The Devil Lives In New York

Chapter 2: "Just A Regular Coffee"

I arrived at my apartment and undressed. At least one advantage of living alone was that I could afford to walk around in underwear throughout the apartment. I put all the dirty and soaked clothes in the washing machine and set it. My clothes would be clean in fifty minutes.

I went to my room, which was only a few meters away from the washing machine. My apartment wasn't that big and I could hear the sound of it. I decided to take a nap; after all, I would hear when the washing machine finished its job and I would take out the clothes.

I lay on the bed and adjusted the pillow.

"It will only be fifty minutes," I said before closing my eyes.

The sound of the alarm woke me up. I moved a little uncomfortably in bed, squinting my eyes due to the sunlight coming in through my window.

After a few seconds trying to get up, I looked at the screen of my cellphone with a frown and then opened my eyes with a lot of surprise. I got up abruptly from bed; I had fallen asleep the night before and had completely forgotten about my clothes.

I went to the washing machine and took out the clothes; they were a little damp. I ran to the dining room and hung the clothes on the chairs.

I ran to the bathroom to shower and grumbled angrily. The owner of the apartment had told me that the shower had occasional problems and that they would do everything possible to fix it as soon as possible, but they hadn't done it yet. I grumbled resignedly again and put my head in the sink to wash my hair, and I started cleaning my whole body with towels. It wasn't a great shower, but at least I wouldn't smell for the rest of the day.

I quickly returned to the room and grabbed a pair of jeans and a pastel pink blouse. Some things in my room were still a bit disorganized from the move, and I didn't have much time to arrange my outfit for the day, so I just grabbed the first pair of shoes I found.

I left the house at 6:50 am and took a taxi. I hadn't even had much time to fix my hair, so I started combing it with my fingers and put it up in a high ponytail. I looked at my reflection through the window and shrugged.

I don't look so good, but at least I took a shower and wouldn't stink.

There were still a few blocks to go before reaching the company when I remembered that I had to buy coffee for my boss every morning.

"Please stop!" I exclaimed.

I paid the taxi driver and quickly got out of the taxi. I looked around trying to find a café. Luckily, there were two cafés in front of me - one was Starbucks and the other was Camelia's Coffee. I was thinking of going to Starbucks, but when I approached the door, I realized there was a long queue to order coffee. I didn't hesitate and decided to go to the second café since I didn't have much time.

Once inside the café, I stopped to think about what kind of coffee my boss would like. I didn't even know him and no one had told me what type of coffee to buy. I assumed that maybe he was an older person who was surely tired from reading or reviewing documents the night before and needed something very strong to keep him awake for the rest of the day, so I ordered a double coffee.

I left the café and waited on the side of the street for at least ten minutes for a taxi to stop, but they were all full. I started walking a few blocks until I finally found a taxi that took me to the company.

I entered the company in a hurry and went up to the top floor. I felt a great relief when I realized that my boss hadn't arrived yet. I did everything I was told: I organized the folders, turned on the desktop computer, and cleaned both desks, mine and my boss's. I still had plenty of time before my boss arrived, so I fixed the cables that powered the computer. I looked at the time on my cell phone screen and saw that it was only five minutes to nine, so I left the office and stood by the door.

I stood there until it was 9:00 am and heard the elevator doors open.

"Good morning, Mr. Spinter" Miss Smith greeted.

I was surprised to see the man walking towards me, his expression seemed very serious. He was a tall man, at least 1.90 m, with fair skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. The suit he was wearing fitted his well-toned body perfectly.

"Good morning, Mr. Spinter. I will be your new..." I didn't even get to finish when he walked past me and entered his office.

I felt my cheeks blush in embarrassment. I looked at Miss Smith, who motioned for me to enter the office. I nodded and walked in.

He sat in front of his desk and picked up the coffee I had left there. I smiled satisfactorily, glad that I had fulfilled all my duties despite leaving my house late. My smile disappeared when he took a sip and made a face.

"What is this?" he said, grimacing.

His voice was deep and echoed throughout the room. For some strange reason, his voice sent shivers down my spine.

"It's coffee..." I stammered, his gaze reflecting annoyance. "A double coffee, I thought you might like it" I whispered.

"Get rid of it," he said, leaving the coffee on his desk.

Apparently, I hadn't even been able to get his favorite coffee right.

I quickly walked to his desk to grab his coffee and throw it away.

"What's on my agenda for today?" he asked as I disposed of the coffee.

I approached his desk and took the agenda I had previously printed. I opened the folder and placed the papers back on his desk.

"That's your agenda for today,” l said, but he didn't even look at the papers. He just kept staring at his computer.

I took the agenda again and cleared my throat to start reading his entire schedule. I was so focused on reading that I hadn't even glanced at him. When I finished reading, he was looking directly into my eyes, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Thank you," he said, looking at me. I looked into his eyes, but immediately looked away and just nodded.

It was the first time he looked into my eyes, and I preferred him not to do it again. I wasn't able to maintain eye contact, so I decided to look away because he intimidated me.

"You still have 30 minutes before your meeting. Do you want me to get you another coffee?" I asked, squeezing the folder in my hands a little. I wanted to fix my first mistake.

"What's your name?" he asked, completely ignoring my question.

I opened my mouth to say my words but said nothing.

"I'm Olivia Baldinelli," I smiled slightly.

"Well, Miss Baldinelli, I will give you some advice that I want you to follow in the future." At that moment, I opened my notebook to start writing down what he was about to say.

"Get a tablet and stop writing important data in your notebook, it's very outdated and unprofessional. Buy that tablet with the company card." I looked at him embarrassed, bit my lower lip, and stopped writing to look at him.

"Don't bring me a double coffee again unless you want to kill me; I want a normal coffee," I nodded.

"As long as I don't call you, you should stay out of this office, and request a desk to be placed in front of that window," he said, pointing to the window that was right at the entrance.

"Can you drive?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Perfect, you will drive, sometimes when necessary" he said, looking at me.

"If necessary, you will have to accompany me to my house to finish some documents; don't worry, you can stay in the guest room, so I ask you to take it into account in your agenda. Don't worry about the extra working hours, they will be rewarded double. Any questions?"

I suppose he means that I shouldn't have plans with friends at night and that I should prepare a suitcase with pajamas.

"No, Mr. Spinter," I replied confidently.

"Miss Baldinelli, how old do you think I am?" he said, making me look at him in surprise.

Why was he asking me that?

I looked at him incredulously for a few seconds, his expression remained unchanged, so I realized that he was serious about his question.

I carefully examined his face, and despite having a few lines of expression, I didn't think he was too old.

"30" I replied, making a smile appear on his face. After that, a laugh escaped from his lips, the way he smiled at me was somewhat mocking.

"I don't know if I should feel flattered or offended," he said, shaking his head. "Please just call me Leo or Leonardo, don't call me sir, it makes me feel like I'm 40 years old."

"Alright," I said, a little nervous.

It's going to be strange to call my boss by his first name instead of his last name.

"I think we should go. You have a meeting in a few minutes," I said, and he nodded.

He got up from his seat and left the office. I started walking behind him. After getting out of the elevator, we headed towards the meeting room. Everyone who saw Leonardo greeted him respectfully, although he didn't respond to anyone.

During the whole walk, I noticed that all the women were dressed in formal skirts and button-up blouses. For a moment, I felt very uncomfortable since I was the only woman in the company wearing jeans and a blazer. Luckily, I had a skirt, a formal blouse, and some heels that I could wear tomorrow.

This is how the rest of the day went. We moved from one place to another for him to attend different meetings. I noticed that most of the people who work here looked at Mr. Spinter with a little bit of fear. Many times, when they saw him walking down the hallway, some people would take a different path to avoid crossing his path.

Most of the meetings were informative, discussing future projects. In most meetings, there was a tense atmosphere, even though Mr. Spinter appeared very relaxed and confident, the rest of us, including myself, seemed very nervous.

Leonardo Spinter is one of those people that you really don't want as an enemy.

Adding to that, he is very intimidating to everyone, even to his employees. Each of his interventions in meetings left everyone at the table speechless. With a simple question, he could destroy a twenty-minute presentation by his employees.

I finished my workday at 10:00 pm and arrived at my apartment almost at midnight due to traffic. When I arrived at my apartment, I literally just threw my shoes on the floor and jumped into bed. I set the alarm for the next day and fell asleep.