Chapter 41
Chapter 41
ROGERIO
It had been a few weeks since I had seen Charlotte. I wasn’t necessarily keeping count, but the conversation with Maria replayed in my mind occasionally. This morning, it was louder than ever, making me feel uneasy. Elena hadn’t mentioned anything about going to the estate. I couldn’t decide if it was because of the wedding preparations, but we have had conversations about a lot of things since she returned. She spent most of the time at her family’s estate and came over when she needed to.
I had no problems with the arrangement; it meant I had my space to myself. I needed time alone these days; everything left me feeling irked or annoyed, like something was missing. I tried to shake off the feeling and considered the possibility of Maria lying, but shook my head slowly.
“What would she stand to gain from that?” I muttered and stared at the clock on the wall. I had come to the office to complete some work for a potential investor, but they had rescheduled, thankfully. I was in no mood to try to convince anybody to do anything.
As much as their resources would be a great addition to ours, I could carry on without them. I had plans to change the dynamics of the family business, and I preferred to do it with just my money. I hoped they would cancel, but I only accepted the offer because of my grandfather. He can be an annoying person when you refuse to do his bidding, and I just accept, and then do what I want afterward. I remembered Maria’s words about my refusal to have important conversations at the appropriate time, but I shrugged them off.
I turned to the door as a faint knocking echoed in the room. “Esme, if you want to be heard, you’re going to have to
be a little bit louder.”
The door creaked open and my secretary’s head popped through, her body following suit, and a few seconds later, she was standing in the middle of the room. “I didn’t want to intrude on-”
“I have no meetings today. You said so yourself?” I questioned. “Right, Esme?”
She nodded in response and lowered her gaze. I sighed as she produced a file and placed it on the table. “I’ve prepared your schedule for tomorrow, but there’s something you missed a few days ago.”
“My fault or yours?” I demanded.
“Yours, you left the office early. I tried to tell-”
“Alright,” I cut her off. “What about it?”
“It’s a meeting with your ex–wife,” she responded.
“Then I’m glad I missed it,” I replied with a scoff. I wasn’t interested in anything that had to do with her. I wondered why she mentioned her. “Is that why you’re so…. jittery?”
“Is that even a word?” She blurted before she could stop herself. Realization hit her and her eyes widened as her face morphed into a panicked expression.
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I chuckled and shifted my gaze back to the clock. “I’d like to think so.”
She chuckled and looked around the room for a moment, then turned her attention back to me. “You have an appointment with Signora La Guerta today. You’re to meet her at a restaurant downtown. From there, you’ll stop at the docks to pick out a yacht that will take her friends and guests to the island for the… Are you listening?”
“Not really, you lost me somewhere. Something about a meeting downtown?”
“Yes, with Signora La Guerta,” she uttered firmly.
“Summarize everything else. I have time to spare today but I don’t want to spend it listening to you list things I know I’m not going to enjoy.”
“It’s part of the plan for your wedding, sir. You should be-”
“Excited? Why? What if she leaves again?” I blurted and the atmosphere in the room became tense. “I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t be asking you that.”
“No, it’s alright, sir. It’s okay to have-”
With a sigh, I answered back. “Don’t do that.”
“What?” she asked.
“The talk about cold feet, or whatever you’re going to say about it,” I said. “Nobody wants to hear that. Tell me about this meeting. Give me the short version.”
“Restaurant. Docks. She leaves for the island on Friday.”
“That’s it?” I inquired.
“Not really. She was supposed to go to the shop to pick up the dress last week but she was somewhere else.”
I sighed. “Why am I supposed to know this?”
“She was harassing your ex–wife, Signor,” she muttered.
“Harassing?”
“She broke through the gates with some handymen, walked into the estate, and started doing renovations to the hallway,” she replied.
“How do you know about this?” My thoughts drifted to Maria’s call as she responded.
“A staff member reported it to the police. She stated that the gates were broken and Signora Elena claimed that there was no one at the gate when they entered, so they started working on the house.”
“That’s ridiculous. Charlotte and Maria live there.” I slammed my hand on the desk. “And she knows it.”
“Yes,” she stated. “But she claims it’s her house now.”
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“I’ll handle that, but why is it important for me to know?”
She handed me a sheet of paper. “This is gossip for the blogs. If this report goes out a few weeks before your wedding, you might not like the buzz that’ll come with it.”
“Why is she doing this?” I yelled, frustrated. “Why?”
“Signora Elena? You’d have to ask her, sir.”
“What’s going to happen to the report?”
“That’s the last sheet, Signor,” she whispered. “The others have been shredded. I thought you had to see it at least.”
“Wow, you like your job that much?” I groaned.
“Not really, but it keeps me surviving so I’d like to keep it.”
“And here I thought you were doing it to protect my reputation,” I said with a chuckle. A smile played at the corners of her lips and she looked away.
“It’s a situation that benefits everyone if it stays tucked away.”
“I agree. I want you to keep an eye on Elena. I don’t know what she has up her sleeves but my family and I didn’t come this far by trusting everybody,” I ordered. “Especially if they’ve betrayed you once.”
“I understand,” she mumbled. “I’ll keep a watch.”
“Is there anything else I need to know, Esme?”
“That’s all for now,” she stated.
“I need to get some food,” I said as I stood up.
“Oh, you could-”
“I’m not waiting till the meeting with Elena. I plan on getting some food and then finding something else to occupy my mind with,” I scoffed. “If I’m going to be stuck doing boring wedding activities, I might as well give myself a treat. Take the rest of the day off.”
She nodded in response as I picked up my suitcase, tucked my phone in my pocket, and reached for the coat sprawled on the couch a few steps away. She followed closely as I exited the room, and soon after, the sound of heels clicking against the floor ceased. I assumed she had returned to her cubicle and made no move to say anything else. I hadn’t decided on the restaurant to eat at yet, and for a good reason; I had no prior plans to go anywhere.
I downplayed my emotions while speaking to Esme but in reality, I was trying to process what had happened. As I drove out of the lot, I replayed her words in my mind. Elena had broken through the gates and started a ruckus over
an estate.
“Whose bright idea was that?” I muttered as I sped through the streets. I decided to visit my favorite restaurant in the city: Ghenerio’s. I needed to distract my mind from their delicious cuisine and maybe stopover at an art gallery
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to buy a few pieces for my apartment.
I hadn’t been out alone in a while and I decided that it might be a good time to try. I took a bend in the street as the sun shone brightly; its radiance reminded me of the ring I had given Charlotte and I wondered if Elena had seen it. If she was being territorial right now, the sight of it would enrage her further. I had designed it especially for Charlotte. It was our way of trying to convince my grandfather and mother that she meant everything we had told
them.
They didn’t fall for the scheme but they didn’t interrupt the wedding either. Marriage was a prerequisite to being at the helm of affairs and it served its purpose. I tried to steer my thoughts away from the time I spent with her but as the sound of people blurred into the distance, the farther I got, I thought about how Charlotte must have felt by Elena’s intrusion. It felt odd that she hadn’t reached out to me about it but as the car slowed down to a halt in front of the restaurant, I understood it.
If someone had told me to stay away from them, especially if they had the power to make my life harder, I’d stay away too. I wasn’t sure what to do about the impression that Elena had my approval. Regardless of how disturbing this was, I didn’t want to break the no–contact rule. But then, if Maria had been angry enough to write a report, perhaps this wasn’t something to toss aside.
I thought about Elena; when we were together, everything seemed great, but I still held on to my doubts, and now she was pulling stunts like this. It made me start considering the possibility of her return being a ploy for something else. The idea seemed far–fetched, but then I couldn’t wrap my head around the entire scenario. I intended to mention it to her later, but for the time being, I was thankful that it would never be mentioned again.
