WINTER IN HELL (English version)

CHAPTER 2

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 I was late for work and my heels wouldn't let me walk fast and if I add anything else, I don't want to ruin my white shirt because of the coffee I hold in my hands. It took me a long time to get it, you don't know how many lines there were at Starbucks. I deserve it, for the intense night I had last night.

I walk as fast as my heels allow when I see the building about ten meters away. I arrive and the first thing I do is greet the receptionist.

–You're late Noor –gives me a mocking look.

– Do you swear Helen? –I answer with irony. I don't stop for a second, until I get to the elevator. Apparently he doesn't want to arrive at any moment. I press the elevator button again and again, as if it were earlier.

I get out of the elevator and go straight to my office, head down so as not to run into anyone, but it is of no use to me when I hear the voice of the most obnoxious being on the face of the earth. My boss.

–MISS ASAD! ARE YOU LATE? –she shouts and I'm paralyzed in my place. Shit, I was two steps away from my office. I turn slowly until I see the face of my ''dearest'' boss.

Actually, I remain static seeing the bald spot he has and how he changes color from white to deep red. I laugh, but obviously I don't laugh, it would be the last straw.

I don't know what he's saying, I haven't heard him, he was paying more attention to his bald head than to his screams.

–ARE YOU DEAF, MISS ASAD?! – and that's when I react. I walk to him very carefully. I don't know exactly what to do. I'm not afraid, but if I'm a little worried about being fired, it would be an embarrassment and a disappointment in my life. I see you turn around and walk to your office. I don't know what to do! I stay still in my place. Do I follow you or don't I follow you? But he answers the question himself.

– Is he also an idiot and doesn't understand words? –he shouts a little louder than before, he seems to be calming down. –Of course this man doesn't know how to relax and talk like humans. I don't know how I've been putting up with him all these years.

I walk five steps behind him, just as a precaution, lest the man turn and bite me. We go into his office and the first thing that strikes me when I enter is his perfume, God is very thick and hard to breathe, I do not know how he endures.

I wait like a scared kitten for his next reaction and what he does is walk up to a brown table where he contains all kinds of expensive and old liquors. And I remember my coffee, I still had it in my hand. I take a sip on the sly, as he still looks back now with his glass in his hand looking out the big window. The idiot does have good views. As he doesn't intend to speak I notice in his office, it's big and brown.

Horrible. And it has the typical desk and two armchairs of a black square in front. And it's worth mentioning that it has a bloody carpet, which seems to have been taken from your grandmother's house. Who has carpets in the office? My boss. He scares me when he talks to me, I didn't expect it.

–How are you doing with the article I ordered from you? –he asks me now, "Yes," and he faces me. I'd rather she turned around.

–Well...I suppose.

–I'm not giving you another day, I want it in five day -he says now sitting in his black swivel chair.

– You told me one week! -I exclaim indignantly. I don't like to be put under pressure, because when they do everything goes wrong and that's when I explode. And that's not good.

–Well, as you can see, I've changed my mind. –he says with a serene countenance. As if it didn't affect him, and of course it doesn't! He's my boss's asshole.

–I see him... –I say in a whisper and stare him in the eyes so that I can intimidate him. And it seems to be working because he turns his sight away. It's a power I have, inherited from my mother.

–And if you don't have it for that day, there will be consequences, Miss Asad. –And if you don't have it for that day, there will be consequences, Miss Asad. And he's got it.

I am in my office very stressed, I write with the keyboard at an impressive speed, I don't have time and I don't even have a room, the magazine that asks for it is very important and they have paid too much for this news, which gives me absolute shit.

My hair is tied up with my very typical bow made with a pencil. It's a hobby I've had since I was in college. I write notes in my notebook and I write at the same time in the computer, I am having a lot of stress.

They knock on the door, but I don't bother to answer, I'm very concentrated writing, until I realize that someone has entered my office. Without my permission. I look up and realize it's Liam. He's 25 years old, one year older than me and the boss's favorite. His green eyes are staring at me gracefully.

–I see you've got your imagination back. –he says in his hoarse, sensual voice, God, I love it.

–And I see that you already have some trusts that nobody has given you - I reproach him, for entering my office if my permission.

–Oh, excuse me, miss, "you've invaded my privacy," –he says with a smile, beautiful, with his hands in the air. I laugh at his immaturity, but he doesn't seem to care.

–For God's sake Liam, what did you want? – I ask with a smile on my lips.

–Ask yourself, if you go out to eat with me, you need to clear up a bit, after the scene of this morning's boss. You know. –He says a little nervous, and rightly so, because here comes a rejection.

–I'm sorry Liam, but it's not going to be possible –I really had no idea that the rest hour had arrived.

I've been rejecting the poor man since the first time I saw him. He's been hitting on me every time I saw an opportunity, but one of my most sacred rules is not to mix personal life with professional life. That only ends well in movies, and this is real life. Besides, it's worth mentioning that he's a Donjuán, first class. And I don't like those rolls. Rayan was enough for me.

–What do I have to do to make you accept a simple meal with me? –Oh no, here comes the heavy Liam mode, pretending to be hurt by my rejection.

–I suppose, buying me a Ferrari, white and the rims golden –I say with an innocent smile. I don't want him to take it all to heart.

–Have a nice day, Noor. –I don't want him to take it all to heart – he says with his eyes open, and going to the door. I laugh at his attitude of escape. He closes the door, but then he opens it again. His head protrudes and he asks me with a tender smile, damn it, it's good.

–Isn't a black BMW good enough for you? –I laugh with a soft laugh and deny with my head. Then close the door pretending to be in pain. And I continue with my work.