I muttered a quick "Holy Mary, mother of Jesus, help my pitiful soul" before turning the doorknob. One look at the man behind the mighty desk and I understood why Madison was willing to work extra hours just to impress him. It was worth it. 100%
"Good morning, sir." My greeting made him look away from the Apple monitor and the light from the screen reflected on his blue light glasses. His face scrunched in mild confusion and something that looked an awfully lot like recognition flickered across his eyes.
"Oh, Miss Deborah Rodriguez. Please sit."
I halted in my steps. "You know me already?"
He took off his glasses and placed them gently on the table. "Wasn't I supposed to?"
I blinked repeatedly and glanced around me quickly. I knew rumors fly, but then I also knew the difference between rumors and sorcery. The fact that a man who just joined the company over the weekend already knew about me when I didn't even attend the ceremony was pure sorcery. What did he hear? Who did he hear it from? If it was from Gina, I might as well just pack my things and leave that very instant. "I can explain."
"Huh?" He pulled at his cufflinks and leaned back in his revolving chair. "I think there's a mix-up somewhere though. Do you know who I am?"
What was he trying to say? "Of course. You're the new CEO."
He shook his head vehemently. "No, no, no." He wasn't? I looked back to the grand door. So the office I was in at the moment wasn't the CEO's? The door didn't have a sign on it but I just assumed. I turned back to him and raised my brows in question. "I mean I am but that's not what I was talking about."
Just like that, he added an extra ten inches to my mountain of confusion. "I don't understand. At all."
He chuckled softly under his breath and I bit my lips to prevent the growl that wanted to emanate from them. "You really meant it when you said hopefully not." I felt my face scrunch in confusion and mild irritation. Who was the mad man and what did he do to the CEO? "You don't remember me at all? I won't say I'm surprised though, you looked like you could shoot my foot if you had the opportunity that day."
"We've met before today?"
The smile he gave me was charming but I was not in the mood to appreciate it. "Yeah, of course. In the elevator on Friday. Around 2pm or 3."
I frowned, deep in thought. Friday? That was the day I went to Bridgette's villa. My eyes squinted in concentration as flashbacks of that day played in my head. "Ohhhhh." Blurred images of a suited man who tried to flirt with me in the elevator came to mind. My eyes gaped open when I remembered how rude I was to the man. "Ohhhh, shit!"
"You remember me now? I never forgot you though."
I tried to study his face to gauge his disposition, but it was hard to concentrate when my mind was racing at jet speed. He couldn't still be mad about that incident, it wasn't like I was that rude.
Don't lie to yourself, you were terrible in the elevator that day. You even told him y'all weren't on nicknames basis. That's top tier rudeness.
My judgemental subconscious was there to set me on the right track. My momma always said that my arrogance would get into trouble but I didn't take heed to her warning. It could had decided to get me into trouble in a supermarket or something but no, it chose my workplace. The grin on the man's face looked a lot like mockery. He'd definitely have a lot of fun firing me. He pointed at the chair he offered me when I first entered his office.
"Miss Deborah Rodriguez, please sit." I winced as I trudged to the chair. My limbs felt heavy and the joints acted like they needed oiling. I had told him not to call me Debbie that day.
My whisper was barely audible, I seriously doubted if he'd hear me since I couldn't even hear myself. "You don't need to call me that."
Humor was evident in his tone. "Oh no, it's fine. I don't mind. It might have already rubbed off on me." My subconscious mocked me at that instant. "What do people here call you though?"
"Miss Rodriguez." That was what everybody in WeCare Inc called me. Everybody except Madison.
He nodded slowly. "I can work with that too." For every single word he spoke, the confidence I'd mustered in Amber's office went a little further down the drain. "Why are you here right now though? Amber sent you?"
"Yes, she did." I strangled the small sized supervisor in my head. She probably knew the exact fate I was going to meet but chose to act dumb. Silly woman!
"You weren't present at the swearing-in ceremony, were you?" I shook my head slowly because my heart in my throat was restricting the motion. "I noticed and enquired from Amber. She confirmed your absence."
He had noticed? That meant he had purposely looked for me. I was so screwed. "But I informed Amber prior to the event."
The young CEO rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Prior to me is at least a week before. Yours was barely a day before but you said you had health complications, so I can forgive that." I let out a sigh of relief. "That's by the way. The main reason you're here is because of the downsizing going on right now." My heart fell from my throat and went straight to my butt. I was going home unemployed. Nelly wouldn't need to look after Kayla anymore since I'd be at home all day. "You've probably heard about that from your coworkers."
"Yeah." I croaked. "So you're firing me now?"
He gave me a strange look. "Why would I?" Ohhhh, he wasn't? "I studied your file over the weekend and impressive doesn't cover it. It was impeccable. In my opinion, you deserve a raise but that's not my decision to make. I called you up here to commend your great work. We need more people like you in this company."
I let out a deep breath and tried to calm my erratic breathing. My life had flashed before my eyes at least 20 times in the past 10 minutes. "Uhmmm, thank you sir. I appreciate the compliment."
He nodded and stretched his hand for a handshake. There was a playful glint of challenge in his eyes, he knew I couldn't say no like the last time. I shook his hand quickly and started walking towards the door. More like running actually. My fingers had just wrapped around itself around the doorknob when his voice stopped me.
"Miss Rodriguez, please don't address me as "Sir" next time. Call me Andre."
I nodded quickly before racing out of the office.