A Business Love

chapter 24.1

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Julian was sitting on his leather sofa lost in his thoughts, watching the flames of his fireplace crackle.

There was a good reason he hadn't wanted to talk about his relationship with Cecilia. No matter what he said, his older sister's opinion was important to him. He kept thinking about what she had told him, specifically that Jessie would eventually break his heart.

He was crazy about Jessie and whereas he had previously shunned serious relationships, he had jumped into this one without hesitation. He had been unable to ignore his bewitching attraction to her, something he had never felt before. He wasn't just attached to her; he was madly in love with her. Cecilia was right on one point; if she ended up rejecting him, he would be greatly hurt.

"Amore, what are you doing? Come closer," said Jessie taking him out of his thoughts.

She was sitting further away on the sofa with her laptop on her lap. He got up and sat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders and snuggling her closer to him.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"I'm stalking and contacting people on LinkedIn."

"Why?" he asked confused.

"I guess I have become a seasoned head hunter. Seriously, are you not aware of the bias recruitment process in your company?"

"Not really, but I'm sure that you're going to enlighten me."

"Haven't you noticed that ninety percent of employees are of Italian background?"

"Yeah, I have noticed," he responded unbothered.

Jessie was alarmed at his nonchalant answer. "Uh, well don't you feel that something is off?! We're not in Italy! We're in Canada."

"I know where we live. I don't get your point."

"Where's the diversity?" she said throwing her hands up. "I have only received résumés of Italian people for the analyst position. And don't get me wrong. I love my people. But I want la crème de la crème! I did my little investigation and I came to find out that the recruiters mostly recruit by word-of-mouth recommendations! Can you believe this?"

"Absolutely. I think that's a great recruitment strategy."

Jessie was now scandalized. "No! That's not a great strategy. I don't feel like we're getting the best that we can get. I get it, for the construction workers, it makes complete sense. But this is a corporate job, and I'm not happy with the résumés I've been receiving so far."

"Hm, sucks."

She looked at him appalled. "So, you don't care that we aren't really looking for the best talents out there?"

"I'm personally satisfied with the talents we have," he said shrugging.

"Ok, fine. I see that this isn't concerning to you at all," she said with a side look.

"It's not," he said still unbothered.

"Thanks for your support," said Jessie with a sarcastic smile.

"Just talk to the recruiter and explain that you want other résumés," he said amused.

"That's fine, I'll figure it out. I'm already fixing the problem by myself," she said in a petty way. "Stop disturbing me," she added while looking back at her laptop screen.

Meanwhile, Julian was very amused by her indignation. This colorful personality; that was one of the reasons why he loved her so much. He was willing to take any risks for that girl.

"So...I have something to tell you."

"What? You're scaring me."

"Cazzo, relax...why are you always so stressed?"

'Because I'm constantly scared that you're gonna break up with me.'

"What do you need to tell me? Just tell me," she said still nervous.

"I told Cecilia about us today."

"Oh...!" answered Jessie not expecting this. They hadn't discussed about Cecilia since the last time when Julian ended up telling Jessie he loved her. "And? What happened? What did she say?" she asked curious.

"Well...couple of things."

"Like what?"

"She remembered you, you made quite the impression on her."

"Oh no! What did she remember? Me reminding her about the organizational objectives, I bet!" said Jessie facepalming herself while Julian looked at her clueless.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied.

"Never mind! What did she say, Julian?"

"Baby...you should know that, in general, since you're a very beautiful girl, people have wrong assumptions about you."

"What does that mean?" Jessie asked appalled.

"She's a bit suspicious about you, thinking you're using your beauty to get certain things."

"What!?"

"I mean Anthony thought the same thing, until he got to know you, and now all is fine, so...!"

"Anthony thought the same thing?!"

Julian shrugged for all answers.

"Wait a minute. What do people say about me?!" asked Jessie flabbergasted.

"Babe, you were at an executive meeting and you were barely out of school. And you're gorgeous. People tend to make connections."

Jessie's face turned into much despair. "So that's what people think about me..."

"Not actively. But they might have thought that when they saw you at that meeting."

"You thought that too?" she asked discouraged.

"No, I didn't. I swear."

"I should have never attended that meeting!"

"Jess, you need to rise above it. A lot of people think I'm the COO only because it's my father's company. I don't let that stop me from doing what I need to do. We all have to prove ourselves anyways. Once Cecilia gets to know you, she'll see for herself that her assumptions were wrong."

"Yeah, no, you're right..." she said pensive. "Anyways, I'm glad you finally told her. Finally walking the talk, eh?"

"What do you mean 'finally walking the talk'?"

"The 'I'm not ashamed of you' talk."

"I've always walk that talk, Jess."

"If you say so," she said with a sassy attitude.

Julian tsked. "Come here, girl." He pushed the laptop out of Jessie's lap before prompting her to come up on his lap facing him.

"What are you doing?" she asked laughing while using one hand to push back her silky hair that was falling on top of Julian's face although they kept falling back.

"Jess, I hope you know that I'm not ashamed of you. For real," he said while looking at her intently.

"I know," she said although not totally sure. When he looked at her in this way, she truly felt that he was sincere, but there was always this nagging voice telling her that he would eventually wake up and realize she was not worth it.