Chapter 8: Banana smothie

-SIENNA-

The office was frantic on Monday morning. Everyone on our team was extremely focused on finishing next year's budget—everyone except me. My mind keeps going back to that particular night on the weekend.

After that moment Matt and I shared in the early morning hours, I hardly slept. The next day, I was so mortified that I almost skipped my yoga class just to hide from him in my room.

In the end, I felt very stupid and went to the kitchen to have my breakfast. I'm always very hungry in the morning. As I was finishing my banana smoothie, Matt came out of his room. This time, in addition to his boxers, he was wearing a T-shirt. If I was expecting an uncomfortable situation, I was wrong. He woke up as grumpy as ever. We exchanged just a few words, and he disappeared to take a shower. I haven't seen him since.

His behavior made me realize how mistaken I was to think that the moment had been intimate. Most likely, this attraction is only one-sided. Of course, the guy is a hot, famous hockey player, and he probably has a whole bunch of gorgeous women throwing themselves at him. Not that I would want to be one of them.

Come to think of it, he didn't take any action to indicate that he was interested in me. I, on the other hand, physically approached him all the time that night. The only thing he did was appear in front of me without a shirt on, and I suddenly believed that there was something intimate about it.

The guy was just hot, and I was almost jumping into his lap. I'm so stupid.

I pushed those thoughts away, and by the end of the day, I managed to get my work done. I was beginning to organize my desk and shutting down my notebook when my boss came beside me.

"Hi Sienna. Are you leaving? Can I see you in my office for a moment?" he asks, while adjusting his dark frames.

Across the room, I get a glimpse of Michelle, who throws me a questionable look. She was waiting for me to leave the office.

"I was, but I can stay for a while if you want," I gather my stuff and start to follow him while I mouth I don´t know to Michelle.

Roger's office is a large room with clean lines and decorated with shades of black and beige in an elegant and simple style. It has a large glass wall dividing his space from ours. He likes to work with the door and blinds open. According to him, it's a way of being closer to his team.

This time, when he waited for me to enter the room to close the door, it surprised me. Only after I sat down, he went to his chair.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your good work with the budget. We managed to finish before the deadline, which leaves us some time to review the figures," he said, and I blushed a little. It's always good to hear something positive, even if we tend to ignore the good things and focus on the bad.

"Thank you. The whole team worked hard," I replied sincerely, not wanting to take all the credit.

"It's true, but you've contributed a lot. Since I hired you, you've shown constant professional growth. The moment I met you, I knew you were capable, but you exceeded my expectations."

"You know that I learned most of it from you, Roger," it is the truth. He was not only a great boss, but was also a very skilled professional in his field.

"That brings me to the second part of this talk," he shifts the focus from himself as usual. "There is a new job opening in our company. It is a manager position in the Controlling department with four people underneath. I would like to recommend you for it".

"Oh... wow. I don’t know what to say," I gasped. This took me completely by surprise. Typically, people tend to work for at least eight years before being offered a career upgrade. It's a great compliment to receive this kind of promotion for a young employee. I'm so happy that my smile looks like it's going to tear my cheeks apart.

"There is a catch, though. The position is at our headquarters in California. And I am aware you are not pleased by the idea of moving from here." He knows this because I told him right from the start during my job interview. I applied to this subsidiary only.

My mood dropped immediately."You are right, I was not planning to move". I agree. That is an understatement. I even married a complete stranger just to keep my apartment in Manhattan. "I'm very grateful that you considered me for the job, but as you know, I'd like to stay in this New York branch.

"Understood," he nodded. "There is more information about the job on our internal website. If you change your mind, please let me know."

"Okay, have a nice evening", I got up and left his room, wondering how I went from a high mood to a low mood in minutes.

It was not only about the idea of moving away from itself. It's f.ucking California, for God's sake. The place where my grandparents used to live. Where my s.hitty father probably still lives. I'd rather chew glass than risk meeting the man who almost destroyed my mother.

Being a little younger than my grandparents, who are now deceased, he was probably dead by now. I don't really care. I just don't want to go to the place that caused my mother so much suffering.

I needed to clear my head. I'll ask Michelle and Harper to meet up for drinks tonight after work. Everything will be better after a good drink and a laugh with my best friends.