Mrs. Inez

Nine

Hope's P.O.V

I had been exceptionally nervous all day and I didn't know if it was because I was working on these meetings myself and organising Aaliyah's schedule without Vanessa or because I basically blurted out that I liked Aaliyah last night to her face and I didn't exactly get a response. The fact that she didn't say anything scared me the most. I tried avoiding her all morning until we had to leave for her meetings which then allowed me some personal time to organise notes and agreements and things.

Working alongside Aaliyah has taught me that she is very good at business. She wasn't like Bradley one bit. He would always pitch the idea straight away and try and seal the deal. Whereas Aaliyah would communicate with the business partners and set up reasonable negotiations and actually get to know the people to create a better understanding of their business and how it can improve Inez Institute. One of the businessmen accidentally greeted her as Mrs Inez but she remained calm and carefully corrected the man and he was quick to apologise for his mistake. There were sometimes during the meetings where I could feel Aaliyah's eyes on me but I didn't dare look up. I was ashamed and embarrassed for explaining my feelings for her and knew it was probably going to jeopardise my position here.

"Hope, could you please send a copy of the briefings from today to Vanessa to forward it onto Bradley to get an insight on his position for this company," Aaliyah asked me as we walked towards the limo.

"Yes Miss West," I replied professionally, quickly getting to work on my laptop once we were seated in the limo. Aaliyah spoke in Italian to the driver which I didn't understand and the car began moving. I could feel the tension was high or maybe it was just because I was extremely nervous she was going to bring up last night. I kept making mistakes while typing because of how flustered I was. I looked up from the corner of my eye to see her caramel eyes on me already. I could instantly feel my face heat up so I hid away, typing quickly on my laptop to attempt to distract myself from the flustered state I was in.

When the limo stopped, I was quick to get out and make my way towards the apartment room. I could hear her heels clicking behind me as we both walked into the elevator. I waited for her to push the button before we began going up. I shuffled unsteadily on the balls of my feet, securely holding my laptop bag and paperwork from today's meetings. I could see in the reflection of the elevator that she was looking at me. I wished that the elevator would move quicker so I could dismiss myself for the rest of the afternoon as everything was clear until eight tomorrow morning. As soon as the doors opened, I bolted out of the elevator into the apartment and into my room. I closed the door, taking a deep breath to try and calm my nerves. I wasn't someone who enjoyed confrontation so I wasn't looking forward to Aaliyah bringing up last night. Part of me hoped she'd forgotten because she was drinking.

I organised my things for tomorrow and changed into more casual clothing to go out and explore Rome for the evening. I was excited to learn new things and visit the landmarks I read about as a kid. I trudged quietly out of the room to see Aaliyah sitting on the couch, glasses perched on her nose as she red over some paperwork. Her caramel eyes lifted up to meet mine, my face instantly becoming hot.

"Sit," she spoke sternly but calmly. I gulped, moving towards the couch and sat next to her. She slipped her glasses off, something I didn't know she needed, and turned to face me. She was still in her black suit and white blouse, but her buttons were more undone, revealing more of her chest and her hair was messily tossed around her face as if she had just run her fingers through it moments ago.

"Where are you off to?" She asked, her eyebrow raised slightly.

"I'm going to tour around Rome, see what I can do later within the week," I replied honestly, feeling my hands calm up from nerves.