. If you want me to, you can cut my salary, but please, please, please do not fire me. I'm really—" "MISS MARTINS." Flinching, I abruptly stopped rambling. "The car accessories sales report I asked you to bring to me hasn't reached me yet. Where is it?" Huh? What is going on? I was confused. "A...are y...you not firing me, sir?" "Do you want me to?" "What?" I asked. "To fire you?" "What, No!" I exclaimed loudly. "Why would I want that?" "Then go bring me the reports, if not I will grant you your desire of firing you." "I still have my job!" I did a little booty shake outside his office.