Tension : A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (3 page)

Chapter 6

  Olivia’s heart pounds in her chest as she walks up to the intimidating glass walls of Condello Investments.

“It’s a lot more legit looking than I thought it was going to be, so I guess there’s that…” She whispers to herself as she reaches her hand out to grasp the large metal handle. “I hope I’m not expected to wash all these windows.”

  She takes a deep breath as she steps inside the office, the white décor catching her eyes as her heels click along the hard, granite floors.

“Excuse me?” She says to the stocky brown haired woman sitting at the front reception desk. “My name is Olivia Brooks.”

“Okay, and?” The woman asks, looking up from her computer screen as she pops her gum.

“I was told to come into work today.” Olivia says, her voice trailing off.

“Okay, so… do that.” The receptionist says, turning back to her computer.

“I’m not sure where to go, actually.” Olivia says, her face flushing with embarrassment as she looks around the lobby.

“What’s your job?” The woman asks, turning back to look at her judgingly over the top of her glasses.

“I’m not sure.” She says, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Really, Mr. Condello just told me to come in at 9 a.m.”

“Oh, you’re one of Mr. Condello’s girls…” She says, nodding her head up and down as she gets up from her chair. “Follow me…”

  Olivia follows her to the kitchen, past various offices with doors shut tight.

“Here you go, I think you should get started on cleaning that. It’s disgusting.” She says pointing towards the fridge. “I don’t know why people even order food if they’re just going to let it rot in the fridge. Just toss everything.”

“Yeah, for sure.” Olivia says, nodding her head up and down. “Do you guys have extra trash bags or do you just want me to use the kitchen garbage can, or…?”

“Bags under the sink.” The woman says motioning towards the counters. “Take your time on it, because I don’t know what else there is for you to do around here, honestly.”

  Olivia nods, blushing as she watches the stocky woman walk out of the kitchen, letting the door swing behind her.

  She sighs, walking over to the sink, kneeling down in front of it to grab a bag from underneath it before walking over to the fridge. She opens the door, scrunching her nose up at the used take out containers as she shakes the bag loose to open it up.

“Ugh!” She exclaims as she lifts a paper box, only to have its contents drip out the mushy bottom.

  She tosses it into the bag, before backing up and shaking her head.

“Well, he did say that it wasn’t going to be glamorous work.” She sighs.

  Olivia gasps as she feels a set of strong, warm hands rest on her shoulders and she quickly turns around.

“Mr. Condello, hi.” She smiles, her face flushing as her mind wonders to her private activities the night before.

“That fridge is a pretty big task to take on on your first day, don’t you think?” He asks her, scrunching his nose as he smiles softly at her.

“The girl with the brown hair told me it was all there was to do at the moment.” She says, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t mind really, I’ve had to clean worse at other jobs.”

“That’s Lisa.” He says, chuckling. “And I wouldn’t doubt that she was just being mean to you. She’s a feisty one, that girl.”

“Oh.” Olivia whispers, chewing her bottom lip.

“She’ll warm up to you… eventually.” He says, walking over to the counter and lifting the coffee pot off the burner.

  He pours himself a cup before bringing it up to his lips and taking a sip.

“Yuck.” He says, swallowing. “Mud water. Do you know how to make a decent cup of coffee? Because Lisa sure doesn’t.”

“Yes, absolutely.” She says, nodding.

“Then you should.” He says, smiling softly at her as he begins to walk out of the kitchen. “Glad to see you’re getting settled in.”

  She smiles back at him, nodding her head once again as she watches his back push against the door.

“Oh, and after lunch, come to my office so we can do some paper work.” He says to her, his voice low and gruff as he gives her a quick wink before disappearing out the door.

“Sure thing…” She whispers after him, sighing before turning back to the fridge, scrunching her face again as she looks back at the mess she’s been tasked to clean up.

Chapter 7

  Olivia huffs, wiping her glistening forehead with the back of her hand, as she makes her way back over to the sink to rinse her rag.

  She squirts a dollop of dish soap onto the stained cloth, rubbing it between her fingers and lathering it up before running the hot water over it to rinse it clean.

  She honestly didn’t think it would ever get finished. Olivia’s never seen so much rotting food in her life. Spaghetti, fish and chips, old sushi; all old and all stinking up the place.

“I wonder if they have any baking soda around here.” She whispers to herself as she rings the water from the rag before folding it over and placing on the counter beside the sink.

  She looks through the cupboards, pushing the various peanut butters and stale boxes of crackers out of the way as she looks for something to freshen the fridge’s rancid stink before hearing the kitchen door swing open.

  Olivia glances up, her heart fluttering as she sees Mr. Condello walk through the doorway with his coffee cup.

“More coffee?” She asks, smiling softly at him.

“Did you make some?” He asks, lifting his cup.

“Yes, I did, it should still be hot.” She says, motioning towards the coffee pot on the counter.

“Great.” He says, pouring himself a cup. “So, how is it going?”

“Really good.” She says, nodding her head as she sighs out. “I cleaned out the fridge completely. Nothing gross in there at all.”

“You threw out everything?” He asks, walking towards the fridge and grabbing the handle to open the door and look inside. “There was stuff I was saving…”

“Oh, sir, I’m sorry…” Olivia starts. “It was… it was all bad, there was nothing in there that anyone should really have eaten.”

“I’m kidding.” He says, chuckling as he closes the fridge door again.

“Oh…” She laughs nervously.

“Everything else is going fine?” He asks her, leaning against the counter. “You got a chance to eat some lunch?”

“Oh, yes, of course.” She says. “I ate… almost couldn’t because I kept smelling that fridge though.” She jokes.

  He chuckles, nodding his head as he takes a sip of his coffee.

“Well, if you’ve already eaten lunch, we’ll just have to do dinner then.” He says after quickly swallowing his coffee.

  Olivia’s heart flutters in her chest again as her knees begin to weaken.

“I, uh…” She says, her face flushing brightly as she smooths her fingers over her ponytail. “I don’t think so.”

“Fair enough.” He says, standing up away from the counter. “Another time, then.”

“Sure.” She says, taking a deep, shaking breath as she nods to him.

  He turns around to walk away, pushing gently against the kitchen door before turning to her one last time.

“Don’t forget, Olivia,” He says. “When you get a chance, come and see me and we’ll sign some paperwork.”

“Yes, sir.” She says. “I’ll still be a few minutes, though.”

“Take your time.” He says, disappearing out the door.

  She lets out a loud, deep breath as she leans against the wall before rubbing her palms over her face.

“I don’t think so.” She says, mocking herself as she shakes her head. “He asks me to dinner and I puss out. What even was that?”

  She sighs again, looking around the kitchen before walking over to the sink and turning on the hot water tap before picking up a plate and dripping a drop of soap onto it.

  Olivia washes it, placing it in the rack beside the sink to dry before turning off the water and walking towards the kitchen door, pushing it open and leaving the kitchen.

“I guess there’s no better time than now to see what sort of paperwork needs to be signed.” She says to herself quietly as she begins her unfamiliar trek down the hallway to his office.

Chapter 8

  She smooths her fingers over her flyaway hairs as she walks down the hallway, her eyes briefly gazing at all the various names on the office doors.

“This was the hallway he walked down, right?” She asks herself quietly as she spins around.

“There it is.” She says, her eyes catching the
Condello
scrolled across the frosted glass door of the furthest door down.

  She walks towards it, reaching out to twist the handle, knocking as she opens it.

“Mr. Condello?” She says, peaking her head inside. “Do you want to do that paperwork yet?”

  She watches as he spins around in his desk chair, smirking as he looks up to her.

“Sure.” He says, motioning towards the dark leather chair across from him. “Please sit.”

  She walks towards him, smoothing her skirt as she slides into the seat, a small “Oh” escaping from between her lips as she sinks down into the plush cushion.

“Comfortable, isn’t it?” He asks, smiling at her as he watches her rest her arms on the tall armrests.

“Yes, it is.” She giggles. “Wish I had a chair like this at home.”

“If you want I can see what I can do for you?” He asks her.

“No, no, that’s okay.” She says, nervously, watching as he opens a drawer in his desk, pulling out a stack of paper and placing it on the desk.

  He slides the stack of paper towards her before reaching for a pen from a cup.

“First day almost over.” He says, placing the pen on top of the papers. “How do you like it here?”

“Well, so far all I’ve done is clean a fridge.” She says, smiling shyly at him. “But if that’s the worst of what I can expect, then count me up to stay forever.”

“Glad to hear it.” He says, motioning towards the stack of papers in front of her.

  She reaches towards the papers, pulling them the rest of the way to her before flipping over the stack and beginning to fill out her tax information.

“Lisa likes to make first days hard for everyone I hire.” He says as she fills out the forms. “Don’t take it personally. She’s been here for so long that I think she forgets what a first day is like.”

“Don’t worry about it, really, she’s not that mean.” Olivia says, her voice trailing off as she notices something unusual. “Excuse me, Mr. Condello…” She begins.

“Yes?” He says, leaning forward over his desk to help her.

“The contract has a mistake on it.” She says, turning it for him to see before pointing out the error with her pen. “It says I’m going to be making seventy-five thousand dollars a year. As much as I’d like that, I was only making about sixteen thousand before… and I know you said double my pay, but I can’t accept that much money for janitor work.”

“Pretty and modest.” He says, leaning back in his chair. “You don’t feel like you’re worth seventy-five?”

“Well… no.” She says quietly. “I just don’t think superficial chores are really worth that kind of price tag.”

“Well…” He starts, his eyes narrowing in on her. “Let’s see if we can make a more fitting deal then. Something that will put you to work…”

  Olivia nervously bunches her fingers into fists in her lap as she slowly nods her head.

“I’m a busy man.” He says, spinning around in his chair to gaze out the window before turning back to her. “And I’ve been on the lookout for a woman like you.”

“A woman like me?” She asks, crossing her ankles under the chair. “I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

“I pay you for a few chores… change a trash bag every once in a while… make a pot of coffee… which was great by the way…” He says, his voice calm and steady. “And then when the need arises… you and I will come back here and…”

“And?” She asks defensively. “And what exactly are you expecting me to come back here for?”

  He leans forward onto the desk, smirking as he crosses his fingers over each other.

“I think you know exactly what I’m asking from you.” He says, his voice low but strong.

“Mr. Condello!” Olivia exclaims. “ I would never!”

“What’s the big deal?” He asks her, leaning back in his chair and smirking as he shrugs his shoulders. “You need the money and all I’m asking for back is a little bit of… stress relief.”

“Yes, it is a big deal!” She says, standing up and pointing her finger at him as she raises her voice. “I’ll have you know I’m saving myself! I would never do such a thing! What, do you think I’m a prostitute or something? I worked at a coffee shop before this! Never have I done something so appalling!”

“Alright then.” He says, slowly pulling the contract back towards him. “If you don’t want to take the opportunity…”

“Opportunity?” She asks in disbelief. “I don’t think the selling myself is what I would call an
opportunity
.”

  She turns around to leave, listening to him as she closes the door behind herself.

“If you change your mind, Olivia, and I know you will… the offer will always be back on the table.”