CEO and Money

Sodemberg. The girl is a princess. But okay... I'll take that as quite a compliment coming from you. It would be the same as saying she's wonderful. My face remained impassive, and I could have thought of a thing or two to say to her and show her that I knew how to give compliments, but I preferred to keep quiet. Luckily for me, we were interrupted by the very little girl we were talking about, because, running and looking back, with no sense of direction, she ran straight into my legs and could have fallen backwards if I hadn't been quick enough to lean down and catch her.

Her little brown eyes widened as they looked into mine, as if she had just seen a big bad wolf. I could already imagine the kind of things her parents would say to her about me. "Did you hurt yourself?" I asked, holding her little arms, and she was visibly scared to death of me, so much so that she just shook her head in response. I heard Diana giggle, and she picked up the little girl, with the manner of someone who knew what she was doing. Then I was a little lost, watching the two of them, noticing that the little girl was gradually calming down in Diana's arms, until she started to laugh, throwing her head back. My secretary had a way with children, and she seemed to love them. It was mesmerizing and it made my heart ache to think that my son should be alive. He deserved to be treated by someone like that, although I could swear that Taís would never be exactly a loving mother. Pregnancy had been a mistake for her, something that would rob her of her youth and ruin her body – although she had access to all kinds of cosmetic procedures and abused them – so I couldn't imagine a scene like that. But there, in front of me, was a sweet and kind woman, beautiful and completely devoted to a little girl who wasn't even hers. With a playful wink at me, she carried the little girl away, in her arms, probably to return her to her father. I followed Diana with my eyes, watching her every step. When I looked at Flávio, my sales director, I saw him raising his glass to me, with a mischievous look. I knew what was going through his head, but worse was knowing what was going through mine. A million things I shouldn't think about.

I wasn't the kind of girl who went to parties or had fun constantly. Having to take care of a ten-year-old brother, my Friday nights usually consisted of Netflix, while I listened to him scream when he made some mistake on the video game I had bought with great effort last Christmas. João Pedro was a good boy, and I didn't have much to complain about. We got along well, with all the exceptions that are common to two people of such different ages and who have a relationship almost like mother and son. I had to set my limits, but I did it with all the love I could. And he understood. I understood perfectly well my daily struggle to make him a good man. I would have declined the invitation, but it was a company party. I really liked my colleagues, but I never participated in anything, and I knew that this made a difference. I had gotten a good job at a great company, and I could even try to advance there, with a bit of luck, since I didn't have a college degree. No matter how much everyone criticized my boss, the powerful Nicolas Sodemberg, calling him a tyrant, an executioner and a thousand other things, I had nothing against him. He was professional, respectful, competent, hard-working and... well... better looking than I should have noticed. The women in the office were unanimous in this regard. They all had an absurd crush on him, but the guy was an insurmountable wall. Always serious, always quiet, not giving anyone any openings. Not even me, with whom he would talk once in a blue moon – most of the time about work.