The Devil Lives In New York

Chapter 6: "An Unexpected Visit"

I thought Leonardo would fire me after what I had done or would do so at the slightest mistake I made, but surprisingly, it wasn't like that. Weeks passed with total normality,

I had already gotten used to the company and my busy schedule and hardly had any free time. Although, I always reminded myself that this wouldn't last forever, I was only here temporarily or at least until I had enough money to repay the wedding expenses, buy a house for my parents and find a stable place for myself. Until then, I will have to continue working here alongside ‘The Devil Of New York.’

Living in New York meant being exposed to extreme levels of stress and traffic was one of the reasons why I wanted to leave this place.

I have always dreamed of buying a house far away from all the noise and crowds, where I could connect with nature and myself.

I felt a little bit embarrassed to admit it, but I had always liked the idea of having a house in the middle of the forest and staying there with the love of my life. It sounds very cheesy, but for me, it would be something very beautiful.

We would have a fireplace where we would both sit in front of the fireplace while wishing each other a happy new year.

Before lunch, Leonardo always asked me to make a reservation for two at a restaurant. Seeing him come and go alone made me think maybe he always stopped by his girlfriend's house to take her out to lunch because no woman had ever shown up to visit him, not even his mother.

On the other hand, Gabriel, Abigail, and Carolina had become great colleagues and friends to me. On the weekends when we had time, we would all go out together and free ourselves from all the stress and exhaustion of work. Being with them made me forget the reasons why I was here in the first place.

While I'm in the taxi, I review Leonardo's schedule to make sure everything is correct. After all this time working with him, I realized he preferred the coffee from Camelia’s Coffee, the first café I had bought coffee from for him. He told me that he had never tried their coffee before, and he thought it was better than Starbucks.

My thoughts were interrupted when my phone started ringing. Seeing who it was, I sighed tiredly. I hadn't had the courage to speak to my parents about how I was and where I live now. We only communicated through message, and even though they would often insult me, they always withdrew money from the account where I deposited money for them to pay the rent of the house.

"Hello," I said, answering the call.

"I can't believe it, you finally answered!" my mother exclaimed, sounding a bit excited.

"I'm sorry Mom, for not communicating with you all this time… it's just that..." I stopped, I really didn't want to lie to her.

"It doesn't matter, daughter," my Mom said, sighing. "Just please tell me if you're okay, do you need anything?" she asked.

"Yes, Mom, don't worry, I'm fine,” I said, smiling falsely.

"Your father is not at home, so I took this opportunity to talk to you. He didn't even allow me to take the phone to call you" she said, starting to sob "I'm really sorry, daughter, I'm sorry that you have to pay for the mistakes your father and I made."

"Mom, please don't cry," I said as I felt a lump forming in my throat.

"I hope that one day you will be able to forgive us for everything we did. I don't expect you to forgive me now or tomorrow or even if you ever will... I just ask that you do not forget that I love you. I love you very much, Olivia" my mother said, sobbing.

"I love you too, Mom," I said, tears starting to slide down my cheeks.

"I think your father is coming," my Mom said as she listened to his hurried footsteps. "I have to hang up so he doesn't know that I've talked to you, I love you so much Olivia, please don't forget," she said sobbing before hanging up.

I couldn't respond before she hung up the call.

"I love you too," I said, sobbing.

I cried almost the whole way to work. I could see the taxi driver looking at me a little worried through the rearview mirror, but he didn't say anything.

When we were a few streets away, I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed my mascara had smudged a bit. I cleaned off all the smudged makeup and tried to fix it.

I got out of the taxi and walked towards the elevator that was only used by Leonardo, Carolina, and me.

As the elevator doors were about to close, someone put their hand in to prevent them from closing. When I looked up, I saw a tall man with brown hair who seemed to be around my age, and he wasn't someone authorized to use this elevator.

"Excuse me, you can't use this elevator," I said firmly.

"What?" he looked at me incredulously.

"You can't go up in this elevator, only people who work on the top floor can use this elevator."

He looked at me for a few seconds and took some steps forward. I thought he was about to leave the elevator, but instead, he just pressed the button for the top floor, which led to Leonardo's office.

"Sir, I'll have to call security if you don't get out of the elevator right now," I said as I approached the door, trying to call someone from security.

"I see that you're new around here," he said, smiling slightly with a calm tone of voice. He started searching for something in his coat, then he pulled out his wallet, took out his ID, and showed it to me.

"You are Mr. Spinter's brother?" I asked, surprised as I finished reading the name on his ID, which was Bradley Spinter. I felt my entire face falling with embarrassment.

"That's right,” he said as the elevator doors closed.

"I apologize for my behavior. I didn't know you were his brother," I said, and couldn't even look him in the face. I was so embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I'm relieved you are doing your job well in the company" he winked at me.

I quickly looked away, feeling uncomfortable about what I had just done. He simply smiled, finding the situation amusing. I took a few steps back and leaned against the wall. I discreetly looked at him again, and upon closer inspection, he indeed resembled his brother. They shared almost the same features, although Bradley looked younger.

I felt clumsy about not remembering that I had read his name on some company documents. Bradley Spinter! Leonardo's younger brother. How could I have forgotten?

If I had felt awkward before about ruining my boss's car, now I felt even worse for almost calling security to have one of the company directors removed.

"After you, Miss" Bradley said, stepping aside as the elevator doors opened.

"Thank you," I said as I quickly exited the elevator and walked to my desk to leave my things.

"Good morning, Mr. Spinter,” Carolina said as she saw him.

"Good morning, Carolina," Bradley replied and approached her.

They began talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying because I entered Leonardo's office to leave his coffee on the desk. I started doing what I usually do - turning on his computer and organizing some things.

"How long have you been working for my brother?" Bradley asked, his voice made me jump in surprise as I did not hear him enter the office.

"Recently" I replied and he nodded.

He walked around the entire office and then looked at me.

"Leonardo tends to be a little old-fashioned, don't you think?" he looked at me with a big smile "He's been using the same office decor since he was made CEO." He laughed and approached me "You should recommend him to make some changes," he said and winked at me.

He walked past me and sat in Leonardo's chair.

"Great coffee," he said, taking a sip of Leonardo's coffee.

I bit my lower lip nervously, now I would have to get him a new coffee.

"Mr. Spinter won't be long," I said, and he nodded.

"I have to leave," I said, and walked towards the office door.

I sat back at my desk and sighed when I saw my coffee.

"I'll have to give him my coffee" I said, making a sad face.

At that moment, I saw Carolina motioning for me to come closer. I got up and walked towards her.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to warn you." She looked towards the office where Bradley was. "Always hide your coffee when he comes. He and his brother are coffee lovers” she whispered.

"I know, I just realized that because he stole Mr Spinter's coffee, and now I'll have to give him mine," I said, making a sad face.

Just then, we heard the elevator doors open. Carolina quickly started typing on her computer to pretend she was working. I approached Leonardo as he came out of the elevator.

"Good morning Sir, someone is waiting for you in your office," I said, making him pause.

"Someone?" he frowned, asking.

"Sorry, your brother," I bit my lower lip.

He raised both eyebrows surprised and walked towards his office.

"Wait and see this," Carolina said in a low voice.

We both looked attentively from the office window, they hugged tightly and started joking around.

"Is that our boss?" I asked, surprised.

"I know, it's hard to believe, right?" she asked, laughing.

I went back to my desk and started filling out some documents for Leonardo. A few minutes later, he called me on the phone that was on the desk, asking me to come in. I left everything I was doing and entered the office.

"How can I help you, Mr. Spinter?" I asked.

"Cancel my 1:00 pm meeting and reschedule it for tomorrow. I'm going out to lunch with my brother. You can take that time to have lunch as well," Leonardo said.

"Actually, you could join us too,” Bradley said.

"I wouldn't want to bother you," I said as politely as I could.

"Not at all," he smiled at me. "It would be an honor to have you with us."

I smiled nervously, I looked at Leonardo, expecting him to say that I didn't need to be there because I thought maybe he wanted to spend some time with his brother, but he didn't say anything, instead, he just gave me a half smile.

"Are you sure?" I asked Bradley, although I was looking at Leonardo, giving him a second opportunity to intervene in case he really didn't want me there.

"Why are you looking at him?" Bradley asked me.

"Well, it's just that I..." I started to stutter.

Shit, speak properly, Olivia!

"I thought maybe you two would like to spend some time alone, as brothers," I said, nervously playing with my fingers behind my back.

"I think it would be good if you joined us, and this time not as my assistant, but as our guest," Leonardo said this time.