The morning light came through the thin curtains in Nadia's small place, shining all over the mess of toys, books, and clothes that were only roughly folded.
The smell of warm bread was still in the air, and the almost silent sounds of her kids laughing as they argued about who was going to get the last piece.
"Mommy, we are going to be late again!" one of them shouted, wearing her clothes.
Nadia quickly looked at the clock and froze almost instantly
"Oh no."
It was already after eight o'clock.
She had planned to wake up earlier than she did, but her twins wouldn't go to bed the night before, and the baby's cries had stopped her from resting much.
She rushed all around the room, tying up her hair as quick as she could and grabbing her bag, hoping she didn't look as tired as she knew she was.
Her life had turned Into a usual habit of her hurrying , to her job, to get her children, to keep her new life balanced, doing the best she could.
The woman who once stood at the altar in a white dress with a broken heart was now gone. Now there was someone who's heart has been made strong by pain and need , Nadia Reyes, the woman who had learned to keep pushing on.
She kissed her children and said goodbye, promising to bring back something sweet for them and then ran out the door fast.
By the time she got to the big glass building where Romero Enterprises building stood, her chest immediately began hurting her, like a warning to her.
The company had recently changed owners and everyone was talking about it. The new boss, Ambrose Romero, was known to be a very tough person , a person who could help or hurt someone's career life with just one thing he said.
Nadia had not yet met him physically and from the stories she had heard of him, she didn't want to.
Men with power usually don't like secretaries who show up late to work.
Her shoes made loud noise on the floor as she went through the revolving doors, she was holding her cup of coffee like it was very important to her.
She had almost made it across the lobby when it took place ,
A strong chest hit her hard on her shoulder. The hit shook the cup and hot coffee poured all over the dark suit.
"Oh, goodness!" she quickly mumbled, moving back as the man sighed in quickly.
Nadia did not even look up. "You could try to pay attention," she said instantly, going through her bag for a tissue.
"Some of us have to be somewhere."
She wiped the spot the coffee spew, only to realize she was making it worse and then gave up.
"It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm late."
Without waiting for him to say anything, she turned around quickly and walked toward the elevators, quietly talking to herself. Her heart was beating hard , partly because she felt embarrassed, partly because of the excitement that came from arguing.
The man, although he did not say a thing. He just stood there, quiet and was expressionless watching her walk away with a small, almost happy look stretched on his face.
When Nadia rushed into the meeting room, more than half of the main managers were already sitting down. Her close friend and fellow assistant, Claire, looked at her in a way that showed she was almost too late.
"I know, I know," Nadia said quietly, still trying to fix her shirt and also to calm herself down.
She turned on her computer in front of her and started the talk she had stayed up most of the night preparing for.
At first, her voice shook a little, but it got calmer as she talked, as the usual work made her less nervous.
Everything was fine, until the door opened.
The room went silent.
A man entered, and it seemed like his presence controlled the whole room. The little whispers Nadia heard while she was talking stopped right away.
His suit was made perfectly for only him, and he walked slowly but on purpose. Something about him, something about his presence. Something that the man knew.
Nadia's mouth had become very dry. She knew who he was without being told. Every feeling in her body shouted it out. She froze instantly.
Ambrose Romero.
He showed off his power just like people show off their perfume, easily and he was dangerous.
You couldn't tell what he was thinking as he looked around the room, and then he looked right at her.
Nadia has frozen without a muscle moving.
She quickly glanced at the light mark on his nearly perfect shirt, a light brown spot near his chest that was too easy to see.
She felt very worried.
It couldn't be real.
But it was.
Her heart beat very fast as they looked at each other.
For a very short time, she thought she saw that he knew her, or maybe he was just amused?
He didn't say anything.
He didn't need to.
The small lift of his eyebrow was enough to show her that he remembered everything that had happened right outside the lobby.
She quickly tried to think of words, reasons, or anything to say to him, to give him an explanation, but nothing came up.
"Go on," Ambrose spoke at last, his voice low and calm, sounding very composed.
Nadia tried to talk, but her mouth felt tight. She forced herself to keep talking, looking only at the slides in front of her. Every sentence felt like walking on a thin rope.
Ambrose sat back in his chair, with his fingers together under his chin, never taking his eyes off her.
He wasn't angry, he didn't look angry.
But he wasn't friendly either. He was just watching.
Thinking.
She said the last line of her report with her hands still shaking.
"That's all," she said, her voice lighter than she wanted it to be.
Ambrose nodded once. "Good job."
Those words should have made her feel better, but the way he said them, slowly and carefully, made them sound like it was a warning.
The rest of the group started to pack up their things, talking almost silently to each other.
But Nadia remained where she was, not sure if she should stay or just leave. When she finally raised her head and looked at him again, Ambrose was already standing up, fixing the part of his stained shirt.
They both lock eyes once more. A small smile appeared on his face, the kind that made her feel worried.
Then he turned and left the room.
Nadia exhaled loudly in her seat, her body still shaking with fear. Claire moved closer to her.
"Are you alright? You seem like you have just seen something scary."
She tried to laugh, but it sounded forced and not natural.
"Kind of like that."
But in her head, her thoughts were spiralling quickly.
Of everyone she could have spilled her coffee on, it just had to be him.
She picked up her things she came with, her hands still shaky and quietly left the room, barely able to stay calm.
She couldn't forget what his face looked like, the cold look in his eyes, and the small smile that spread across his lips like a warning.
For the rest of the day, she couldn't pay attention to what she was doing.
His name kept repeating in her head each time someone said "the new boss."
Ambrose Romero.
The man whose shirt she had made a mess of.
The man whose look felt like he could read every one of her thoughts.
And as Nadia left the building that night, holding her bag close to her, she had a strange feeling that her life was about to be different again.