Chapter 35

• Three weeks had passed since Leonardo had fired those two secretaries, and if Emma had known the consequences that this would bring, she would have insisted on not having them fired; everyone in the company pointed an accusing eye at her, everyone told her that it was her fault that those two innocent girls had been fired, but no one told her directly, because, according to what Emma had heard, everyone was afraid that she would go to Leonardo to tell him about it. It seemed crazy to her how she went from being a nobody in that company, to being one -not to say the most- of the most hated ones there, cruel looks she met at every corner, if she needed help, and Leonardo was not by her side, nobody offered it, but to her joy, he was always by her side, even, to a point somewhat... suffocating for Emma.
• "I'm quite a romantic man when I fall in love" she remembered his words, a smile tore from her face, she couldn't say she was lying, in a month, she had received the love that in years no one -not even her own family- had given her; gifts, compliments, protection, kisses, more kisses... they hadn't gotten to anything more, because she hadn't allowed it, but more than once they had been on the verge of getting to much more, to the touch of doing it, like that time when Leonardo was starting to take off his clothes, in his glistening eyes she could see his desire to possess her, and there was no need to lie to herself: she wanted to feel him, but she believed it was too soon yet, maybe another month and she would allow him to do it. The urgency in Leonardo's eyes somehow made her equally desperate, making her consider whether it was really necessary to wait any longer.
• Emma tilted her head, it was Saturday, there was no work, and Leonardo had told her that he had very important matters to attend to, that he could not be with her, Emma had reacted calmly, they spent all their time together, there was no problem, although she had to admit that she liked to listen to his endless anecdotes and she liked to see the adorable sparkle in his eyes every time he talked about her childhood, there was no room for any doubt, every day she fell a little more in love with him, and for the first time in her life, what people would say about her, had not been an obstacle, but she could not get out of her head, how everyone saw her as a slut.