She drew her cat closer to her for comfort, she had no one to talk to, her sister was out of town, and her Mom and Dad were off in Italy celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. Why couldn’t that be us? David and I, she thought to herself.
Isabella always admired her them, the way they finished each other’s sentences and how they’d argue and make up in less than an hour. She dreamt of having a relationship just like the one her parents has. She thought that David was the one she’d be spending the next 50 years with. She was constantly told when she was a young girl that life won’t always go the way she wants. She never understood the meaning of that phrase until now. She thought it was just an excuse used by her mother when she wasn’t getting what she wanted for Christmas or her birthday.
It’s been a week since the break up and she’s been absent from work ever since. She told her assistant that she had a death in the family and it was really talking a toll on her. A little white lie won’t hurt, she had to, it wouldn’t look good if her employees knew that their boss has been absent from work because she left her boyfriend and now she’s going crazy. She knew she couldn’t be absent any longer. Isabella got a huge promotion recently and now she’s the executive manager in the division of Food Critic. Basically, she was in charge of what people had to say about the food at a certain restaurant. Every food critic and restaurant owner in the New York City area looks forward to the weekly issue of Green Magazine.
Isabella got up early the next morning, got dressed and headed out to work. She wore her usual business attire with her skirt three inches above her knees when the regulations of Green Magazine states that the skirt should be three inches below. That was no problem for the men in the office. They loved to way she strutted her stuff amongst them. They called her “Appetizer”, as she was appetizing. She wore her hair in a bun and had on a lot of make-up and sunglasses to hide any sign that she’d been crying. When the elevator door opened to her floor, she took a deep breath and said, “It’s time to move on.” With that, she entered her busy office.
“Good Morning Ms. Heart.” someone said. Isabella just smiled, she felt that if she opened her mouth she would break down and cry.
“We have a lot of work to get done this week,” Shannon, her assistant mentioned. This time Isabella did not respond, she held her head high and went straight into her office.
“It seems as if someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
“What? Oh I’m sorry Shannon it’s just that it’s been rough this passed week and I’m really not thinking straight,” Isabella explained.
“I can just imagine, losing your cousin in a fatal car crash, I wonder how you made it to work today!”
“Car crash? What are you talking ‘bout?”
“You said you lost your cousin in a car crash and you took it hard that’s why you were absent from work for a whole week,”
Oops, Isabella forgot that she told Shannon that she had a death in her family.
“Oh right, thanks” Isabella said, She looked at Shannon, she didn’t hire a fool, a blind person could see that Shannon knew that she was lying.
“If I may be so bold boss, it’s obvious that you’re lying and I’ve been you assistant for that past three years, and I think-”
“-Shannon its not your place to know my business, how dare you?” Isabella said aggressively. Shannon had a look of astonishment on her face, and she was! She’d never seen her boss that way before.
“I’m sorry Shannon, it’s just...I need a..,” Isabella stuttered. “Forget it, I don’t want to continue this conversation. Get me the list of all restaurants you guys went to last week and the list of restaurants we need to go to this week.”
Shannon stared at her boss curiously watching her sort out the files on her desk. She’s been crying, Shannon noticed, but chose not to ask. She left and went to do as she was told.
“We have a problem,” Shannon said bursting into Isabella’s office.
“That’s the last thing I want to hear. What is it?”
“We don’t have a critic to go to Durvii’s restaurant in Manhattan”
“What! Where are all the workers?”
“They’re all booked,”
“What about Nigel?”
“Booked,”
“Kamala?”
“You fired her,” Shannon said “you could let me go you know, I’ve been practicing.” she suggested.
“That very thoughtful of you Shannon but this is not a job for amateurs, I need a professional for this one.” She stated.
“What about you?” they heard a voice say. Isabella was surprised to she Mathew Nelson standing at her office door.
