Chapter 52

Chapter 52
She headed directly to the CEO’s executive assistant’s desk and told her she was there for the meeting, leaving Alessio behind and not allowing him to ask her further questions. There was no doubt that he would inform Marco, but she hoped that neither of them would do anything stupid.

The executive assistant escorted her to the office doors and announced her to the CEO. She held the door open for Melina. Melina entered the office and walked towards the desk that the CEO was sitting.

Aldo was in his early fourties, with dark hair and brown eyes. He didn’t seem to be as athletic as Marco was, but then again he was sitting, so Melina could not be sure about that. She stood in front of his desk and waited for him to finish what he was reading and say something.

He let her wait there standing for a few minutes before he lifted his gaze. 

“Sit” he said in a professional and cold tone.

Melina took a seat and waited again for Aldo to say something.

“So, miss Gkalis. You have been here for a couple of months and have already had your fair share of absences” he said.

“Please call me Melina. I was on leave for medical reasons Mr DeAngelo. I appreciate that it is early in my employment here, but I assure you that I am not one for making absences” Melina replied as politely as she could.

She didn’t appreciate his comment, and she was sure that a CEO had better things to do than scolding an employee two levels bellow him about absences. If it was actually an issue, this conversation would had happened with Julian. 

She still wasn’t completely sure were the conversation would go, but she was fairly certain that somehow her relationship with Marco would be brought into this conversation.

“Your assurances mean nothing. I have to go by what I see and what I see is that we have gone out of our way to bring you here, sponsor you a job visa, rent you a corporate apartment in a discounted rate etc. We took a risk with you and it seems that there has been no reward from it”

“I am confused Mr DeAngelo. I was under the impression that the reward of bringing me here was the quality of work that I have already delivered in my couple of months with the company. I didn’t realize that the reward would be coming to work, while I had to be on bed rest for medical reasons”

“The quality of your work is not being defined by you” Aldo said harshly.

“Of course not. The quality of my work is measured by clear KPIs Mr DeAngelo. I have completed two projects prior to my medical leave and the result of these two projects can be accurately measure in the increased customer satisfaction from the NPS survey we sent to our customers and also by the significant percentual decrease of attrition”

“The KPIs have no meaning if there is no consistency and your absences showed that you cannot are not consistent enough. Just because you are sleeping with my cousin, it does not mean that you can parade in this company any time it fits your schedule. We require commitment and consistency, two things that it is evident that you cannot display”

“My personal life is personal Mr DeAngelo and it is highly inappropriate of you to bring it in a conversation that is clearly about my performance. If you are not happy with my performance, I am certain the company has policies about how to handle a situation like this”

“I am the CEO of this company. I decide what is appropriate and what is not. Your choices in your personal life affect your ability to be consistent at work. None of my other employees has been shot at and had to take medical leave, but due to your personal relationship with my cousin, it happened to you. Your personal life is your business, but when it affects my actual business, then it becomes my business as well”

“What exactly are you saying Mr DeAngelo?”

“I am saying that we made a mistake by hiring you and your employment with this company is terminated effective immediately” Also said with an evil grin on his face.

“You can’t do that” Melina said in shock.

“I can and I just did” Aldo said. “Now get out of my office and make sure to empty your office in the next 30 minutes. I want you out of my building as soon as possible.

Melina stood up and walked out of the office. She headed to the elevator and she ignored Alessio’s questions. She was numbed. She was fired. She had never been fired before, so that alone was a big shock, but that wasn’t the only problem.

Without a permanent employment her work visa would expire in six months. Finding another job would be difficult, as whichever company would hire her, would have to sponsor the renewal of her visa, which had a certain cost. And surely it wouldn’t look good in her CV that she had only been in this job for just a couple of months.

Absentmindedly she walked out of the elevator on her floor and headed to her office. She grabbed her things and walked out again with Alessio following her close behind. They reached the lobby and walked outside; got into the car that Matteo had already brought on the front of the building and drove back home.

During the car ride Melina just looked outside of the car window in silence. Her thoughts were screaming in her head, and she started feeling a migraine lingering. She could feel her eyes burning from all the unshed tears, but she needed to hold it in. If she allowed even one tear to fall, she wasn’t sure she would be able to stop.

When they parked outside of the house, Alessio turned to face her.

“Melina” he said softly. “Are you okay?”

Melina looked at him with a blank expression. She didn’t want to tell him. If she did, the moments the words would come out of her mouth, it would become true. She didn’t want it to be true. She had dreamt of moving to another country and build a career there and her dream was now crumbling around her.

The car door opened, and two strong arms enveloped her and pulled her out of the car. She recognized Marco’s scent, and she allowed herself to relax. He picked her up bridal style and carried her to his office. 

He sat on the sofa in his office, with Melina on his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She hid her face in the crook of his neck and allowed her tears to fall. Marco was stroking her hair and trying to sooth her a bit. 

Once her sobbing stopped, he asked “Amore, please tell me what happened”.