The Life we never Planned

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

HER POV

I had been staring at the same email for almost ten minutes.

Not because I didn't understand it.

Because I wasn't sure I liked it.

Preliminary partnership approved.

That was good.

Very good, actually.

It meant the expansion I'd been working toward for months was finally moving.

But there was a problem.

The chairman wanted me personally involved in everything.

Normally, I wouldn't complain about that. It was my company. I liked knowing what was happening.

But working directly with him meant spending a lot more time in that office.

And I still couldn't figure him out.

He wasn't rude.

He wasn't exactly friendly either.

He just had this way of looking at people that made me feel like he noticed things I didn't say.

I closed the email.

My phone buzzed.

Benedicta.

Are you alive?

I smiled.

Unfortunately.

Her reply came almost immediately.

Good. Lunch?

I looked at my schedule.

I had three meetings.

Then another one in the afternoon.

I typed:

I have work.

She sent a voice note.

I played it.

“Angela, if you tell me you're too busy again, I'm coming to your office and dragging you out myself.”

I laughed.

She was serious too.

I called her.

“You're dramatic.”

“And you're boring.”

“I'm working.”

“You're always working.”

“That's because I have a company.”

“And I have a friend who apparently forgot she has a life.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Fine. One hour.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Benedicta.”

“Two.”

I sighed.

“Fine. Two.”

“Perfect. I'll pick you up.”

The call ended.

I looked at the time.

I had forty minutes.

Great.

I stood up and grabbed my bag.

As I walked out of my office, I caught my reflection in the glass door.

I looked tired.

Really tired.

I hadn't realized how much pressure I'd been putting on myself lately.

Maybe Benedicta was right.

Maybe I needed a break.

Just a small one.

Nothing dramatic.

I wasn't about to suddenly become someone who spent her afternoons doing nothing.

I liked my life.

I liked working.

I liked making my own decisions.

And after everything I'd gone through to get here, I wasn't going to apologize for that.

My phone buzzed again.

This time, it wasn't Benedicta.

It was an email from the chairman's office.

Meeting confirmed. Tomorrow, 10 a.m.

I read it once.

Then slipped my phone into my bag.

Tomorrow, I'd deal with him.

Today, I was taking two hours off.

For once, work could wait.

Or at least...

I hoped it could.