CHAPTER 10

Bianca POV

My boss was already in his office? I could hear sounds from inside his office, which confirmed my thoughts. That was new. I always arrived before him, so what changed today? I had just gotten to work, and was suprised to see that Mr Alexander in was already in his office. Quickly fixing up my hair and brushing out a few creases from my blouse, I walked to the door connecting my office to his. I gave a knock and the next second, I heard him ask me to come in. The moment I stepped in, I stumbled backwards, probably due to the intensity of his smile. So far, I had worked for Alexander Russo for close to a month, but this was the first time he was actually smiling at me. Genuinely.

Don't get me wrong, he never talked down on me or made me feel less of myself, but he had never actually smiled at me so widely. Not being able to hold back a smile of my own, I proceeded to ask him the reason why he had gotten to work so early today.

"Good morning Sir. You're very early today."

"Oh, good morning Bianca. I am early indeed! How was the weekend?" At his question, I realized the weekend hadn't really gone as I had planned, but nonetheless, I gave him the expected answer.

"It was fine Sir. I got the rest I deserved." I didn't know how the second statement sounded after I had already said it.

"Hmmm." He sighed, folding his lips in a thin line as he looked at nowhere in particular. "I see the work load is too much for you to handle Bianca." He muttered, making my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.

"N..no..no! Not at all Sir." Oh Jesus! I should have just held that sharp tongue of mine. Losing my job on a Monday wasn't such a wonderful thing! I was yet to even get my first salary and I was already being relieved from my job.

I could already feel my cheeks and neck go hot, signaling my aqueous humor that supply of tears were needed.

"It's fine." He flashed me a warm smile, reminding me just how easy it was for the rich to do away with your service. There were a thousand and one people just waiting for you to take the fall, so they could replace you. The tears were about clouding my eyes when he said another thing. "Just make sure to remind me to let the finance officer know he should add some bonuses to your salary for the month. You truly deserve it." Hearing what he just said made my legs suddenly go weak. I quickly held onto the fridge resting on the wall, in order not to fall. He just chuckled and shook his head.

"Thank you sir." I released a breathe that I had held in for a while.

"You're welcome Bianca." He nodded. "Now, back to work." He muttered, wearing his signature straight face. "I dropped a few files on your desk. Please rearrange every document in each file according to their dates. Also make a call to Pablo's office and ask him to see me in the next 5 minutes."

"Okay sir." I nodded, before quickly walking out of his office. The moment I stepped out of the door, I released yet another sigh. God! I had given myself a scare in there. I looked at my desk, but couldn't find the files that my boss had just talked about. Where had they gone? Just then, a knock came on the door.

"Come in." I said and waited for whoever was behind the door to step in. It was Lydia, and she had some files in her hand.

"Good morning Bianca." She waved at me with her free hand.

"Good morning Lydia." I gave a small smile. "You need anything?"

"Yeah." She walked to my desk and dropped the files she had been holding. "The boss had asked me to change the files which were worn out. Here, they are." Ohh... she was the one with the files I had been looking for.

"Oh, thank you." I muttered.

"Yeah, you are welcome." She replied, before walking out of my office. I walked to sit on the chair behind my desk when I suddenly remembered that my boss had asked me to put a call across to Pablo. I pulled my work phone out of the first drawer of my desk and quickly dialed his office number. After a few beeps, he picked up.

"Good morning Bianca."

"Good morning Pablo. The boss has asked you to see him in 3 minutes time." I supplied. Yes, I had to reduce the time frame because I had already wasted some time.

"Alright." He replied, then hung up immediately. I looked at my wrist watch to see it was just 8:12 am, which meant I had roughly 30 minutes, before going out to get my boss's coffee. But then, he had arrived earlier today, which meant he'd need his coffee earlier as well. Without wasting any more time, I stood up and made my way to the coffee shop at the cafeteria on the ground floor. On my way down, I came across Pablo who was rushing on his way up to go see the boss.

I had successfully gotten his coffee and was back in my office. I dropped his coffee on my desk, before taking out a serviette from my desk drawer. Wrapping the serviette around the coffee cup, I quickly made way to the connecting door and gave a knock. I hadn't gotten any response, so I waited for some seconds before walking in to see him smiling into his phone. No one had to tell me who it was on the other end of the line. It was probably Madame Bella. I hadn't been here for so long, but it would be nearly impossible not to know who the woman was. Not only from the gossips around the office, but from my boss himself. It was safe to say that the man was obsessed with his wife. You could only catch him smiling this wide when it had to do with the woman. Immediately he noticed my presence, he literally rolled his eyes. I could hear his wife asking him what the matter was, and he replied.

"My P.A just stepped in to interupt this wonderful session with you." He threw me a glare which wasn't annoying in any way. If anything, it made me want to laugh.

"My apologies sir." I muttered underneath my breathe, but I'm sure he heard me.

"Let me call you back baby." He said, before ending his video call. I quickly dropped the coffee on his desk as he looked at me and nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you Bianca."

"Always at your service sir."

"That's perfect then!" He gave a tight lipped smile. "I need you to send a bouquet of white roses to my Bella." This wasn't the first time I was running such errands for him, so I simply nodded my head in understanding.

"Do you need me to do anything else for you sir?"

"That should be all for now." He replied. With that, I walked out of his office and quickly put a call across to the flower shop, which was fast getting used to my frequent orders.

"Hello ma. You need the usual package today?" The florist asked me, even before I could speak.

"Yes, please. Have it delivered to the usual location. Your money would be wired to you in some seconds." With that, I hung up the call and made to settle down on my sit, when I saw a sticky note on my desk. I quickly plucked it off and went through the contents. It was from Pablo. He asked me to meet him at the executive relaxation lounge. Thankfully, it was just a little distance from my office, so I quickly stood up and made my way there. When I got there, I saw him sitting on one of the couches, scrolling through his phone.

"Pablo?" I called, and he looked up to see me.

"Hey." He smiled, standing up and walking towards me. "I think it's time to pay back my favour." He said, making me sigh. Only God knows what he was going to ask of me now.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Nothing serious. I already promised you'd do something that isn't so stressful. The boss asked me to deliver a file this morning. I just need you to do it in my stead."

"Am I supposed do it now?"

"Yes. You should be off in the next..." He paused to look at his wrist watch. "...ten minutes."

I thought about it and it didn't really sit well with me, to abandon my post until I was done running Pablo's errand. What if my boss needed me when I was still out?

"Fine." I muttered.

"Don't scowl now!" He chided, making me scoff.

"Where, and to whom am I delivering it?"

"M. RUSSO. Please the file should be directly delivered to Mr Manuel. That is what the boss had instructed." Suddenly, I felt my stomach dance in excitement. It was Manuel Russo's company I was supposed to go after all! Oh, how did I get so lucky today?!

"Okayyyy." I dragged my word, trying not to suddenly appear so enthusiastic to Pablo. "If you want me there on time, I need to get going now."

"Alright!" He clapped his hands together, before turning to pick the file lying on the couch he had gotten up from. "Here. This is the file."

"Okay." I collected it from his hand and began walking away.

"Smile, love!" Pablo yelled behind me. "Remember I did you a favor!" If only Pablo knew how glad his errand made me feel, he wouldn't have bothered yelling so loud. The only problem was that I didn't know whether or not to inform my boss that I'd be delivering the files to his cousin myself. After thinking about it for a while, I hatched up a plan and smiled to myself.

I had already taken my purse from my bag and gone out of the office, when I sent a message to Pablo. 'You have serious running stomach, okay?' That was incase my boss called him.

Next, I called my boss and he picked immediately.

"Bianca?"

"Sir, I'm so sorry. I would have informed you before leaving, but it was an emergency."

"What's wrong Bianca?"

"Pablo has a running stomach. He wanted to go deliver the files you asked him to, but since he couldn't manage with his sick stomach, he had to ask me to do it for him. So I'm currently on my way to Mr Manuel's office now."

"That's fine Bianca. Just be quick about it and come back to work."

"Alright sir." I said and hung up the call, relishing in my luck!

I walked into the very tall and large building, thinking to myself how much money the Russos really had. Here I was, thinking my boss's company was very big, but now I was seeing Manuel's, I probably didn't know anymore. I walked in and gave the saucy looking receptionist a wave. She had waved back, but seemed reluctant to do so. Putting her funny attitude aside, I focused on what I really came to do.

"Good morning. Please where is Mr Manuel Russo's office?"

"And who are you?" The lady asked, not sparing me a glance.

"I am Mr Alexander Russo's personal assistant. I have a file to give to Mr Manuel urgently. If you don't mind, please let me know what floor his office is located."

"The sixth floor." She replied, quickly looking at me and taking off her eyes. Wow. This was someone I didn't even know. What was the reason for her attitude?

"Thank you." I gave a small smile, and rushed to the elevator that was almost closing off after two men had gotten in. I was able to get to it before it closed off, and smiled to myself in victory. I got into the elevator and punched in my floor number. The place had been quiet for some time, until one of the men had said 'hi' to me.

"Hi."

"Hello." I replied.

"You work here? Never seen your face around."

"No, I don't work here." I smiled. "I work at A. RUSSO. I'm only here to deliver something to Mr Manuel."

"Ohhh!" He nodded. "By the way, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Antonio." He stretched his hand for a shake, which I obliged.

"My name is Bianca. Bianca Bianchi."

"Alright Bianca. I would see you around." He shot me a really cute grin. Just then, the elevator opened and he walked out. Okayyyy. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about such an introduction. He had said he would see me around, but I highly doubted that.

I got to Mr Manuel's office floor, and I could see a door, with 'CEO M. Russo', boldly written on it. That should be the one. I quickly walked up to the door and knocked a few times. After some seconds, I heard a feminine voice asking me to come in. I walked in to see that the design of his office wasn't so different from my boss's. His personal assistant's office was connected to his. I looked at the middle aged woman and I greeted.

"Good morning ma."

"Good morning!" She grinned. "Do you have an appointment with the boss?"

"Uhmm..." I scratched the back of my ears, not knowing how to answer her question. "I'm Mr Alexander Russo's personal assistant. He says your boss is expecting me."

"Oh!" She nodded in understanding. "He is currently in with Miss Francesca. Just wait until they are...." She was still talking when the door flung open, an angry looking lady walking out of it. Realizing it wasn't just Manuel's personal assistant that was in the office, she released a breathe and readjusted her classy looking dress.

"See you some other time Julia." She smiled and walked away.

"Bye ma!" Julia replied with a wave, as the lady exited the office. The lady looked like a rich heiress, and it seemed like she had a disagreement during her meeting with Manuel.

"You can go in now." The woman whom I had come to know as Julia, said. I stood up from where I had been sitting, and walked to the connecting door. I knocked on the door and I heard an angry voice asking me to come in. Wow! It was just my luck that I had the opportunity to see Manuel Russo on a day he was angry. Here goes nothing! I pulled open the door and walked in. He looked up and gave a sigh when he saw me. I gave a small smile, but he didn't show any sign of recognition simply showed that he had forgotten who I was. Sad. He's eyes remained on me though, clearly trying to remember who I was.

"Sorry, your face seems to be..." He had started talking, but I didn't let him complete his statement, before speaking up.

"My boss sent me to deliver these files to you." I informed, raising the files I held in my hands. Suddenly, he seemed to have remembered who I was and gave a sigh.

"My apologies Brenda. I'm sorry I couldn't remember who you were." Wasn't today the best day? How did one feel when their crush forgot their name?

"It's totally understandable sir. You have a lot of things you're handling, which doesn't give you the opportunity to memorize the face of a random lady." I smiled, trying not to look like I was offended. I had no right to be. "And I'm Bianca." I finally corrected, making his eyes go wide in shock. Now, that was funny.

"Bianca." He muttered my name, making the small hairs on the back of my neck stand erect, due to how masculine his voice sounded. "It's nice to meet you again." The way he smiled at me made me my belly go jelly.

"Here." I walked up to his desk and dropped the files, not wanting to keep standing and staring at his really handsome face. He was so handsome. In a classy and rugged way.

"Alright." He nodded. "Thank you very much Bianca. And I would try not to forget your name next time I see you. Have a nice day." With that, I turned around and made my way out of his office. Was that it? That was all?! Nothing more? I couldn't believe I had just come to Manuel Russo's office, only to give him some files. Just wow.

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I normally didn't wait up for my lunch periods, but today was different. Already knowing Laura wouldn't come to call on me for lunch today, I kept on waiting and checking the time for when it was going to be time for lunch. It wasn't because I was hungry, it was because that was my only free time to talk to her.

Eversince I had shown up at her place unannounced during the weekend, we hadn't spoken. I particularly knew that after what I had found out, she wouldn't love to speak to me, probably because she felt ashamed. So I waited until the weekend was over, so we could talk physically. I shook my head as I realized a lot of things weren't really as it seemed to be. Laura was a maid at Ricardo's family home? Only God knew all the things she had suffered in the hands of Ricardo. It was really so sad. Once my alarm rang, informing me that it was time for lunch, I quickly picked up my phone and made my way out of the office.

I had gotten to the cafteria and sat at our usual spot, waiting for her to show up, but she didn't. I decided collect my food and start eating as I waited for her to come. I had done just that and was halfway through my meal when Ricardo showed up, walking to the table he usually sat. I waited for Laura to show up as well, but she didn't. All the while I ate, I could feel Ricardo's eyes burning holes through my head, but I didn't spare him a single glance. The moment I was done with my meal, I rushed out of the cafteria and made my way to the elevator. I was going to see Laura in her office. Was she really thinking she could avoid me? The moment I got to her floor, I walked down to her own office and gently pulled the door open. There she was, sitting and staring at nowhere in particular. She wasn't crying, but I could see the tears clouding her eyes, and the look on her face. I recognized that look. It was a look of self pity. She hadn't even noticed my presence.

"Laura." I called. Turning to look at me, her tears finally dropped.