Monday’s a Bitch

TINA

“I can’t believe this dude messed up the email list!” Kelly cried.

“Hey, take a breath.” I patted her shoulder.

It was Monday again. And as typical of Mondays, it brought the gloomy and stressful atmosphere of work. After nearly sending Alejandro’s slut to the hospital—if not for numerous interventions—Kelly had been angry throughout yesterday, although she did apologize for dragging me out of the house and putting me in the humiliating situation. It wasn’t her fault, though. Some women were just born to be obnoxious bitches.

She sighed and obliged. Her large breasts seemed to swell even more as she took a breath.

“There.” I smiled at her. “Don’t you feel better now?”

“No,” she replied with a straight face. “Monday is such a bitch.”

I rolled my eyes at her attitude and began typing away. I had my own deadlines to manage.

“Why did that skank assume something happened between you and our boss?” Kelly asked out of the blue.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I paused. I glanced sideways to see her keen gaze on me.

“Tina, I know you’re not hiding anything from me,” she said.

Her intense gaze made me shiver a bit. Sometimes, there was no difference between her and Alejandro. They had this way of staring into your eyes that made you think they could see all the way into your soul. I felt like maybe she could already tell that something was going on between Alejandro and me. I was tempted to tell her about the date I had with Alejandro, but not now.

Kelly opened her mouth to ask, but her phone rang. She picked it up and her eyes narrowed. “Yes?”

She paused, and I knew she was waiting for the person on the other end to speak.

“I’m a bit busy at the moment, and you know that—today being a Monday.” She rolled her eyes.

A pink hue appeared on her cheeks.

“Bye!” Her voice came out in a squeak as she ended the call.

“Who was that?” She was acting odd, and I wanted to know why.

“Tito,” she replied as she got herself together.

“You mean the friend of our CEO you introduced me to?” I asked.

“The one and only,” Kelly replied. “That guy is really something—flirts shamelessly.”

“He seems cool.” I shrugged. “Give him a chance.”

“I don’t know.” Kelly twiddled her fingers together. “He seems like the playboy type. People like us shouldn’t date billionaires. They don’t see us. We’re just ants to people like them.”

I wanted to argue that they were just men. Men were flawed, but they were also sweet. “I liked him for you,” I said.

“You think we fit?” Kelly’s voice was uncharacteristically low.

“Yeah, his flirtatious attitude and your feisty nature are like yin and yang.” I smiled at her.

“Don’t you mean yin and yang?”

“Yeah. That.”

Kelly went silent. I saw the thoughtful expression on her face as if she was rearranging her future in her mind.

Then my phone rang. I looked at the screen and my heart fluttered at Alejandro’s name on the screen.

“Hello?” I picked up the call.

“Please come to my office,” he said and cut the call.

It was so weird to hear the word please from his lips. But it sounded right and sweet. I thought about what else I could do with those lips. We’d still never even kissed.

“Excuse me,” I said to Kelly.

She didn’t reply. She was clearly still thinking.

I made my way into Alejandro’s office. There was a large pile of files on his table, and he was on the phone. I stopped and admired the curves of his eyebrows as his expression shifted at intervals during the call. So businesslike and charismatic. I had the sense he was in control of his business.

He dropped the phone moments later, and his eyes focused on me.

“Morning,” I said as I stood by his table.

“Morning,” he replied. “How was the rest of your weekend?”

I scowled as I remembered the face of the woman that humiliated me.

“Horrible,” I said. I shouldn’t have said anything because I didn’t want to tell him about it. But I felt like he would have seen it in my face already.

His eyebrows raised in concern. “How? What happened?”

“Your so-called woman humiliated me yesterday.” I folded my arms.

“Natalie?” His eyes widened in surprise.

“The one and only. I was at lunch, minding my own business. I know you said you wanted to get to know me, but can we talk about her?”

I was taken aback at how fast his green eyes darkened. His jaw shook, and I knew he was gritting his teeth. He then stood up and moved toward me.

“I’m so sorry about that,” he said, placing his hands on my shoulders. I gazed into his eyes and nearly melted on the spot. The eyes were pleading. “She doesn’t speak for me. She and I are not a thing. Not really, anyway.”

“It’s okay,” I replied. I was such a sap.

“Why did you call me here?” I asked. I felt like we’d already broken the rule of doing only work at the office. I should have saved the relationship talk for later. But I liked being in his arms like this. Even knowing someone might walk in only made it more exciting.

He pulled away then. I couldn’t help but pout a little.

“I need you and Kelly to deliver those files to our second headquarters.” He nodded at the large pile of files on his table.

I inwardly deflated. He just wanted me to work.

“All right.” I nodded and made for the files.

“Another reason.” He held my hands and drew me closer to him.

I yelped as I collided against his chest. Slowly, I looked into his inviting eyes.

“I want you to have dinner with me this weekend at my house,” he said. “Please. Maybe it’s too soon for this, but I want you there.”

“Really?” I struggled to contain the glee in my voice.

“I wouldn’t be excited.” Alejandro’s brows knitted together in obvious annoyance. “It’s a family dinner, and my mother will be coming.”

That’s right, Alejandro had never mentioned his mother before. The news never mentioned her. I had thought for some reason that she was dead. The way he and his father were covered on the news, they were the only ones in the family making headlines. Peering into Alejandro’s face, I could see pain there.

“I’ll come,” I said nonetheless. “I would like to see what you do when you’re not at the office.”

“Haven’t you seen that enough?” His hands had wrapped around my waist and rested at the small of my back.

I liked the feel of his hands there.

“Twice doesn’t count.” I rolled my eyes.

“Okay, no need to be cheeky.” He shook his head with a smile. “I’ll pick you up.”