Chapter 5

• I am on my way home after a long day at the office. My family and I got back from Sicily a few days ago. Once we got back, I decided to start working at my dad’s company. Helping Aurora at her office the other day reminded me how much I love my career.
• I finished my master’s a year ago and decided to take a break before working. I am not working for the mafia business but I am working for the one we use to deceive the government where all our money comes from. My father has a construction company. We build houses, hotels, anything, you name it, and we build it. We also have a few apartment complexes we rent out all over the United States.
• I park my car and walk inside the house. I take the stairs up to my room. Once I am in my room, I take off my clothes and hop into the shower. After I am done showering, I walk downstairs for dinner. I find mom and dad already seated at the dinner table; Santiago is nowhere to be found. He doesn’t live here, so I am not surprised he isn’t around.
• “Hello, Honey, how was your day at the office?” Mom says as I take my seat.
• “It was a bit stressful but fine.”
• “Were you able to get everything done today?” Dad asks.
• “Not all, but most. Hopefully, I should be done tomorrow.”
• “That’s good, Dear. I need you to do something else for me.”
• “How can I help Dad?”
• “The company is renovating the Costanzo hotel in California. Please, I need you to go down there tomorrow and see how everything is going?”
• “No problem, Dad. I can do that tomorrow.”
• “Lorenzo’s boy is in town, so once you arrive in California, pay a visit to him, ask if he has any complaints or additions he wants to make to the building.”
• “I will,” I say, wondering which of Mr. Costanzo’s sons is in California. I hope it is Thomas because we get along well, I also hope it’s Stefano, a little part of me wishes to see him.
• The following day I took the earliest flight to California. I just finished visiting the hotel, everything seems to be going fine. I am on my way to visit Stefano at his office. I don’t know if I am happy, he is the one in town. Knowing the type of person, he is, my mood can change from being happy to planning his death.
• It is a little late in the evening, I am going now because there was a lot, I had to check at the hotel site. I arrive at his office after a few minutes of driving, I pay the taxi driver and walk into the building. He knows I am coming, so he asked the receptionist to walk me to his office. Once we arrive, I thank her for bringing me and knock on his door.
• “Come in,” he says.
• “Hello, Stefano,” I say walking in.
• “Hello to you too, Andrea,” he says, for some odd reason hearing him say my name causes a shiver to go down my spine. I like the way my name rolled off his tongue. His Italian accent made my name sound hot. I shake my head to drive away the nasty thoughts that want to start building in my head.
• “How are you doing?” I say, trying to make small talk before we start with the business meeting.
• “When will your brother get here?” He asks, ignoring my greeting while looking at his wristwatch, checking the time.
• “He is not coming, why are you looking for him?” I ask, a little confused as to why he is looking for Santiago
• “I presumed you both were attending the meeting and also in town for inspections of the renovations.”
• “And why is that? You don’t believe I can do it alone because I am a woman,” I say, offended at his assumption.
• “I do not believe so, Miss Andrea,” he says, putting emphasis on my name. If I did not know better, I would say he is offended by my own assumption of him.
• “Then why are you asking for my brother?”
• “I asked for him because he has been in the business longer than you have, and I am also familiar with his ways in making deals. I assumed you were here to learn how the business works, and you just arrived before him. It has nothing to do with the fact that you are a woman.”
• “Oh, I am sorry I assumed that.” I say.
• “It’s fine, please let’s get down to business.”
• “Sure, let’s begin. I am here to take in any complaints or additions you would like to make to the renovation of the hotel,” I say, taking a seat in front of him.
• “Unfortunately, there are quite a few complaints and additions I would like to make.”
• “I am all ears, but do understand, if the additions are above the budget, We will have to increase the price.”
• “That won’t be a problem.”
• “Alright, what are your complaints.”
• “My first complaint is, I do not want you working on this project.”
• “Excuse me, and why is that?” I ask, confused by his request. I am starting to feel like Stefano has something against me.
• “Firstly, you are not an engineer or even an architect so speaking to you about the complaints I have will be a waste of time.”
• “I might not be any of those but my main purpose here is to get information from you and pass it down to them.”
• “Wouldn’t it be easier for both of us if I spoke to them directly?”
• “Yes, it would if you prefer for them to stop working and take their time to listen to your complaints; I am totally fine with it, even though it won’t be necessary given my use as a middleman,” I say, wondering why he is being so difficult.
• “I will decide if it is necessary or not.”
• “Ok, suit yourself.”
• The following day, I wake up a little late because of cramps. They kept me up all night and now I am late for my meeting with Stefano. I was able to get the architect and engineer to attend today’s meeting even with their busy schedules. I quickly get ready and take a cab to Stefano’s office. I arrive at the meeting room five minutes late.
• “I am so sorry I am late,” I say while walking into the room.
• “I am not surprised; please sit down let’s start the meeting,” Stefano says.
• “Why are you not surprised,” I ask, feeling a little taken back by his response
• “I am not surprised because you look like someone who doesn’t keep to time.”
• “Excuse me, I am late to our second meeting and automatically I am someone who doesn’t keep to time. I have a valid reason for being late today,” I say, feeling myself getting angry. I am sure my period has something to do with it, I don’t care because I am offended by his answer.
• “I don’t care what your reason is; it is either you are late, or you are on time. Now, sit down so that we can start the meeting.”
• “Just because you don’t know the reason that I am late doesn’t mean my reason is not valid.”
• “As I said, I do not care to know; sit down so that we can start,” he says, raising his voice a little while sounding frustrated.
• I look around and I realize everyone is looking at both of us. I do not want to sit down, I don’t want it to seem like he is telling me what to do, but there is nothing more I can say or do in this situation. I can’t tell him the reason I am late even if he wanted to know. It would be very embarrassing for me, so I swallow my pride and sit down. I still feel a little embarrassed with the way he spoke to me in front of everyone. The meeting starts once I take my seat and I try to forget what happened earlier.