Chapter 3

Three years later...

Mikhail

The disorder in the company was confusing me. Complaints, business and a new project coming up, all this was making me disorganized and lost. My secretary had already organized my entire office, I don't know what I'd do without Ella.

"Mr. Kurtz, you have a meeting in a few minutes..." I completely forgot about the meeting, it was only two minutes away and I should have been there.

"Thank you, Ella. I don't know what I'd do without you. Cancel all the others." I asked before rushing off to the meeting room, where everyone else was already gathered.

For a few months now, I've been noticing that there's been a huge misappropriation of funds, of which I have no knowledge, and I can't jeopardize anything or send anyone away, not now! Sophia was sitting in the chair at the end, with her enormous cleavage, exposing her full breasts to everyone there, but specifically to me.

"We're looking for improvements. We had a meeting last week and nothing was resolved. I haven't received confirmation of the exports that left for Canada, I haven't received the checks or the receipts for last month. Where are they? They can't disappear like that. Besides, where are our partners who aren't here?" All this was taking up a lot of my time, but it was all accurate and yet things still went wrong.

"I called Russel and he said he couldn't make it, he's with his wife undergoing treatment and needs to accompany her." Russel... do you really think you can fool me, the bastard never cared about his wife.

I really wanted to continue with the meeting, but a call was more important and I couldn't let it go. Cristina, my fiancée and the owner of a publishing house, needed me, nothing was more important than her. She was in a hurry for me to arrive soon, because she wanted to accompany her to a dinner with her partners today. According to her, she wanted to be well presented and felt safer when I was with her.

"Darling, I'm so glad you came!" she kissed me on the cheek and hurried into the car. "Let's go to that designer store your mother always buys. There's everything we like there, I need to find something that fits in time"

We went into a few stores on the way, but she didn't like any of them, so we kept going until we reached the label where my mother usually buys her clothes when she's at my house.

Donna

"Dominic can't get any worse, I can't miss this opportunity right now, Jess." My son was feverish, tired and nauseous, sleeping in a hospital bed, while Jess was taking turns with me.

"You can go now, I'll stay here with him tonight. Go to your interview, it's already yours." I took a nervous breath and was relieved to know that I could trust Jess with my eyes closed.

We've lost touch with Matthew since he moved to Russia to work with his friend, who I still don't know the name of, but I have a son. You'll understand what the desire and heat of the moment makes us inherit. Jess was my best friend, my sister, my right-hand man and everything else. She was always with me, from the moment we found out I was pregnant, she accompanied me throughout my pregnancy, she looked after me and to this day she looks after my son. This woman has literally been an angel in my life ever since my mother kicked me out of the house. No wonder she's his godmother.

"I swear that if it doesn't work out this time, I'm going to prostitute myself. I'm tired of nothing working out, I'm tired of waiting so long and always getting no." I was really discouraged. This was my third job interview in five days, apart from the others.

I kissed her on the cheek, saying goodbye to Dominic, who was asleep from the effects of the medicine. I grabbed my bag, Jess's car keys (she gave me the moral high ground, so I didn't have to take the bus all the time) and set off determined to earn my place at Cyndi.

The huge building in front of me made me feel scared and afraid, I swallowed everything that was making me feel nervous, I looked at the screen of my cell phone and saw the photo of my son, I had to think of him first and this was a unique opportunity.

"Good morning, I have an interview scheduled for 10am." Said the girl on the other side of the counter, with her big glasses and little dots on her face, looking friendly.

"Good afternoon, what's your name?" She smiled kindly, making me really nervous.

"Donna Hardin. Do you need my document?" I asked, ready to rummage through my bag, which was already so messy.

"That won't be necessary. You can wait in the second door on the left." I looked at the huge staircase in front of me, next to an elevator.

"Thank you!"

There were a lot of steps, it would take a long time and I was terrified of elevators, but it was the quickest option at the moment and I never wanted to be late. I looked at my wristwatch and it was only two minutes to 10:00. I closed my eyes and got in, pressed the button for the 2nd floor and there was no turning back.

I entered the room indicated and, amazingly, the wonderfully elegant woman was already waiting for me.

"Good morning, Ms. Hardin. I'm pleased to see you, we have good references for you and I hope this is what you're looking for." Mrs. Carmen Light was a woman well known for being strict and an excellent professional, the feeling she gave me was indescribable, making me feel important...

"The pleasure is all mine. It's an honor to be here today, you don't know how important you are to me. I hope I fit in and am what they're looking for." I replied without knowing what was coming. Her eyebrow arched and an air of doubt hung in the air, making her put her hands together, cross her legs and lean back in her chair.

"Of course you're what we want, that's why you're here. We received your CV, analyzed it very carefully and saw how well you fit this position. Your references are excellent and I'm sure you won't let us down. Just one more thing..."

How can I describe everything I'm feeling at the moment? The only word is "nervous" and I feel like the happiest, most disbelieving person in the world.

She snapped her fingers and snapped me out of my trance, turning my attention back to her.

"Are you willing to leave your life here in NY? The vacancy is to work for our company in Russia. We'll cover everything, housing, our own transportation, life and health insurance and whatever else you're entitled to. So?"

What? What do you mean I have to go to a strange country? I've never left New York, I have no idea how to survive in a world without Jess to help me. I had no time to lose, it was the chance of a lifetime, another chance like this I'll never get in my life and I can't overthink it, after all, I only stand to gain.

"Yes, I accept. I have no problem with change." I answered with my hands clasped together, more nervous than I've ever been.

"Great! Tomorrow we'll contact you to let you know what you'll be traveling with. All right?" I nodded and she stood up, grasped my hand and greeted me. "Welcome to Cyndi, Ms. Donna Hardin."