KARMA: FALLING FOR MY ENEMY'S SON

9. WORKING WITH THE ENEMY

I control my demons, ‘cause I'm the leader.

Pulling up outside the N&J PUBLICATIONS office, I hesitated when it was time for me to get out “What's wrong miss Sanchez??” Ivan asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

I shook my head “Nothing… “ and got my purse from the seat next to me “... I'm a little nervous but I'll be fine” I lied, opened the door and stepped out of the car before I changed my mind.

I was actually terrified out of my wits. I had a lot of questions going in circles up in my head without answers… a lot of what ifs. What if instead of Nico, the meeting was with Lorenz?? What if he recognized me and I messed everything up?? After all our relationship did last for a little over half a year, he knew me better than anyone. My hands got even more sweaty with every question as I approached the building's entrance… I was freaking out.

Stopping in front of the big double glass doors, I remembered Dr Sanchez's words “They can't remember what they don't know” and took a deep breath in to calm down, that went for Lorenz too. I straightened up my back and with my newfound courage, pushed the doors open. I made my way toward the reception desk with my head held high.

“Good morning ma'am, what are you here for??” a woman I'm guessing in her mid-thirties asked, standing behind the desk.

I took off my sunglasses and placed them at the top of my head before saying “I'm here for a meeting with Mr Magliolo” . She nodded and asked for my name before grabbing the landline phone to make a call.

“Miss Ana, miss Sanches is here for a meeting” she informed the person on the other side before disconnecting the call and looked up at me “... please have a seat, miss Ana is coming to get you” I nodded and went to seat down on one of the couches in their lobby. A couple of minutes went by and truth to hee words a girl walked up to me.

“Hello, you must be Evangeline Sanchez… I'm Anastasia, Mr Magliolo's assistant, '' she introduced, holding out her hand for mine. I got up from my seat before taking her hand and gave it a firm shake.

“It's nice to meet you” I said, returning her smile and let go of her hand.

“Mr Magliolo is in the conference room, If you would follow me… I'll take you to meet him” she said and turned around to leave, I silently followed behind her. We halted in our steps when we heard yelling coming from inside the conference room before the door flew open. I sucked in a deep breath of air when Lorenz walked out busy on his phone and approached us.

“Good morning sir” Anastasia greeted just when he was about to walk past us, causing him to look up from his phone. He immediately stopped when he noticed me and smiled, completely ignoring her.

“Good morning Eva, you look as beautiful as the last time we saw each other” he complemented, his eyes shining with the same mischief and adultery interest they did a week ago.

“Good morning Mr Magliolo '' I forced myself to say with a smile before sidestepping him and quickly followed Anastasia inside the conference room. Closing the door behind me, I let out a breath I'd been holding and wiped my sweaty hands down on my dress before approaching the long mahogany table. After all these years, I thought it would be easier to stand in front of Lorenz and stare him right in the eyes but here I was still affected by him like I was back then. The only difference now was that the shivers running through my body in his presence were born from fear and disgust rather than from love.

I looked around the conference room abd couldn't help but think back to when I first got hired here as their editor, I was so excited to work with the famous Lorenz Magliolo.

FLASHBACK…

Signing the contract, I got up to shake his hand and said “Thank you sir, I promise you won't regret giving me this opportunity”

“I hope so Angela and please, call me Domenico” he said, letting go of my hand just as the door opened.

“Dom, Megan said you have a file for me that I need to look at” Lorenz said, walking in.

“Oh yes, I almost forgot...” Domenici said, pulling open one of his desk's drawers and took out the said file before giving it to Lorenz “... here and oh before you leave, meet Angela… she's one of our interns” he added just as Lorenz was about to leave, stopping him.

“Hello sir” I got up and held out my hand to shake his, trying to be as professional as i could all the while suppressing my excitement about meeting him.

But he ignored it and instead gave an automated reply “Hello Angela, welcome to N&J PUBLICATIONS” before walking out. He hadn't even spared a glance my way but I didn't mind. Lowering my hand, I sat back down. After all, he was Lorenz Magliolo and I was just a college student who had somehow managed to earn herself an internship with his publication. I just couldn't wait to go home and tell my family everything, I had actually met my role model... ‘til now, I had only read about him on the internet.

“Miss Sanchez??” I'm pulled out of my head by Anastasia's voice.

“Hmm??” I hummed, looking at her to repeat whatever it was that she had just said.

“I asked if you would like something to drink??”

“Just water would be fine, thank you” I told her and she left, leaving me alone with Nico. I had never really met the man and he was rarely on the news but looking at him now, I couldn't help but take note of the similarities him and Dino shared with their father. Black thick long hair, dangerously deep grey eyes, perfect eyebrows and a sharp jawline except his was covered by a stubble… they were a handsome bunch, that much I wasn't ashamed to admit. Nico got up from his seat to shake my hand and introduced himself before sitting back down. Following his example, I sat on a chair about two chairs away from him and placed my purse on the table.

“So I read through your contract…” he started, flipping open the file in front of him before continuing “... and I have to say, I'm intrigued by your conditions” he looked up from the pages and met my eyes with his genuinely curious ones “... why is it that a best selling author like yourself doesn't want to take credit for her work??” He asked.

I only shrugged as if to say it was obvious and said "I became a writer to share my stories not for the fame so I try to stay away from the media any way I could” he nodded in understanding just as his office door opened. Anastasia walked back in, holding my glass of water and his cup of coffee. Setting them on the table in front of us, she left and we continued discussing my contract before finally signing the damn thing.

“I'll have an office prepared for you” he said as I got up to leave, doing the same. I shook my head and politely refused

“That won't be necessary, I can work from home”

“I wasn't asking” he said, rude but I let him have it. Good girls always get what they want, at first.

“... Anastasia will walk you out” he added, shaking my hand. I grabbed my purse from the table and left the room. I met up with his assistant outside and she walked me back to the lobby. I walked out of the building and got back in my car.