"I didn't ask you to pull this file, take it back and bring the right one" Nicholas said exasperated.
"This is one of the files you asked for look" I said showing him the list.
"Can you just bring this one" he said handing me a sticky note with the name of another file.
"Sure" I said and stood up and walked towards the filing room.
As soon as I came into work Nicholas has been riding my ass about this case, I understand this is my job and my job is to assist lawyers, but he tossed common courtesy out the window. If he is acting like this with me because he's comfortable enough with me to treat me like this then I feel comfortable enough with him to beat his ass.
I huffed as I looked for the file, getting annoyed more and more with Nicholas the longer it takes me to look for the damn file. I rummaged through the filing cabins and found the file, I looked at my watch and saw that it took me 5 minutes to find the file, which is considered a long time.
I basically ran back to Nicholas' office before he got even more bitchy with me. "There you are, I'm going to the court house real quick I'll be right back. I'll leave you with these so you can start drafting up the documents" He said while grabbing his briefcase.
"Sounds good, I'll be working on that in my office" I said and started grabbing all the files we were looking at from his table.
"Thank you Elena, I'm sorry for my behavior, I should not be taking out my frustration and anger on anyone. Much less you" He said quickly while holding eye contact with me, I suddenly felt nervous with his close proximity to me and the eye contact.
"It's okay" I said barely above a whisper as I backed away a bit allowing more space between us.
"Right, well I'll see you when I come back" He replied and quickly left.
I looked around not aware of my surroundings, I ran my fingers through my hair and started walking back to my office trying not to think about how I felt when Nicholas was close to me.
When I got to my office I quickly started typing up the documents so I can it done by the time Nicholas gets back.
"Good morning Ms. De Santiago" I looked up to find Juan Carrillo, who is the owner of the whole building.
"Good morning Mr. Carrillo, how are you" I greeted back with a smile.
"I'm well thank you for asking, I'm here because I'm sure you know where having another building added right next to this one so I'm meeting with the architects here. Can you point me to an empty conference room I can use for the meeting" He asked.
"Of course, there's one available right next to the office, I'll show you" I said and I stood up to show him the conference room. "Would you like me to get any refreshments for the meeting sir?" I asked as we both stepped in the room.
"Yes if you don't mind that is" He said as he started setting up his laptop and screen projector.
"Of course not, I can place a call to the coffee shop right in front and they can have it delivered shortly." I explained
"Great thank you Ms. De Santiago go ahead and charge it to the company card" He said as I nodded and excused myself to go place the order.
Once I finished placing in the order I went back to typing. A couple of people came in to ask for files or documents, nothing that distracted me from my work too much. I was more than halfway done I got a text from Mr. Carrillo.
Ms. De Santiago the architects are here, would you be so kind to escort them to the conference room. - Mr. C
I got up from my desk and stepped out of the office to see around 5 men in suits standing outside. I put on my best friendly smile and started walking towards them.
"Hello there" I greeted them and they all turned almost simultaneously. All of them greeted me back one by one giving me their names.
"Mr. Carrillo is the conference room If you would like to follow me" I said in a sickly sweet voice.
"Yes ma'am, we're just waiting for another one of our co workers he should be coming in any second now" Said one of the men, Matthew, I think.
"That quite alright can I offer anyone coffee or water-" I was interrupted.
"Hey sorry I couldn't find parking- Hey Elena!" Arlo exclaimed as soon as he saw me.
"Arlo! Hi!" I said surprised as he embraced me in a tight hug.
"Well now that everyone is here you can follow me to the conference room" I said and lead them to the room Mr. Carrillo was in.
"Hey I totally forgot you worked here El" Arlo said catching up to me and whispering so that only I can hear what him.
"So I'm assuming this is your big project you were talking about earlier?" I asked him turning to look at him slightly.
"Yeah kinda exciting kinda nervous" he whispered back as we stepped into the conference room that Mr. Carrillo was in.
"Here we go gentlemen, right in here. Coffee will be delivered shortly" I said as they followed me into the conference room.
"Thank you Ms. De Santiago" Mr. Carrillo addressed me as he turned to greet the men in the room.
"Gentlemen please, take a seat" The men did as Mr. Carrillo said.
I gave one last friendly smile as I walked out the room and once I was out of their sight I ran to my office stressing about all the work I have pending in my office. Once I stepped foot through my office door I saw Nicholas standing there looking at his watch and tapping his foot on the hardwood floor.
"Hey sorry I was helping Mr.-" I started my explanation but Nicholas cut me off with a hard glare.
"Ms. De Santiago, I gave you files to start drafting up documents a long time ago and there's only 2 completed? May I need to remind you that it's your job to do this. This sets me back by a lot" He finished while looking through the documents I finished.
I stared at him for a bit, I might of stared at him longer than necessary but after a while I was able to form words and sentences.
"Listen, Mr. Alvaro, I understand that it is my job to assist lawyers but you are not the only lawyer or person in this building that I assist. Also if you haven't noticed I am the only paralegal on this floor so I am already stretched pretty thin, if you want an explanation as why I didn't finish all the documents you can take it up with Mr. Carrillo. He's in conference room 104" In the heat of my explanation I walked up to him getting a bit closer than needed honestly. "I just need to finish one more file and I'll be done, another thing. Don't ever undermine my ability to do my own job. I always finish my work and it's always done to perfection. I will take you the last file when I finish. Have a good day Mr. Alvaro" I finished and turned my back to him and walked back to my desk, keeping my back to him.
I could still feel his presence in the office which made me start to panic and rethink everything I just said. "Umm hi I have a delivery of coffee and pastries" I snapped my head towards the delivery boy.
"Oh yes of course!, please follow me!" I replied with a smile and walked past Nicholas like he was a fly on the wall.
YOU ARE READING
The other woman
Romance"This was something I never thought I would get involved with. I always thought I was above these kinds of things, I frowned upon this! Yet I can't quite him. It started off as an innocent friendship now it's a complicated affair." - Elena
