Chapter 53

Chapter 53
Melina unwrapped her arms from Marco’s neck and pulled herself off his lap and sat next to him on the sofa. She looked down to her hands. 

“He fired me” she whispered.

“Who fired you?” Marco asked in shock.

“Aldo. He fired me. He said that I have shown lack of consistency and commitment because of the two weeks of medical leave. He said that they took a big risk bringing me in the company and the reward was not good enough” she said while she was fighting her tears from starting to fall again.

“This son of a bitch. I am going to kill him” Marco growled. “Did he say anything else?”

“He said that just because I am dating you, it doesn’t mean that I can parade in the company whenever I see fit” Melina said again in a low voice.

“I am sorry this happened, amore. He is a motherfucking asshole, but please don’t be upset about it. We will figure this out” Marco said.

“Marco I don’t think you understand the situation I am in” Melina said. “I am here in a work visa.  A work visa that DeAngelo Corp sponsored. If I lose my job, the visa will stay active for another six months. Once the six months finish, I will need to leave the country. Looking for another job will be pointless, because if a company wants to hire me, they will have to sponsor me for a new visa all over again, which comes with a cost. No company will choose to sponsor my visa on top of the salary they would have to pay me, when they can hire someone from this country, that won’t come with an additional cost. And let’s face it. Having on my CV that I kept my job for a couple of months only, screams that I was fired. No company will take the risk of hiring me.”

Marco stayed silent for a moment, thinking about what Melina had just told him.

“What if there is another way for you to stay in the country?” He asked.

“What other way? Travel to Mexico and have a coyote to smuggle me through the borders?” 

“You watch way too much TV amore” Marco chuckled. “No, that’s not what I had in mind”.

“Then what?” Melina asked.

“Marry me” Marco said.

“What?” Melina asked in shock.

“If we are married, you won’t require a work visa and you can stay in the country” Marco said smiling.

“You can’t be serious” Melina said in disbelief.

“Why not? I love you and I already knew that one day I will marry you”

“Because Marco it is way too early for us to get married. We have just moved in together after a few months of dating and this alone was super-fast. Getting married is taking things to a whole new level. And besides that, I don’t want to marry you because I don’t have any other option”

“Don’t you love me?” Marco asked.

“I do love you boo, but getting married so I won’t get deported is not the right thing to do” Melina replied softly. “Besides, if you ever were going to propose, I would surely hope that it would be in a more romantic setup”

“Well, there is another way” Marco said again.

“Killing your cousin, get the CEO position for yourself and rehire me?” Melina said in a joking way.

“Not exactly” Marco replied.

“Boo I was joking” Melina said quickly.

“What if I hire you in one of my businesses?” Marco asked.

“Marco…”

“No, Melina. Hear me out” Marco interrupted her. “I have a variety of businesses. Some legitimates and some not. The more I expand, the more in need I am of people I can trust to help me with these businesses. I trust you. If you accept, it will be a win-win situation”

Melina looked at him thoughtfully. She wasn’t exactly ecstatic to have Marco as her boss. Things would be too complicated, but on the other hand it could be a solution to her problem.

“Do you have something specific in your mind?” Melina asked.

“I do actually” Marco replied. “We have recently expanded in online casinos, but the set up has been proven more complicated and time-consuming than we had originally expected. I was looking for someone to take over the project, get it to live stage and then oversee the operations. You have operational experience, and you are smart, so I think you will be the perfect fit for it”

“I do have operational experience, but I have no idea how to set something like that up” Melina replied.

“We had hired a business planner, so he can help you setting it up. The business plan is solid and comprehensive. The implementation of the plan is what has made us fall behind schedule” Marco said. “Amore, I believe you can do it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t suggest it”

“What if I screw it up Marco?” 

“You won’t amore, I am sure of it” he replied and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Are you sure about this? Won’t working for you making things…weird?”

“Amore I work with my family every day. Working with my girlfriend will be a blessing”

“Can I see the business plan?” Melina asked.

“Is that you saying yes?” Marco asked in return.

“Yes” Melina said and she smiled.

“I will call my lawyer to prepare your contract and bring it over tomorrow. Once this is out of the way, we will discuss the details of the project. How does that sound?” 

“Sounds good” Melina said and gave him a beaming smile.

“Excellent! With that solved, I have a surprise for you”