Chapter 23

Sean honked severally as he swerved to the right before cutting Max completely off. He was out of the car even as Rege shouted his name to keep him calm.

A confused Max was dragged out of the driver’s seat before he could comprehend what was going on.

Sean was about to swing his fist when Rege held him back.

“What the hell man!” Rege yelled, keeping him in a tight hold so he wouldn’t lash out. Sean was about to break out of his hold when he looked at Rosalia, the look on her face making him go still.

The color had drained from her face. She stayed behind Max, as if hiding from…him. He moved towards but she moved completely behind Max, away from him. Sean realized then how it must have looked to her.

He shrugged his arms away from Rege and walked calmy towards Rosalia. “Where are you both headed? I was worried” he said softly.

“We were on our way to check out the site for the presentation you asked her to do” Max answered instead. Sean glared at him, already finding it hard to keep himself from throwing a punch.

“You don’t have to do that” Sean told her.

Rosalia shook her head “I’m going to do a perfect job. And please if you don’t mind, we were headed somewhere.” She grabbed Max by the hand and pushed him inside the car before getting into the passenger’s seat.

“Let’s go man” Rege said. Sean wanted to stop Rosalia from going, he didn’t know why he was angry but after seeing them together that morning and now going somewhere together it bothered him. Did she like him? Is that why she left him at lunch?

Rege watched Sean get back into the car with an amused smile. He wasn’t sure about it when he had seen Sean in France, at the club. But now, in the broad daylight it was there for all to see. Sean Derero was in love.

“Are you okay” Max asked a quiet Rosalia. She simply nodded. She was trying to wrap her head around what just happened, why he acted that way. At that moment he looked like he could actually hurt someone.

“Don’t think about it too. The boss has always had a bad temper” Max said.

“I’ve never seen him like that” She admitted.

“He likes you, you know.”

Her eyes lit up at that “He does?”

“I’m certain. A guy wouldn’t act that way unless he liked you. We guys always get jealous easily and I’m sure you feeding me earlier must’ve looked bad to him.”

“It still doesn’t justify his actions” She looked at him “He could’ve hurt you.”

“But he didn’t”

“That was because someone held him back” She mused.

“Did you see him? Trust me if he wanted to get out of his grip, he could’ve done it so easily. He stopped when he saw the look on your face. He cares what you think about him.” Max looked at her before turning his attention back to the road.

It was obvious his boss liked her. The only problem was that he did too. He didn’t know how but the brown eyed girl sitting in his passenger seat made his heart beat twice as fast.

“We’re here” Max announced as he pulled into the driveway of a deserted packing lot. There were empty cartons scattered all over with an abandoned old building beside it.

“This is it?” Rosalia asked as she got down from the car.

“Yup. Come on let me show you around” Max motioned for her to follow him. Rosalia had never been to this side of the town. She walked carefully as empty tins littered the road.

“This place is deserted” She said, walking closer to Max afraid of being alone.

“Pretty much. Take note of the surroundings so you’ll have something to report back on” He said.

“I didn’t come with anything” She said, only realizing her mistake then.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take a couple videos and send it to you later” he pulled his phone out of his pocket and began filming as they walked around.

“They don’t even have shops here” Rosalia observed. They’d reached the end of the block and she was yet to see anyone “Do people even life here?”

“Homeless people. If you want to see here bustling come at night.” He turned his camera towards her.

“Stop!” She said laughing. She covered her face with her palm “I’m not comfortable being filmed. I’m sure I look like shit.”

“Of course you don’t. You’re beautiful.”

Rosalia brought that her hand and stared at him. She had not expected that from him “Thank you” She said, suddenly growing shy.

“Come on” He said, turning away from her. He didn’t know what had come over him, but it felt right to let her know how beautiful she looked. He smacked his forehead. He was turning into an idiot.

They rounded the corner and what Rosalia saw made her heart bleed. There were little children sitting by the roadside. They were all dressed in haggard clothes and looked malnourished.

“What happened to them?” She asked, unable to bear the sight of so much hardship.

Max turned to her “Not everyone is born fortunate in this world. They didn’t ask for this, that is why it’s up to us to help them.”

Rosalia had never felt so much sadness in one’s voice. She looked at him closely now, there was sadness in his eyes. It was like he felt these children’s pain, like it was his pain too.

“Did you once live here?” She asked, careful with her words so she wouldn’t upset him.

“I just know someone who did” He said, his voice distant.

“What happened?”

“She died” He said. He turned back the same way they’d come and Rosalia followed wordlessly. She had more questions she needed to ask but at the same time she didn’t want to pry.

The car ride back to the office was silent, not as chatty as it had first been. It made Rosalia feel uncomfortable, so she reached out and touched his hand that was on the steering.

“If you ever want to talk about it you can come to me, I’ve been told I’m a great listener” she said. That’s because you forget everything you’re told, her brain nagged at her.

Max nodded but said nothing. He didn’t want to talk; it was something he never mentioned. No one knew that part of his life.

“Thanks for the ride” Rosalia told him when they entered the elevator. Max merely hummed before walking back to his office. It made Rosalia sad that he was hurting but could nothing to help him. It was her fault; she had made him go back to a place where he had bad memories.

By the time she got to her desk Sean was just leaving his office. He paused when he saw her. They stood there looking at each other, no knowing what to say.

Sean finally broke the silence “I was about to call you, it’s time to go home” He said, his voice barely audible.

“Let me pack up. I’ll meet you at the parking lot in five minutes” She said. He hummed in response and proceeded to enter the elevator.

Rosalia put her hand on her chest the second the elevator doors dinged close. Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast. She didn’t know what was going to happen between after the incident that happened with Max, but she felt the tension and it was suffocating.

She picked the files she needed and went down to meet Sean. He was standing outside the passenger door when she got there. He opened the door for her, and she muttered a quick thanks.

He got in and pulled out just as a red sports car drove and took his previous spot. Sean’s phone rang when they were almost home. She connected the call and put it on speaker.

“Mr. Sean, someone’s here to see you.” Came Anna’s voice through the speakers.

“I’m out of office, schedule a meeting. You know the rules, don’t call me once I’ve left the office.”

“I’m sorry, I thought it might be urgent. It’s Mr. Grata, he insists on seeing you before leaving the office.”

Rosalia froze at the mention of the name, which was one she couldn’t ever forget. She had a burned scar from when she was five and couldn’t remember her own fathers name. There was no way that was her father waiting in Sean’s office. There had to be a thousand Mr. Grata’s out there.

“Dammit!” Sean cursed. He knew why Mr. Grata had come to the office himself. With anger cursing through his veins, Sean did a sharp turn at the intersection leaving a lot of angry cars honking. All he wanted this morning was to have a quiet evening with Rosalia and so far, that was a thousand miles from happening.

“You stay in the car; I’ll be back in a few minutes” Sean told Rosalia as he drove into the parking lot. She nodded and didn’t ask further questions.

Sean had a lot going on in his mind as he moved up the elevator. “Mr. Grata” He said as politely as he could when he saw the old man. They shook hands stiffly and Sean led them both into his office.

“I want in” Mr. Grata said immediately he sat down. He was the type to cut straight to the chase.

“There is no in Mr. Grata, we’ve been through this.” Sean said.

“We can always partner Mr. Sean” He said, “Like we’ve always done in the past. I see nothing wrong with working with an old partner” He finished, his brow raised.

Sean was quiet for a while, trying to find the perfect words. “An orphanage is exactly what that community needs. Building a hotel is going to do them more harm.”

“Who said anything about building a hotel?” Mr. Grata asked, smiling.

“I saw your proposal, it said exactly that” Sean stated.

Mr. Grata stood up and walked slowly to Sean. “We all say thing we don’t mean sometimes, don’t we?”